Vex only if what is reported is how it is. Ah eh fraid tuh accept the fact that it is so; I eh in denial but ah go wait fuh we on fans tuh file their reports. until then look what dey saying ; mammy tell meh it eh so nah....
oh gosh... is it really looking like dat tuh people? For argument sake: we lost 2-1 under Bsc now 1-0 under beenhakker minus one goal both games could be 1-0 losses? ummmm have we really improved any? I eh know ah asking and hoping dem men who went game could tell meh more.
Dis is suppose tuh be the start of round two; different coach same result. ummmmmm ah starting tuh wonder; yuh know like the poem:
there was a naughty boy and
a naughty boy was he
he ran away tuh scotland....blahbalhh
then he stood in he shoes
and he wonder he wonder
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WCQ: U.S. one step closer with T&T win
by Jamie Trecker / Fox Soccer Channel
The USA can start booking hotels in Germany after tonight's performance against Trinidad and Tobago, a 1-0 win behind an early goal by Brian McBride.
While mathematically the USA can still be denied a top three finish in this so weak CONCACAF region, the facts are pretty plain: Mexico and USA will go to Germany and the real battle remaining in the Hexagonal is for third, between Costa Rica and Guatemala.
McBride put the USA up in the second minute after John O'Brien sprung Bobby Convey past Atiba Charles, allowing the Reading midfielder to pass across the goalmouth unmolested. McBride netted the 29th goal of his long national team career, and just like that, the game was over.
That early goal sucked the life out of the match. The Americans became lackadaisical as Trinidad and Tobago declined to tackle, hoping to sneak one of their increasingly stranded forwards in. And in their sloppiness, the USA failed to score again.
It's not as if the USA didn't have plenty of chances to exploit what passed for a defense; It's that, once again, they didn't take them.
T&T defender Marvin Andrews, who was dreadful for Glasgow Rangers in last week's Champions League 2-1 win against tiny Anorthosis Famagusta, created many of those chances. Some of Andrews' highlights included allowing two clear runs by Bobby Convey for firm shots on net; and making a critical mistake that led to Dennis Lawrence having to commit a professional foul on Landon Donovan, taking a red card for his trouble, in the 43rd minute. (Convey himself would be sent off in the 88th, leaving manager Bruce Arena noticeably peeved.) The second half was more of the same except that T&T had only ten men.
You really couldn't tell. Claudio Reyna, making his return to the national team after a short break, flubbed two fine chances. Oguchi Onyewu had a point-blank header denied in the 56th. And so on.
I started to feel sorry for visiting keeper Kelvin Jack as back-passes, crosses and just plain flails at the ball became adventures within the T&T penalty box. But remarkably, and true to form, none of them went in the net for the USA.
It is worth noting there is one player who did finish his chances when he got them: Eddie Johnson. His absence tonight was glaring, and fans are likely to welcome him back.
Developing nations all share one trait — they sky the ball, shoot off frame and otherwise muff shots. Nerves are a big part of it. The USA manages to put shots on frame now (after a solid ten years of work on the skill, mind you) but still has difficulty sinking gifts. Every player muffs now and again, but a whole team? It is a remarkably familiar trait of the United States, one that continues to bedevil them.
Complacency is a big factor: Using the word "weak" to describe our region, CONCACAF, is a bit like calling the Beatles "popular;" the result is that the USA rarely face truly decent opposition.
And when they do, they lose.
The USA has failed to win all three moderately meaningful matches this year: They were beaten by England's half-strength team, lost to Mexico away and failed to put away a goal in the final of the Gold Cup, at home, against Panama for crying out loud.
The USA is going to Germany; I am starting to wonder if they will do anything when they arrive other than see some sights.
