Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the category “Gold Cup”

28 Jul 2013

USMNT earns Gold Cup championship

damarcus-beasley-goldcup-single-image-cutExcellent job by the U.S. Men’s National Team in winning Sunday’s Gold Cup final, 1-0, over Panama.

Brek Shea’s goal in the 68th minute game the U.S. team its first trophy under coach Jürgen Klinsmann, even though Klinsmann was forced to watch the game from a luxury box after being suspended for the match because CONCACAF is a joke.

This is the fifth time the U.S. has won the Gold Cup, but the first since 2007.They also did it with a roster filled with several younger players seeing playing time and gaining valuable experience on the international level.

Read more…

Posted in Gold Cup, Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged , | Leave a comment
27 Jun 2011
2 Comments

USA finds fool’s gold at Rose Bowl

It started out so well.

But then everything went so very, very wrong.

The U.S. Men’s National Team jumped out to a surprising 2-0 lead (on goals by Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan) over Mexico in Saturday’s Gold Cup final at the Rose Bowl, but couldn’t hold on as their top rival stormed back with four unanswered goals to claim the title.

“They’re as dynamic as any Mexican team I’ve played against,” Landon Donovan, who has played for the United States since 2000, said in published reports. “They’ve got a few guys who can change the game in a heartbeat.”

The “few guys” that Donovan referred to would be Giovani dos Santos and Javier Hernandez.

The back four for the Americans – especially Jonathan Bornstein – simply had no answer to dos Santos and Hernandez, who were so much quicker all night long.

“They’ve got a very good mix of attacking talent,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “They come at you. They play quickly from the flanks. There’s a lot to deal with.”

Yeah, thanks coach. We noticed.

Read more…

Posted in Gold Cup, Mexico, United States
25 Jun 2011
4 Comments

U.S. goes for the Gold against Mexico

Huge day for the U.S. as they take on Mexico in tonight’s Gold Cup final at the Rose Bowl.

The winner earns a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil, which serves as a warm-up for organizers of the 2014 World Cup. The U.S. earned a spot in the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa and knocked off Spain, providing the team with the confidence that carried it into the knockout stage of last year’s World Cup.

More importantly, the U.S. wants to earn a win over its biggest rival in a series that has been decidedly pro-USA for the past decade. Since losing to El Tri in Mexico City in 1999, the U.S. has gone 10-4-2 against Mexico.

That decade-long success should negate what is expected to be a home field advantage for the Mexican team playing in Southern California.

“It’s difficult. Anytime you play in the States against teams from Latin America, it’s always tough for us,” said midfielder Clint Dempsey in published reports. “We’ve gotten used to that. I think that makes us stronger as a team.”

It won’t be easy, as Mexico has scored 18 goals (to the Americans’ 7) on its way to the final, but the team needed extra time to get past Honduras on Wednesday night. So some of the early shine is off for Mexico.

There will be a lot of pressure on goalkeeper Tim Howard and the U.S. back line, especially in trying to keep Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez in check. Hernandez has seven goals in the tournament so far (by comparison, Clint Dempsey leads the U.S. with 3).

The one advantage is that Howard (who hasn’t given up a goal since the second game of the tournament) knows how to play Hernandez, having faced him twice last year in the Premier League when Howard’s Everton team took on Hernandez and Manchester United.

“No player is unstoppable,” Howard said in published reports. “But they’ve got a good team. They’ve got a lot of big players. So it will take all of us to stop all of them.”

It what should be a close game, any little edge helps.

“When you come into these types of tournaments you grow along the way,” U.S. coach Bradley said in published reports. “You certainly grow when you lose and you look hard at certain things. I think that’s been important. The first round is always about advancing and using the games to figure out where you are. I think we’ve gotten better from start to finish. There’s a good level of confidence, and it’s a strong group that has been through this before.”

No matter what happens, it should be one heck of a match.

Posted in Gold Cup, Mexico, United States
20 Jun 2011

In praise of the dive

We come here today to praise the art of the dive.

