Thierry Henry leaves Premier League for MLS; Can Red Bulls Capitalize on Beckham-like Acquisition?

- photo credit Matthews/AP, via NY Daily News

This week, failed French hero and 32-year-old forward for the Tottenham Hotspurs (English Premier League) announced he has signed with the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. The headline from most casual soccer fans is that Thierry Henry has thus officially declared himself a has-been by signing with the much weaker MLS (even 28-year-old U.S. star Landon Donovan is having second thoughts about ending his remaining prime years in Los Angeles).

But the question for MLS fans is whether signing an aging-but-star striker like Henry, fresh off a disappointing World Cup performance, will yield better results for NY than the signing of former Real Madrid/Man U star David Beckham did for LA. For those of you who have been wondering why you haven't heard about Beckham recently, other than watching him look depressed (and yet dapper) on the sidelines while England got served by Germany, the $32 million Galaxy player tore his Achilles tendon while on loan to AC Milan, and is out for the whole season. Injury and fitness issues have plagued Beckham's time at the Galaxy, as have questions about his commitment given multiple loans and perceived lack of effort, infamously earning him boos an an altercation with a fan.

Will the story be different for Henry, who also formerly played for a perennial Premier League contender (Arsenal) and in La Liga (Barca)? Or will he suffer similar problems of ego, age, and inflated fan expectations? Just as Beckham entered a club that already featured a star at the same position (Donovan at midfielder), so too will Henry, who will be teammates with fellow striker and frequent Golden Boot contender Juan Pablo Angel. With a new soccer-specific stadium and an impressive season thus far from a previously bottom of the barrel team (the Red Bulls are second in the East, a decent enough performance to make the playoffs), the timing is right for the New York club to really make a push as a real soccer town. Whether Henry will be a key part of that push shall be determined very soon.

And The Stage is Set: Round of 16 Preview

The final games of group play have finished, and the elimination rounds of the 2010 World Cup are now set! Spain fought back from their surprise loss to Switzerland with a big 2-1 win over Chile, propelling themselves to the top of Group H and avoiding a Round of 16 matchup against Brazil, who faces Chile instead. Interesting fact, Chile gave up 7 goals to Brazil in their two matches during World Cup qualifying; not exactly the best record you want when facing the #1 team in the world.

How did the various continents do? Well, Europe did worse than last time around, and the rest of the world did better:

Europe - 6 (down from 10 in 2006)
South America - 5
CONCACAF (N. & C. Am., Caribbean) - 2
Asia - 2
Africa - 1
Oceania - 0

And who has the easiest path to the semi-finals, and who has the hardest? Let's look at the brackets (using pre-World Cup FIFA Rankings):

Weakest: #14 USA v. #32 Ghana, #16 Uruguay v. #47 S. Korea
#2 Spain v. #3 Portugal, #31 Paraguay v. #45 Japan
#1 Brazil v. #18 Chile, #4 Netherlands v. #34 Slovakia
Strongest: #6 Germany v. #8 England, #7 Argentina v. #17 Mexico

Things look good for Team USA; they are in the weakest bracket by far, and while Ghana is the strongest team in Africa and Uruguay is the original power team, the Yanks are fully capable of winning their bracket up to the semi-finals if they play the way they did back in the Confederations Cup, where they beat Spain in the semi-finals and went up 2-0 over Brazil in halftime of the finals, only to give up 3 goals in the second half. We may see a rematch of that Confederations Cup finals (held in South Africa last year), as Brazil and the USA are on the same side of the brackets, able to meet up in the semi-final match. But it won't be a cakewalk for Brazil, either; though they are heavily favored to trounce Chile yet again, they haven't looked in top form yet this World Cup (though all signs suggest they're just waiting for the elimination rounds to play their real game, which should blow us all away), and may face European powerhouse Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

On the other side, the toughest trek by far will be where perennial European powerhouses Germany and England face off. Both are playing some of the ugliest football we've ever seen them play, with England finishing second in Group C after being unable to beat Algeria and drawing with the Americans (sort of like the War of 1812). Not only should that first match be a knock-down, drag-out street fight, but the winner of the derby faces red-hot Argentina, who is one of the few teams who look like they're ready to win the whole thing, maybe even more so than Brazil. And don't count out Mexico, which has been playing like a top 10 team and may be the Cinderella story of this World Cup. Whoever comes out of this strongest group will probably face the winner of Iberian neighbors Spain and Portugal. Spain has definitely not looked like the European champions so far, with star Liverpool striker Fernando "El Nino" Torres still scoreless and an apparent inability to convert on strong chances. UEFA Euro 2008 hero David Villa (Valencia) has stepped up, though, and it will be interesting to see whether he continues to be the big finisher for La Roja (who confused me by wearing blue today in their final group match).

