retired_to-jo

Nice story, I liked the "James Bell's a git" comment to lol.

Keep it up and good luck. A good read.

retired_bbcarr

thanks, YDB

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The draw for the group stage of the Gold Cup put us with Canda and the Bahamas, and considering that the top two qualified for the quarter final, we were confident that we could get there. With my squad having to be trimmed to twenty-two, however, I chose to put my confidence back on its shelf and pick few surprises, indeed there were no uncapped players who made it into the final ‘roster’.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pkd | Inf | Name | Club | Caps | Goals | U21 | U21 Gls | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Brad Friedel | Blackburn | 85 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Tim Howard | Man Utd | 10 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Nick Rimando | DC United | 5 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Pablo Mastroeni | Boca | 19 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Oguchialu Chilioke Onyewu | Standard | 2 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eddie Pope | MetroStars | 58 | 5 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Sus | Zak Whitbread | Liverpool | 6 | 2 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Robbie Russell | Rosenborg | 5 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Todd Dunivant | San Jose | 6 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Greg Vanney | Bastia | 22 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Ricardo Clark | MetroStars | 3 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Sus | Dema Kovalenko | Colorado | 4 | - | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Ned Grabavoy | Los Angeles | 6 | 1 | 2 | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Claudio Reyna | Man City | 109 | 11 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | DaMarcus Beasley | PSV | 39 | 11 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Clint Dempsey | New England | 4 | 2 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Ramon Nunez | FC Dallas | 1 | - | 1 | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Chris Klein | Kansas City | 13 | 3 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Arturo Alvarez | San Jose | 2 | - | 4 | 1 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Landon Donovan | Los Angeles | 35 | 11 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Brian Ching | San Jose | 3 | 1 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Taylor Twellman | New England | 4 | 3 | - | - | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

retired_bbcarr

Our opening game saw us face Canada in Kasas, the referee was once again James Bell, and once again there were fewer than twenty-two bodies on the field when the game ended. Luckily for us though, the only recipient of Bell’s overused red card this time around was Tomasz Radzinski, a straight sending off for a slight clip of Ned Grabavoy’s heels.

By that point, nineteen minutes from the end of the match, we were a goal down. For the second time. Michaël Klukowski, who had missed a penalty against us in Edmonton, was this time far more accurate from the twelve yard mark, drilling his effort past Tim Howard after ageing DC United defender Eddie Pope had thought it best to defend Felix Brilliant’s cross with his right hand.

Tim Howard had been selected for the game despite being third choice during most of my time in charge. With Nick Rimando having been relegated to a watching role as Rob Friend struck the decisive hat-trick in Edmonton, and Brad Friedel still in the late stages of recovering from injury, the Man Utd ‘keeper was given a chance to shine. The only problem with that was that he didn’t.

Grabavoy had pulled us level before the half hour mark, DaMarcus Beasley swinging in a cross which Grabavoy headed past Pat Onstad, but there was plenty time left for Howard to screw things up for us. His moment came two minutes after the break, Radzinski punted in a harmless cross from the right, the sort that even the most cross-allergic ‘keeper in the land would have dealt easily with, but Howard managed to misjudge its flight completely and leave Jim Brennan with a tap in from ten yards (though despite the open goal he nearly buggered up, pinging the ball off the post before it trickled over the line).

Radzinski’s red card gave us hope, against ten men surely we could mount an offensive that would, at least, bring us a draw, but instead the boys merely rode out the time until they could head off the pitch and get their after match hot dogs. I was not impressed.

Final Score: U.S.A. 1 – 2 Canada
(Klukowski pen 14�; Grabavoy 26�; Brennan 47�; Radzinski s/off 71�)
MoM: Pat Onstad (8)

U.S.A.: Howard; Onyewu, Pope, Mastroeni, Vanney; Donovan, Grabavoy, Clark, Dempsey, Beasley; Twellman
Subs: Reyna for Mastroeni (51) Klein for Dempsey (51) Alvarez for Grabavoy (72)

Mike..

Oooooh, Terk out?!?!

retired_bbcarr

the critics are so harsh

===============================

Defeat to Canda meant that we simply had to beat the Bahamas if we wanted a place in the quarter finals. With both Ching and Twellman having picked up knocks in preparation for the game, Arturo Alvarez, who usually plyed his trade on the left flank, was called upon to lead the line.

Again the American public had been calling for a huge win, you’d have thought after two consecutive defeats to their northerly neighbours, they’d have been satisfied with three points, no matter how they came about. But no, nothing less than comprehensive victory would do, apparantly.

I had begun to worry when the fifteenth minute arrived and we hadn’t managed a shot at goal, nor had we looked like creating anything even resembling a clear cut chance. We looked the very definition of toothless in attack.

