United States of America/Mi-guk
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Group D
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Korea
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Courageous Conviction will drive the Dream to Existence (
*
)
| So, will this Korean proverb apply to the USA this summer, "
Kae-ch'eon-e-seo yong nan-da
"? (For the translation, see the
General Korea/Japan Information page
.)
Check out the current information on the team -- including informaton
on recent matches -- here
. Also, check out the Personnel
section, which has the official USA roster.
Also, check out the projected
lineups
for all Group D matches. Most recently -- see my
Predictions
! (I am in NO way responsible for any wagers made on these predictions
-- I HIGHLY recommend against it!)
In the aftermath of the US-Italy match, there was much discussion
of the meaning of the match. Here is the take by ABC's Marc Connolly
-- "Playing
with Attitude
."
|
| The USA, coached by Bruce Arena, is going to try to improve on their
performance in France '98 (32 out of 32 . . . ouch). Considering the group
(South Korea
, Portugal
, Poland
) there is the potential for success . . . and failure.
Ranked at 20 in December by the
FIFA World Rankings
, Game One has the USA playing what should be the toughest match, Portugal,
ranked as of 12-1-01 as the No. 4 team in the world. Game Two has
them playing the host -- no pressure there, eh? Game Three has them
playing Poland in what could be a desperate game between teams striving
for the Round of 16. The USA plays Portugal in Suwon on June 5, Korea
in Daegu on June 10 and Poland in Daejeon on June 14.
If the USA makes it out of the Group Stage, the would play a team
from Group G. Click
here
for a more detailed look.
For a full schedule of matches and sites, go to the
schedule
. Also, check out the
stadium guide
.
|
|
|
Advancing
In addition to playing a Group G opponent in the Round of 16, in
the Round of 8 the US would play someone from either Groups B or E.
In a Semifinal match, they would play the other survivor from those three
groups or the other team to advance from Group D.
(Yes, I know, the USA will definitely have a tough enough time just
getting out of group, but this page is about looking at everything, ya'
know? In that light...)
As far as Arena's choices for opponents as far as warm-ups go, the
USA has played the probable Group G winner (Italy), the probable Group
E winner (Germany) and probable Group E second place team (Ireland), as
well as also playing possible Group G second place teams (Mexico and Ecuador).
|
| Find out more about the Yank's opponents by checking out the links
for
Korea
, Portugal
and
Poland
. See how the teams got to sport's largest stage, information about the
players, each team's history in the world cup and soccer in general. |
| Also, check out the
World Cup (basic) Statistics
page for more information about where each team ranks in terms of World
Cup history. |
Other Information Sources
US Soccer Federation (Official)
Sam's Army
(Unofficial Supporters Group)
Monty's
Picture from the Army
Official FIFA Website
ESPNet/Soccernet
MLSnet (Official
league site)
|
That is me in the shades. The man in the hat is my fellow soccer
pilgrim, Parrish Glover, as we are in Sam's Army during the USA-Jamaica
game on 10-7-01 where the USA qualified for Korea Japan. |
With comments, questions, concerns, etc., please
email me!
Links:
Home
WC Resource
USA
Korea
Portugal
Poland
Other Groups
Schedule
General K/J Info
Dallas
Burn
Music,
Etc.
PERSONNEL
From the point of ignition to the final drive . . .
The point of departure is not to arrive
Anything Can Happen (**
)
It's official -- who is in, who is out -- see it
here (ESPN)
and
here (USSF)
. Subsequent to these lists, Chris Armas was lost to a torn ACL in
the Uruguay match and was replaved by Steve Cherundolo on May 19. Keep
in mind that this continues to be subject to injury replacements.
The USA-Ireland match roster is
here
. Maybe there is something to the Cherundolo thing -- he isn't
on this roster...
The USA-Mexico roster has been announced. See it
here
.
The Germany-USA roster has been announced. See it
here
.
Also, Reyna is
out per ESPN
.