Portugal, too, has been lackluster, with the biggest disappointment being the lack of goals from international superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) (especially after the epic Nike ad campaign). In 270 minutes, Ronaldo has hit the back of the net just once, of seven Portuguese goals. If Spain is in top form, we'll see Barca-inspired dominance of possession, meaning fewer chances for Portugal. Ronaldo will have to execute on the opportunities he does have if he hopes to make the Nike ads into a reality.

But here back home, all eyes are just focused right now on USA v. Ghana. By all measures, the USA is favored, but that's not how the World Cup works. Emotions will be running high; Ghana and the US were both in the same group in 2006, and the African Cup Champions nabbed the second slot out of group play behind Italy (remember when Italy used to make it out of group play), with Ghana beating the US 2-1 in the final group play match, sending the Yanks home and dooming Americans to another four years of pretending that the world cares about MLB's World Series. As always, Team USA has a lot to prove to proto-fans at home, and there is never a venue better than the World Cup to teach Americans to love soccer. But the Black Stars will be under a lot of pressure as well; not only are they looking to make another run in the World Cup, they're now the only remaining African team in the first African World Cup in history. It's a lot of pressure from an entire continent, and while the players and coaches claim to welcome it, how they handle it come tomorrow is yet to be seen.

Saturday
Uruguay v. South Korea, 10am EDT, 7am PDT, ESPN
USA v. Ghana, 2:30pm EDT, 11:30am PDT, ABC

Sunday
Germany v. England, 10am EDT, 7am PDT, ESPN
Argentina v. Mexico, 2:30pm EDT, 11:30am PDT, ABC

Monday
Netherlands v. Slovakia, 10am EDT, 7am PDT, ESPN
Brazil v. Chile, 2:30pm EDT, 11:30am PDT, ESPN

Tuesday
Paraguay v. Japan, 10am EDT, 7am PDT, ESPN
Spain v. Portugal, 2:30pm EDT, 11:30am PDT, ESPN

USA Advances!!

The party is still raging here in Pretoria as the US won a stunner in stoppage time to advance to the knockout stages and play Ghana.

The match was intense. The US played well but was consistently unable to finish. And I can't explain why the first goal was called back. But now, I don't really care. Maybe the US has used up its share of bad calls and we'll get some good ones moving forward.

Right before Donovan scored, the US was attacking pretty fiercely. The stadium would get up and down with the ebb and flow of the attack. Some of the strikes were pretty solid and the Algerian keeper was played extremely well today.

But the eruption after the goal was insane!! People dancing in their seats, chucking beers all over the place, hugging any American sitting next to them, the Algerians strangely silent and pissed at the same time. It was a great experience being there and sharing in 92 minutes of pain and then the on-going celebration.

Random fact: The USA finishes on the top of their group even though they held the lead in their three matches for a total of one minute.

See you in Rustenburg boys on Saturday!

Recovering from emotional rollercoaster of USA Slovenia

It's taken two days to calm down after the Slovenia match to be able to write this. The game was the most emotional sporting event I've ever attended, by far. I got to the match and was immediately impressed by the density of American supporters. In a stadium that holds 60,000 people, there must have been at least 80% USA fans! In comparison, the England game was probably 35% American supporters in a stadium that seated 40,000.

All the supporters had come out in brilliant costumes. My favorite was a trio in NASA space suits holding signs that read "South Africa! We have landed!". I'll get up pictures as soon as I get them off my camera. The place was rocking by the time the teams came out onto the fields for their national anthems.

