Monday Morning Buzz
Just a quick post between Euro 2008 games (and let's hope today's second match between Holland and Italy is a helluva lot more compelling than the drab France-Romania encounter that just ended) to wrap up the weekend.
A 10-man U.S. held No. 1-ranked Argentina to a scoreless draw Sunday in New York in it's last game before World Cup qualifying begins Sunday in Carson.
Notable:
*Argentina was held to zero shots on goal in the second half.
*Pablo Mastroeni was ejected in the 70th minute after receiving a second yellow card for "unsporting behavior" when teammate Maurice Edu was also given a yellow for an aggressive take down.
Quotable:
"I think we're getting stronger," said Coach Bob Bradley. "We are understanding what it takes to play in the better games. The first half we had to deal with a lot tactically, and Tim Howard of course made some very big saves. The second half we showed some real resolve, both handling the red card and adjusting to different things tactically at different times. It means that at the end we feel very good about getting a result tonight. We feel good about the depth that we have and these are things that we are building to put is in the right direction."
The U.S. lineup: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 22-Oguchi Onyewu (23-Jay DeMerit, 61), 5-Danny Califf, 15-Heath Pearce (7-Eddie Lewis, 78); 4-Michael Bradley (26-Maurice Edu, 46), 25-Pablo Mastroeni; 8-Clint Dempsey (19-Freddy Adu, 61), 10-Landon Donovan (capt.), 17-DaMarcus Beasley (2-Frankie Hejduk, 91+); 9-Eddie Johnson (12-Sacha Kljestan, 74). Subs not used: 18-Brad Guzan.
I'll have more in my weekly column Tuesday about the start of World Cup qualifying, incidentally.
Meanwhile, in local PDL and W-League action, the San Fernando Quakes came from behind to win, while the Ventura County men and women both won.
In other PDL games this weekend it was:
Fresno Fuego 4 Lancaster Rattlers 1
Los Angeles Legends 2 San Jose Frogs 1
Orange County Blue Star 0 Bakersfield Brigade 2
In the W-League:
Pali Blues 2 Fort Collins Force 1
Pali Blues 5 Real Colorado Cougars 1
About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook.
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