[lavachefolle]

12 goals in the first two quarter finals.

brilliant.

[jurassic5]

argentina and mexico playing right now in the Copa Semi.

its on univsion...online video available too.

[Aziraphale]

Just to round up the Copa:


Brazil victorious in Copa America

Brazil retained the Copa America after beating favourites Argentina 3-0 in a one-sided final in Venezuela.

Brazil opened the scoring in the fourth minute as former Arsenal striker Julio Baptista hammered a fine strike past Argentina keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.

Five minutes before the interval, Roberto Ayala inadvertently deflected Daniel Alves' cross into his own net.

And Alves secured victory with 21 minutes remaining as he finished well following a smart counter-attack.

It was Brazil's eighth Copa America title and denied their arch-rivals a record 15th crown.

Argentina were outplayed in every department as the sparkling form they showed in the run-up to the final deserted them.

The result was justification for a side who entered the tournament without Ronaldinho and Kaka, and who had been criticised for being workmanlike.

Baptista's goal settled any early nerves as he picked up a long ball from Elano - who replaced suspended skipper Gilberto Silva - controlled it neatly, turned to the right of Ayala and fired a fierce right-foot drive into the top corner.

Five minutes later, Argentina were unfortunate not to be back on level terms when a header from Juan Sebastian Veron found Juan Roman Riquelme in space but his shot came off the post.

But Argentina struggled to make any impact and Brazil took control with Ayala's unfortunate 40th-minute own goal.

Argentina stars Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi were unable to impose themselves on the match and were marked out of the game by well-organised opponents.

Brazil earned a memorable third goal after 69 minutes, Vagner Love breaking free down the left and slotted an inch-perfect pass between two defenders to Alves.

Argentina's miserable night was summed up when Tevez had an 80th-minute effort ruled out for offside.

Meanwhile, in the third-place play-off in Caracas, Uruguay captain Diego Lugano was sent off in the 38th minute and Mexico took full advantage, winning 3-1.

Source: BBC Sport

[jurassic5]

didn't get to watch the game, but am a bit surprised that Argentina lost. they brought their A team....sounds like Brazil got their stuff together at just the right time.

[lavachefolle]

brazil's b team is about as effective as an A team, they were more organized and disciplined than they've been in a long time. in the final they employed 5 midfielders to snuff out any attacks and prevented riquelme, cambiasso, or veron from finding anyone. if kaka or ronnie had played, argentina would've had a lot more space to create.

essentially, brazil made the game incredibly boring.

2-0 would've been fairer, what with ayala's ridiculous own-goal and all.

[SkyRunner]

Sunday was very, very painful I was so sure Argentina would do great. Oh well.

[jurassic5]

US taking on Sweden on the 22nd at 2:30pm. will be good to see the boys back in action after their disaster in the Copa. will also be playing Brazil on the 9th of September.

[jurassic5]

US tied with Sweden 0-0 in the 22nd minute.


The game is on FSC

[GO!zilla]

US tied with Sweden 0-0 in the 22nd minute.
The game is on FSC

in! 2nd half

[jurassic5]

US takes on Brazil this Sunday in Chicago in the "Clash of Champions". the game is on ESPN2 and univision at 4pm Eastern.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard (Everton FC), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
Midfielders (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)
Forwards (4): Davy Arnaud (Kansas City Wizards), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)


BRAZIL ROSTER
Goalkeepers (2): Doni (Roma), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan)
Defenders (8): Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Alex Silva (São Paulo), Lúcio (Bayern Munich), Juan (Roma), Alex (Chelsea), Kleber (Santos), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin),
Midfielders (8): Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin), Josué (VfL Wolfsburg), Fernando (Bordeaux), Elano (Manchester City), Kaká (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), Diego (Werder Bremen)
Forwards (4): Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Robinho (Real Madrid), Vagner Love (CSKA Moscow), Afonso (SC Heerenveen)


“Soccer wasn’t the most important sport in town, but it was something I fell in love with. I’ve hit home runs, made three pointers, scored touchdowns, but nothing was better than scoring a goal.”

--Clint Dempsey, explaining why he chose to play soccer (Chicago Tribune, Sept. 5)

[crackednut]

lmao I love the "Clash of Champions" tag
on another note, it was pretty cool to hear Feilhaber speak Portuguese in the ussoccer.com video

but who knows, maybe the USA will pull one of those infamous surprise goals


going back to MLS play
omggg the DC game last night
goshhh, that awkward goal seemed to turn everything around...and it was going so damn well for DC too
they'll need to definitely pull a good result against Revolution to keep their place at the top of the table

and that winning streak was feeling soooo good

[jurassic5]

game is now on ESPN 2.

kaka and ronaldinho are there...and playing.

[jurassic5]

carlos boccanegra puts the US up 1-0 over Brazil.

[crackednut]

ouch Shockanegra goal followed by an OG by Onyewu

now its 2-1 for Brasil

[jurassic5]

US could have had a PK there....oh well.still 2-1 Brazil. Dempsey with a nice goal. tied 2-2. US is surprising me here today.

*edit.
IMO a weak foul called outside of the box....Ronaldinho with a nice free kick goal. 3-2 brazil.

[jurassic5]

PK by Brazil. 4-2.

FINAL SCORE

4-2



The US played quite well. The ref had a few non-calls against the US and Brazil that could have changed the game. Still quite impressed with the guys being able to hang with Brazil.

[jurassic5]

It may be just another friendly....but this game is gonna be awesome.

bradley has brought back some of the european players, so it will be interesting to see how they all click together with such short practice time together.

the US will also be wearing their new jersey with hoops.

the game will be live on ESPN2 starting with pre-game at 8pm on Wed. i can't wait!

USA: 1-Tim Howard; 16-Jonathan Spector (15-Frank Simek, 72), 22-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 13-Jonathan Bornstein; 8-Clint Dempsey (20-Taylor Twellman, 69), 5-Benny Feilhaber, 4-Pablo Mastroeni (19-Ricardo Clark, 46), 7-DaMarcus Beasley; 11-Brian Ching, 10-Landon Donovan
Subs not used: 9-Eddie Johnson, 12-Jay DeMerit, 14-Steve Ralston, 18-Kasey Keller
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

MEX: 11- Oswaldo Sánchez, 2- Jonny Magallón, 3-Carlos Salcido, 4-Rafael Márquez (capt.), 5-Ricardo Osorio, 7- Alberto Medina (10-Cuauhtémoc Blanco, 78), 8- Pável Pardo, 9-Jared Borgetti (19-Omar Bravo, 40), 16-Jaime Lozano (23- Adolfo Bautista, 81), 18-Andrés Guardado, 21-Nery Castillo
Subs not used: 13-Guillermo Ochoa, 14-Fausto Pinto, 20- Fernando Arce, 22- Francisco Rodríguez
Head Coach: Hugo Sánchez

[jurassic5]

it is on tonight!


who needs duke/unc when there is a bigger rivalary.....Mexico/USA!

Let's go Landon and company!

ESPN2 @ 9PM Eastern.

check out this site to stream it via IE.

[tehelmo]

USA! USA!

I was at the US vs Denmark game in the first post of this thread.

The recent Mexico match was a great wakeup call to defending set pieces. Moor and Corrales were getting manhandled and seemed like they were playing for the wrong team. Dempsey's offside call was albeit late, but seemed correct. Altidore is god.

[jurassic5]

US vs Mexico on Wed. Should be good.

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Danny Califf, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne.

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers, Jose Francisco Torres.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan.