SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer USA vs. Costa Rica (Salt Lake City, UT)

Is anyone else concerned that Bruce Arena has decided to go with Eddie Pope as the center back in a 3-4-3 alignment?

He was victimized time and again last week versus England. Let's hope today will be better.

6' into the match ... Great ball left back for Landon Donovan, who hammers it into the back of the net for a 1-0 U.S. lead vs. Costa Rica in Salt Lake City, UT ... GO USA!!!

Perhaps he anticipated Costa Rica coming out in a defensive formation looking to produce a stale-mate and draw on the road.

Costa Rica are in a 5-4-1. This is a good game to maybe try and build Pope's confidence back.

Good to see DaMarcus Beasley back after that horrific injury.

The US has looked a million times better during this game, tnat against England.

I'm glad to see the US playing many guys up and getting a lot of chances! Beasley(from a great beautiful through ball), Bocanegra, and Josh Wolff have also had extremely good chances to score.

Look forward to a good second half!

Great follow goal by Landon Donovan from crosser Josh Wolff to Brian McBride (flick header) ... USA 2-0 Costa Rica (60').

Kasey Keller has definately earned my respect as the starter for the American side. The last few matches he has played remarkably well, covering for some of the mistakes that have been made by our "inexperienced" back line(i.e. Ralston, Bocanegra, Gibbs). Anyone else heard the rumors of Keller leaving Germany for the MLS at some point?

There was strong sentiment Keller would be in MLS this year before he signed with Borusia Mon... however you say it.

I have two question...
First, has Zavagnin touched the ball this game? oops, he just did 83'. . .

Second, Ralston has really played himself out of any more playing time.

Wolff was dangerous and showed well. Bocanegra was dangerous in the air and played solid in the back. I've never been impressed with Cherundolo. McBride was dangerous at times and held the ball well. I think I would have made the Dempsey for Beasley a little sooner.

great finish from McBride!!!

Glad to see USA getting three goals...seems like we haven't totally dominated a team in a while..i wouldn't really consider that domination, but i guess the score indicates it.

VOR...I agree. Bocanegra played very strong in the air(offensively and defensively). Wolff with his skills, fitness, and sheer talent is being done a disservice playing where he is. It was very evident in the England match that he was the spark, but lacked the "expert touch" that could have generated at least two more goals. Dempsey is a star in the making...I knew that while he was in Greenville. McBride did the job a captain should do--lead with words, and example...solid goal.
The US really is a strong side, and when you consider how strong the bench/not available was(Johnson, Onyewu, Dempsey) while a WC final may be asking a bit much, a STRONG showing will be expected...as long as Arena continues to provide the best XI the US has to offer.
In addition, Salt Lake City provided an outstanding soccer atmosphere for the game. I spoke with someone who went, and he was raving about the stadium, the city, and the hospitality of the SLC community!

i think the announcers said a little over 40,000 i was quite happy...more people that go to games means more games...hopefully we can get a game in ATL or charlotte some time.

Where has Armas been. He seems to settle the team. Landon has WheelS!!!!! I like the lineup til Guch gets more caps.

When was Armas' last MNT appearance? I can't remember him in a recent lineup. I'd like to see Frankie Hejduk on the pitch a bit more. His style of play seems to suit the American side more than say a Steve Ralston would.

The great thing about the MNT is the youth on board (as well as the skill they possess). You see a large mix of names being tested that was not the case prior to WC 2002, without a pitfall in level of play. Convey and Dempsey are on my list of players break through post-WC 2006.

Recently I've seen more games, commercials, news, and talk about soccer. That is fantastic! I am so glad that ESPN has be showing alot of soccer. I have seen more soccer on TV lately then I have ever seen in the previous years, except during the World Cup. Maybe this is a sign that soccer is slowly becoming more popular in the US. For example, in the last 2 games that the USA team has played in there has been at least 40,000 people attending each game. And the announcers on TV said that Utah had announced and put this game on the front page of the newspaper in Utah(not just the sports page). They also stated that this event and turnout was the biggest thing to happen in Salt Lake Utah since the winter olympics.

I believe Armas is just injury plagued or prone since he did his ACL in that friendly (against Holland i believe) before the World Cup. Then they brough in Cherundolo and he got hurt. I say leave them both off because there are far more players with more talent than either of them.

I agree that Hejduk needs more PT, but at 30, this is his last World Cup. He could play on the left with Bocanegra on the right and Pope and Onyewu in the middle during the next MNT game. I like Donovan in the midfield, but I wonder what happens when Reyna comes back. Personally, i think Reyna is overrated and McBride does a much better job as the captain. I don't think Reyna is in the top 11 anymore.

Just like i believe taking Tony Meola to Korea/Japan was an absolute idiotic move (as opposed to Tim Howard, Zach Thortan or Kevin Hartman), Coach Arena needs to look at what players are doing now-- not what they were able to do 8 years ago. It seems he is very willing to experiment with young players like Onyewu, Dempsey and others, but please, Donovan as the attacking center midfielder is a much better option than Reyna. However, i am afraid that everyone with get caught up with Reyna's magic from old MNT matches.

Dempsey is going to be one incredible player in a few years, putting up good numbers in the MLS this year, and is doing very well in the international games.

