I'm Literally Salivating!!!

I can't wait. I'm literally drooling (its currently sliding down my chin and dripping onto my t-shirt)..ok maybe that went a bit far, but I am stoked about tonight's game, in what is currently, the best rivalry in world soccer.

USA vs Mexico!!!

Now, this rivalry certainly isn't the best rivalry in soccer history, but can you name a world rivalry with as much pride and passion on the line at the moment? Sure there's Germany v England, Brazil v Argentina etc but to be honest those have been rather subdued affairs in recent times.

But USA vs Mexico is at the peak of its intensity. The US has been absolutely dominant in recent years, with the recurring scoreline of 2-0 serving as heartbreak to Mexico fans. Mexico is definitely up for this match, which will kick off the Hex (last round of qualifying in the Concacaf region consisting of 6 teams). What a way to kick off!

Mexican fans and press are desperate for a win against the northern 'gringos.' They've even resorted to voodoo, as headlines have been made in recent days with Blockbuster sponsoring voodoo dolls of American players to Mexican patrons. But can I quickly diverge into a topic that really grinds my gears.

Immigration is a hot topic among Americans and it crosses divides from the political to the athletic. There certainly is a story to be had with the players themselves as they choose side (see Juan 'Paco' Torres of Pachuca who will represent the red, white, and blue tonight). My beef is more with the fans and being in Texas, currently I run into this all the time.

Plain and simple, if you were born in the US and have lived the majority of your life in the US, feeding off of its benefits and training and playing with American clubs; you need to be supporting the US tonight!!!! You're American and as much as I can appreciate heritage and culture, its just that heritage and culture. You're an American citizen, support your country!!

Now this doesn't apply to all American citizens. Mexicans who were born and raised in their homeland and later relocated to the US to become citizens can support who they like. I can completely sympathize with this situation. But those that are born and raised in the US, despite heritage, should support the US...period!

Ok, done with my rant for the day. The US should take this game. Mexico has not been playing well under the Swede Sven Ericksson. In fact, they've been down right poor and squeaked into this final round. They're also down several players and will be relying on several who will be earning their first caps.

The US, on the other hand, is playing at home in Columbus with a squad that cruised through the last qualifying round and with the exception of Cherundolo, is completely healthy. No excuses guys for them this round. Anything less than another resounding 2-0 win is unacceptable!!!!

Rating Wynne's Performance

I was going to do a team analysis, but decided to focus purely on one player...Marvel Wynne.

Plenty has been written elsewhere, analyzing the team's performance, and yet no one seems to agree on just how well Marvel Wynne actually played.

Let me preface this post, however, by explaining how I critique players. There are two ways to make an evaluation. The first, and the one most people tend to use because in general they lack soccer knowledge or lack the ability to trule "scout," is rating a player purely based on the level of play of the other team. The second, and much more effective way, is analyzing how a player's performance translates to a higher level.

With that being said, I'd have to say that everyone who is giving Wynne very high marks is using the first method. He certainly did not play badly, and I'm giving him an average score of 5 out of 10. Why? Well let's get into that.

I'll start with the good. Suprisingly, and pleasantly at that, he was relatively efficient on the ball. He had very few turnovers and his crossing, while not Beckhamesque, was much improved. He did very well to attack out of the back on a few occasions, one of which earned the US a penalty in the first half. On the defensive side of the ball, no one was even close to getting the better of him in 1 v 1 situations. His athleticism reigned supreme in all encounters.

Now with the bad, and it can be summed up with one word....naive. He is incredibly naive when it comes to his defensive positioning. Countless times, I noticed him in absolutley awful starting positions, much of the time being way to advanced on the field of play. And if it weren't for his incredibly athleticism and Sweden's rather poor performance we would have been punished more because of it.

And he was for Sweden's opening goal. His starting position was far, far to central leaving him no time to get out to the wing to close the winger down. Instead he gets half way there, making himself even more useless on the play because he can no longer defend the cross in the box. The general rule is if you can get out the quick enough to put pressure on the ball then go. If not, hold your ground to defend the cross, and if the cross come then you can make your way, tentatively, out to pressure. This was simply one occasion amongst many that a better team would certainly punish us for.

In the end, Wynne at this moment in time is much more an amazing athlete than a soccer player. He doesn't look the part when he has the ball (I'm not sure I've seen a more uncomfortable looking style) and as of yet, he doesn't have it upstairs.

Now, I certainly think he has the potential to be a mainstay at right back for the US once Cherundolo's time is done. If he can continue to develop in Toronto, and perhaps get himself to Europe (specifically Holland) then I think that potential can be realized. Unfortunately, at this moment, his liability outweighs his potential.

US Starting XI

Only 1 surprise for me and that is Ching gets the nod over Cooper. I'm definitely disappointed and completely disagree. Ching is a fairly established player as far as the national team is concerned and I don't see Bradley learning anything about him from tonight's match. Cooper, on the other hand, is a relatively new commodity and tonight's game would be an excellent chance for Bradley to see how Cooper fits in the picture with a start.

