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Finally got to look at video of yesterday's stunning upset at the Confederations Cup:



[edit: looks like they pulled the video with the great commentary. I'm leaving my translation up, because it, more than anything else I've read lately, sums up how stunning and how awesome yesterday's performance was, especially to the rest of the sporting universe.]

[edit 2: I've found another highlight reel. The video feed is the same for both goals, so just imagine the commentary is in Mexican spanish and not in Croatian:]



This is from a Mexican broadcaster. Gems from the commentators, here. The first goal:

"It looks like Dempsey and Donovan have changed places--now Dempsey through the left side--Davis gives it back--They filter it forward for Altidore--The United States is playing well GOOOOOOOOOL! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOl! THE UNEXPECTED, THE INCREDIBLE IS HAPPENING IN THIS MATCH! IT LOOKED LIKE SPAIN WAS DOING BETTER, BUT THE AMERICAN UNION [note: Spanish-language commentators love riffing on team names] SCORED JUST LIKE THAT! WE WERE JUST SAYING "THEY'RE PLAYING WELL. . . THE SCORE IS ONE-NIL!"

(during the replay)

"The North American team was going to be trouble for Spain, because they're cold, they know how to attack, not like South Africa, which looked absolutely innocent even in the moment of the attack"


The second goal:

". . . and, including since the arrival of Cazorla, Spain has not had a single good offensive play. They haven't gotten used to the change. And Sp--Spain with problems. LOOK OUT. ATTENTION--THIS COULD BE IT--DONOVAAAAAAAAAN'S GOT IT--[Donovan crosses to Dempsey] NO GOOD, HE STRUCK IT TOO SOFTLY--[Dempsey finishes] THE BALL IS IN THE GOAL! DEMPSEY! DEMPSEY SHOWED NO MERCY! DEMPSEY SHOWED NO MERCY! UNITED STATES! AND THIS LOOKS LIKE A HOLLYWOOD HORROR MOVIE--ONCE AGAIN, A DEFENSIVE ERROR, THE BALL STAYS THERE, AND DEMPSEY PUTS IT IN. THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Johan Cruyff on his philosophy of football. This is kind of tough to understand; the interviewer is speaking Catalan and Cruyff answers in Castilian. But, since it's Cruyff, he has a very heavy Dutch accent. At any rate, for those of you who understand neither Catalan, nor Castilian, nor Dutch, a rough translation of the interview:


INTERVIEWER: . . . so we have made a small handbook to understand his philosophy of Football--we'll call it, "Football According to Cruyff." It has five chapters. . . I'll read off the chapter titles, and you'll explain them. Let's begin. [reads] "Chapter One: If you have the ball, the other guy doesn't."

[laughter from audience]

Begging your pardon--isn't that obvious?

CRUYFF: Yes, yes, and the game is still played with only one ball.

[more laughter, applause]


INTERVIEWER: [can't translate] yeah, so naturally it's just one ball . . .

CRUYFF: Well yeah. If I have it, then they don't, and so you don't have a problem--or fewer problems. But what I mean to say by it, basically, is two things: If you want to go on the attack, you have to dominate the game. And you can only dominate the game if you have the ball.

Two: if you want to go on the attack, you need people with a fine technique, for instance, like a [player: lost in the accent], to give you an example, and these are more valuable on a small field than a big one. I mean to say that a small field is when you play on the attack and make it so the other guy doesn't go 40 or 50 metres, so that when you get the ball back you have to run back again--you keep it there, inside. The yield is thus much greater.

What's more, because you're always touching the ball, there's always something to watch. Otherwise, all you see is guys running--you don't see anyone touching the ball.

INTERVIEWER: OK, so that's the first one: "If you have the ball, the other guy doesn't." Second chapter: "The rhythm of the ball is the important thing."

CRUYFF: Yes; you see that in football there are many collisions, especially those teams that go in forcefully, so simply, the rhythm of the ball is a bit more intense, and by and large they are the ones who control it.

INTERVIEWER: Third chapter: "You must emphasize fundamentals.