FU must be proud.

UVA...UVA......Arena looks after his own.....how else could you possibly defend Agoos being on the FREAKIN NATIONAL TEAM!!!!!! Reyna is done in my mind too "light" for me. I like Cherundlo (sp) myself. McBride is a 20-25 min player WHEN Johnson is healthy.....Gooch is a little green but will BLOW Pope out of the water in a few months!!! I say we go w/ Gooch and Gibbs in the middle Cherundlo(sp) and Bocanegra(sp) on the backs, Lewis/Convey and Beasley on the outside mid, Reyna/Mathis(bruce doesn't play him enough.....discipline is for HS not MNT duty PLAY YOUR BEST!!!) and Armas(Dempsey if he grows into a mature player) on the indside and Landon and Eddie up top! Bench could be great which is what we need!!!

If any of you get a chance to watch Boca play the centerback, you'll never ask for him to be an outside back again. It truly is his calling.

U.S. vs. Panama
June 8, 2005

PANAMA CITY, Panama - Earning victories on the road in World Cup qualifying is no easy task, as the USA's long history will attest. However, the U.S. Men's National Team has won two of their last road World Cup qualifiers and will be looking for three more points tonight against Panama, a team which is undefeated in six home qualifying matches on the road to Germany 2006 (a 2-0-4 record). The teams’ last meeting in Panama City was a water-logged affair, and all weather forecasts suggest similar conditions for this contest.

<b>Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. CT in Panama. Fans can follow the action live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics. Fans can also catch the game on taped delay at 11:30 p.m. ET on Telemundo and 1 a.m. ET on ESPN2. </b>

The U.S. is coming off a strong, 3-0 home win over Costa Rica on Saturday in Salt Lake City, a victory sparked by standout performances from midfielder Landon Donovan and goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

US Soccer

That sucks that it won't be on live TV. Will any Charleston area sports bars carry this on satellite?

I checked Gol TV and Fox Soccer Channel and neither one has the game live.

Gol TV has Venezuela and Uruguay at 9pm. Fox Soccer Channel has Holland and Finland at 8pm. Galavision and Univision do not have the game live either. I would tell you what they have, but even the tv listings are in spanish.

Our friends at ESPN have the softball World Series and then Baseball Tonight. On ESPN2 is the Red Sox/Cardinals and then Twins/Diamonbacks.

I understand that ESPN has a tv contract with MLB but the Twins/Diamondbacks?!? If you're going to tape delay a soccer game for the 50th of about 10,000 baseball games each team play each year, then at lease give us a series worth watching.

I guess it could be worse--- we could have gotten the shaft for the 15th rerun of last year's World Series of Poker.

Voice, do you know of any sports bars that carry soccer regularly down here?

55' mark -- USA 3-0 PAN

#1 Goal - Carlos Bocanegra (6') from Landon Donovan
#2 Goal - Donovan (20') from Steven Ralston
#3 Goal - Brian McBride (40')

Hammer Time....

There are a couple...
1. Madra Rua... North Charleston... Madra is just off of Park Circle. This is probably the #1 place next to my place.

2. There is another sports bar in North Charleston... the one next to the Colesium. . .

3. Bull and Finch... West Ashley... the Bull and finch is located in the Citadel Mall at the end of I-526

4. George's Sports Bar and Grill... West Ashley... If you go to the end of I-526 and turn left, George's is 1-2 miles on the left... I believe that is St. Andrews Blvd. George's is just past Wappoo Road in a small strip shopping center set back from the road a bit. When i say "small", I mean small! It's George's and like 4 other shops and there is no sign right next to the road.

5. Mexican restaurants... If you are interested in a Spanish broadcast, I have been in many a Mexican Reataurant (La Hacienda, etc) and they routinely have a soccer broadcast on. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a spanish broadcast of Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid at Los Reyes here in North Charleston.

6. My Place... If you live here in Charleston or are in the area and want to see a game, e-mail me or send a private message. I have all the Direct TV channels that soccer will be shown on-- ESPN, ESPN2, Gol TV, Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta Sports, Galavision, Univision... i'm still searching for Telemundo but it's gotta be there... Plus i have two game rooms at my condo.

Hey Shearer,
Mathis does not deserve playing time, he sucks and he is so overated. he is the most overated player on the U.S. National team.
R1C,
FU is very proud of what Dempsey is doing, to bad Ricardo Clark coulnt have done the same when he came out of FU.

Once again, it's great to see the US put out another great showing. Hope they can continue that!

R1C--I remember Bocanegra doing a stellar job as the center back in Chicago for a stint, but his style of play doesn't fit Arena's. Watch how Bocanegra seems to stick out defensively during games, and how often the announcers pay attention to it. Though the way he plays is a benefit to the team, Arena will surely want to control the center back. Hopefully Gooch will develop his own style that Arena will agree with.

Arena gave him the nod last night at centerback and from all I gather, he did well. Pope was given the role of sticking to Panama's big gun, and I'm sure that was the right thing to do as they were shut out.

Pope scares me a bit in the middle, but my confidence has been building as of late. Negra out wide lacks some pace, so it just seems (to me) the right thing to do is keep him in the middle.