In Sunday’s Gold Cup win, the U.S.’ Jermaine Jones took a dive in the second half that resulted in Jamaica’s Jermaine Taylor being given a red card.

Was it a bad call by the ref? Of course. But that is part of the game.

We were surprised, though, by the criticism leveled at Jones in the aftermath of the game. Complaining about diving is one aspect of soccer that we don’t understand.

In other sports, gaining an edge is applauded. When Derek Jeter fakes being hit by a pitch, he is “doing what it takes.” When Peyton Manning goes down untouched but gets the ref to throw a flag for roughing the passer, he is praised. When Jason Kidd slows down a quick guard with a well placed forearm or hip, he is a “wily veteran.”

But in soccer? Take a dive and people lose their minds. And ESPN mocks you in an ad.

It’s one thing if you are an Italian player falling down every two minutes like A-Rod after being hit by a pitch, but the rest is pure gamesmanship.

At least until the other guy does it, then it’s just plain wrong.

(Photo by Getty Images/mlssoccer.com)

Posted in Gold Cup, Jermaine Jones, United States | Leave a comment
20 Jun 2011

Opportunities abound for Browns defense

Lots of interesting news swirling about some of Red Right 88’s favorite sports teams today.

First off, Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron sat down with the Beacon Journal‘s Nate Ulrich for a Q & A and a few points stood out to us:

  • Jauron wants a physical defense: “We really need a to step up and be a very touch and physical team, not only throughout the whole league, but particularly in our division.”
  • What about the switch to a 4-3? “There are challenges. … The personnel mix is different. The numbers are different. There’s a lot of significant differences. It’ll take some work.
  • The team likes its linebackers – to a certain extent: “We’re really happy with … the starting three, the veteran three with Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong and D’Qwell Jackson. The front three, we’re depending on those guys, really, to play like the veterans they are … and hopefully stay healthy.”

For starters, what’s not to like about a physical defense? We’re so tired of watching the Browns get slapped around by other teams and their defense not being able to dish it back out (and not in the illegal Pittsburgh way).

The Browns need to be able to take a shot and give it back just as good – in the words of Al Swearengen: “Stand it like a man… and give some back” – especially in the division. They showed late in the 2009 season that if you stand up to teams like the Steelers you can get them to quit.

Next, rebuilding the defense is going to take time and patience – no matter how tired Browns fans are of hearing that.

In his book, Take Your Eye off the Ball, Pat Kirwan said it should two years to make the switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 – if a team is smart about it. Teams generally have three to four players in their front seven with the skills that translate to the new defense. If the front office does its homework, a team can fill out the front seven in two drafts and one free agency period.

The Browns are on their way to rebuilding the front seven after drafting Phil Taylor and Jabaal Sheard to join Ahtyba Rubin on the defensive front. The front four the Browns should be modeling themselves after is Minnesota’s with Kevin Williams and Pat Williams at the tackle spots, and Jared Allen and Ray Edwards at the ends.

Taylor and Rubin can take up a lot of space in the middle, Sheard can hopefully put some pressure on the quarterback and the Ray Edwards role could be filled by … Ray Edwards, who is currently a free agent.

The linebackers do concern us, primarily because there is little depth behind the three players Jauron singled out. We saw what happened last season when Fujita went down with an injury; if any of those three go down again this year there’s not much on the bench to fill the void.

The only quibble we have with Jauron is his use of the word “challenging” – these are opportunities for the Browns, not challenges. The team has the opportunity to finally build a solid defense, one that isn’t an embarrassment against the run and one that can make the opposing offense react to the defense for a change.

And what’s not to like about that?

***

The magic was back at Progressive Field this weekend as the Cleveland Indians swept Pittsburgh.

Cord Phelps sealed the deal on Sunday with a three-run homer in extra innings.

We have to feel bad for Justin Masterson, though. Masterson gave up two runs in the first inning then combined with pretty much the entire bullpen to hold the Pirates scoreless for the next 10 innings. But Masterson walked away with a no decision.

The bullpen has not allowed a run in 22 2/3 innings over seven games.

