Landon 5 goals 8 assists....out of 20 US goals - yeah, there is no other US player that could do that. Welcome back Landon - just in time. DD
Congratulations, United States. Well deserved. Scored when needed. "For ceremony, switch over to Fox Soccer"?? Really? Laughable. :grin: LOL @ your team name isn't on the championship t-shirt. WTF? Not right, CONCACAF.
Spoiler Really started following the USMNT the last World Cup cycle, so I apologize in advance for any glaring errors in my player/position analysis! So I guess we can start thinking about what the US' preferred starting XI will be going forward in WC qualifying and (hopefully) Brazil 2014. Barring injury, I think Altidore, Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Gonzalez, Besler, and Howard are fairly solid to write in as starters. Based on the last few matches, it seems Jürgen likes playing the 4-2-3-1 with the lone striker (Altidore) up top. This leaves 4 spots up for competition: LB, RB, MF, and another forward. I see the other forward spot going to Gomez, Johnson, Zusi and the other MF spot going to either Beckerman, Holden (?), Jones, or maybe Cameron (reasoning is that he's better going forward as a defensive MF than as a pure CB). LB and RB might be manned by Fabian Johnson and Timothy Chandler, but I'd like to see if there's a way to get Besler/Gonzalez/Goodson in the back four. Goodson does really well in the air and showed a lot of poise on the ball. Can Holden and Bradley play together in the midfield - would it take away from Bradley going forward to have Holden there with him? ürgen values what Jones brings to the table, but he's been a tough guy to count on the past (reckless tackles, etc.). It's nice to see the US have a lot of options, but I wonder how it's all going to come together. It'll certainly be interesting to see how the team starts gel and lock into a rotation heading into 2014.
Quick question, did he get the assist for today's goal? I think they did count it, but I don't think he did anything to that goal but miss it (although it would have still gone in). Good game, USA pushed hard at first and panama was just defending until USA scored that goal.
I thought they gave it to him...though Shea should have let that go. It was in. LD could have had the Golden Boot outright. In any case, that was the best stretch of soccer, regardless of opponent, he has possibly ever played. I love the confidence the entire pool of players is playing with right now. The dominance they displayed in this tournament was incredibly fun to watch and something never seen out of the USMNT. 9 goals better than the next team. Just incredible... Well done, boys!
USSF changed it to an assist for Bedoya. If Shea doesn't push that in, the trajectory seems to make the shot/pass from Bedoya go past the far post and might even have been kicked away by the last Panama defender.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Following a scan the club can announce that Stuart Holden has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BWFC&src=hash">#BWFC</a></p>— Official BWFC (@OfficialBWFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialBWFC/statuses/361972902393954304">July 29, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
damn this sucks <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>So sad to hear Stuart Holden diagnosed with torn acl in rt knee.</p>— Glenn Davis (@GlennDavisSoc) <a href="https://twitter.com/GlennDavisSoc/statuses/361987003862097920">July 29, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
^ Sad to hear about Stuart, no matter what team he plays for. Just no dang breaks. Q.E.P.D. Americanista You can see it clearly it might make it past the far post here: But then it doesn't:
Oh no, torn ACL for Stuart, he is looking more and more like O'Brien as time goes by. So sad, that is another year for him gone. DD
Oh I didnt notice they changed it, thanks! And good point, as long as you're not offsides, it doesn't really hurt to have kicked it in like what Shea did. I admit Donovan did help by getting the goalkeeper to dive away.
That collision that Holden had looked so harmless at the time. If anything, they collided left knees, but I guess his right knee buckled just enough to where the ACL tore. That's heartbreaking since he was finally rounding into shape from his previous injury.
Man, what a horrible break for Holden. Just getting back into form and looking towards 2014...and then it happens again. The only good news in this is that this tournament showed there is depth that had been missing for...well, forever. Torres and Diskerud played very well in the tournament (I was very surprised Torres didn't start the final)...berkerman still sucks.
Beckerman has improved a ton - he has grown on me. Leroy - you going to forgive Landon now? You were pretty hard on the guy, but clearly his talent is the best the USA has ever produced. He is a special player. DD