CRUYFF: Yes, because you see all the time that people fail to make simple passes and simple things. And if the details, in that sense, work well--because it's a question of concentration, a question of position--it results in a game that is very beautiful to watch and very difficult--very difficult--for them to defend you. But you lose rhythm when there are fouls--you lose rhythm when you lose the ball, and all that.

INTERVIEWER: Fourth chapter: "You must always win one-on-one"

CRUYFF: Yes. . . and this both on offense and defense. On offense, if everyone has taken many risks to get to a one-on-one matchup, you need people who can win those matchups--people like [name lost to accent], like [name lost to accent], like Romario and all of them---and when you can get them in one-on-one matchups, the chance of scoring a goal and winning a match is much better.

INTERVIEWER: And the Fifth Chapter of this handbook of the philosophy of Football according to Johan Cruyff: "I would rather win 5-4 than 1-0." But come on, they just scored four goals on you . . .

CRUYFF: Yeah, but it's all the same--as long as you score one more goal [than the other guy], it's no big deal.

INTERVIEWER: . . . and losing? Would you rather lose 6-3 or 3-0?

CRUYFF: Me? 6-3. I think that when you've lost, you've lost-- at least the fans have had something to see.

INTERVIEWER: So as long as you've put on a good show, that's OK?

CRUYFF: No, no--I would rather win, without a doubt . . . but if your'e going to lose anyway, better that the people have enjoyed themselves.



Something to think about. Interesting, that last bit about losing: "If you're going to lose anyway, better that the crowd enjoy it . . . "

The Red and the Black were still winless in three--
(Not a singular point, not a win, not a draw)
When the doughty New Englanders came to DC,
To be witnessed by Eagles, and Barras, and me.

Now that dreaded statistic did stick in the craw
Of DC United's vociferous fans--
Whom the rest of the league should regard with great awe--
All other supporters are nothing but straw.

So the Red and the Black, for their suffering fans,
For the love of the game and the sake of their name
Did valiantly try to please those in the stands
Who cheered on their efforts with uprais`ed hands.

But New England struck first! O the pain! O the shame!
Tyler Twellman, the imp, flicked a shot-- it was saved!
But his comrade converted, one Dornan by name.
Would D.C. United again live in shame?

Five minutes would pass ere the debt was repaid
By Jaime Moreno, by breaking away
From New England's defense (O, how skillfully played!)
The penalty area did he then invade.

But Riley then came, who with nothing to say,
Fouled Moreno instead to send him to the spot--
So doughty New England's defensive array
Would have nothing at all now to do but to pray--

And now does Moreno line up for the shot;
And now does the goalie attempt to prepare;
And now does his foot strike the ball--now it's caught
By the back of the net! Now the score is a knot!

New England's Grenadian, with nary a care
Nor with visible mercy, cut Ben Olsen down--
With Joseph sent off, could United now dare
To hope for a win in their RFK lair?

To hope proved too much-- though they were a man down,
New England relied on the crossbar and posts:
DC took its shots, the posts did rebound
While the Red and the Black the goal did surround.

New England, in sum, took a point from their hosts.
United, still winless, did salvage a draw.
And the refs? Those incompetents, less worthy than goats,
Will live to be cursed in many a toast.

Fastest goal ever in the UEFA Champions' League: Roy Makaay, assisted by Hasan Salihamidzic, who scooped up a schoolboy error by Roberto Carlos.

Simply hilarious.

EDIT: Found one with a simultaneous timer.

Las night, I was standing on the Dupont Circle Metro platform when I saw a man wearing a DC United jersey, DCU scarf, and bearing an umbrella.

"Is the match against Olimpia tonight?" I asked him.

"Yes, at seven," he answered me, in Latino-accented English. The train pulled up, and he pointed at the carriages: "See how many people are going?"

Sure enough, the Red Line was full of the Red and Black. Knots of young DCU fans standing in the center of the car, chatting to each other. [One of them bore an uncanny resemblance to someone I used to know, but it would have been extremely weird to have asked "say, are you so-and-so's sister?" out of nowhere on the Red Line. . . ] Olimpia fans, in their Olimpia kit, chatting quietly in Spanish. No Tube hooligans, these--but they were on their way to a rainy RFK to watch the match.