Here's the rest of the line-up

---------------Perkins---------------------

Wynne----Califf----Parkhurst---Bornstein

Thorrington--Kljestan--Clard---Rogers

----------Davies-----Ching---------------

Preview- US vs Sweden

Tonight, we'll get a look at some of the US fringe players as they take on a largely home-based Swedish side void of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrick Larsson (pulled out earlier in the camp). The US side has been in camp together for nearly a month as Bob Bradley puts the players through their paces at what has become a regular January camp.

The 2 sides met around the same point last season, with largely B squads as will be the case again tonight, with the US came out 2-0 victors. I'd imagine the game tonight should be evenly contested and entertaining as both sides have players eager to show they can play at this level.

There are definitely a few players on the US side that I'll be interested to see tonight. Charlie Davies for one should definitely enjoy the occasion as he takes on many of the players he sees every weekend for his club Hammarby in the Swedish Allsvenskan. The speedy striker had a fantastic year with his club, scoring 14 goals along with 3 assists over the course of the past year.

Another player that will be eager to impress is Kenny Cooper, whom some have been clamoring for his involvement in that national side for some time. A very technical player who often likes to pull out wide to pick up the ball, will be asked to play a different role with the national side, and play more a style that goes with his impressive physique.

The main questions, however, will come from the back. The squad has been riddled with injuries to the backline since camp began. Danny Califf and Michael Parkhurst (both ply their club trades in Denmark) are expected to be the center back pairing with Jonathan Bornstein, who appears to have shaken off a bruised foot, to man the left back spot and Marvel Wynne manning the right.

Wynne to me is especially intriguing. His athletic abilities are certainly what has gotten him an invite to the national squad, but questions remain over his technical abilities. In the Olympics, he had a very solid showing, constantly marauding into the attacking half; however, he hasn't always replicated that form for his club side. I'm still not convinced of his quality and will be interested to see how he performs.

Check back later for the official starting line-up and post-game analysis!

And We're Back!

Ok, I know this is long overdue. Well perhaps more than long. I realize its been over a year since I last posted and a lot has happened since then.

For those, that haven't been able to keep up with what I have been doing, 2008 has been pretty interesting. Like any year, I had my highs and lows. I began the year by hopping on a plane back to Europe to meet up with a buddy of mine from college who was playing in the Dutch Eredivisie for Sparta Rotterdam.

I spent a good month in Holland (where I was lucky enough to take in several matches and meet Edgar Davids) hoping to land a trial and eventually a contract somewhere in central Europe. In the meantime, I was training with a Dutch 4th division team to stay in shape. I had a few bites from Dutch 2nd division teams, but the minimum wage for non-EU players pretty much nipped that in the butt fairly quickly.

With the help of some other contacts, I was hoping to land something in Germany, and thought I had found a place to play in Oberliga side FC Gutersloh and then later with Bonner SC. In the end, neither club could afford to take on a foreign player and so I headed back across the pond to the US with my morale struggling.

I ended up signing with the Wilmington Hammerheads in USL2 after contract negotiations with the Rochester Rhinos fell through with the firing of head coach, Laurie Calloway. There's definitely worse places to live than Wilmington, NC- 2 miles from the beach. From that perspective, it was great. Wilmington was had a nice local beach feel with a great female:male ratio. And the guys on my team were some of the best guys I've ever met. It definitely made for a fun filled summer.

On the playing field, things were up and down. Results never seemed to go our way and we ended the season disappointed, missing out on the play-offs by a single point. Following the season, I was invited to train and play with DC United's reserve squad for 2 matches and then headed south to train with USL1, Atlanta Silverbacks.

By this time, it was past the USL1 signing deadline, so this was more of a good way to keep in shape and possibly get looked at for next season. In my opinion, things went great and it was very unfortunate for Atlanta and myself that the Silverbacks have decided to go on hiatus for 2009.

After 2 weeks, I headed home (i.e. where my parents live) to San Antonio, stopping in Houston to play a match with the Dynamo reserves. A week later, I made the trip up to Dallas where I flew with the reserve team to Colorado to take no the Rapids. And I finished my season playing in 3 more reserve games for the Dynamo, helping them to the MLS reserve league championship (the last 1 as it turned out as the MLS has scrapped the reserve league for this next season).

So now, I'm back in San Antonio keeping in shape by playing for Alamo SC- a semi-pro indoor soccer team here in town. If you're wondering, we're currently 4-0 with a +44 goal differential in PASL-Premier. We've got a very talented team with several of us having played/playing soccer professionally.

In the meantime, with the help of my agent Justin Stone, I am now in search of a new club for the new year. Stay tuned to find out where, I end up!