Masterson, who is now 5-5 with a 3.18 ERA on the season, hasn’t earned a win since April 26. In that 10-start stretch, he is 0-5 with an ERA under 4.00 and has allowed two or fewer earned runs seven times.

He must have done something wrong, because the Tribe has scored all of 20 runs in Masterson’s last 10 starts.

It was nice to see the Indians right the ship, even if it is only temporary and was just against the Pirates. While you can’t count on the Tribe to sweep, they do need to get back into the habit of winning series so that they can start rebuilding their record.

Much like we pondered a few days ago about what the Indians should do with Fausto Carmona, Terry Pluto presented some scary numbers about Carmona in today’s Plain Dealer. According to the article:

  • Carmona’s ERA is the highest of any regular starting pitcher in the American League
  • Carmona allows 40 percent of baserunners to score, also the highest rate among AL starting pitchers
  • Carmona has already given up 14 home runs (in just 91.2 innings pitched) compared to just 17 (in 210.1 innings) last year.

Depressed yet?

The good news is the Tribe has options,with Jeanmar Gomez and Zach McAllister pitching well in the minors. If Carmona or Mitch Talbot continue to struggle, one of them could be moved to the bullpen to make room for Gomez or McAllister.

If the team does have to make a decision between Carmona or Talbot, it will be interesting to see how much salary (Carmona makes $6.2 million vs. $431,000 for Talbot) will play into the decision.

***

The U.S. Men’s National Team finally played a solid game, beating Jamaica 2-0 to advance to Wednesday’s semifinal of the Gold Cup, where they will get a rematch with Panama.

The Americans were aggressive again on offense and were rewarded for their efforts with goals by Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey.

The bad news was Jozy Altidore left nine minutes into the game with a hamstring injury and, after the game, U.S. coach Bob Bradley said he didn’t know what Altidore’s status would be for the remainder of the tournament.

But that’s a concern for another day. For now, it’s good to see the team have its best game of the tournament heading into the semis and raise our hopes for a final date with Mexico next Saturday.

***

Oh yeah, the NBA Draft is this week. The Cavs are playing it close to the vest about what they plan to do with the first and fourth picks in the first round.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, United States | Leave a comment
18 Jun 2011

Where is our soccer superstar?

In anticipation of Sunday’s Gold Cup game vs. Jamaica, The Wall Street Journal asks an interesting question: Why can’t the U.S. build a soccer star?

The article notes that the U.S. has won more than 1,000 Olympic gold medals. It has produced 26 British Open champions, 14 No. 1 tennis players and two winners of the Tour de France. It’s the birthplace of swimmer Michael Phelps, volleyball legend Karch Kiraly and chess master Bobby Fischer.

But no soccer players that have been superstars on the international level.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Tommy Smyth, the television analyst, in the article. “I go to my local park and there’s 10 games going on all day on a Saturday, and you mean to tell me you can’t find one jewel in there?”

Smyth noted that his native country, Ireland, has produced plenty of top players (Shay Given and Roy Keane among them) even though it has a population of just six million.

Then there are countries like Trinidad (home of Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke), Togo, (Real Madrid’s Emmanuel Adebayor), Cameroon (Samuel Eto’o) and Ivory Coast (Didier Drogba).

With an estimated 15 million kids playing soccer in this country, you’d think someone would have broken through by now.

It’s not that the opportunities aren’t there. Of the 23 players on the roster for the U.S. team at the Gold Cup, 16 play at the club level internationally, at places like Everton, West Ham, Aston Villa, Rangers, Fulham, Blackburn and Wolverhampton.

Sunil Gulati, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said he would have expected a U.S. player to become a stalwart for one of the world’s top clubs by now, but that he’s not “shocked” it hasn’t happened. “There are so few players at that level,” he said. “I believe it’s something that will happen over time.”

In some respects, Gulati is probably correct. When you think that soccer has only been a viable American sport for what, 30 years or so, while it is firmly in the DNA of almost every other country, it’s pretty impressive that the Americans have had the kind of success they’ve enjoyed.

***

Only 57 more days until the start of the Premier League season and what we hope will not be the only football we will be watching this fall.

