CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers
La semaine des rivalités nous a offert un programme intense le week-end dernier, et c’est le sujet principal de notre émission hebdomadaire (à écouter ici) :
- On revient sur le match Montréal - Toronto, la manière dont l’Impact a gagné, l’importance de Bernier dans le jeu montréalais, l’apport des ailiers, le travail effectué à l’entraînement, l’ambiance au Stade olympique.
- Retour sur d’autres rencontres, principalement Dallas - Houston et Seattle - Portland.
- Après trois semaines de compétition, quel est le joueur désigné qui se distingue le plus et quel est le meilleur nouveau venu ?
- Les polémiques arbitrales de la semaine :
- New York - DC United : le ballon avait-il passé la ligne quand Hamid a repoussé une tête de Barklage ?
- Dallas - Houston : le but de Cooper est-il entaché d’une faute de bras ?
- LA Galaxy - Chivas USA : l’exclusion de Velázquez est-elle justifiée ?
- La sélection américaine en vue de ses deux prochains matchs des éliminatoires de la Coupe du monde
- Club de lecture : « La Balle au centre », les mémoires de Thierry Roland, commentateur mythique à la télévision française. Les animateurs de l’émission discutent de son style, de sa personnalité, de son franc-parler, de son image, de la Coupe du monde 1998, etc.
L'émission Coup Franc est disponible sur Stitcher et iTunes. Vous pouvez nous joindre par courriel (coup.franc@MLSsoccer.com), sur Facebook ou sur Twitter (@CoupFrancMLS).
Landon Donovan has a history of insightful, personal interviews. He just hasn't given very many of them lately.
That seems to have changed on Wednesday night, as the US national team and LA Galaxy legend answered questions in public for the first time since helping lead his team to the 2012 MLS Cup. Donovan appeared at a Q&A session titled "The Competitive Edge" on the campus of the University of Southern California.
One promising young scribe proceded to live tweet the event. We can't vouch for the veracity of his transcription, during which Donovan talks about everything from his relationship with his dad to that time he almost quit soccer in 2006 (which, from memory, was right before kickoff vs. Ghana), but I guarantee you we'll all be talking about this out-of-the-blue appearance by LD for the next 48 hours:
Donovan: "2006 was rly my first big failure. There was 2 weeks when I went into depression..I started wondering if soccer is for me again"
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
Donovan regarding when Beckham came: "I learned a lot of important things...like what to say and what not to say"
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
On marriage sit in 2009: "For some reason, there was smth inside me that was pulling me to get out of it...I became not a great (pause) man"
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
"I hit a point last year, and it's really been a lot...I don't feel an obligation to play soccer, I play it cuz I like it, not bc I need it"
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
"I was so exhausted from the weight of the past 15 years...really the past 28 years"
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
"There have been time in the past where I thought about quitting because I no longer enjoyed it" he's referring to his time at Bayer Leverku
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
Here's the best part, if you're a US fan:
What everyone wanted to hear: "Yes, I do have an interest in playing for the USMNT again, if given the opportunity, I would"
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
And here's the part that's Landon being Landon to, like, the Nth degree:
He says he asked to speak at USC when he heard of our class, and agent approved it. Example of giving more than just on the field.
— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013
Here's the least surprising news of the day: Columbus has reportedly been picked as the site for the all-important World Cup qualifying matchup between the US and Mexico on Sept. 10.
That report comes from ESPN's John Sutcliffe, who tweeted out the news on Saturday. Crew Stadium has always been the frontrunner to host the match, thanks in no small part to its history of crucial matches for the Americans, and a 6-0-3 record there all-time. The last time the US suited up there came last September, when they beat Jamaica in qualifying.
The stadium has hosted the US team's home qualifier against Mexico in the final round for the last three consecutive World Cup qualifying cycles, with the United States collecting identical 2-0 scorelines in 2001, 2005 and 2009.
I am told that the Mexico @ USA World Cup qualifier on September 10th...will be played as usual in Columbus Ohio. #ElTRIONESPN
— John Sutcliffe (@espnsutcliffe) February 9, 2013
The folks at KICKTV are back with the second installment of their exclusive series "The Hex," which will examine the US national team's long and winding road to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. In the latest episode, their cameras take you inside the passion of the US-Honduras match, with a look at the US fans who traveled to San Pedro Sula.
Missed the first episode? Check it out on KICKTV's You Tube page.
Que de surprises lors de cette première journée du dernier tour des éliminatoires de la Coupe du monde dans la zone Concacaf ! Les États-Unis battus, le Mexique tenu en échec dans son antre et un troisième match spectaculaire.
Le déplacement au Honduras ne s’annonçait pas facile pour les Américains et avant le match, Michael Bradley parlait de l’expérience nécessaire lors d’un tel déplacement. Las, l’équipe de Jurgen Klinsmann en a clairement manqué et, malgré l’ouverture de la marque signée Dempsey, s’est inclinée 2-1 suite à des buts de Garcia et Bengston. « Trop d’erreurs dans trop de domaines », résumait laconiquement le sélectionneur de la formation à la bannière étoilée.