Here are some notes for the USA-Ecuador match from the
USSF
.
The rosters for the March 2 game have been set -- USA (
roster
) v. Honduras (
roster
).
Here is the
18-man roster
for the match with Italy on 2-13-02. Italy's roster for the match
is here
. |
Claudio Reyna has returned to the lineup for
Sunderland (story
at Sunderland page). It includes this clip, "Boro, who did not
create many chances, were forced into some desperate defending soon after
and only a world-class save from Crossley denied Reyna his second goal in
a red and white shirt." He had suffered the ankle injury while playing
for his Premiership side. An MRI was performed. Read the AP article
here
. The latest from Sunderland is that they are hoping it will be
a two-week
layoff
. Another article from
Soccertimes.com
has another report on the injury.
Claudio is FIFA/Yahoo's "
Star Player
" for the USA.
Soccernet.com's Sunderland Page
|
Bruce Arena recently named the
training roster
for the Gold Cup. It originally did not include Kasey Keller or
Brad Friedel as they were currently playing well for their respective clubs,
Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers, but Kasey did not do well in a
recent three-game stretch, was basically benched and decided to join the
US for the Gold Cup. See ESPNet.com's story
here
.
Soccernet.com's Tottenham Page
Soccernet.com's Blackburn Page
|
|
Player Grid -- FINAL(?)
Last updated 5-24-02
It is official -- see who made it and who didn't.
ESPN
and
USSF
. Subsequent to those articles, Chris Armas and Greg Vanney suffered
torn knee ligaments that will keep them out of the Cup, and Steve Cherundolo
was added to the roster.
This
ESPN article
has some very interesting Roster Facts -- pointing to the fact that
this is the most experienced side the US has taken to the World Cup (most
caps, oldest.)
| Position |
Starter (Probable) |
Bench |
| Forward |
Brian McBride |
Joe-Max Moore |
|
Clint Mathis |
Josh Wolff |
| Midfield |
Claudio Reyna |
Landon Donovan |
|
Earnie Stewart |
Cobi Jones |
|
John O'Brien |
Eddie Lewis
|
|
DaMarcus Beasley
|
Pablo Matroeni
|
| Defense |
Jeff Agoos |
Carlos Llamosa |
|
Eddie Pope |
Gregg Berhalter |
|
David Regis |
Frankie Hejduk |
|
Tony Sanneh |
Steve Cherundolo
|
Goal
|
Kasey Keller
|
Brad Friedel
|
|
|
Tony Meola
|
|
|
|
|
Alternates
|
|
Forward
|
Jovan Kirovski
|
Ante Razov
|
Midfield
|
Brian Masonneuve
|
Ritchie Williams
|
|
Brian West
|
|
Defense
|
Richard Mulrooney
|
|
| Goal |
Tim Howard |
Zach Thornton |
Chris Armas and Greg Vanney have been lost to injury. An
alternate has yet to be named.
|
|
PREVIOUS COMMENTARIES
Different takes --
Marc Connolly (ABC)
, Ridge
Mahoney (Soccer America)
. See mine below.
It would appear that the CW is that Cherundolo is out. I am
not sure that I would put him out, but I can't say he is a lock to go at
this point.
My grid was not directly based on any of the above comments.
Marc Connolly of ABC did a
piece
on 4-2-02 about his impressions of who is going. I find his thoughts
very similar to mine with the exception of Cherundolo/Hejduk/Mulrooney.
His comments re: Mastroeni seem well founded, though.
I will say this -- how come everyone is so ready to throw Cherundolo
under the bus? Also, it will be interesting to see who gets the next
few gk callups as Arena has not really given anyone a good indication of
who he is taking to Korea as the 3rd GK. From here on in, I think you
will get a better read of who is getting the strong look. Keep in
mind, everyone said it was Zach when he played against T&T, Tony when
he was the No. 2 in the Gold Cup and now Timmy H after the Ecuador game.
