Time to put up or shut up

This is how I think the World Cup will play out. Thoughts?

Nervousness starts to creep in

You know that feeling that you used to get as a little kid during the last week of school, the one that made it impossible to do anything? All you could do is look at the clock and watch it slowly tick, tick, tick away. It was like Chinese water torture watching the second hand take it's leisurely stroll. Damn you clock.

Well, that feeling has come back. These past two days at work have been particularly excruciating. I can't focus. I can't write. I can't sit still. All I want is for Friday to come. And it's all because of the World Cup. I have pretty much scoured every single web-site written in English that even briefly mentions soccer. Not to mention I frequent Mexican newspaper's websites about as much as anyone in the country. It has gotten so bad, that I even looked up Italian newspapers and their web-sites, scavenged through them looking for any reference to the Mexico vs. Italy game. Mind you, I speak Italian about as well as my pen does, which is to say not at all. I have this unsatisfiable thirst for information but no matter how much I take in, my need is never quenched. And it won't be unttil Friday at 9:30 A.M. Not until the first ball is kicked will this restless monster inside of me lie down.

Yet, as it is only Tuesday right now, an eternity stands between sanity and myself. Worst of all, this anxiousness has turned from an excited anticipation, like a child on Christmas Eve, to a nervous anxiety, like an inmate on death row. I'm scared senseless. I have no faith in my teams. Every flaw or appearance of a flaw is magnified in my mind until it becomes a gaping hole. What if Mexico's goalie Conejo Perez forgets how to jump and gets goal after goal scored on him? What if Gooch and Jozy don't recover and our front and back lines fall apart? What if Mexico lays an egg against South Africa and becomes the laughingstock of the world? What if England spanks the U.S. and declares it a colony once again?

Ok, I don't really think a U.S. loss would send us back to pre-revolutionary times, but you get the picture. It's bad. I am an optimist in every other aspect of life, always seeing the light shining out of every black hole, but when it comes to the World Cup it is expect misery and hope it doesn't last long.

Alas, I really am not a psycopath. I swear. Once the games begin I will be back to normal. I just can't stand the wait. As I have yet to invent a time machine, I will have to suck it up and go into my padded room. Youtube videos full of cheery memories, here I come.

A little bit of American soccer history

This is a must watch to get the blood pumping 5 days before the big game. But to really understand how monumental America's rise has been, read this.

USA beats Australia 2-1

Good victory by the Americans over the Socceroos. Four things to take away:

1. Edson Buddle. Dude can put the ball in the back of the net. He is on a tear like no other, scoring two goals today to add to his impressive tally in MLS. Whether or not Jozy Altidore is healthy, play the man.
2. Oguchi Onyewu is not fit yet and won't get the start against England. He was a second half substitution today and while he didn't look bad, per se, he was not his usual imposing self. He was shown limping once or twice as well. Rest the man.
3. The ball movement was stupendous in the middle. And that was with Rico Clark looking non-existent. Insert Fransico Torres or Mo Edu and we have got ourselves a good looking midfield.
4. Herculez to the rescue! Herculez Gomez continues to be a super duper super sub. Coming in late in the second half, he scored off of a Landon Donovan cross in the 93rd minute. He is a dangerous weapon coming off the bench.

Meet the neighbors

As we get closer and closer to June 11, the start of the World Cup, it is time to divert our attention solely from the teams we root for, to the teams we will face. The United States resides in Group C and will take on England, Algeria and Slovenia. This won't be a normal get to know your opponent segment, there are many of those all over the interweb. This will be slightly different. We will compare the opponents to teams from other sports in an attempt to make it easier to gauge the degree of difficulty we will face.

England- The Three Lions squad is a supremely talented group playing some very good futbol right now. They are always good, but very rarely great. They have only won one trophy in their history, a World Cup win on their home soil in 1966. Think of the Boston Red Sox pre-2004 championship. It is almost as if they are cursed. Both teams have loyal, rabid fanbases that get quite annoying to outsiders. Both have tremendous history. on their side. Their home parks are basically historic landmarks: Wembley Stadium and Fenway Park. Both teams are full of chokers. Remember Bill Buckner, England has David Beckham. Mr. Goldenballs himself choked big time in Euro 2004, and World Cup 2002, and World Cup 1998. Finally both England and the Red Sox have the media hounding them like gold diggers to a basketball player. The poor players can barely use the loo without a reporter making it into breaking news.

Final Assessment- This will be the United State's toughest game, by far. England's Wayne Rooney will give Oguchi Onyewu all he can handle and then some. A draw against England would be a great result for the U.S. A win and America is basically in the next round. They will open against the Btits on June 12 at 1:30 p.m.

Slovenia- This little European team did big things in beating Russia in a playoff to get to the World Cup. It can best be compared to the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. Both have not been around very long: Slovenia has only been a country for 19 years while this year was only the Thunder's second in the league. They don't have much if any history to fall back on bcause of it. They both play in relatively small markets with a small population. Slovenia only has 2 million citizens while OKC has around 550, ooo. Both are underdogs in every sense of the word. No one expects Slovenia to do much just as no one expected much from the Thunder against the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. They do have plenty of talent though. While Slovenia does not posess a game-changer like Kevin Durant, it has a varitey of other skilled players. Keeper Samir Handanovic is one of the best in the World, and Robert Koren will wreak havoc from his attacking midfielder spot.

