Thunderbolts and Lightning

Very very frightening (apologies to Queen)

BFS Keeper Consultant Graham R and I were at Subaru Park when the skies opened up in the 86th minute.  Sticking around for the restart did have its rewards.  Also, the USMNT came through group stage play at the Gold Cup unscathed but not looking exactly like world continent beaters.  Not so great  start for the USWNT at the Olympics.

Timing Is Everything

Going into the home match with DC United, the Union were going to be shorthanded again.  Blake and Burke are on international duty with Jamaica, Freese was serving his red card suspension and Monteiro was out for his yellow card accumulation suspension.  In large part, they survived those absences pretty well in a close 2-1 win.  Joe Bendik, a 25 10 year MLS veteran, was more than competent in goal and had a critical save in the first half.  Sergio Santos contributed a goal and an assist for which we'll sort of forgive him for the truly careless foul in the box on a player moving away from the goal that gave DC its only score.  And Daniel Gazdag was solid at the top of the diamond, contributing an incredible assist (seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment) on the first goal and starting the counter attack for the second with a solid tackle.  We'll also mention the solid work of the two center backs  Elliott and Glesnes, as they did a good job identifying and blocking the passing lanes. 

On the glass half empty side, there were many passes that either missed or went right to the opposition.  Also, there were times when the attack looked static and lifeless.  Very fortunate that the second goal came minutes before the game was stopped for the weather delay.  Highly unlikely that they would have scored after sitting for 90 minutes and returning to the pitch for the last four minutes plus five of stoppage time.

The U sit second in the table, but they are tied with points with Nashville (total wins is first tiebreaker and they have a game in hand on 4th place Orlando.  Good that they have four points in the two matches so far without Blake and Burke.  My wish now is that Curtin can figure out a way to have both Gazdag and Monteiro on the pitch at the same time without cramping either's style.  

Patience Has Its Rewards

After the storm hit - an impressive one we might add - we stuck around for over an hour.  We were about five minutes from leaving when the announcement came that the game would restart at 11:20.  At that point, there was no reason to leave - it wasn't a school night.  There weren't many takers though.  I had been thinking that if the Union marketing people were on the ball, they would come up with a way to show their appreciation of the 100 or so fans that hung into the end.  Well, they did.  A guy came around with the Supporters Shield and let the fans get a picture holding it.  So there's the proof that Graham and I stuck around to the end.  The thing is pretty heavy.  

And yes, it was the real one.  What's that mean?  Well, recall that in the BFS post back in November, I suggested that the shield looked like something right out of Captain Marvel.  I had no idea how close to the truth I was.  Check out this story at ESPN, which I hadn't seen until Dennis forwarded it to me this week.  The real shield did not arrive in Philly in time for the game so they fashioned a replica - using a Captain America shield.  I am not making this up.  You can see the picture with the fake and the real one in the article.

We also read up on MLS weather delay policy.  Games abandoned after 75:00 are complete and all the stats count; if abandoned before then, the game restarts from the point it was stopped "the next day or as soon as is practical."  The decision to abandon is at the league's discretion though factors such as will the restart be more than three hours after play is stopped, will the restart occur after midnight and will the game end after 1 am.  

"A Dreary Affair"

After an easy 5-1 pasting of Martinique, the USMNT took first place in Group B with a rather uninteresting 1-0 win over Canada.  Eesh, even Suriname v Costa Rica might have been more exciting; yes, desperately seeking a fix, I watched the second half of that contest.  As this article points out though, we can blame the early goal (the US scored in 30 seconds) for most of that.  Though it wasn't pretty to watch, they did exactly what they needed to.

So it's onto the knockout stage and the US first opponent will be Jamaica on Sunday at 9:30 pm.  They will be favored but this is not our best squad so who knows what will happen.  The other quarterfinal matches are:

Qatar - El Salvador (Saturday 7:30 pm)

Mexico - Honduras (Saturday 10 pm)

Costa Rica - Canada (Sunday 7 pm)

Wait, what is Qatar doing there?  The answer is here.  Something about a strategic partnership to advance the cause of soccer for both CONCACAF and the Asian federation.  Oh, and it got the Gold Cup sponsorship from Qatar Airways. Short answer - money.

The US is in the bracket with Qatar/El Salvador so a US - Mexico final is possible.  Shocked to hear that.  The semis are next Thursday with the final on Sunday.

Bitter Swede Opener for the USWNT

How is it possible that the 0-3 score line in the loss to Sweden actually flatters the US?  The Swedes came out with attacking football and had the US on the backfoot from the get go.  Further, in a very non-Mourinho move, they continued to press even after going up 1-0.  How much of this was Sweden playing well versus US coming up flat?  Julie Foudy suggested that this was "About as sloppy and lethargic as I have seen from the United States in a very long time."  I'd go with both.  Sweden are a good team but that was not a good performance from the US.

Fortunately, the Olympics uses the NBA-style approach and eight of the 12 teams in the competition will advance to the knockout stage.  So that means the loss by itself is not crippling.  What will matter is how they respond to this setback.

Comment on the Euros

BFS top Costa Rican fan Bob K sent along this post-mortem type article from The Guardian discussing what England need to do going forward.  Citing the racist abuse that Rashford, Saka and Sancho got in the wake of the shootout, the article suggests a few things for Gareth Southgate and the English team but a whole lot more for England as a country.  

Still Busy

By my count BFS will take in eight matches in the next week.  We have the Union on their Florida swing, taking on Orlando Thursday night and Miami Sunday night.  Orlando is just one point back of the Union so a result there would be great but likely difficult; frankly a draw would be awesome.  Chances at Miami look a little better but we have to consider the possibility of U getting just one or two points from the trip to the Sunshine State.

Given our propensity to watch what's available, it is very likely we will take in all the Gold Cup quarters.  Costa Rica - Canada should be a decent show and we'll want to scout Mexico.  Oh hell, why am I justifying it?  You know I'll watch them all.

We'll also check in on the USWNT to see how they fare against New Zealand (7:30 am Saturday morning) and Australia (4 am Tuesday).  Put us down for DVR on that last one.

For those keeping track, the EPL opener (Brentford vs Arsenal) is barely three weeks away (8/13).