I skipped the match, having forgotten my own rain gear. I tried to get it on the radio, but while I can receive minor-league hockey games from Quebec, I can't seem to pull any stations that have DCU matches. Christian Laettner, get us some radio time!

So, I had to settle for the newspaper reports. WaPo's Steven Goff covered the 3-2 win, but only in conventional American soccer style. The better story ran in Tegucigalpa's El Heraldo. I've translated it below, pretty freely. Those of you who read Spanish might want to read the article itself, but I've tried to give the flavor of what football writing in the rest of the hemisphere sounds like:



IT WAS A LATE REACTION, VERY LATE

Emotion and good football have taken the Copa Bimbo [Champions' Cup]. After two rounds there are already teams which are thought to be firm candidates to take the title. The Whites [i.e., Olimpia] arrived with a better attitude to RFK, on which snow fell until a certain hour of the night, and, later, an intermittent rain. But none of that hurt Olimpia more than Olimpia itself.

At the very least, in the first half, they [Olimpia] were not the team that fell behind, and they made the necessary effort to scare DC after gaining the advantage with Thomas' penalty-kick goal.

Barahona was fouled by Namoff in the area, and the returning Thomas had the cold-bloodedness necessary to put DC on notice that Olimpia was then not the same team that DC had faced in Tegucigalpa.

DC quickly realized that things were going to be difficult for them, and as a result made it 1-1 with Luciano Emilio. The biggest headache for the Whites, their ex-goalscorer and best foreigner of recent years, tied the match with a masterful play in which he tore himself away from three defenders and afterwards went right by Noel.

The first half was played with a parity which Cristian Gomez's witchcraft did not wait long to shatter. Disequilibrium! Barely two minutes of play had elapsed in the second half when Gomez converted a penalty kick brought on by a foul on Olsen by Figueroa.

Espinoza tried to breathe some life into his squad and with the arrival of substitutes Walter Lopez and Jose Pacini, was able to to achieve some degree of mobility forward across three-quarters of the pitch. Pacini made it 2-2 after pass from Wilson which couldn't have been better: He halted, surrounded by three defenders, filtered through to the open space, and the Whites' number 19 finished the job with a deft touch through the legs of the goalkeeper Perkins.

Before that, Walter Lopez had missed an easy chance on a high deflection. DC's goal was open, but he failed to convert. Maynor Figueroa committed yet another unnecessary foul, this time at midfield, and with that, won himself a trip to the showers.

To that numerical inferiority was added the goal-scoring efficacy of Luciano Emilio, who made it 3-2 after toying with Nahun Avila and finishing with a light touch to the far post which was guarded by Noel Valladares.

This was the end of Olimpia's dream, which ended much better than many thought it might have ended after the 4-1 result in Tegucigalpa. Olimpia had more smarts, more courage, but only as a late reaction.

* * *


=============================================
The FOOTBALL WORLD CUP '06 - LIVE in ASCII !!
=============================================


http://www.ascii-wm.net/ is offering all the World Cup games, live and in video.

For the full old-school experience, telnet over yourself:

telnet ascii-wm.net 2006


The only catch: they're in ASCII text. Oh, and only live streams. So you'll have to log on when matches are actually on. But you can see an awful lot and follow the match. I did it today from the office listening to my radio while watching the match in ASCII and doing work.

Special bonus: the stream provider/maintainer provides running commentary in often hilarious Deutschlisch.

EDIT: OK, comments are enabled. have at you!

ESPN was correct to carry the US Open golf tournament as its main story for most of these group stages of the Cup. Americans obviously care more about golf than they do about soccer--including those Americans whose job it is, ostensibly, to play soccer.

The usual self-flagellation will now begin: America isn't a soccer nation. We should be happy that they qualified. We should be happy with their performance thus far. We were in a difficult group. The young guys were intimidated by the opposition.
( Quit feeling sorry for yourselves )

Ghana 2 - 1 USA

God damn it. Damn it all.


I don’t care that that last penalty on Onyewu was bogus. No excuse for giving up a goal, and certainly no excuse for falling behind early to a Ghanian side that seems determined to win at all costs.