My worry was misplaced, however, as with nineteen minutes on the clock, Alvarez decided it was time to put the doubters to sleep, and unleashed a rocket of a shot from thirty yards out which flew past Jon Hendley in the Bahamas goal before he could even move.

I was distincly calmed by Arturo’s wonder goal, and even more so by the fact that we found a way into their net another twice before the half time whistle. Alvarez was again involved heavily, taking Beasley’s through ball and slamming a shot goalward, only to see it parried by Hendley. Thankfully, the first to react to the loose ball was Ramon Nunez and he tucked a simple shot into the net to double our lead. A minute into injury time at the end of the half, Nunez doubled his own tally, heading home an excellent Clint Dempsey cross to effectively seal the points and more than likely our place in the next round.

Any chance that the Bahamas had of a comeback was washed out of the door on sixty-three minutes when Bret Harley was sent off for a second bookable offence, and we completed the scoring for the day when Dempsey found Alvarez in space, and he guided a shot easily past Hendley for our fourth.

I wondered whether four would be enough for the baying masses, I had somehow convinced myself that they’d need seven or eight to satisfy their bloodlust, but it turned out that the margain of victory, no matter how unconvincing our performance had been in patches, was more than enough to once again make me flavour of the month in US ‘soccer’ circles.

Final Score: U.S.A. 4 – 0 Bahamas
(Alvarez 19�, 76�; Nunez 41�, 45+1�; Harley s/off 63�)
MoM: Nunez (9)

U.S.A.: Rimando; Onyewu, Mastroeni, Whitbread, Dunivant; Klein, Nunez, Kovalenko, Dempsey, Beasley; Alvarez
Subs: Reyna for Kovalenko (61)


Our place in the next round was not guaranteed, however, until Canada struggled to a 1-0 victory of the Bahamas in Kansas, thanks to a 77th minute Jason De Vos goal. And then when the draw for the quarter finals was made, I had to laugh heartily. Reward for our defeat against Canada, and subsequent second place finish in the group, was a far easier tie than the Canucks faced.


Gold Cup - Quarter Final Draw:

Costa Rica vs Canada
U.S.A. vs Anguilla
Mexico vs Belize
Brazil vs El Salvador

retired_bbcarr

Even I expected a big win against Anguilla. Let’s face it, I couldn’t even understand how they’d got to this stage; the idea that they could find their way past us into the semi finals was, quite frankly, ludicrous. In a pre-match interview, Eddie Pope tried to play down the sense of expectation, saying that the team needed to focus and not take the result for granted, but in all honesty, the players were just as overly confident as I.

With the opening ten minutes having passed and no goal having been forthcoming, my nerves were beginning to shred (I’ve always been a naturally pessimistic guy) but I was soon put at ease when Twellman swept home Beasley’s cross from close range.

Twellman’s goal had come in the eleventh minute, and we had to wait the same length of time for our second goal to appear. Anguilla had made a rare foray upfield, so rare indeed that only Eddie Pope had remained in our half, though thankfully had managed to put a stop to their attack all on his lonesome. He immediately got the ball out right, and Onyewu swung a deep cross into the box for Zak Whitbread to head past Steve Reynolds.

Six minutes before the break we bagged our third, and for all the world to see, the game was well over as a contest. Landon Donovan had broken free down the right flank, fed by an excellent pass from Ricardo Clark. The winger beat his opposiing full back and crossed to the penalty spot, where Reyna was wating to fire a volley into the top corner of the net.

From the re-start, we quickly won the ball back, Reyna putting in a superb tackle to disposses, and then regaining his composure to set Dempsey away on a run. The creative midfielder checked his options, and found Donovan’s run into the box, leaving the winger with a simple finish past the stranded goalkeeper.

We put in a lot less effort in the second half, the quarter finals were mid-week and we had no intentions of exhausting ourselves chasing further punishment of a team we had already well beaten. One more goal did come in the natural course of things, Eddie Pope connecting with an Onyewu long throw and putting the ball past Reynolds.

Final Score: U.S.A. 5 – 0 Anguilla
(Twellman 11�; Whitbread 22�; Reyna 39�; Donovan 40�; Pope 60�)
MoM: Beasley (9)

U.S.A.: Rimando; Onyewu, Pope, Whitbread, Vanney; Donovan, Reyna, Clark, Dempsey, Beasley; Twellman
Subs: Klein for Donovan (62) Nunez for Dempsey (62) Alvarez for Twellman (62)



Quarter Final Results:

Brazil 4 – 0 El Salvador
Costa Rica 2 – 1 Canada
Mexico 2 – 0 Belize
U.S.A. 5 – 0 Anguilla


Semi Final Draw:

Brazil vs Mexico
Costa Rica vs U.S.A.