Preview- RoPS vs JIPPO

I am definitely excited for this match. I've looked forward to it ever since I left RoPS. Not that I want to hurt my old club, its merely an opportunity to prove to myself and to RoPS that I was good enough to play more for them. Unfortunately, things didn't go as well as I would have liked up there, but I hold no ill-will towards them. But I think every player looks forward to playing their old team.

Both teams have quite a bit riding on the game. RoPS has let their lead at the top of the table slip to just 4 points and a loss tomorrow could prove devastating (hence my dilemma- of course I want nothing more then to win but I also want RoPS to win the championship). JIPPO meanwhile are fighting to stave off relegation. Currently we hold a 2 point lead over GBK and a win for us could really put us into safety. GBK take on KuPS in Kuopio, and I'd have to think that KuPS wins that one.

As for the team news, RoPS welcomes back Drogba from suspension, but loses Antii Peura. Other then that, I believe they have the rest of the squad available. Taking care of Drogba will definitely be a handful for our backline, and we can't allow any slip ups like we did against PP-70 last week. Then of course you have RoPS midfield which is stacked with talent.

JIPPO will lose Mikko Maatanen and Tero Tahvanainen to suspension, but will welcome back Mikko Ikkonen. It remains to be seen who will start in goal, but I would have to think Lassi Hurskainen would keep his place after his last 2 performances. I should keep my place at right midfield, and hopefully I can extend my scoring run to 3 games.

It must be said that JIPPO have been in better form the last 3 games. We've taken all 3 points in our last 3 (TPV, PK-35, and PP-70) while RoPS have been held to two 0-0 draws in their last 2 games. Their lack of scoring will be definitely be welcome, but they haven't conceded more then 1 goal since a 2-2 draw against PK-35 over a month ago.

So that's all the team news i can think of. I'll leave predictions up to you guys.

Jippo 2 PP-70 1

Another 3 points headed our way this weekend. I can't tell you how immense these points were for us. We now have a 2 point cushion from relegation and at the same time severely dented PP-70's chances of avoiding the drop. It wasn't the prettiest of matches, but I don't think you will hear any complaints from us.

The first half was especially unpleasing to the eye. There were times when I wondered if we were playing ping pong rather then football. Neither team was good with the ball, and there were few chances. There was 1 clear cut chance, however, and I am still trying to work out how exactly the ball did not end up in the net.

A long clearance managed to bounce over the opposing goalkeeper's head and with no one in the goal everyone must have been thinking that Jussi Kemmo would put Jippo up 1-0. But somehow, when it was hard to miss than to score, Jussi put the ball wide. I have seen misses like this in plenty of bloopers videos, but never in person. But credit to Jussi as he would make amends later in the game.

Other then that chance, there really wasn't much in the half. I had a particularly good half although I did not see the ball as often as I would like. Nevertheless, I felt something positive happened each time I touched it, and I seemed to be running past multiple defenders with the ball with ease. Unfortunately, nothing would come of my good work as the final ball from me or someone else was lacking.

The second half was a much better game. Both teams seemed to have collected themselves and it became much more of a possession game. I would say we were the better side, but we managed to give up a goal at the 55 minute mark. A mix up between our central defenders allowed the ball to bounce in between and over them leaving an easy finish for PP-70 striker Mika Lahtinen (joint top scorer with 16).

The goal seemed to kick start our game though. We attacked with much more purpose, and tied the game at 60 minutes. I'll admit it was a bit of a fluke, but again you won't hear us complain. I collected a ball wide after some good work out of midfield and attempted to put in a cross. However, the cross turned into a inch perfect shot as it saild over the goalkeeper's head and into the top corner of the far post!

We continued to play well, and I continued to have a stellar game. The next 15 minutes we would constantly pressure the opposing goal. I had an opportunity to add a second as a cross was flicked onto the far post. It managed to go over my defenders head and after chasing the ball down I put a shot on goal that beat the goalkeeper, but was unfortunately, cleared off the line by a defender. We had several other opportunities inside the box with Jussi Kemmo, Sasha Antilainen and myself doing the damage, but unfortunately the were all deflected.

On one of these occasions though, I managed to split two defenders inside the box with the 'elastico' move I had pulled off a few weeks back. But my left footed effort was blocked. The game took a turn around the 70 minute mark or so. Our right back, Mikko Maatanen received his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card. I slotted into right back to fill his place, and it must be said that I was a little worried.

But my worries were laid to rest when Jussi Kemmo collected a cross from Tinge and calmly skipped past his mark and deposited the ball into the back of the net less then 5 minutes after the red card. We managed to hold out for the rest of the match almost adding a third after some good work from Sasha gave Tinge with a clear opportunity. Unfortunately, it was smuggled by the goalkeeper. We were under a lot of pressure towards the end, but held off and won 2-1 victors.

I was named the sponsor's man of the match and received the Veikkaus gold medallion. Lassi Hurskainen was named man of the match after a good performance in goal for us. We take on RoPS next, which will definitely be an intense match for me personally. I would love to put one over on them!!

Check out Football in Finland for my Ykkonen Wrap!