USA Mural and other random thoughts

I liked that ESPN did murals for every team in the WC, especially the ones that incorporate some of the country's history such as Italy's warriors in the Coliseum.  But none are nearly as appropriate as the US tribute to George Washington in his struggle and victory over England.  Epic.

Random Thoughts

Its funny that keepers always complain about the new adidas soccer balls before every World Cup (unless they're signed with adidas of course) but there's no way new "advancements" in ball technology won't continue to come out with every new tournament.  You can't tell me that the ball now isn't infinitely better than what we had before Adidas took over the World Cup contract.  Personally, I like seeing what Adidas (and Nike) comes up with every couple years.  Anyway, more goals is better for the game, just not keepers.

During yesterday's ESPN visit (or carwash), I found it interesting that Dempsey wasn't among the 5 representatives.  He's arguably the 2nd most popular player in the squad right now.  Maybe US Soccer doesn't think that he really is the best leader or spokesman for the team yet.  I guess his maverick and cavalier attitude might not ever earn him the captain's armband.

The word is that Beasley has been a standout in camp, which would automatically secure his spot in my opinion.

Torres, while superior on the field to Kljestan, also basically represents any Mexican Americans who will have to choose who to play for in the future.  We can't leave Torres home.

After re-watching our match vs Mexico in Feb 09, I really appreciated Ching's contributions on the field.  After hearing that he's been impressive in camp, I think he has a chance to start for us for a game or two.

I would pick Gomez instead of Buddle because of his magic trick.  Seriously, I watched that like 10 times and couldn't figure out when he slipped the card in.  But honestly, I thought that Buddle had the upper hand because of his familiarity with Donovan but Gomez seems to be making an impression on the field as well as developing camaraderie off of it.  I always thought that Buddle was not a good replacement for Davies anyway and Gomez is clearly a difference maker in coming off the bench especially if we need a late goal.  I'm just tired of big forwards coming in at the end of games and not hustling.  I think Gomez will hustle.

Findley seems to be making an impression but I don't know if Bradley can get over how lost he looked vs the Netherlands.

Tonight, I think the only players who can really tip the scales of Bradley's favor are Bedoya, Pearce and Buddle.  Its likely that out of those 3 men, only 1 will go.

Okay, I guess if any forward had a brace or hat trick, that would change things too...