So we are all yelling and screaming and blowing a few vuvuzelas and then Slovenia slips through for their first goal. The oft-cited criticism is that the US leaks bad goals. My opinion after watching two games is that the critics are right. The USA leaked two bad early goals and immediately put ourselves in a hole. Timmy Howard is an amazing keeper and has definitely kept the team in the game any number of times, but if his defense won't mark up and close out and run players off the ball in the box then we are going to give up bad goals.

The stadium was very quiet after the first goal but we got back on the horse and continued urging the team on. And we had a really good attack going for a while, highlighted by Donovan's near goal that was kicked away at the last possible moment by a Slovenian defender. But then the heartbreaker - after a good ten to fifteen minutes of American domination, the Slovenians slipped in on the counter-attack. It was a beautifully played throughball, assisted by more sloppy American defending, that was slotted into the back of the net.

So there we are, thoroughly disheartened, going into the half down two-zero. Thankfully Bradley made two important changes at the half. Anyone with half an eye could have told you Findley was ineffective in the first 135 minutes of play and he was removed. Torres played a mostly uninspired defensive midfield, with the exception of one nice set piece, and was also removed. Donovan was moved up to a forward position and immediately rewarded the decision with a cracker of a goal two yards in front of the net. From there on out, it was USA almost the whole half. This is the type of soccer I came to South Africa to see! The US imposed their will on Slovenia, making nice runs, putting together crisp passes, and taking well-aimed shots.

And we were rewarded in the 80th minute with a beautifully set up play, a drop-down header from Altidore, who was playing like a rock in the front, and a slammed home volley from Bradley junior. We were back in the game!!! The crowd erupted in a roar I've never heard before. We were feeling really good and continued to press the attack. It seemed as if Slovenia was content to merely try and hang on for the draw at this point. But they could not deny the US attack and the Americans scored a beautiful goal of a Donovan set piece.

Even though the Slovenians appeared helpless before the American assault, the referee was not and blew the now-infamous phantom penalty against our side. The goal was mysteriously called back. By now there has been enough venting and complaining and I'm willing to accept the absurdity of it all. A beautiful goal nullified and no explanation given. At the match I was beyond upset. But the English draw against Algeria has put the ball firmly into the American court. It we win, we advance. That's all a team can really ask for anyway. And somehow, a win with a Slovenian loss or draw puts us through in first place, avoiding Germany in the round of 16. And thanks to a weak group A, we would most likely play Mexico or Uruguay in the quarters. It is hard to imagine a better road to the semis than that. Not an easy one, but infinitely better than facing Argentina or Brazil early on.

All in all, I'll take where we are at. I hoped for better, prayed for no worse, and now the USA is in control of its destiny. Oleeeee, ole ole, oleeee. Ole----- USA!

Notes from the Cup

Here's another post from our friend Eric in South Africa - apologies for the tardiness. I blame the time difference.

I went to the USA v. England match last week. It was a nice healthy drive from Joburg to Rustenburg on a small highway that clearly wasn't intended to transport that many rabid fans to a stadium in the middle of nowhere. My friend and I parked the car a few miles from the stadium and hopped on the bus with masses of singing English fans. Cruised into the stadium without problems, found our seats, and the game began.



The Brits are far in front of us with their cheers, and songs, and hand claps and general insults to hurl at the other team. A lot of us American fans resorted to a scattering of old college cheers. We need to get a consensus on this guys! Any songwriters out there want to get us some good music to taunt our foes across the pitch?

The first goal against was brutal. The USA came out looking sloppy and unprepared for the quickness of the English attack. Within minutes we were down 1-nil and the USA fans looked despondent. When a goal is scored so quickly there is a lot of time to get back in the mix though, and after the first ten minutes the US started to play a lot better. Our goal was a miracle of course - no competent keeper should have let that one through.



In the second half the game opened up a lot more. Timmy Howard was my MVP of the game, with brilliant save after save. Jozy's sweet run that ended in a shot off the crossbar almost had the USA fans in fits. What a sweet victory that would've been. I'm getting ready for the Slovenia game now and I think it will go well for our boys. We should have some confidence after drawing England and come out a little more comfortable and ready to play. I think Donovan and Jozy could be a little more assertive, and I'm still not sure who the other striker paired with Jozy was, but please, bench him. He showed nothing the entire match except drawing one penalty at the 40 yard line.

Good luck boys!

