Week off: Oh What a Week it was!

So right after the USMNT “got” bye the Canadian National team and booked their trip to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, I too took a trip. I ended up going out to Iowa for wedding related issues. While I was out in Des Moines I was able to catch the Gold Cup final at The Royal Mile (if you ever get to Des Moines, check it out, the place is awesome).

That was one helluva match. Bocanegra being a monster on the backline, Tim Howard having a great match, Donovan stepping up and not chocking on the PK, and Benny’s goal. Damn that was a good game.

I was glad to see Mexico come out firing and pushing the Americans back. The entire tournament it had been the USA storming out of the gates, but this match was different from the other five. Yes the score line was the same, but I saw a different USA come out in the second half. One that was down a goal for the first time since January and needed to recapture its lost form. They did that in the form of Ricardo Clark. His play in the second half injected a much needed presence in the midfield which woke up the Americans. Too bad we couldn’t win the game 2-0.

Hats off to the USMNT for winning their second straight Gold Cup and booking a trip to South Africa in 2009.

So right after that, or during it (I really don’t remember) I saw that Thierry Henry finally decided to make the move to Spain and join Barcelona. I honestly think that this move came one year too late and cost Barcelona the Champions League and La Liga this last season. This move also has pretty much sunk Arsenal for their 2007/08 season.

Without Henry, Wenger (if he is still around next season) has a much larger task at hand, and no real incentive to draw star players to the Gunners. Next season, pretty much as this last season went, the EPL “Big Three” will be Manchester United, Chelsea & Liverpool. Sorry Nigel.

So when I returned to DC from Iowa, I went straight into a week long Microsoft training class. Having to study for two tests in one week forced me to miss my first home DC United match of the season. Pissed me off too, it looked like a good one. I was happy to see (DVR is god) that after we went down a goal, that the entire squad stepped up their play and we were able to get a PK for our efforts. Hopefully Kpene’s injury doesn’t keep him off the field for too long. Getting the offense in gear is a good sign.

The other big United news this week was the Facundo Erpen for Greg Vanney trade that just happened. I really don’t know how to rate this one. On one hand you have a very talented, but very erratic young Argentine defender who could have become a longtime defender for the club; and on the other you have an experienced US player who instantly brings solid defensive experience to a backline that has been anything less than stable. Trading Erpen does keep the club from having to use a Senior International roster spot next year, giving the club a chance to bring in an other experienced defender or (heaven forbid) a possible replacement for either Gomez or Moreno. Trading Erpen also allows us in Blog land to retire the phrase: Erpen had his usual gaff/flub/SNAFU/…ect. I do wish him well in Colorado.

I do like the move of bringing in Vanney. Considering that he at most will stick with the club for this season and maybe next, the time he is here should be a god send for helping Boswell and Namoff as they move more and more into the USMNT spotlight. Having Vanney’s experience assist their talent should get them more playing time, as well as giving Troy a little bit less work to do over the course of the season.

Now we have the Copa America and Bradley’s first loss. You knew it was coming and you knew that if it didn’t come from Mexico, Argentina was going to serve that big L on a dish served cold. We all knew that we would loose to Argentina, the fact that we even got a goal in my mind was the surprise. Yes it was a PK, but I was shocked we even held them in the first half.

After watching the match again on DVR, I saw that Bornstein played a great match, much better than any he had in the Copa America. Ben Olsen provided the same thing that he has been doing for DC United, he was the energy bomb that the squad needed to run. Once he left the field and Argentina decided to bring on Aimar, the match was over. I had hoped for a better score line considering that we held them in the first half, but 4-1, in a match with a USA B/C team against the best Argentina has to offer…that ain’t half bad. This loss will go so much farther in getting our guys ready for World Cup Qualifying than any of the Gold Cup matches will.

Weekend of Football

I just finished my weekend of football. In three matches, I was able to see five of the biggest clubs in Europe, if not the world. We had one winner and one really, really great match in Spain.

Super Classico
Barcelona hosted Real Madrid in the second Super Classico of the La Liga season. Both clubs were coming in off of their midweek Champions League matches that saw them both dumped out of Europe, which made this match just that much more important. The club that showed that it had already moved on from their midweek loss would be able to put their domestic league season on track.

This match did not disappoint. A 3-3 affair with Messi picking up a hat trick for Barcelona, saving them from embarrassment in second half stoppage time; it was a great match to watch. Ruud van Nistelrooy picked up a brace for Real in the draw.

This was one of the fastest and most exciting matches I have seen in a long, long time. Both clubs were going full tilt and charging right at each other. It was a great match, if you missed it, you missed out.

Milan Derby
The second Milan derby was held earlier today, with Inter further cementing its hold on a true Sudetto with a 2-1 victory over rivals, AC Milan. This was a much different match from the first Milan Derby, a more controlled and structured match when you compare the two.

Ronaldo played against his former Serie A club and opened up the scoring with a 40th minute strike for Milan, giving the “visitors” a 1-0 lead for most of the match. Cruz and Ibrahimovic picked up the goals for Inter in the second half.

Despite the fact that Inter have been dumped from the UEFA Champions League, you have still got to give them a lot of credit for this season that they are having. They are undefeated in the Serie A in something like 20 matches and had a 17 match win streak. Unless they monumentally slip up, they should have the Scudetto on their jersey’s next season.

Week of Truth
So in one of the worst seasons that Bayern Munich has ever had, current “interim” coach Ottmar Hitzfeld labeled this last week as the “Week of Truth.” They faced off against Hertha Berlin last Saturday and came away with a 3-2 victory. They then followed it up with their midweek UEFA Champions League home match against Real Madrid, which saw Bayern dump Real out of the Champions League. The final test in the week of Truth was their home match against Weder Bremen.

I would say that going 2-1-0 in the three matches is a very good record, considering that Bayern are still alive in the Champions League and are only 6 point sback of first place in the Bundesliga and 3 points back of second. Bayern played well in all three matches, so they have nothing to really be ashamed about. That said, I have two nitpicking points.

Claudio Pizzaro is a wasted player now. I have watched him play over the last few Bundesliga matches and he has really lost a step form the guy I watched several years ago. Last week against Berlin and this week against Bremen, he was always crying for the ball when it was never sent anywhere near him and when the ball was near him, he would either stop his runs or he would flail at the ball in some child like action. His killer touch has left him and Bayern should seriously consider trying to get him moved out of the club.

Oliver Kahn is showing his age. He is still a great goalkeeper, but his timing is getting a bit slow for him, as he showed in the collision that gave Bremen their goal. Was it is timing or was it his decision making? Bayern had Van Buyten and Lucio around around Almeida who had the ball, yet Kahn still ran out to try and get the ball, allowing Almeida the chance to chip the ball at the goal. Hopefully the next week he gets some amount of rest and will be able to pull things back together for their match with Frankfurt.

All in all, three very good matches to watch as I spent time on the couch drinking beer. None of the matches gave me the desire to channel surf, which is always a challenge after several beers have been emptied.