Compelling Soccer

The World Cup field is set but as is the way in soccer, it was not without controversy. The France-Ireland game ended in disaster for the green and orange as France drew level in extra time to win 2-1 on aggregate. The goal was scored after Thierry Henry played a ball with his hand (twice!) and then passed it on to William Gallas, who buried it with his head. The referee flat out missed the call. France went up 2-1 and Ireland couldn't find another goal. Thus France is going to South Africa. Ireland is going home. Naturally, Ireland and many others are rightfully upset at the non call.

It's bad, but let's put it in perspective here. This hurt their chances of qualifying but it alone did not eliminate the Irish. If the handball is called, Ireland still has to score. Otherwise, it goes to penalties. I'm sure they'd have taken that, but penalties does not necessarily a World Cup berth make. It stinks they got potentially deprived of the opportunity but let's also not pretend they didn't blow opportunities of their own.

Pre Game:

The US starting lineup is slightly different from the Honduras game, but is still the "A" lineup.

GK: Howard
RB: Cherundolo
CB: Onewyu
CB: Bocanegra
LB: Bornstein
RM: Holden
CM: Bradley
CM: Feilhaber
LM: Donovan
ST: Altidore
ST: Casey

USA v. Costa Rica 8 PM Eastern

USA: 19 pts, 1st in the table, +6 GD

Costa Rica: 15 pts, 3rd in the table, 0 GD

Stakes: The US has nothing on the line in this one except pride. That factor might be upped more than normal tonight as the team tries to overcome the loss of Charlie Davies for likely through the World Cup after the striker was involved in a horrific car crash. For Costa Rica, the World Cup is on the line. A victory sends them to South Africa. Anything else means a Honduras win in El Salvador would send them home. Not even a draw would help; the teams would finish tied and Costa Rica's awful goal differential would leave them empty handed.

Four days ago, this was supposed to be do or die time for the US men's national team. They were supposed to be fighting for their World Cup lives in the nation's capital against Costa Rica. The winner went to South Africa. The loser likely had two dates with Argentina complete with a probable complementary trip home. It represented the doomsday possibility for the US. As unlikely as a loss on the home turf would be, the lead up and game was going to be a nerve wracking experience.

And then the US won in Honduras and made the game completely inconsequential.

Did anyone else feel more relieved than overjoyed at the US qualifying for the World Cup? Is it a sign my expectations are getting too far out of whack? Naahh, I live in 2009, not 1989.

-Ives Garlarcep has one of my favorite soccer blogs out there, but his logic about the US qualification somehow vindicates Bob Bradley is a fallacy. The logic only holds if the World Cup was an open competition in qualifying where the 32 best teams make it. But we know that's not the case.

So, as I mentioned in prior posts, a near perfect situation opened up. A bar by my place was showing the US Honduras match. I also mentioned that I would shun internet feeds and pay to watch the game at the bar. I was looking forward to the experience of getting to watch a soccer game with passionate US fans, something that I haven't done in the past.

Yet, on the night when the US team exceeded the general expectations and beat Honduras on the road, coming from behind to do it, I missed out on most of the fan base euphoria. Why?

Because I watched the game on my computer.

CONCACAF Qualifying

Honduras: 3rd in Group, 13 Pts, +6 GD

United States: 1st in Group, 16 Pts, +5 GD

Stakes: The are but two games remaining in World Cup qualification and while both of these teams are locks to make the top four, neither wishes to end up in that 4th spot. Why? That spot will result in a playoff with a team from South America, most likely Argentina. In other words, you can forget the World Cup.