Compelling Soccer

Some thoughts to kick off your Thursday morning, which isn't as good as Friday morning, but much better than Wednesday or Tuesday morning.

-It was a mixed day for Americans playing overseas yesterday. The highlight would probably have to go to Kenny Cooper, netting a goal for TSV 1860 Munich. The goal put Munich up 2-0 though they'd piss away the lead in three minutes and eventually go on to win in penalties. The goal was Cooper's third in seven starts with the team.

Cooper has become the anti Brian Ching; a polarizing figure whom non Ching fans want to get Ching's spot on the US national team. Their argument is Cooper is young, talented and scores whenever he plays. Seriously, he scored seven goals in 15 games in MLS, 18 in 30 last year and 2 goals in five gold cup appearances (one start). His clip is impressive and he seems to have carried that over to the second level of the Bundesliga, which is still a higher level than MLS. Ching's supporters say Cooper doesn't play like a player with his 6'3 size should and that he tends to be selfish, never feeding to teammates.

One always has to be skeptical of the selfish tag, especially when the comparisons are made between a player with a great deal of talent versus one lacking. Of course a talented player is going to appear more selfish; they are going to try to do more with the talent they possess. From what I've seen of Cooper he doesn't dominate in the air, but he's very good off the ball and has a pretty good shot. Both are traits the US team could use. In my opinion, Cooper should have Ching's spot for those two reasons alone, never mind that he's now playing against better competition and is much younger, thus having more room to grow. If he keeps scoring, then it will be harder and harder to deny him said spot.

-Yes, that was Freddy Adu getting in as a sub for Belenenses in the Portuguese league cup. I didn't get a chance to see the performance but reports were favorable, especially considering how little he has played in the last year. Adu himself posted on Twitter that he was sad they lost but the coach said he played well. At this point you'll take what you can get with Adu, but the proof will be in whether he gets more action in the near future. I'm still a big believer in Adu; his talent is evident and he is certainly not the first much hyped teenage phenom to struggle early in his career. The greats eventually find themselves and become, well great. Hopefully it starts to come together for him in the short term.

-If you looked up flash in the pan in the dictionary, Eddie Johnson's picture would be there as example A. A guy who many US fans were fawning over in 2005 qualifying has done little since and is now kicking around in Europe. He's on Fulham these days and reportedly isn't doing terrible with the reserves. He finally got a starting opportunity in yesterday's Carling Cup Tie with Man City. Unfortunately for Johnson, City decided that unlike most top notch English sides, they weren't going to rest their starters and played pretty much the same lineup they used for the Manchester Derby on Saturday. Johnson played 90 which is a decent sign, but didn't do much other than that. Fulham went on to lose in extra time 2-1. He'll probably need to do more if he wants to get a place on the bench for game day.

-Marcus Hahnemann started for Wolves against Manchester United's reserves and lost 1-0 despite Wolves being up a man for much of the game. In fairness to Hahnemann, you can't win if your team doesn't score. Other US goalies getting action in the Carling Cup were Tim Howard, whose team had an easy 4-0 win over a Jozy Altidore-less Hull City, though according to Soccernet's boxscore, Everton allowed 7 shots on goal. Brad Guzan got a rare start in place of Brad Friedel and got the shutout in a 1-0 Villa win over Cardiff City.

-Pulling his best Freddie Adu impersonation, Oguchi Oneywu did not play again for AC Milan. He'll get off the bench one day, I'm sure of it.

-Clint Dempsey's poor performance last Sunday maybe due to lingering affects of injury, at least according to his manager. Good; I'd hate to think his national team play was starting to translate over to his club play.

In other Non US player related news:

The 2010 Under 20 World Cup gets under way. I'm sure I'll check some of it out, starting with the opening match as it features host Egypt against the Junior Soca Warriors from Trinidad and Tobago. I'll be honest, I know little about any of the under 20's for any of these squads. I don't even know the guys on the US team. But I should learn, given my nature to believe that anyone under the age of 21 can be a superstar. Also, considering this is the only World Cup Trinidad will be seeing for the next four years, I might as well pull for the kids to do well.

-It surprised me that so many people were shocked when they saw US players who had been starting were benched yesterday for the Cup ties. There was a lot of hate for Hull City for not starting Jozy Altidore, for example. I know my soccer knowledge isn't all encompassing, but even I know that the Carling Cup especially is notorious for Premiership sides giving their reserves a chance to play. It's the lesser of the two league cups (the FA Cup is the big daddy) and usually the schedule this time of year can be really dense with Europe coming into play. Granted Hull City has no Europe to worry about, however the general thought process of resting players is the same. Perhaps people saw Man City's lineup and thought that was the norm.

-Toluca only scored three against San Juan Jabloteh, but once again completely outclassed a side that DC United had some trouble with. This does not bode well for DC, though they get the chance to lay a pounding on Marathon tonight at RFK.

-The US/Honduras qualifier looked to be a difficult challenge for the US team as it was an away match. Now the road to the World Cup might have gotten easier. Soccer by Ives links to a Times report that says political turmoil in Honduras may force the match to be moved to a neutral site. As a US fan, this is big news and I'm hopeful it happens. As a soccer fan, it's unlucky and unfortunate for Honduras; losing a home date against one of the two best teams in the region can kill your WC chances.