Robert Wagman did another
piece
after the Ecuador game. It does a good job of giving a feel for
the pace of the next two months. On the other hand, he says Ritchie
Williams has a chance of making the team -- you decide. I will say,
though, that the team listed below would be a bit short (no pun intended)
on defensive midfielders except that O'Brien can play there easily, Claudio
can drop back (he played right fullback for Rangers, fcol) and Dononvan
has shown he can play in the central midfieder in Reyna's stead in a pinch.
CNNSI did a
piece
after the Ecuador game.
SoccerTimes.com
's Robert Wagman
did a piece
on this issue, incorporating some of the Gold Cup play into the mix.
|
|
Position
|
Probable Starter
|
Probable Bench
|
Maybe/Alternate
|
Long Shot
|
| Forward |
Brian McBride |
Joe-Max Moore |
Ante Razov |
Jeff Cunningham |
|
Clint Mathis |
Josh Wolff |
|
Preki |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Midfield |
Claudio Reyna |
Landon Donovan |
DeMarcus Beasley |
Brian West |
|
Earnie Stewart |
Eddie Lewis |
Brian Maisonneuve |
Bobby Convey |
|
Chris Armas |
Cobi Jones |
Jovan Kirovski |
Manny Lagos |
|
John O'Brien |
|
Ritchie Williams |
Chris Henderson |
|
|
|
|
Ben Olsen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Defender |
Jeff Agoos |
Carlos Llamosa |
Steve Cherundolo |
Carlos Bocanegra |
|
Eddie Pope |
Greg Berhalter |
Richard Mulrooney |
Diego Gutierrez |
|
David Regis |
Frankie Hejduk |
Greg Vanney |
Danny Califf |
|
Tony Sanneh |
|
Pablo Mastroeni |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Goal |
Brad Friedel |
Kasey Keller |
Tim Howard |
Zach Thornton |
|
|
Tony Meola |
|
Nick Rimando |
|
Other Group D Personnel sections |
Korea
|
Portugal
|
Poland
ROAD TO THE WORLD CUP
| HISTORY
| SUPPORTERS
| Back to top
ROAD TO THE WORLD CUP
It is the engine that drives itself, but it chooses the uphill
climb (***
)
Qualification
| Gold Cup
| Upcoming Friendlies
Upcoming Friendlies
| Date |
Teams |
Site |
| 12-9-01 |
South Korea 1, USA 0 (
story
) |
Seogwipo |
| 2-13-02 |
USA 0, @ Italy 1 (
preview
,
story
,
2
, 3
, 3a
, 4
,
5
,
stats
) |
Catania |
| 3-2-02 |
USA 4, Honduras 0 (
story
, 2
) |
Seattle (
USSF Release
) |
| 3-10-02 |
USA 1, Ecuador 0 (
story
) |
Birmingham (per
FIFA
) |
| 3-27-02 |
USA 2, @ Germany 4 (
story
) |
Rostock |
| 4-3-02 |
USA 1, Mexico 0 |
Denver (
per USSF
) |
| 4-17-02 |
USA 1, @ Ireland 2 (
story
) |
Dublin (
per the FAI
) |
|
Nike Road to Korea |
|
| 5-12-02 |
USA 2, Uruguay 1 |
D.C. (
USSF
) |
| 5-16-02 |
USA 5, Jamaica 0 |
Giants Stadium, NJ (
USSF
) |
| 5-19-02 |
USA 0, Holland 2 |
Foxboro (
USSF
, per InternetSoccer.com
, ESPNet
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gold Cup
The USA is now the Gold Cup Champion, having
defeated Costa Rica, 2-0
, Saturday afternoon. A breakaway goal by Josh Wolff and a wonderful
freekick by Jeff Agoos provided the winning margin.
