Soccer Silicon Valley Blog

The Divine Ponytail played so beautifully! He kept Brescia in Serie A for 3 seasons! His play for Juve, the Milan teams, and Fiorentina was scintillating- what a master with vision and touch....why would I argue with his opinion? Hey! Maybe he wants to coach HERE! The Little Buddha's serenity as well as creative flair could certainly add to MLS!!! BUT I guess Inter is already making a place for him; DARN!! anyway:

Its nice that he thinks highly of the US...I just do not see the US as a dominant team yet...there are pieces to the puzzle and we have a lot of talent to draw upon BUT I think we are over-rated at 6th or 7th in the world...Italy on the other hand is under-rated at 13th...BUT that being said, what were the chances that Greece would OUTPLAY and deservedly win Euro 2004, albeit in a very defensive manner? Hearing the Mexican National Team coach dismiss the US as a "defensive, send it long" side before we put together a decisive 2nd half and beat them 2-0 shows that winning ugly is the ultimate trump card. I'm not sure we can repeat our great 2002 run in the WC- I wonder if the lack of a dynamic attacking player outside of Donovan, or the constant rotation of midfielders and attackers will result in a locked in side IN TIME...Yeah, qualifying is one thing- 4 years ago Brazil used 80 players to qualify and Romario bailed them out on several occasions...and they didn't even need him in the finals...Bottom line: thank you for the compliment Robbie but 2006 is still too soon for the United States- but I hope we make a run!

Matthew --

You make good points all the way around. I think that luck would have to play a part for the US to win the World Cup next year but, then again, that's almost always true for any team that goes very far in the tournament. (I'm guessing no one was expecting Lillian Thuram to score two goals to carry France over Croatia in '98, for example, and no one suspected Germany would get so far in 2002.)

The US is a long shot to be sure, but your observation regarding Greece at Euro 2004 is insightful and I think there are some parallels with the USA. We play well as a team and Arena has done well to create a winning mindset. Both of those things were true of the Greeks as well. I think that the right attitude is critical because success in soccer depends so much on the day-to-day confidence of the players. If the US gets on a roll, who knows how far we could go? My only concern: we don't have much of a track record of beating European teams on European soil. That could prove to be our weak spot.

We don't have much of a track record of beating *any* teams on European soil. Remember the Iran fiasco at the '98 World Cup?

My concern is that the team starts buying into the hype and thinking they're better than they actually are. The run to the quarterfinals in 2002 was good to see but I still remember the 1998 WC implosion when a lot of people were expecting us to announce ourselves on the world stage, especially after our away mauling of Austria in one of the warm-up games. Bruce Arena is no Steve Sampson and should keep things on an even keel, but the danger is there. Sixth overall in the FIFA rankings? Nice compliment but ultimately meaningless if we don't step up when it counts in Germany next summer.

Okay, now that I have voiced my doubts let me say that there are players on the USMNT that have an excellent chance of starring in Germany '06:

Kasey Keller, Oguchi Onyewu, and DaMarcus Beasley are in thrilling form. Mastroeni's work in the midfield vs Guatemala was encouraging!

I think we'll be solid in defense (Gregg Berhalter, Bocanegra, Vanney, Hedjuk, Garcia (I can't stand him but he's very good at times) and the soon to be HUGE Onyewu can combine to shut down many a potent attack; Especially IF the midfield can control most matches- which CAN BE DONE without the ball: ask Greece- they had less possession than their opponents in Euro '04!!!!

From the huge pool of useful strikers we should be able to create some goals- Nice that Brian McBride is in good form- I still think Brian Ching has time and Eddie Johnson will work to regain his scintillating form...otherwise there's the selection of Cunningham (needs to learn how to SEE team-mates) and Twellman (who can't possibly be as Jekyl and Hyde as he has been FOREVER)..... which leaves us the midfield to fret over....is Claudio Reyna back fully? I like Pablo Mastroeni, but have not been impressed by Chris Armas lately....Lewis, Convey, Dempsey; someone rise above the rest please!!!....and please, no Albright....personal issues there- he just complains too damn much!!!! A healthy Brad Davis could have made an impact but he's not quite well rounded enough to step above the rest in the limited opportunities he'll have to impress Bruce. Its the variables in the midfield that are the wild card for this team...If say a Clint Dempsey were to rapidly grow in an all-around sense in the next 6 months we could be as good as anyone in June of 2006...we can play goal and defense...we can attack the midfield and attack down the flanks...we have trouble finishing and we don't line-up a consistent midfield...our form varies...BUT Brazil had problems too going into 2002....We need a youngster to step up and a couple veterans to have the best month of their life...yeah, dreams can come true....another run to the last 8 would be great!!! and if so, then I'll want more!

...USA! USA!