Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the tag “Jurgen Klinsmann”

22 May 2014

Klinsmann makes tough, but right, call on Landon Donovan

Jurgen Klinsmann made the final cuts on Thursday to the U.S. Men’s National Team roster that he will take to Brazil this summer for the World Cup and, in a bit of a small surprise, Landon Donovan will not be making the trip.

“This is certainly one of the toughest decisions – the toughest decision in my coaching career – to tell a player like him with everything he’s done and what he represents, to tell him that you’re not part of those 23 right now,” Klinsmann said of the decision Thursday night. “I just see some other players slightly ahead of him.

“The last 10 days he did everything right. He was always positive, he took it the best way possible. So his disappointment is huge. I totally understand that. He took it very professional, because he’s an outstanding professional player and he knows that I have the highest respect for him.

“But I have to make the decisions as of today. I have to make the decisions what is good today for this group going into Brazil and I just think that the other guys right now are a little bit ahead of him and I told him that. And he understands it, but obviously he’s very disappointed.”

While the decision is a bit controversial, Klinsmann made the right call.

Posted in US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, Landon Donovan, U.S. Soccer | Leave a comment

28 Jul 2013

USMNT earns Gold Cup championship

Excellent 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.

Posted in Gold Cup, Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, USMNT | Leave a comment

25 Jul 2013

Will Jurgen Klinsmann be on the bench for Gold Cup final?

The U.S. Men’s National Team will be in Chicago on Sunday for the final of the 2013 Gold Cup, having earned a spot Wednesday night by beating Honduras.

What’s not clear is whether or not coach Jurgen Klinsmann will be joining him as he faces a suspension after being ejected near the end of Wednesday’s semifinal for arguing a call.

We have the details in our latest post at World Soccer Talk.

(Photo by USA Today)

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, USMNT | Leave a comment

25 Mar 2013

That’s why they call it a home-field advantage

Costa Rica has filed a protest with FIFA – the governing body of world soccer – over the wintery conditions during Friday night’s game with the U.S. Men’s National Team.

According to the Costa Rican Football Federation, the “physical integrity” of the players and officials was comprised by the snow, ball movement was “impossible” and the players could not see the lines on the field.

“We have already handed a formal report and complaint within 24 hours post-match, according to regulations,” Eduardo Li, the federation’s president, told a Costa Rican television station. “It was terrible. While the match was being played, at the same time, machines and people came onto the field to clean the lines. These are embarrassing situations we should not accept.”

Not surprisingly, seeing as how the U.S. won the game and three important points in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, Costa Rica would like to replay the game under “more favorable conditions.”

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, US Soccer | Leave a comment

21 Mar 2013

2 Comments

Time is now for the USMNT to pull it together

The U.S. Men’s National Team, already facing the prospect of playing without starting goalie Tim Howard for the next few weeks, could be facing bigger issues as they face two important World Cup qualifying games.

While the squad should be focusing on Friday night’s game against Costa Rica and next week’s game on the road against Mexico, they are instead reportedly losing faith in coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s lineup choices.

Last month against Honduras, Klinsmann benched captain Carlos Bocanegra on the day of the game, a move that backfired as the inexperienced back four of Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson and Timmy Chandler had a rough day in the 2-1 loss in the opening game of their Hexagonal qualifying group.

“They never played together in any game, let alone a Hex,” Howard said after the loss. “The back four is all about jelling. It’s a frying pan. We don’t have time to learn.”

Klinsmann, who has fielded 24 different lineups in the 24 games he has been the coach, claims that disgruntled players are just par for the course.

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, US Soccer

14 Mar 2013

USMNT coming to Cleveland

The U.S. Men’s National Team is coming to Cleveland, as U.S. Soccer announced on Wednesday that the team will host Belgium on May 29 in a friendly at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The match will kickoff at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

It will be the fifth meeting between the teams, but the first time that the U.S. has played the Red Devils as the home team. The U.S. won the first meeting – at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay – but has lost the last three meetings, all in Belgium, without scoring a goal.

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, US Soccer | Leave a comment

09 Mar 2013

2 Comments

USMNT to feel the pain of Tim Howard’s loss

Goalie Tim Howard will be out of action for four to six weeks after it was revealed he has two broken bones in his back.

And that may put a serious hurt on the U.S. Men’s National Team’s chances to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

Howard was injured in goal for Everton almost two weeks ago in a collision with Oldham striker Robbie Simpson during an FA Cup match.

“Tim has two fractures, but they are not the bones which are supporting anything, it is off the spine,” Everton manager David Moyes told The Daily Mail. “They are not weight bearing. It just needs a bit of healing time. It is not like a pure fracture where need to wait to look at it. It is a question of whether he can cope with the pain.”

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, Tim Howard, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, Tim Howard, US Soccer

07 Feb 2013

2 Comments

U.S. has night to forget against Honduras

The less said about the United States’ Hexagonal-opening defeat to Honduras on Wednesday the better.

While losing the opening game isn’t the end of the world – Mexico certainly didn’t look any better in drawing at home with Jamaica – it does give the team a wake-up call that qualifying for Brazil 2014 isn’t going to be a walk in the park.

“Obviously, it’s not what we wanted,” coach Jurgen Klinsmann understated afterward. “We wanted to start with a positive result, and we have to fix that right away now against Costa Rica in Denver in March. But we knew it was going to be difficult. … There are no excuses. When you lose a game here, there are reasons for it. The reasons for it today were that too many players were underneath their usual performance. We made too many mistakes. … We gave them far too much space today.”

Posted in Jurgen Klinsmann, US soccer and tagged Jurgen Klinsmann, US Soccer

16 Aug 2012

2 Comments