Autre ténor de la Concacaf qui panse ses plaies, le Mexique a concédé le nul 0-0 chez lui face à la Jamaïque. Deux points perdus qui font d’autant plus mal qu’ils l’ont été contre l’équipe négligée du groupe et mettent fin à une série de 24 victoires consécutives au stade Azteca en éliminatoires de la Coupe du monde. Le héros du jour ? Le gardien Donovan Ricketts, qui a reçu des éloges qui en surprendront certainement plus d’un à Montréal et à Portland.
Dans le dernier match, le Panama pensait avoir fait le plus difficile en prenant deux buts d’avance sur le Costa Rica. Mais le joueur désigné du Real Salt Lake Alvaro Saborio a réduit la marque avant que la vedette des Ticos, Bryan Ruiz, ne fixe les chiffres à 2-2 d’un superbe retourné acrobatique.
La route vers le Brésil est encore longue, puisqu’il y a un total de 10 journées à ce dernier tour. La prochaine aura lieu le 22 mars, avec au programme États-Unis - Costa Rica, Honduras - Mexique et Jamaïque - Panama.
C’est aujourd’hui que commence le dernier tour des éliminatoires de la Coupe du monde 2014 dans la zone Concacaf. Sans le Canada, vous le savez, mais avec le Mexique, les États-Unis, le Costa Rica, le Honduras, le Panama et la Jamaïque. Trois d’entre eux seront qualifiés directement pour le Brésil, alors que le quatrième jouera un match de barrage contre un pays d’Océanie.
Le sommet de la journée opposera deux nations présentes lors du dernier Mondial, le Honduras et les États-Unis. Le premier objectif des Catrachos est de gagner tous leurs matchs à domicile, explique Victor Bernardez, l’un des nombreux internationaux honduriens à évoluer en MLS. Le déplacement ne s’annonce pas aisé pour les Américains qui, selon Michael Bradley, ne devront pas gaspiller leur énergie à maudire les circonstances hostiles.
L’autre bourreau du Canada, le Panama de Blas Perez (FC Dallas) comptera sur sa solidarité et pense que son heure est venue. Il devra le confirmer chez lui contre un des candidats sérieux à la qualification, le Costa Rica qui a soif de revanche après son échec d’il y a 4 ans. Le dernier affrontement mettra aux prises le Mexique de Giovanni Dos Santos à une équipe de Jamaïque renouvelée mais qui compte encore en ses rangs plusieurs joueurs de MLS.
The US national team is in Honduras for their first Hexagonal World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. It's sure to be a tough match.
But for all the talk about the difficulty of getting a result in Honduras, the last time the Yanks played a World Cup qualifier there, they got all three points.
On October 10, 2009, Bob Bradley's US squad headed to San Pedro Sula in need of a good result to secure their qualification to the 2010 World Cup. Mission accomplished, as the US held on for a 3-2 win.
The Americans fell behind early, after Julio Cesar de Leon, but then came back to take a 3-1 lead with two goals from Conor Casey and one from Landon Donovan. De Leon struck a late one to pull los Catrachos within one, and Carlos Pavon, the Honduran legend, skyed a late penalty over the bar, giving the US a vital victory.
Check out the highlights:
We won't know Jurgen Klinsmann's full roster for the US national team's World Cup qualifier against Honduras until Monday, but a celebrity sighting appears to have revealed at least one name on the list.
That would be Sporting KC's Matt Besler, who scored a picture with Kim Kardashian on a flight to Miami (destination revealed thanks to Ms. Kardashian's personal account) and tweeted it to his followers with this message: "Yes, of course you can sit next to me on my flight this morning. Nothing to worry about, Kayne."
Smooth, Matt. Real smooth.
Just spell Kanye's name right next time, OK?
For all those US national team fans clamoring for Omar Gonzalez to get his shot in Jurgen Klinsmann's good graces, it's worth citing that old Smiths song: "How soon is now?"
The LA Galaxy backline destroyer and MLS Cup 2012 MVP isn't just getting his shot, he's seizing the advantage and impressing the big boss. Check out this installment of "Opportunity Knocks" from US Soccer to get a sense of where Gonzalez fits in and how he's doing in January camp.
As befitting a centenary year, the US Soccer Federation has released a special crest commemorating the landmark occasion for American soccer.
The crest is now prominent on the US Soccer website, with the centenary home page featuring an informative section on the history of the sport in the USA.
It's not a radical departure from the norm – a sash reading "1913 ~ CENTENNIAL ~ 2013" has been placed under the normal crest – but it catches the eye without much change to a recognizable logo.
Of course, a commemorative crest isn't the only thing the USSF has planned to honor the federation's centenary. Though the USSF has yet to confirm them, there are strong rumors floating around that the US men's national team will face off against Germany in May, a match that would pit US manager Jurgen Klinsmann against his former team and former assistant Joachim Löw.
And while that is all well and good, there is still one overarching present that would make the USSF's centenary a truly celebratory occasion: qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which would be the USMNT's seventh consecutive appearance.
What do you think of the crest? Too much? Not flashy enough? Feel free to share your thoughts and any others about US Soccer's centenary in the comments section below.