Liverpool opens at home against Sunderland as the Reds look to continue the momentum they had from last season under manager Kenny Dalglish.

Posted in Gold Cup, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool, United States | Leave a comment
16 Jun 2011

Taking care of business

It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but the U.S. Men’s National Team took care of business against Guadeloupe on Tuesday night and earned a place in the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.

“With group play, you’ve got to deal with each game and find a way to advance,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said in published reports. “We’re pretty hard on ourselves because we weren’t satisfied with our performance against Panama, but there are things that bring a team together.”

Jozy Altidore put the U.S. up 1-0 in the 9th minute with the kind of goal that makes him such a frustrating player. Altidore’s 25-yard blast showed just how talented he can be and makes one wonder why he can’t bring that same intensity every game.

The Americans had plenty of scoring chances, peppering the Guadeloupe goal, but goalkeeper Franck Grandel denied them repeatedly. Clint Dempsey had an off night, missing two headers, hitting the post and somehow not getting a shot off when he was all alone with the ball two yards in front of the goal.

Throw in uncharacteristic misses from Landon Donovan and Chris Wondolowski and the final score could have been much more impressive.

“We want to be better,” Donovan said in published reports. “This is a game we should have won probably 3- or 4-0, but the reality is that we won. That’s all that matters at this point.”

Donovan’s right – we would have like to have seen the U.S. convert more of those scoring chances, but in tournament play the objective is to advance, and that’s what the team did.

Now we’re left to wonder which team will show up on Sunday to face Jamaica – the Group B winner that has yet to give up a goal.

“Be careful what you wish for, but I actually think that’s the kind of game we need now,” U.S. goalie Tim Howard said in published reports. “We need a game where the tempo is high and teams aren’t sitting in. They’re coming out feeling like we’re a wounded animal and they’re gonna get us, and that’s when we catch them.”

The Americans have yet to play a complete game in the tournament, but they have been able to do just enough to get by. That was OK in group play, but they are going to need to bring a full 90-minute effort from here on out – especially with a date with Mexico looming somewhere on the horizon.

The slate has now been wiped clean. What the U.S. team does now is up to them.

Photo courtesy of si.com

***

Randy Lerner’s Aston Villa have gotten themselves into a twist in their attempts to hire Alex McLeish as their new manager.

According to The Guardian, McLeish held talks with Villa officials at a secret location in London on Wednesday ahead of a proposed defection across the city on a three-year, £2m-a-year contract. At the same time a crowd of Villa supporters gathered in protest outside Villa Park while lawyers acting for Birmingham, McLeish’s former club, drew up plans to pursue their rivals for compensation and to defend the club against an anticipated charge of constructive dismissal from McLeish.

Birmingham claims that Aston Villa struck a deal with McLeish before he resigned from Birmingham on Sunday – a resignation that Birmingham has not yet accepted.

And the fans are less than thrilled, with one spray painting the message “Bluenose scum not welcome” on a wall at Villa’s training ground.

Oh Randy.

***

Liverpool has unveiled its third kit for next season, taking inspiration from the club’s jersey of 120 years ago.

It’s strange seeing blue incorporated into the jersey – kind of like if the Browns brought black-and-gold into their color scheme – but we see the historic nature of the kit.

Posted in Gold Cup, Liverpool, Randy Lerner, United States | Leave a comment
12 Jun 2011

What is there left to say?

The Cleveland Indians lost again on Sunday, falling to the Yankees by the score of 9-1

The Tribe has now lost 14 of its last 18 games.

The offense struggled … again … some more on Sunday against New York.

The past two days the Indians have faced Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, who are a combined 150 years old and were pulled off the scrap heap by the Yankees.

In 13.1 innings against the duo, the Tribe managed nine hits and one run, while striking out a dozen times.

Sheldon Ocker of The Beacon Journal assures us that the offensive slump will end. He’s covered the Indians for decades, so if you can’t trust the Socker who can you trust?

But it’s hard to see how the team will get this turned around.

