The Gold Standard and Other Stuff!

Spandau Ballet love this stuff!

Morning All!

I've been watching The Gold Cup lately. I've followed the United States' progress with interest. It's been very interesting for me to view the continued evolution of the team and of the perception of the sport in general here in this country.

The team have not been outstandingly brilliant, but outstandingly hard working. I've been impressed by the collective spirit shown by the team. The celebrations displayed by the team when Clint Dempsey scored what proved to be the winning goal in the game against Panama yesterday were wonderful. The acknowledgement shown by Dempsey to Landon Donovan for the pass hit with perfect pace across the face of the goal was very reminiscent of all the great Championship winning teams. However, the pass from the recalled Freddy Adu wasn't too bad either!

A United States team - united

 The team hasn't set the world alight but they've got the results. At the end of the day, that's what tournament football is all about. It sounds like I'm speaking the obvious, but tournament football is about doing all that's necessary. A 1-0 win here, a draw there: getting out of the group stages is all that is needed. If you can get out of your group as the winner then great. When you get to the knock-out stages its all about taking the chances that you get. Last night we did. Confidence breeds confidence. That's why the 2010 World Cup was a "coming of age" party for the USA team. Now they have that experience and it shows in the matches that I've seen. They're in the final against Mexico. I'm looking forward to the game on Saturday. The ideal result would be an exciting, close fought game with the US winning with Chicharito scoring Mexico's goals!

The Boy Wonder!

Talking of Senor Hernandez, the boy cannot stop scoring! He's the top scorer in the tournament. He's been a wonderful signing for United. His knack of being in the right place at the right time is magnificent. To score over 20 goals in your first season is fantastic. If I could afford the new United shirt (which is very smart by the way!) I'd have his name put on the back.
If I have to make a constructive criticism of Hernandez's play is that he needs to work on the timing of his runs. He caught offside too many times for my liking last season. However, I have to say he's a wonderful talent and I hope he's a Red for years to come.
Talking of English football, 25 years ago this week England played Argentina in the World Cup Quarter Final. It turned out to be one of the most memorable games of all time. Diego Maradona scored the best World Cup goal and also the sneakiest. The infamous "Hand Of God" goal.

Great Player - cheating sod!

 I mention the England team because four years later we had the best World Cup I've ever seen and the best since 1966. Italia '90. It is as vivid as if it was yesterday. The drama of the semi final against West Germany . . . Gazza's tears, the penalty misses by Stuart Pierce and Chris Waddle and the dramatic quarter final against Cameroon. David Platt's 120th minute winner against Belgium. Glorious memories. Yet it started so slowly.
We played Eire in the opening game. That was a 1-1 draw. The other games saw us draw with Holland and a narrow 1-0 win against Egypt. There was dissension in the ranks. It is alleged that the players approached manager Bobby Robson to change tactics.
A team grows throughout a tournament. You don't get to play for your national team and qualify for a tournament without being any good. All teams need hard work, skill and good luck to win a trophy. England sadly ran out of luck in 1990 at the completely wrong time, sadly, but all in all it was a great showing. We haven't done as well since.
The American public need to get behind the team and watch the game on Saturday night on the Fox Soccer Channel. It'll be a great game.

Enjoy the summer of football

Ed