As promised, U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) coach Bob Bradley announced call-ups to training camp today. You can wade through the kiss-ass, blah, blah, blah release posted on ussoccer.com or work with the shorter, tidier version showing on USSoccerplayers.com, but they'll both tell you the same thing, right?
Since this will no doubt occupy many of us till the games themselves, let's do the like/dislike thing quick and dirty:
Dislikes
Kasey Keller - I write this as one who, on one of the most aggravating day of the past 365, smiled broadly after accidentally discovering Kasey Keller Boulevard in Yelm, Washington: Keller is a great 'keeper, but it's time to let go. I would have rather seen Marcus Hahnemann.
Brian Ching - He's recovering from injury; leave him be. There will be time later.
Dubious, but Neutral (yeah, this is cheating)
Eddie Johnson - When does this guy run out of chances? I'm OK with him being there, but...dang...
Likes
New Blood - While I'm almost certainly the only person even remotely associated with the U.S. soccer community who did not pitch a mini-tent about Jay DeMerit's call-up, I'm glad to see he's his shot. Ditto with guys like Frank Simek and Benny Feilhaber. I don't know anything about either first-hand (I've seen DeMerit a couple times now) and look forward to learning more.
Michael Bradley - I'm glad Coach Bob didn't quail before perceived and real "coach's son" taunts. If Bradley's not good enough, we'll all see it. But he deserves a chance to prove it.
All in all, I'm happy with what we've got. The Ecuador game ought to be worth a gander; Guatemala, probably not so much. Still, beats the hell out of last fall when there was nothing, doesn't it?
(#########)
1 comment:
I agree about Kasey Keller. Love the guy ... well actually I really liked him up through France '98 but his sanctimonious act is getting a bit old ... Actually, I thought that he had retired from int'l play. Find somebody else (not Brad Guzon!)
Enjoy the blog ...
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