Continuing...

Still on hiatus, in case anyone was wondering.

Hiatus

I am on a hiatus from posting to this blog. Things at my home and at my job are now preventing me from doing this blog how I want to do it.

I want to thank my reader(s), especially the one(s) who saw fit to leave a comment here or there.

In the meantime, may I humbly invite you to the World Cup Blog? They've got things thoroughly covered over there. Each of the 32 teams has it's own separate blog. You can find me at the USA Team Blog, posting in the comments, or occassionally guest-blogging for Daryl.

Cheers!

USA vs. Germany

Post Game -- I would like to thank my reader(s) for checking out my account of the game.

90' -- Full time. USA 1-4 Germany. I hope Bruce Arena got a good look at certain players.

85' -- USA Goal. Well against the run of play. Kahn and Johnson went simultaneously went for a long thru ball played in by Cherundolo. Looked like neither touched it, and it wound up in the back of the net.

84' -- A replay of the last goal showed that Berhalter, while marking air, had a nice view of Ballack's header.

80' -- For only the second time this game, Oliver Kahn was tested. This time by Cherundolo. Kahn, of course, rose to the task.

79' -- Ballack gets on the score sheet. GOOOOOOOOL. He was right in the middle, and nobody picked him up.

78' -- Ben Olsen is on.

77' -- Pearce in for Gibbs, actually.

76' -- Heath Pearce shown warming up. Let me guess -- Ummm, Berhalter?

75' -- When it rains, it pours. Germany takes a bad pass from Berhalter, and, GOOOOOOL!

73' -- Oliver Neuville, as a sub, hit the upper-90 at the far post.

73' -- Berhalter makes a mistake that leads to a goal. GOOOOOOOL! Dang again. I hope we can pull one back before the end.

69' -- Is Eddie Johnson really very fast, like everyone says? In a foot race, I'd take DeMarcus Beasley. I'd take Landon Donovan. I'd take Steve Cherundolo. I might even take Bobby Convey over him...

67' -- Asamoah subbed out.

66' -- Nice save by Kahn off of an E.Johnson header from a free-kick well won by Convey. That Johnson could beat his man and put a strong header on goal speaks well of him.

64' -- To me, Klein looks like he might be in over his head.

60' -- Asamoah is going to do some damage this summer. Twellman in for Ching.

58' -- Shot of Taylor Twellman warming up...

55' -- Steve Cherundolo is going to be a joy to watch this summer. Not only that, he looks a lot like my brother-in-law.

51' -- Free kick well won, in a dangerous area. Was that Conrad? Convey takes a shot on goal that is really not a challenge for Oliver Kahn.

49' -- Cherundolo uses his speed to break up a German breakaway.

46' -- Germany, ever dangerous on set pieces, score. GOOOOOOOL! Dang.

HT -- Ghana cancels Friendly match with Iran. I wonder why. Also, Johnny O'B will most likely be going to play for an MLS club. Yay!

45' -- Halftime. USA 0-0 Germany.

43' -- Convey had a nice break-away -- I thought he was faster than that...

41' -- Berhalter does not seem to be having a good game, passing wise.

37' -- Free kick earned by Convey. Dangerous in-swinger by Cherundolo -- save required by Kahn.

33' -- Wasted free kick by Convey.

28' -- Caution to Zavagnin for a foul. I've seen many others get away with far worse.

24' -- Jimmy Conrad takes an open shot, and hits the outside netting at the near post. Is it me, or does German keeper Oliver Kahn look like Canadian rocker Bryan Adams?

20' -- Hopefully, we have weathered the early emotional storm of the German team.

16' -- Good work Pablo... didn't give up on the ball, won it back with a foul in deep. Also, Klein in for Wolff -- an unapparent injury must have occured.

12' -- Nice opportunity by Germany, set up by Ballack. Him and Asamoah are looking very good together early on. Meanwhile, we can't build any type of an attack.

10' -- Shot by Ching -- I think he spazzed -- looks like a pass would have served him better.

7' -- If we can't get it from the Keeper up to mid-field without losing possession, this is going to be a doubly long game.

6' -- If we can't dislodge the Germans of possession, this is going to be a long game.

3' -- Germany looks agressive, and are making opportunities in the air.

Pre-game... Ching and Wolff are both starting. One of these two will not make the team, and right now I'd say that would be Ching. Only bringing 4 forwards...

Pre-game... a 3-5-2? I always expect a 4-4-2 from a Bruce Arena team. In any event, as I said earlier, the defense is going to be busy.

Another Live Blog

Feel free, reader(s), to check out a much more widely read live-blog by Bob at the World Cup Blog.

The Challenges of LiveBlogging

Well, this should be fun. My only possible regret would be if I missed something happening on TV because I was looking at what I was typing...

I cn typ withour iooking, thow.

Vill Ve Vin zee Game?

Today is the day for the Friendly match in Germany against Germany.

I plan on having my computer fired up during the game. I might type something up here, or I might contribute over at the World Cup Blog, where site proctor Bob has announced that he will attempt to "live-blog" the game.

Germany is putting forth the best team it possibly can, and are looking to save face from the embarrassment at the feet of Italy on the first of this month. I'm not sure if Bruce Arena is looking more for a result, or if he is looking to evaluate certain players without much regard to the final score. The U.S. team is not the strongest it could be. I know Germany has some injuries, too, but since I am not that familiar with the team, there is really no way I can accurately compare the two teams' injuries.

I just know that the U.S. midfield seems to be very weak for this match. I expect our defense to be tested, and that is fine, because they really haven't been tested in any of our other Friendly matches so far this year. Based on who we have lined up for future Friendly matches (Jamaica, Morocco, Latvia, and Venezuala), they probably won't be tested again until June.

Venezuela it is...

Well, (possibly) in response to my below post, word has it that Team USA has chosen Venezuela to fill the opponent's role in the pentultimate Friendly match (full schedule here).

Venezuela? Is this a mistake from that World Baseball Classic thing going on?

I'm not sure if this game is going to show anyone anything. True, they are from South America, but they are not that good. Out of the 10 CONMEBOL teams, they are easily the 10th, and not very close to the ninth best team.

The next time they qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals will be their first!

At least we get 3 games in a row in May, which will replicate the short amount of time between the World Cup games in June.

Line up the Friendlies

Rumor has it that Team USA will be playing Morocco as one of their three final preparation games in May. I guess more than a rumor, now, it will be the first of three International Friendly matches, and will be played on May 23rd, in Nashville, TN. I've also read that we might be playing Latvia in our final preparation game, on May 28th, in Hartford, CT.

The second game will be on May 26th, in Cleveland, but who will be the opponent?

Who would you like to see play the USA in a Friendly preparation match?

Playin' Hookie

I have a request I'd like to pass along to my reader(s).

Help me come up with a viable excuse to get out of work on the afternoon of the 22nd, so that I can watch the Germany vs. USA game.

Thanks in advance...

Ram(stein)ifications

I would like to ask my reader(s) about any ramifications they see coming out of the Poland victory.

Did we get the can't-win-in-Europe monkey off our backs? I would say that we haven't satisfactorily demonstrated that. Coach Arena is now 2-7-1 on European soil, with both wins coming against Poland. Poland is a solid team, but I think most would agree that it would not be hard to find at least a dozen European teams that are better than Poland. Evan FIFA agrees. So, unfortunately, I believe there is still more to prove. A decisive win against Germany would be a big step, and with Italy's result against them on March 1st, it certainly seems possible.

Most importantly to me was getting to know the venue where we will later play Italy. Hopefully, a few of the folks stationed at Ramstein Air Base got converted to the beautiful game.