Arena's men take the pitch on Monday

kfish · June 08, 2006, 03:50:42 PM

For those of you in need of another sport to be fanatical about -- at least for a month -- World Cup soccer starts this Friday. The US (FIFA #5) takes on the Czech Republic (#2) Monday, then Italy (#13) on the 17th. As many of you know, the team is coached by Cornell alum Bruce Arena (http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/May06/Arena_profile.ak.html).

I'll be in Germany for the US-Ghana game, and can't wait!

Let's go USA!

min · June 10, 2006, 07:52:20 AM

Good luck Team USA! It's going to be a tough road ahead, but I believe that Arena has prepared his players well.
I for one will certainly watch all 64 matches... :-)

Josh '99 · June 10, 2006, 01:18:19 PM

How do I keep forgetting that Arena is a Cornell alum?

CowbellGuy · June 12, 2006, 02:48:19 PM

You might want to after that. =/

ugarte · June 12, 2006, 04:05:42 PM

So, when do the players take the field? For the second game, maybe? Yecch.

French Rage · June 12, 2006, 06:40:20 PM

[quote ugarte]So, when do the players take the field? For the second game, maybe? Yecch.[/quote]

Well the one plus is our team stayed standing on the field, whereas a slight breeze caused any Czech player to writhe on the ground in pain.

kfish · June 13, 2006, 10:02:36 AM

That certainly was a disappointing first showing. Let's hope our guys can find some desire to win against Italy. Reyna and Johnson were the only players who looked like they wanted to win. Our midfield did some nice work with the ball, but that was about it. Our strikers and offensive middies were completely ineffective, particularly with Beasley being knocked around like a pinball all game.

I'd like to see Johnson start against Italy, maybe throw Chris Albright in there for a bit more attack from the defense.

Keeping the faith for the Italy game...

Jeff Hopkins '82 · June 13, 2006, 04:35:20 PM

[quote kfish]Keeping the faith for the Italy game...[/quote]

At this point, I think I'd be happy not to finish 24th again like in '98. ::help::

nyc94 · June 13, 2006, 05:27:22 PM

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82][quote kfish]Keeping the faith for the Italy game...[/quote]

At this point, I think I'd be happy not to finish 24th again like in '98. ::help::[/quote]

I believe 1998 was the debut of the 32 team field and the US was in fact 32nd.

Jeff Hopkins '82 · June 14, 2006, 08:16:35 AM

[quote nyc94][quote Jeff Hopkins '82][quote kfish]Keeping the faith for the Italy game...[/quote]

At this point, I think I'd be happy not to finish 24th again like in '98. ::help::[/quote]

I believe 1998 was the debut of the 32 team field and the US was in fact 32nd.[/quote]

Bad math on my part. I should have said "dead last." But you still got the point.

ugarte · June 14, 2006, 02:03:36 PM

[quote French Rage][quote ugarte]So, when do the players take the field? For the second game, maybe? Yecch.[/quote]

Well the one plus is our team stayed standing on the field, whereas a slight breeze caused any Czech player to writhe on the ground in pain.[/quote]You say that as if "writhing in pain" isn't SOP in World Cup play. That was just another thing that the Czechs did better than the US.

HeafDog · June 14, 2006, 04:55:07 PM

If you absolutely have to play Beasley, put him on the left side, and if he continues to play like a total weenie, then yank him within the first twenty minutes.

ugarte · June 19, 2006, 12:34:43 PM

The Mastroeni red card was a joke. This post is also a day late.

Also late: I expected a HOPP SCHWEIZ 90 minutes ago.

cth95 · June 19, 2006, 01:45:25 PM

[quote ugarte]The Mastroeni red card was a joke. This post is also a day late.

Also late: I expected a HOPP SCHWEIZ 90 minutes ago.[/quote]

Agreed on the Mastroeni card. Horrible make-up call for the legit call on the Italian's blatant elbow.

Hopp Schwiitz! 2-0

(auf Schweizerdeutsch, oder "Schwiitzertuutsch", you have to say it right ;-) )

Polo Hofer, a Swiss pop-rock star from the 80's, has a song with this as a title. It is a very lively and fun tune about everything he likes about Switzerland (and all his songs are in Swiss-German except for a few French ones).

billhoward · June 19, 2006, 02:23:31 PM

I spent the week in the Netherlands. Before our group went to dinner Friday, we assembled in a town square for cocktails (well, beer) in downtown Amsterdam an hour before the Dutch and Ivory Coast kicked off. Basically, take 3X the Lynah crowd (for that town square alone), put them in orange (it takes some getting used to), take away the handful of visitors, pour no cup of beer less than a half-liter, add air horns, add 75-degree weather ... and oh, yes, the whole city and country is rooting for your team. There was no need to watch TV to know the score.

We went in to dinner before the game ended. Our host explained, well-behaved as the Dutch out, it can be a little spooky after a World Cup game in three instances: when the Dutch lose ... sometimes when they win ... sometimes when they tie. One would not want to be in England after a match in any of those circumstances.