Our semi final opponents would be Costa Rica, after they put Canada to the sword with a late double from Ronald Gomez to overturn the lead that Radzinski had given the Canadians.

retired_bbcarr

The news that James Bell would be refereeing our semi final was hardly warmly welcomed. I’d already lost count of the number of cards he had shown in games involving us, and this encounter proved to be no different.

The game was tied at 0-0 in the 28th minute when a seemingly innocuous challenge, one that maybe warranted a free kick, was met by a red card for Costa Rican Rodrigo Cordero. Less than a minute later, however, he seemed to realise his mistake and sent off Dema Kovalenko for two quick yellow cards in order to even up the numbers.

As we struggled to settle down after Dema’s red card, Costa Rica took advantage of their more stable nature, Rolando Fonseca pouncing on a mistake by Eddie Pope to drive a shot past Brad Friedel and into the net.

The half time break came with no change to the game situation, but less than sixty seconds after the restart, we found ourselves level. DaMarcus Beasley found himself with the ball from the kick-off and proceeded to make a surging run from in his own half, weaving in and out of the Costa Rican defenders before slamming a shot past goalkeeper LuÃ*s MartÃ*nez from twelve yards.

Extra time looked to be looming large, but four minutes from time we were caught asleep again, this time Ronald Gomez the beneficiary of our sloppy defending as he sent a cheeky chip over Friedel and into the net to book their place in the final. There was a final twist in the tale, Bell deciding that his red card had resided in his pocket for too long and sending Gilberto MartÃ*nez off as the game passed into injury time. It did nothing for us, however, and we were battered down into the 3rd/4th place play-off.

Final Score: Costa Rica 2 – 1 U.S.A.
(Cordero s/off 28â€�; Kovalenko s/off 29â€�; Fonseca 36â€�; Beasley 46â€�; Gomez 86â€�; MartÃ*nez s/off 90)
MoM: Jonathan Rodriguez (8)

U.S.A.: Friedel; Onyewu, Pope, Whitbread, Dunivant; Donovan, Klein, Kovalenko, Dempsey, Beasley; Twellman
Subs: Mastroeni for Dempsey (36) Nunez for Klein (45) Ching for Twellman (68)


Semi Final Results:

Brazil 2 – 0 Mexico
Costa Rica 2 – 1 U.S.A.

zipman

Over and out?

retired_bbcarr

Well, seeing as this is up for best international story (quite to my surprise) i suppose i had better get on with it

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I had been desperately hoping for a final appearance against the might of Brazil, instead we had to settle for the meaningless boredom of a 3rd/4th place play-off against Mexico. James Bell again took the refereeing duties, and managed to find two payers to send off during the ninety minutes; I think that man truly has a fetish involving his own red card.

The first player to be sent from the field was Claudio Reyna. Having received a yellow card for a perfectly good challenge, the midfielder took umbrage at Bell’s card happy nature and talked himself into a second quickly thereafter. To be fair to all though, it had barely a noticeable effect on the game, which was thoroughly dull before and thoroughly dull afterward.

Mexico seemed entirely disinterested in making the most of their numerical advantage; they indeed seemed entirely disinterested in playing the game at all, to be honest. Eight minutes into the second half they had a player of their own dismissed, Jesus Arellano falling foul of Bell’s itchy finger, again through two unwarranted yellow cards.

The ninetieth minute came and went with no score on the board, as did the hundred and twentieth. I hadn’t thought it possible that anything could be duller than normal time, but the extra half hour managed it in style, the ball barely leaving the centre circle throughout. Luis Ernesto Perez was bewilderingly given the man of the match award, and a rating of 10/10; I had thought there wasn’t a single body on the pitch worth more than a 6.

The penalty shoot out offered less excitement than usual as well, the first eight spot kicks being netted with ease. Greg Vanney stepped up to take our fifth attempt and sent it ripping beyond Oswaldo Sánchez in the Mexico goal. It meant that Davino had to score to prevent us from achieving the heady heights of a third place finish, but Nick Rimando tipped his effort onto the post and we had our wonderful victory.

Final Score: U.S.A. 0 – 0 Mexico (after extra time) (U.S.A. won 5-4 on penalties)
(Reyna s/off 28�; Arellano s/off 53�)
MoM: Luis Ernesto Perez (10)

U.S.A.: Rimando; Onyewu, Pope, Whitbread, Vanney; Klein, Reyna, Mastroeni, Dempsey, Alvarez; Ching
Subs: Nunez for Dempsey (71) Donovan for Klein (71) Beasley for Alvarez (71)

Final: Costa Rica 0 – 2 Brazil

retired_mjs74

keep it up terk