Final Assessment- In the end, the United States will be heavy favorites against the Slovenes (if that's even a word). That does not mean it will be easy, just that the U.S. should beat them.

Algeria- The desert foxes, as they are known, are like Jekyl and Hyde, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Their only problem is that when they are bad, they are frightfuly bad. Their closest counterpart in the sporting world would have to be the Milwaukee Brewers. Both have had recent success that was preceded by long droughts of futility. Both haven't made any noise on the biggest stage since the 80's. Both have a rabid home crowd when winning, and empty stadiums any other time. Strange seeing as neither Algeria or Milwaukee have other dominant teams. The Algerians, much like the Brewers, are just happy to be there. "Our qualification has made it possible for the country to put itself back on the map. It's a joy and even an honor to be at the origin of that," Algerian Coach Rabah Saadane.

Final Assessment- Another game the U.S. will be favored in. Depending on the results of the first two games, this could be a blessing or a curse. They cannot think it will be an easy game and come unprepared or they will be left wondering what happened. History is on the Americans' side when it comes to facing an African team in the third game of the group stage. Their 3-0 victory over Egypt in the Confederations Cup last summer comes to mind. Let's hope it doesn't come to needing a win this time around.

Mexico takes the current champions to the woodshed

WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE TOPPLEDTHE KING!

Okay, okay, I know it was only a friendly, but it is very difficult no to get excited about Mexico's 2-1 victory over reigning the World Champs, Italy. For starters, this was Mexico's first victory, ever, against the Azurri. In ten previous attempts, the best result El Tri could muster was a measly tie. (Well, not that measley. The last two games against Italy were draws in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup and the group stage of the 1994 World Cup). This historic feat could not have come at a better time either. This being the last friendly Mexico will play before opening the 2010 festivities against South Africa, it was critical to get some confidence and some momentum. Boy did they ever. Carlos Vela opened the scoring with a nice finish of a beautiful Giovani run and pass. Sub Alberto Medina then doubled the lead beating Buffon on a 1 on 1 after a gorgeous chip from Cuahutemoc Blanco. Italy drew within one in the 89th minute when Leonardo Bonucci put in a loose ball off of a corner.

Coming off two defeats to strong opposition, England and Holland, and a beatdown of a local pub team I mean Gambia, Mexico had to prove it could play well with the big boys. Sipmly speaking, it did. El Tri dominated posession Barcelona style, out possessing Italy 64-36 percent. This wasn't an Italy B team either. It might not have been the starting XI, not after this thrashing anyways, but all of the big names for Italy played. Buffon, Pirlo, Cannavaro, DeRossi, Gilardino, Iaquinta. This was a straight up beat-down of a good team.

Mexico made Italy look old, which with all due respect, Italy is. The Aztecs ran circles around the Italians and were crisp with their ball movement. The scoreline was very deceiving. Chicharito Hernandez missed a bunny three feet in front of the net when he whiffed on a great feed by Carlos Vela. Vela was hauled down from behind by Cannavaro inside the area for a clear penalty kick, only to have the ref tell him to play on. In the closing stages of the game, sub Andres Guardado missed a 1 on 1 with the keeper. Three crystal clear opportunities to run up the score wasted. Mexico's lack of finishing is still worrisome, but the generation of so many goal scoring opportunities is uplifting.

So what did we end up learning from the match?

1. As much as it pains me, Luis "Conejo" Perez will be the starter bewteen the pipes for Mexico. Not only did he get the nod again today, he also was given the coveted number 1 jerset. Memo Ochoa was given the number 12. Perez was decent today. He wasn't tested much and the goal was not his fault, but he doesn't instill confidence. His diminutive frame and lack of youth frightens me. Head coach Javier Aguirre has proven people wrong before, let's hope he can prove me wrong this summer.
2. Mexico's three-headed monster up-top will be a sight to see. Chicharito, Vela, and Giovani Dos Santos are fast. Time and time again they were outrunning the vaunted Italian defense today. They have great field vision as well, as shown by Dos Santos' assist to Vela in the first half. They have a lot of chemistry together and share the ball. Look, I am a homer so my glasses are green colored, however, if I were South Africa, France, or Uruguay, I'd be losing sleep over this talented trio. To think they are all under 23 year old, too. Now that is scary.
3. Mexico will play a variation of the 4-3-2-1 that might look a little like this:

Chicharito

Vela------------------Dos Santos

Torrado---------Marquez--------Juarez

Salcido------Maza--------Osorio---------Aguilar

Perez

As crazy as it might seem to say, Guardado and Blanco will be coming off the bench.

4. Mexico will die by the set-piece. The only goal it gave up came off a corner in the 89th minute. This is its weakness. I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. It has to improve and quickly.

Only in Mexico...