For a look at what happened on Friday and what it means, check out Kevin's post.

What Today's U.S., England Draws Mean?

In case you weren't actually at the match (Eric), playing hookey from work at 10am Eastern (Beau), or half asleep on your parents' couch at 7am Pacific (me), you may have missed an edge-of-your-seat 90 minutes of USA soccer today, with our Yanks fighting back from a nil-two deficit going into the half to almost pull off a Laker-esque come-from-behind victory. In fact, but for the worst reffing ever, Team USA would now be sitting happy atop the Group C standings. Unfortunately, they suffered from a non-foul called a foul, plus failure to call a penalty kick, resulting in a 2-2 draw, and Slovenia kings of Group C.

Oh yeah, and then England drew 0-0 with Algeria, proving definitively that England (ranked #8 in the world by FIFA) was overrated coming into this World Cup, and that Rooney's Premier League top-striker title fails to translate without a star international supporting cast.

So what does this all mean? Slovenia has 4 points, the U.S. and England each 2, and Algeria 1. The U.S. has its own destiny in its hands; a win means it moves forward with five points, regardless of how England vs. Slovenia plays out. The U.S. also moves forward with a tie if Slovenia and England draw at 0-0 or 1-1 (for any draw higher, the U.S. would have to draw at a goal higher as well to progress; i.e., a 2-2 Eng/Slo draw would require a 1-1 U.S./Alg draw).

This is all because the first World Cup tiebreaker in group play is Goal Differential (goals scored minus goals allowed), and the second tiebreaker is total Goals For. Right now, Slovenia is sitting on a +1 GD, the U.S. and England are at 0, and Algeria is at -1. For Goals For, Slovenia and the U.S. both have 3, the English just one, and Algeria none.

If both the U.S. and England win, they'll both move forward. Who finishes first in the group (thus getting a hypothetically easier draw in the Round of 16) depends on who wins bigger next Wednesday (remember, GD is the first tiebreaker and the U.S. and England are currently even on that front).

Whether it'll be a blessing or a curse to come out of group first is yet to be seen; the winner of Group C plays the Group D runner up, and Germany fell 0-1 to Serbia today, with best-in-Africa Ghana yet to come.

US v. England

Much has been made of the tie between the United States and England on Saturday. Some people snarkily called the tie the greatest victory for US soccer. Others predicted it. No one expected that hilarious lack of skill exhibited by the English goalie, Green.

The Guardian has a pretty good recap of the goals here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jun/14/world-cup-2010-england-usa-brick.

Yes, it's a Lego version of both goals. And yes, it's awesome.

World Cup Update for the Jealous... including all of us

Yes, boobies are a fantastic opener to a blog post. However, this post comes from our wonderful in-country correspondent Eric. As an editor, I apologize for posting this so late. The truth is I had a hot date that may or may not have involved someone you know. Such is the adventurous life of a sports blogger. Editorialisms aside, here is Eric's take from South Africa:

I've never seen a stadium get down like I did in Pretoria this afternoon. South Africa scored a beautiful goal at the start of the second half to open scoring for the World Cup and a 1-0 lead over Mexico. I was at a Fan Fest with 30,000 other people who all went completely bonkers. The vuvuzelas were screeching, people were screaming, everyone was hugging and it was sweet pandemonium. I have video which I will upload as soon as I find a speedy enough internet connection. Celebrating with an entire country is a unique and wondrous thing.

As loud as a goal for RSA was, the silence was absolute when Mexico broke through and equalized. After the keeper had made a stunning save in the first half to keep the score nil-nil, it was quite sad seeing the Mexican goal come on a blown offsides trap. In America, it's a golden rule, pummeled into you from youth soccer, to get out of the box after a corner. So while 9 out of 10 South African players moved beyond the 18, one remained and three Mexicans moved in behind him. When the cross was delivered, it was an easy blow into the back of the net. And into the bellies of 40 million South Africans.

In the end, a 1-1 draw wasn't the worst way to start. And with France and Uruguay tying as well, the group is wide open. And after seeing all four teams playing I'm not convinced any of them are worthy of going through.

All in all though, a great first day to World Cup action. And now to dream of the US beating England tomorrow!! This game I will be there live.

Picking up World Cup Tickets

This is via email from our newest contributor, Eric, who is in South Africa for the World Cup.

