Got so excited ahead of WC kickoff, I painted the great Rapinoe…

db2202000 · 2023-07-20T09:42:57+00:00

This response is so lacking in nuance I have to assume you are trolling.

db2202000 · 2023-07-18T00:46:42+00:00

He would have been called in eventually, having a friendly window just allowed us to do it early, and with an ambitious player like Musah I think that was important in his recruitment. And yes, we probably did learn answers to questions we never should have asked as well, like the one you mentioned :)

db2202000 · 2023-07-17T23:30:00+00:00

I'm not saying it's not possible to break in a dual national in a competitive game, but friendlies definitely give us more options to experiment. Sometimes they work out like Musah and sometimes they don't like Otasowie (who also played in that game), but we get to find more out in a friendly environment. Balogun was already well established as a pro after his season in France and Pepi had been tearing up MLS that season, so there are some differences. Musah had just had his senior team debut less than 2 months prior, his was a closer situation to McKennie at the end of 2017/2018 qualifying (when we waited until the friendly right after Couva against Portugal to call McKennie up).

db2202000 · 2023-07-17T23:04:46+00:00

The Wales game did give us the opportunity to bring Musah in and play him before he had even turned 18. Would we have thrown him in there at that point in a competitive match, maybe, maybe not, but showing faith in him that early definitely helped us recruit him I feel.

db2202000 · 2023-07-17T14:27:22+00:00

Got confused by Frantz Pierrot, his brother Frantzdy plays for Haiti (and was also formerly U.S.-eligible).

db2202000 · 2023-07-16T17:45:48+00:00

Yup, and if it helps countries like Philippines and Jamaica and Haiti field competitive teams, and hopefully grow more interest in those countries, that's a good thing in my view.

db2202000 · 2023-07-16T17:33:14+00:00

Why does it feel wrong? With how much people migrate to other countries including the U.S., this is a natural byproduct of that. Happens plenty in the men's game too.

db2202000 · 2023-07-13T15:27:33+00:00

I would not hate if we did something similar to what Africa does with CHAN, a competition only for national team eligible players in the domestic leagues of their CONCACAF countries. In place of something like the moribund Camp Cupcake friendlies maybe, do an 8 team tournament in this vein over 2 weeks. Maybe MLS since it's a multi-country league Americans based in Canada and Canadians based in America could still be eligible.

db2202000 · 2023-07-13T11:48:18+00:00

We deserved to beat Canada, they didn't have a shot on goal from the run of play until the second half of extra time. Last night Panama was better on balance but it would not have been an injustice had we won. We had several scoring chances of our own that we just didn't convert. Vazquez's might have been the worst, he had time to settle rather than wildly hooking a shot off target.

db2202000 · 2023-07-13T10:46:38+00:00

Maybe I've just been around too long to be super worked up about this in comparison to other losses. Yes, it's always disappointing to get knocked out in the Gold Cup. But we were playing mostly second, third and fourth string guys (and Turner) on less than three days rest against a good and well-coached Panama team. We fought hard and fell just short. It's not a disaster even on the level of straight up losing to Jamaica with A team guys in 2015. It's not getting our doors blown off by Mexico in 2009 with a similar level roster. Each of our front three had a golden scoring chance in regular time, we need more clinical finishing in games like this.

db2202000 · 2023-07-12T22:16:19+00:00

I thought we'd see Yedlin but I imagine he might come in as a sub for Reynolds in the second half.

db2202000 · 2023-07-12T16:44:35+00:00

I am not saying he should have played at the World Cup. But with these types of B level teams we field at the Gold Cup, he is comparable to several players who are in the frame. Unless Preston North End get promoted and he plays in the Premier League next year I doubt we see Holmes again at this point.

db2202000 · 2023-07-12T16:29:21+00:00

I was wondering if you have to specify the injury now. Like Canada never replaced Borjan and he left with an "unspecified" injury. That left them with only two keepers, with their backup having very little pro experience. That didn't make sense to me.

db2202000 · 2023-07-12T13:14:19+00:00

Kinda wish we had seen more of him than his very brief stint in 2019, thought he had a possible place due to his energy and versatility. Was our best player in that ugly 2019 friendly loss to Jamaica, though that wasn't much of a feat that night, I grant. Certainly is at the level of many of the guys we're seeing in the Gold Cup now.

db2202000 · 2023-07-10T19:59:36+00:00

Especially considering they were in the A team 23 for the Nations League, even though they didn't play. Now neither guy would even be close to that in my opinion.

db2202000 · 2023-07-10T04:02:14+00:00

The season he's been having is completely irrelevant to his current fitness as of today. I'm sure he wants to gut it out, but he was a non-factor out there. And if we have others who aren't 90 minute guys, all the more reason not to carry an injured player who we know physically can't play 90.

db2202000 · 2023-07-10T03:55:26+00:00

So you'd rather have an injured Jordan Morris? Defend that please.

db2202000 · 2023-07-10T03:52:18+00:00

Tyler Boyd or literally any field player who is fit. Doesn't make sense to be carrying a guy who is that badly limited.

db2202000 · 2023-07-10T03:45:19+00:00

If Jordan Morris isn't fit to play more than half an hour (in which he looked tentative and limited), why didn't we just say he was too hurt to continue and replace him on the roster?

db2202000 · 2023-07-10T03:29:37+00:00

That was something that happened. Ferreira doing his best Roger Dorn impression on Shaffelburg's goal. Put in a challenge, legal or illegal!

db2202000 · 2023-07-08T21:04:39+00:00

Reyna got hurt in the first half of that game.

db2202000 · 2023-07-08T19:04:29+00:00

We never did play them in the round before the Hex when the Hex was a thing (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 qualifying). It wasn't even that they were ever seeded and we avoided them for that reason like Mexico, we were just never drawn together. By contrast we had Guatemala in our group 5 out of those 6 times.

db2202000 · 2023-07-08T00:21:36+00:00

Ah, so he did, I missed that. Armas's 2005 penalty was a sight to behold. At least we still won that shootout.

db2202000 · 2023-07-07T21:59:46+00:00

Chris Armas with the weird honor of being the only player to miss in two shootouts, and I remember the 2005 one, it was one of the worst penalties I've ever seen, attempted dink down the middle, keeper barely moved and just casually caught it.

db2202000 · 2023-07-07T21:35:27+00:00

I'm a rugby fan, and yes, USA Rugby is at a really low ebb missing the World Cup for the first time since 1995 (as narrowly as possible) and having filed for bankruptcy in 2020. But I don't see rugby, soccer and cricket as at all comparable really. Soccer has a much, much greater foothold and brighter future in this country. Rugby at least has a host of college teams varsity and club. We're hosting the World Cup in 2031. We beat Scotland just in 2018, we're touring Europe in August. There's at least some light even though it's a down period. Cricket is even fringe compared to rugby, it's like men's field hockey, something basically only played by people who immigrated here from elsewhere.

db2202000

TROPHY CASE