I hate it when people call Mexico a third-world country. Having lived there for a good portion of my life and having gone back for a few weeks every year, I can tell you, that is far from true. I mean, we have ESPN and wi-fi at my grandma's house. That alone should disqualify my home country from third-world status. Nevertheless, there are some things that go on in the land of the Aztecs, that only a backwards country could experience. Take the most recent scandal from the telenovela that is the Mexican National Team.

Jonathan Dos Santos, 20, is a promising prospect at Barcelona. He has yet to become a fixture with the first team at Barcelona but coach Pep Guardiola speaks highly of this up-and-comer. His potential garnered him an invitation to the Mexican National Team camp. Coming off an injury, he was unable to play much during the camp or the games played in that time-frame. Nevertheless, he survived the initial roster cut and was one of the last 24 standing. With almost no experience at any level, he was a surprising pick over some veteran players.

On Sunday, Jonathan was cut. While a crushing blow, this is a fairly common occurrence seeing as every other national team in the World Cup had to cut its roster to 23. But, being Mexico, this couldn't go over that easily. That same day, Jonathan's father, Mexican-Brazilian and ex-soccer star Zizinho came out guns blazing and announced "Jona" would never lace up a pair for Mexico ever again.

It happened with Chucho. Now, Aguirre. My child will never put on Mexico’s shirt again. For me, it’s garbage. I respect Giovani, who’s with the team. Jona should put on Brazil or Spains shirts, there they will appreciate him. My sentiments toward the Mexican national team flipped completely but not because I’m the father, not because of that, but simply because you can’t do things like that to the future of Mexican football.

Oh yea this plot only gets thicker. Let's not forget that Jonathan is also the younger brother of another up-and-comer, Giovani Dos Santos, an ex-Barcelona prospect and current fixture on El Tri. Gio is said to be so distraught by the news that his brother was cut, that he wants to quit the team. According to his father Zizinho, Gio called his father crying and said he didn't want to play in the World Cup.

For those that tuned in late, let's recap. Unexperienced young player gets chance to prove himself, gets hurt, doesn't play much, gets cut, dad goes bonkers, other unexperienced young player and brother of first unexperienced young player is sad, doesn't want to play in world's most important tournament, other players console him, to be continued.

First off, let me grab a cloth to shove in my mouth as I scream profanities at the top of my lungs (I am at work and I'm sure my boss wouldn't like me swearing for a minute straight). There are so many things wrong with this picture, I don't know where to begin.

Look, I get it that Zizinho is bummed his son didn't make the team. If that was my kid I'd be pissed too. Still, I would have to be on one high horse to declare that he would never play for that team again. THIS IS THE BIG LEAGUES. Sorry for the all-caps but it was definitely necessary. This is not some tee-ball league where every child has to play an inning. It's life. All over the world there are players being cut and I don't see any other dad's taking the ball and going home. It's one thing to stand up for your son, it's quite another to throw a temper tantrum in his name. He has to grow up on his own. He is my age for pete's sake. He is a star in the making. He will have plenty of opportunities to make it to the Big Dance again. All his dad is doing is making his son look petty and immature. Way to go Zizinho.

About Jona, why hasn't he spoken. He is young but he is not a kid. I am a little younger than he is, but I still wouldn't rely on my daddy to speak to the press for me. I know he is probably too upset to express himself right now, but he should have the courage to release a statement saying he is bummed and will speak for himself. He could at least call his dad and be like "Hey, dad, thanks for sticking up for me, but you don't have to make me look like a spoiled brat." He is 20 so that gives him a realistic shot at three more World Cups, maybe four. That's about three or four more than I will ever go to. I would give my left arm to play professional soccer and I would give my other remaining arm to play for my home country, let alone be a rising star in upcoming World Cups. There are 30 million young Mexicans who would do the same. It makes Jona look real selfish. I'm not saying that he is, only that his father is making him look that way. He has to step up, grow up, and speak up. If he really doesn't want to play for Mexico, good luck cracking a starting spot in Spain or Brazil. I think he will find it's not that easy.

Then there is Gio. I have jersey with his name on the back. He is my second favorite player in the world. I really really like the dude. BUT, he too has to grow up. He has a job to do and is being paid very handsomely to do it. To give it all up like that because of what he feels is an injustice to his brother seems petty to me. He can use it as motivation if he has to. All I know is that if he really quits on Mexico 10 days before the biggest game of his life, he will be done with El Tri forever. He could have Maradona's skills for all I care and I would still shun him. You don't quit on your team and you don't quit on your country. Not to mention that he is cap-tied to Mexico so he could not play for any other country. He would be risking ending his entire international career at the tender age of 21.

I love my brother with my whole heart as well, but this is petty. Jona is not being tortured or killed, just cut from a team. To the Dos Santos family: take a breath, clear your heads, and grow the heck up. You are not the end all, be all. Mexico was there before you and will be there after you. You can choose to be loved or vilified for decades to come. It's not just about soccer, this is about life.

When you get knocked down, stand up and dust yourself off. Just ask Mr. Jordan.