For more information, check out the
CONCACAF Gold Cup
page and the
ESPNet Gold Cup
page.
| Date |
Teams |
Site |
| 1-19-02 |
USA 2, Korea 1 (
story
,
2
, 3
) |
Pasadena |
| 1-21-02 |
USA 1, Cuba 0 (
story
) |
Pasadena |
| 1-27-02 |
QF3: Korea 0(4), Mexico 0(2) |
Pasadena |
| |
QF4: USA 4, El Salvador 0 (
story
, 2
) |
Pasadena |
| 1-30-02 |
SF1: Costa Rica 3, Korea 1 (
story
) |
Pasadena |
| |
SF2: USA 0(4), Canada 0(2) (
story
,
2
, 3
) |
Pasadena |
| 2-2-02 |
THIRD-PLACE: Canada 2, Korea 1 (
story
) |
Pasadena |
| |
FINAL: USA 2, Costa Rica 0 (
story
) |
Pasadena |
| The USA advanced to the Gold Cup Final on Sunday after
beating Canada
on penalty kicks, 4-2, after a scoreless regulation and overtime Wednesday
night. The USA will take on fellow CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier,
Costa Rica, after the Ticos took out South Korea, 3-1, in the other Semifinal
match. ESPNet's preview is
here
.
The USA attacked throughout the game and had numerous chances, not
the least of which was Josh Wolff's bicycle kick rocket shot that didn't
go in only because a Canadian defender didn't have time to get out of the
way -- which was part of a series that included four consecutive shots
on goal that were (A) Wolff off the crossbar, (B) McBride (I think) right
at the keeper, (C) Wolff's bicycle, and (D) another shot by McBride that
the deflected out for a corner. Canada's counterattack was somewhat
dangerous, with Keller having to make one or two strong saves in an otherwise
uneventful night during the run of play.
During the penalties, Kasey was The Man, stopping the Canadians'
first and fourth attempts, whereas the US had Donovan score on a solid
shot to the left, McBride put one in off the left post, Agoos have one
go in under the keeper and Mathis cleanly beat the Canadian keeper who had
until the penalties been able to make the USA seem unable to score at all.
Mastroeni and Bocanegra had another solid game, both taking smart
forays into the attack while maintaining their defensive responsibilities
-- something that has been a concern for the USA against Defend and Counter
teams. This is a good sign considering that Poland plays a similar
style.
Mathis, Wolff, McBride and sometimes Lewis and Hejduk played well,
improving in form in all cases except McBride -- which is tough to do when
you've scored a hat trick in order (header, right foot, left foot).
Armas and Agoos were solid and Donovan was dangerous in the first 60 minutes
before fading. Brian West came in for Cobi Jones late, but had few
chances. DeMarcus Beasley, who came on for Lewis, struggled against
a larger and more physical defender who had the speed to stay with him.
Jitterbug did fight through it to manage to get off a few dangerous crosses,
though.
|
| In a huge downpour, the
USA demolished El Salvador, 4-0
, in a torrent of Brian McBride shots and goals. The USA advances
to play Canada in the Semifinals on Wednesday. Korea beat Mexico on
penalties, 4-2, after a scoreless regulation and extratime. They advance
to play Costa Rica. |
| The US had advanced to the second round to play El Salvador, who
came in second in Group A (Mexico has already won the group.) South
Korea came in second in Group B after drawing Cuba, 0-0, advancing because
they scored more goals. (
ESPNet story
) Costa Rica (1st) and Martinique (2nd) come out of Group C and
Canada (1st) and Haiti (2nd) come out of Group D.
As Canada and Costa Rica were successful in their quarterfinal matches,
they advance to play the winner of the US-El Salvador and Korea-Mexico matches,
respectively (
story
).
|
| Check out the USA
match roster
and
training roster
.
The most complete Gold Cup preview of the US is via
ESPNet
, which includes tons of information looking towards the World Cup.
Yahoo.com has a pretty thorough
Preview
of the tournament as a whole by Jaime Trecker. Soccer America
has
ranked the field
. MEGASOCCER.com also has a Gold Cup
Preview
.
|
Qualification
The US qualified as the third team out of three from the CONCACAF region
(includes match results and final standings).