When I entered the World Cup lottery for Team USA tickets 16 months ago, I didn’t realize that winning the lottery meant you immediately purchased the tickets you selected. I was under the impression that I was bidding on the right to buy tickets and a winning lottery number meant I could then purchase a ticket at my discretion. And really, a lottery makes it sound like you win something instead of the reality of forking over some cash to FIFA.

Being the proud owner of twelve tickets to the World Cup meant I had to get over to Africa. Which is where I am now, hanging out in my posh hostel in Cape Town. The official World Cup Ticketing Centres (thank you England) officially opened this week and I went over to pick up my tickets.

The good news: My tickets to see the USA take on England, Algeria and Slovenia!

The better news: Two of my three tickets were upgraded to CAT-1. For free.

Or through a blunder in the otherwise flawless execution of these games. See pictures of unfinished stadiums and highways as well as reports of crime in South Africa and other ineptitudes from FIFA, all to be found on Google. I don’t have the heart to take pictures of it myself. They really are working hard here to get everything ready.

CAT-1 tickets mean I’m sitting center pitch for the matches, rather than tucked into the corners.

The bad news: All of my tickets are, by random, in the upper levels. There is only one price for a ticket in CAT-1, regardless if you are in the mid-field 2 rows back or sort of on the side close to the goal in the upper level. Same goes for all the other categories. Price is determined by where you are on the circle around the pitch, not how far back you are from the pitch.

The worse news: Knockout stage game tickets are only issued after the results are known for the prior games. Therefore, I didn’t get my knockout stage tickets. Which means I have to go back to an official Ticketing Centre three more times. And since I’m leaving the country before the quarter- and semi-finals, it’s a mystery how those tickets will be purchased and given away as gifts to some dear friends I haven’t met yet.

Obviously I have no real reason for complaining though. I’m here in beautiful South Africa, getting to know the country and her people, and mentally preparing for an epic US-England matchup.

What's your favorite Ball?

The New York Times Italy, 1934? Mexico, 1986? South Africa, 2010? Find your favorite World Cup ball.

Special thanks to AWP for pointing out this link!

World Cup Correspondent

We're hoping to unveil a World Cup correspondent shortly. While he doesn't have the renown of Steve Nash, who will be reporting for www.cbssports.com, he does have a law degree, which must count for something. Right?

For now, though, you all can bask in the mystery of who this guy could possibly be.

World Cup to Use High-Speed Adidas Ball

"World Cup: Adidas' Jabulani Ball Promises Higher Scores, Anguished Goalies":

[F]or the 11th year, Adidas earned the right to field its version of what a world-class ball should look like.

This tournament's ball, called "Jabulani," which means "to celebrate" in Bantu, represents advances in both design and innovation.

Rather than being made of leather, which is traditional, the Jabulani ball is constructed of synthetics. Instead of 14 panels, there are only eight, which are held together by thermal bonding, not hand stitching.

That "grip 'n' groove" technology makes for improved wind channeling and, thus, a truer flight, Adidas officials say. Fewer seams also translate into a greater striking surface, making the Jabulani the roundest and most accurate soccer ball ever created.

As a result, this ball is faster than ever -- potentially making for higher-scoring games. That's a plus for markets, like the U.S., where less soccer-savvy audiences are less appreciative of a sophisticated defense than of the primal thrill of a boot into the net.

U.S. Men's National Team for 2010 World Cup Announced

NYT has a story, and the full list is here.

Notable stats:

• 9 players are on MLS teams. The two L.A. teams each have two players a piece making the list: from Chivas USA, defender Jonathan Bornstein and midfielder Sacha Kljestan, and from the Galaxy, forward Edson Buddle and midfielder Landon Donovan.
  
• 7 players, including all 3 keepers, play on English teams (#1 GK Tim Howard plays for Everton, where star midfielder Landon Donovan was on loan earlier this year)
• L.A. Galaxy's Landon Donovan is the most experienced player on the squad, with 121 caps and 42 goals in international play. The Galaxy captain is 28 years old.
  
• The youngest player on the team is Jozy Altidore (Villareal, Spain), at 20 years old. The oldest player is backup keeper Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers, Eng.), at 38.