Terry Pluto at The Plain Dealer followed our lead in wondering what the Tribe will do about Fausto Carmona, adding this nugget: The batting average against Carmona with no one on base is .212. With runners on base, .343. With the bases loaded, batters are 5-of-7. Yes, it is a matter of controlling emotions and confidence.

Luckily for the Indians, the Tigers also lost on Sunday, so the team’s remain tied for first place in the Central Division.

Worse-case scenario is the Tribe heads for Detroit after Monday night’s game against the Yankees trailing the Tigers by just one game.

With everything that’s gone wrong for the past few weeks with the Indians, that’s really not all that bad.

***

Switching to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jason Lloyd in The Beacon Journal posits that the team may be looking to trade point guard Ramon Sessions if the Cavs, as expected, draft Kyle Irving with the first pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

Sessions’ agent, Chubby Wells (hey, he may just be big boned) hasn’t requested a trade for his client, but that could change after the draft.

The thinking is that Baron Davis will mentor Irving and keeping Sessions as a third point guard is a luxury that won’t work out.

We see one big problem with that scenario: it is highly unlikely that Davis will make it through a full season without getting hurt.

The 32-year-old Davis has only played a full 82-game season once in the past nine years. On average, he makes it through 62 games a year.

So what happens when Davis goes down to an injury this year and there is no one to share the load with Irving?

Yeah, that’s what we thought.

***

Finally, our latest on the situation the U.S. Men’s National Team finds itself in at the Gold Cup.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, NBA, United States | Leave a comment
09 Jun 2011

Time for the Indians to turn this around

The Cleveland Indians head to New York this weekend for four games with a chance to get their season back on track.

The Tribe still holds a 1.5-game lead over the second-place Tigers, and as strange as it may sound, four games with the Yankees may be cure for the slumping Tribe.

The Indians have an advantage in at least three of the four pitching match-ups this weekend:

  • Fausto Carmona opposes someone named Ivan Nova in the series opener
  • Mitch Talbot (three runs in his last 12.2 innings of work) takes on Bartolo Colon on Saturday
  • Josh Tomlin goes against Freddy Garcia on Sunday

Even Monday’s match-up, Carlos Carrasco against A.J. Burnett, could favor the Indians if Carrasco keeps pitching the way he has lately (4-2 since coming off the disabled list).

Throw in the fact that the Yankee bullpen is a mess, with Joba Chamberlain likely out for the year with a torn ligament in his elbow, Pedro Feliciano out until July and Rafael Soriano still injured, and the Indians have an opportunity here.

Since sweeping the Reds, the Indians have gone just 5-11 and seen their seven-game lead evaporate. But manager Manny Acta is keeping a cool head amid the slump.

“Because it happens to every team in a 162-game season, and it’s not going to be the last one, either,” Acta told The Plain Dealer. “Usually, teams have two to three. Doesn’t matter who you are, big market, small market, young, old. It just happens. Teams went through it earlier in the year. We didn’t. Now we’re going through ours. We just have to fight back.”

With three games coming up next week against Detroit, now would be a good time for the Indians to start fighting back.

***

Big story out of the Gold Cup, as five players on Mexico’s soccer team, including goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, have tested positive for a banned substance and are out of the tournament – for now.

Decio De Maria, general secretary of the Mexican federation, said Ochoa, defenders Edgar Duenas and Francisco Rodriguez, and midfielders Christian Bermudez and Antonio Naelson tested positive for clenbuterol.

The five players haven’t been suspended, just “removed” from the team and won’t be allowed to play during the investigation. They were expected to miss Thursday night’s game against Cuba.

“What is presumed … one had to ingest contaminated materials – meat or chicken,” De Maria said in published reports. “Now comes the tough part, taking the players off the squad and opening an investigation. Meanwhile, it is a disagreeable moment to take this kind of decision, but we have to take responsibility.”

The Mexican federation said the five tested positive in pre-Gold Cup doping tests conducted May 21. Officials said the substance detected was the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol.

“Everything points to it being an accident, very unfortunate,” De Maria said.

If the players end up being suspended for the rest of the tournament, that will remove an big obstacle for the U.S.