Second Round
Final Round
Other Group D Road to the World Cup sections |
Korea
|
Portugal
|
Poland
PERSONNEL
| HISTORY
| SUPPORTERS
| Back to top
GENERAL USA WORLD CUP AND NATIONAL TEAM HISTORY
Against the run of the mill, static as it seems
We break the surface tension with our wild kinetic dreams! (
****
)
Korea Japan '02 will be the seventh appearance for the United States in
the World Cup. The only times it advanced out of the first round
were 1930 and when it hosted in 1994, although the 1950 upset of England
is also a very memorable match.
Uruguay 1930
| Italy 1934
| Brazil 1950
| Italy 1990
| USA 1994
| France 1998
For general World Cup history, go to FIFA's site
here
. I have also linked the title link to the FIFA page that has the
entire set of results plus a commentary from that World Cup.
|
Uruguay 1930
|
USA 3 |
Belgium 0 |
| |
USA 3 |
Paraguay 0 |
|
Semifinals
|
USA 1 |
Argentina 6 |
|
Italy 1934
|
USA 1($
)
|
Italy 7 |
|
Brazil 1950
|
USA 1 |
Spain 3 |
|
Upset story
|
USA 1 |
England 0 |
| |
USA 2 |
Chile 5 |
|
Italy 1990
|
USA 1 |
Czechoslovakia 5 |
| |
USA 0 |
Italy 1 |
| |
USA 1 |
Austria 2 |
|
USA 1994
|
USA 1 |
Switzerland 1 |
| |
USA 2 |
Colombia 1 |
| |
USA 0 |
Romania 1 |
|
Round of 16
|
USA 0 |
Brazil 1 |
|
France 1998
|
USA 0 |
Germany 2 |
| |
USA 1 |
Iran 2 |
| |
USA 0 |
Yugoslavia 1 |
PERSONNEL
| ROAD TO THE WORLD CUP
| SUPPORTERS
| Back to top
Other Group D World Cup History Sections:
Korea
|
Portugal
|
Poland
SUPPORTERS
The Unofficial Fan Club of US Soccer is
Sam's Army
, which I am a proud member.
Check out my
USA Chants and Songs
page for as comprehensive look at songs and chants by fans supporting
US Soccer as I can find.
PERSONNEL
| ROAD TO THE WORLD CUP
| HISTORY
| Back to top
USA 1 - England 0
| Return to World Cup History
| Top of the page
With a bit of digging, I'll get you some more info here. Suffice
to say, though, that this was quite an upset. There has been a book
written about the players in this game, and it is an incredible insight
into US soccer in years past. Unfortunately, I can't remember the
name off the top of my head (although I thought it was "Game of their Lives.")
Once again, if you know it, please let
me know
!
($) The USA actually played two games in Italy for the 1934 World Cup,
but only the game against Italy was actually a part of the World Cup itself.
Apparently both Mexico and the USA went to Italy for the World Cup to represent
North America, but only one team was going to be allowed in. So they
played a match which the USA won, 4-2. The USA went on to get smoked
by Italy and Mexico returned home without having played a World Cup match.
Chalk that up to the worst World Cup performance.
Back to Italy 1934
.
(*) From Rush's Vital Signs, off of their Moving Pictures album.
Back
(**) From Rush's Prime Mover/Hold Your Fire.
Back
(***) From Rush's Cut to the Chase/Counterparts.
Back
There is more to that song that I think is relevant, but it wouldn't
fit in real well in the flow of the page. Check this out:
(I'm) young enough not to care too much about the way things used to be,
I'm young enough to remember the future -- the past has no claim on me
You may be right, it's all a waste of time
I guess that is just a chance I'm prepared to take
(It's) a danger I'm prepared to face
What kind of difference can one person make?
Cut to the Chase!
(****) From Grand Designs/Power Windows
Back
For more, check out my
Music, Etc.
page. Back to top