USA is sluggish, and isn’t showing the same kind of grit that saw them through the match with Italy. DeMarcus did well to break away and get the ball to Dempsey--extra points for that mashed-potato goal celebration--but where’s the rest of the offense?

The Azzuri are up 1-0 over the Czechs, the latter of which are now playing with only 10 men. But all of that help will be for naught if we can’t actually SKOR GOL.

A late reaction, so I’ll expand this post somewhat over what it would have been on Sunday or Saturday.

Football makes strange bedfellows.

On Saturday, I cheered as loudly as I could for Ghana during their 2-0 upset of the Czech Republic. The Czechs looked lost, disoriented. The Black Stars, on the other hand, looked like winners. As the Univision call had it “If you didn’t know the which team was wearing which color, you would be surprised to find out that the team in white [Ghana] lost their last match, and the team in red [the Czechs] won their last match 3-0!”

Then, the USA finally decided to compete in this World Cup, earning a tough 1-1 draw against the Italians. The Azzurri weren’t taking the Americans seriously enough. To me, nothing said it like the decision to start Totti in what they must have figured to be a kind of rehab start.
Italy’s two goals were obviously not enough to see them through, as one of them was brilliantly scored on themselves. I can’t feel good that USA didn’t score any goals themselves, but I can be comforted, somewhat, by the fact that on the autogol, McBride would have probably knocked it in himself. And there were a few other chances, including that near-miss that Mastroeni fired just over the crossbar. Speaking of McBride, I think he gets the ToughGuy award for his performance--I could almost hear him saying ‘CUT ME, MICK!“ as they patched his cut together. The scar will be genuinely useful as he uses it to grimace theatrically for years to come.

But Mastroeni won’t be making an appearance against Ghana on Thursday, after being sent off after a nasty challenge. He will be missed, but the one man who won’t be missed will be Eddie Pope--yes, the former ”Defender of American Soccer“ (remember those commercials?!) will finally be forced to sit after being sent off as well. Thank God Arena will have his hands tied--I’d hate to watch Pope botch it again for us.

You’d think that the result would make me happy, but paradoxically, it only makes me more mad. Why did it take a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the Czechs to jolt the US team into taking the competition seriously? Had they held the Czechs to a single goal, or even drawn, the Americans would still be in control of their own destiny. As it is, the only safe way to the round of 16 is by beating the Black Stars of Ghana (who will be without their top two goalscorers) by 2 or more goals, AND hoping that the Italians recover their form in time to defeat the Czechs. So, as someone who was booing the Italians lustily, let me be among the first to say FORZA ITALIA!!!!!!

I’m mad at team USA because their success or failure is becoming a barometer for the progress of the New America against the Old. The New America is young, outward-looking, inclusive. It comes from somewhere else, and chooses America. It can’t be recognized from a photograph, or picked out of a lineup: what color was its skin, anyway? When team USA wins, they win for this America--an America which sees a place for me, and in which I see the outlines of my own place.

What if they fail? What if they crash out, yet again, reverting to historical (since 1990) form? They become the butt of the usual jokes. They are given a free pass by patronizing older Americans, saying ”well, it’s OK, since soccer’s a game for foreigners and communists anyway.“ That old America is backwards, inward-looking, ignorant. It sees itself as the hinge upon which the gates of Heaven will swing shut. The old America is scared of soccer, scared of the people who play it, scared of the change it represents.

Because in America, soccer will be the sport that changes everything and everybody. Never mind the ”soccer moms“ who so loyally (or so we thought at the time) elected Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. What matters in America will be the future of those ”soccer kids.“ Their parents were just cheering out of a sense of parental obligation (and the need to keep up with the Joneses). The kids will cheer because they appreciate the beauty of the game--something their parents will never understand.

Those soccer kids will understand a few things their parents never understood, either. They understand technology and the internet; they exist (with varying levels of ease and comfort) in a global world. This generation of ”soccer kids“ will be the generation that oversees the very zenith of the American empire--and they will oversee it from vantage points their own parents, stuck in their habits and their own games, would have never even conceived of.

So go Team USA. Remember: you’re playing for our future.