***

The rebuilding of Liverpool continues, as the club has completed a £20-million transfer deal with Sunderland for Jordan Henderson.

The 20-year-old midfielder if the club’s first signing of the summer, and joins fellow big-money signings Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. That’s three high-profile, young players to join the club since Fenway Sports Group’s takeover and Kenny Dalglish’s return as manager.

The fact that the team is working to get younger is a positive sign that the club continues to move in the right direction.

***

Finally, we might have to bid on this vintage Cleveland Indians cookie jar – unless Cleveland Frowns beats us to it, of course.

(h/t Uni Watch)

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, Liverpool | Leave a comment
08 Jun 2011

Slumping Indians look for reinforcements

Welcome to the big leagues, Cord Phelps.

The struggling, slumping, sinking Cleveland Indians – losers of 11 of their last 15 – finally made a move, reaching into the minor leagues and promoting Phelps.

Phelps will platoon at second base with Orlando Cabrera.

“The kid’s going to get an opportunity to play, and we’re going to have to see if he’ll take advantage of it,” Indians manager Manny Acta said in published reports. “For now, he’s going to play second base, and we’re going to give him the opportunity to play the majority of times against right-handed pitching.

“Orlando’s been there, done that. You can’t rule out Orlando coming back and playing every day. But this kid deserved a shot based on the way he’s played the last two years at Columbus.”

Phelps batted .299 with seven homers, 40 RBI and 31 runs at Columbus, playing shortstop (28 games) and second base (13 games).

Phelps got the start on Wednesday and fit right in with the current offense, going 0-for-4 in his debut.

“You’ve got to earn it,” Phelps told The Plain Dealer. “I was a little nervous at the start, but that’s to be expected. Overall, I felt pretty good. It was exciting.”

The Tribe is currently in a woeful offensive slump. In their last six games they have only scored eight total runs and barely avoided being swept by the last-place Minnesota Twins. Pretty much everyone not named Michael Brantley or Asdrubal Cabrera is struggling right now and it limits what Acta can do.

Look at the batting averages in Wednesday’s lineup: Grady Sizemore (.256), Carlos Santana (.228), Shin-Soo Choo (.240), Matt LaPorta (.240), Jack Hannahan (.231) and Lou Marson (.207).

The manager can move people around in the batting order all he wants, but if no one is hitting it doesn’t make much difference.

Phelps clearly isn’t going to turn the team around by himself, but at least the Tribe did something to try and right the ship.

The move certainly can’t make things any worse than they currently are.

***

Even though the NFL lockout is still going on, that doesn’t mean Browns general manager Tom Heckert isn’t thinking about all the things he can do once the league comes to its senses.

All the extra time has made him more prepared than ever for free agency – whenever it begins.

Most importantly, the Browns:

  • Will not trade for Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb: ”You can dispel that,” Heckert said. ”We’re not trading for a quarterback. That one I’ll say.”
  • Will not look to sign Plaxico Burress, late of the New York state penal system.
  • Will look for a free safety: “Right now, Mike Adams is penciled in as a guy who’s going to play almost all safety for us, but we’ll see,” Heckert said. “There’s a few guys in free agency and we’ll see what happens with the undrafted rookies, so we still have a couple of options out there.”
  • Haven’t closed the door on fullback Lawrence Vickers: “It’s hard to tell,” Heckert said. “We didn’t really have a chance to talk to him once free agency started because of the rules. It never started. We’ll have to make all of those decisions once everything opens up.”
  • Haven’t decided what to do with quarterback Jake Delhomme: “Whenever the thing opens up, we’ll sit down with Jake and talk to him and decide what’s the best for him and for our organization,” Heckert said. “We have to wait until that happens.”

Knowing all that certainly makes it easier for us to sleep at night.

***

Check out this cool graphic showing NBA titles represented by championship rings.

(h/t Uni Watch)

***

Finally, our post on the U.S. opening game win over Canada in the Gold Cup is up at MLS Talk. Be sure to check it out.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, Gold Cup, slumping offense, United States | Leave a comment

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