Diving Through Europe

Nice to see Jozy Altidore play well and score this weekend. He has had a couple of good games since returning from his Haiti-related leave-of-absence. I suspect that the tragedy in Haiti has helped concentrate his professional efforts.

One thing that troubles me is Altidore and now Donovan are flopping over a little easier than they should be, at times--dare I say it--diving. One of the few good elements of the stereotype of the American soccer player in foreign circles is fair play, including no diving. Some may see this as a lack of guile and sophistication, but I for one take pride in this feature of the American game.

The current group of Americans in Europe may be proving to foreign doubters that they can hold their own in the big leagues, but they are also proving that they are not above engaging in the most embarrassing form of cheating that this game has to offer.

Enquiring Minds Now Know

Astonishing news in the world of US football. First I learn that DeMarcus Beasley's car was firebombed, apparently as part of some internecine Glaswegian football rivalry once again gone too far. Then I learn that Harkes gets removed as Captain for Life in 1998 two months before the disaster that was France 98 for allegedly having an affair with Wynalda's then-wife. Yikes! And what's worse, that actually makes sense of what happened back then. Good gravy!

How did this stay a secret for 12 years? I would think that only I was out of the loop, but others who are generally in the know about such situations seem equally surprised. I've got the Fox Football Fone-in from Monday still on the TiVo. I will have to finish watching it now..

Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Good news about the progress of Charlie Davies. Not only is he fortunate even to have survived the accident last October, but it appears that he is making remarkable progress and is targeting a return to the French league before the end of the season, let alone the World Cup. Wonderful.

Davies' experience and fortune is in stark contrast to that of another former college player that I also had the pleasure of watching: Ben Ashwill. Ben was one of the key members of the University of New Mexico soccer team while I was in Albuquerque, helping to lead the team to their first and only College Cup Final, where they lost a narrow decision to Maryland. Today I received an email from Jeremy Fishbein, head coach of the UNM men's soccer program. In it he reported the terrible news that Ben had been killed in a motor vehicle accident in New Mexico. His funeral is on Wednesday. He was 26. How very sad. My thoughts are with the Ashwill family.

Honduras 3 USA 1

What a disappointment for all concerned, unless you are Honduran. I feel for players like Cunningham and Findley, who finally get a chance to prove themselves only to have that chance left in tatters with a red card to one of their teammates after only 17 minutes. Even before Conrad was sent off, the US did not look like a team that had been working together for three weeks. I'm not sure who learned what from that game, including the US' first round opponents in South Africa All I learned was that 18K was a new attendance record for a US friendly at HDC. Sad.

So now there are only two more scheduled pre-World Cup matches to go, one against El Salvador and one against the Netherlands. It doesn't sound like a lot of opportunity for assessment and preparation. I'm getting increasing nervous about South Africa.

Dithering on Dempsey and Other Observations

I'm going to go ahead and predict that Dempsey ultimately will need some kind of surgery but that this conclusion won't be accepted until it is too late for him not to miss the World Cup. I can see lots of dithering and hand-wringing and people wondering why he isn't improving as quickly as they first thought. Finally it will be acknowledge that he should have had something done earlier, but that it is too late for him to go to South Africa.

Some American soccer sites are wondering if Hull signing Zaki means that they have given up on Altidore. Maybe they haven't given up on him, but he certainly has done very little after getting an assist with his first touch in his first game, other than run determinedly toward the goal to retrieve the ball after one of his teammates scores. Can you blame Hull for looking at other options, especially considering where they are in the table?

Interesting to see Ricardo Clark moving to Eintracht Frankfurt. I like Clark (even if he avoided eye contact with me as we passed in the hotel lobby in Chicago after the Honduras WCQ) and I hope he does well. The video posted at Yanks Abroad Video highlights is hilarious in that they manage both to mention Beckham and to show Clark losing it and kicking Carlos Ruiz, which I believe happened two MLS seasons ago. As if that is typical of his demeanor on the field.

Clint Dempsey Knee Injury

Great. Just Great. First Charlie Davies, then Oguchi Onyewu, now Clint Dempsey injured.

According to Roy Hodgson, it looks like Dempsey has done his cruciate ligament. Peraps further examination proves that to be false, but I doubt it.

Here's hoping yet another key US player makes a rapid and complete recovery.

And, for goodness' sake, stay healthy, Donovan!

Merseyside Donovan Matchday 2

I watched with interest the Everton v Man City match today on FSC, primarily because of Landon Donovan. Once again, he didn't embarrass himself, although I thought he had more poor touches than good ones. Most of his sub-optimal play seemed to be in his own half. I don't know if he was anxious to get rid of the ball or trying to do too much, but many of his passes were inexplicably wayward. However, he ran around a lot, and supporters in England love that above almost anything else. And Everton dominated Man City, which certainly helped. I was glad to see that he got a standing ovation, and David Moyes played a masterstroke in allowing Donovan to experience that moment.

All in all, things are going well with The Donovan Experiment. I hope he continues to improve and has second thoughts about coming back to MLS. I'll miss him here, but but I think both he, and by extension the national team, will get more out of being in England than in LA.