Public Service Announcement:

For those of you who can't get to a TV for the World Cup matches, I have discovered that one station IS broadcasting them.

WKDL-AM 730 carries live play-by-play of most Cup matches, but in Spanish. For those of you who can understand it, it's a real treat, as the play-by-play guy is Andres Cantor, and color commentary is provided by the crazy-haired former Colombian star Carlos Valderrama.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm overjoyed that I can both seem productive at work while simultaneously following the Mundial. Result!

I had high hopes for a scoreless draw, as in T&T's match against the Swedes, but Team USA disgraced themselves today, losing in a 3-0 rout to a Czech side that was bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive.

It's hard to think of a single good thing to say about team USA's performance today...so I won't say a single good thing about it. It was miserable, zombie-like, worthy of Shaun of the Dead. Fans agree: the team failed in every respect.

Why all this vitriol, when nobody really expected them to beat the Czechs today? Surely a 3-0 loss is the same in the points as a 1-0 loss? Well, it isn't: That immense goal difference will surely enable the Czechs to go into the next round, and complicate any hopes the USA has of moving forward. And since we're living, once again, in Bracketville (well, not literally, but you know what I mean), let's be honest: The only way Team USA advances is by beating BOTH Italy AND Ghana, and defeating one or both by more than 2 goals. Not bloody likely, I'd wager. As much as I despise the Italians, and as injury-plagued as they've been lately, there's every reason to expect that they will slam the door in the USA's face with a display of traditional catenacchio. Ghana are the great unknown, but given the poor quality and lack of focus on display today in Gelsenkirchen, the US team should now consider anyone a potential threat.

One wonders if US execution would have been better today if, during the buildup to the Mundial, they would have spent more time on the training pitch instead of on the golf course.

Reyna whined: We had a lot of guys who were in their first games and were a little bit nervous...Now there's no more excuses, we have to play better than that. "Nervous?" Reyna has 108 international caps. Eddie Pope? 77, same number as Donovan (!). These are men who have played at the highest level of the game, who have played in international competition. They shouldn't be hiding behind the supposed "nerves" of their rookies--they should be leading them.

Given the Italians' easy 2-0 victory over Ghana this afternoon, things look very bad indeed for the US side.

A few thoughts, all rolled into one omnibus post:

The Redskins:
Why does everyone outside of the DC area keep hating on the Redskins this season? Particularly, what did the Redskins ever do to the TV networks to merit such viciously partisan anti-Redskins commentators (with the exception, of course, of Joe Theismann on ABC/ESPN)? I might have to go back to turning on the TV and hitting mute so I can listen to Sonny, Sam and....well, to Sonny and Sam on WJFK. (I still think that the firing of Frank Herzog as 'skins play-by-play radio guy is one of the great injustices of radio).

Z104

Get over it. I could understand the sentimentality over the death of HFS. But this is ridiculous.

VACO

I saw Virginia Coalition for the first time last Friday at the 930. They're a great live act, and I will probably need to see them again/get more records in the near future. The recorded output doesn't do the live show justice, and they are an incredibly talented bunch of musicians. Oh, and Redskins fans to boot--a spontaneous chorus of "Hail to the Redskins" among the VaCo fans in the house on Friday proved that.

They managed to sell out the 930, which is good--that's the third all-local-music sellout I've been to at the 930. I keep forgetting that the 930 is all ages, though. I was reminded of this fact when I was on my way to the show. L'Enfant Plaza station, green line platform (Greenbelt side): a half-dozen high school kids; three couples, no big deal. Ten minutes later, the whole rest of the sophomore class shows up, swigging what smells like bourbon and coke out of water bottles--right on the platform-- and generally making giggly idiots of themselves.

I felt simultaneously irritated, amused, and, well, old.

OK, I'm off.

Papa John's Pizza has a standing offer: one free topping on Monday for every TD the 'Skins score Sunday; double if they win. After last Sunday's thrashing of the Niners, 'Skins fans were ready to take full advantage of the offer.

We got two seven-topping pizzas at our house. We didn't even know that we could get double toppings!

As Dad said--Mmmm...sarap pala ang pizza na maraaming laman!