This week in soccer...

Continuing to keep us updated in the world of soccer, here once again is Blown Coverage guest author Ryan Knapp from the always entertaining Lets go Buff-a-lo.

The US U-20's shook off a rough start against Uruguay to come back and win 2-1 in extra time on Wednesday night. The U-20 World Cup team is the second most talked about issue in soccer right now. I'll give you one guess who is talked about more.

First off, thank God I live in Niagara Falls and can watch the game on the CBC because I don't have ESPNU. I can't believe ESPN or ESPN2 couldn't pick up one of these games. That to me is just ridiculous. I mean I know they single handedly want to destroy the NHL, but come on, you play Rock-Paper-Scissors, but no U-20 games? But I digress…

If you haven't seen the recap of the game, you can check it out here. I'm not out to cover the game minute by minute but would rather discuss parts of it.

The attitude for the US for 105 minutes can be summed up in one word..overconfident. After beating the 'highly touted' Brazillians 2-1 last week, the US team went into this clash with Uruguay already looking to the next round. To me, the US team looked 'lazy' which is a far cry from any of their previous games in this World Cup.

Uruguay played 10 men behind the ball all the time, thwarting the US attack all night long. Josy Altidore had the best chance in the first half but couldn't convert on a header in the box. The US was content most of the night with playing long balls into the corner instead of playing diagonal balls through to their strikers. The diagonal balls would have opened up the flat back of Uruguay and gave them more chances on goal. Most of the teams they played this world cup only played 4 of 5 behind the ball and attempted to score goals by their counter attack, but this was the complete opposite of Uruguay. They were afraid of a US team that put up 6 goals against Poland and were content with winning or losing a game 1-0.

The second half saw a US team come out flat again, but fought through the loss of Josy Altidore, who went out with a calf injury in the second half. Again the defense of Uruguay was frustrating the Americans, and they seemed to have no answer. Passes were not very crisp and on target, and it appeared as both teams were content playing for penalties. Uruguay scored first in the 74th minute on a ball that should have been covered up by Perk on the line but was slid in by Suarez.
The US started to fight back finding their World Cup hopes on the line, and they were rewarded in the 87th minute with what was ruled as an own goal by Cardaccio who put the ball in right near the goal line. Had their not been an own goal., the ball would surely have been finished off by Andre Akpan who was right behind Cardaccio on the play.

By far the most exciting part of the match was the last 15 minutes of extra time. Finally the young Americans started to play with some fire and saw their World Cup hopes become that much sweeter with a goal by Michael Bradley off of a corner that ping-ponged around in the box for a bit before he calmly tucked it in. This goal was reward to the US for working hard to win the corner and then finishing it off when the opportunity arose, something the Mens team should be taking note of.

The ref seemed to lose control in the last 15 and handed a slew of yellow cards, most notably to Valentin on 18 minutes which gave Uruguay a great free kick that was cleared away by the US defense. The end of the game also was a bit classless as the teams came together with a bit of pushing and shoving at the end. Most notably was Michael Bradley saying '2-1 bitch' to Cardaccio , who netted the own goal that kept the US in the game.

Aside from the negatives in this game, the US overcame the adversity of losing Josy Altidore who was their 'savior' after his two goals against Brazil last week. They showed that even though they didn't play the greatest of games, they could still come back and win a scrappy game when it counts. I'm sure that the US team now have both two feet on the ground and we will see a much more focused team when we play Austria on Saturday. They are playing great football as a whole this tournament and we are starting to form an identity in International Soccer, even if it is at the U-20 level.
The next US U-20 game is in Toronto Saturday against Austria at 2:15. The game is on ESPNU but will also be on CBC for those of you who get the Canadian stations.

Copa America will see a 'dream final' as Brazil and Argentina face off Sunday in Venezuela. Argentina beat Mexico 3-0 on Wednesday and Leo Messi scored the goal of the tournament on a left-footed chip over Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez. Argentina never seemed troubled and still are my number one International team in the world right now. Brazil barely got by Uruguay 5-4 on penalties as they drew 2-2 in regular time. Brazil hasn't been terribly impressive in this cup, My pick is 2-1 Argentina as they are simply too strong for this Brazilian team. The way the Argentinians have played this Copa America, they deserve to bring home the trophy.

Highlight of the Copa America was when the commentating man-o-war that is Ray Hudson threatened to punch his commentating partner Phil Schoen when Schoen quipped that Heinz's boot was too high to constitute a dangerous play. He is a commentating legend and makes games fun to watch, at least for me.

Simply put is this Copa America has been outstanding, with great games all over and I look forward to watching the final on Sunday.

News and notes from the past week

Bernd Schuster is named coach at Real Madrid, replacing Fabio Capello. FYI at Real Madrid, winning the La Liga title does not guarantee you a job. Personally, I agree with Tim Stannard, this is not the time to want to Coach at Madrid with 'el pollo loco' Calderón at the helm…AC Milan are reportedly prepared to pay 125 Million Euros for Ronaldhino . And that is just to buy him out, not including his salary. I don't really see why however, with Henry coming to Camp Nou and does Milan really want to spend that after winning a Champions League title? It's not as if they are struggling for talent right now with Kaka heading the attack…Liverpool are talking to have signed Ajax striker Ryan Babel to a 5 year ₤11.5m deal with the Pool today. He has 18 goals on 98 total appearances and looks to make a difference on the left wing. 37 more Italians charged with Match fixing as a new investigation turns up 29 matches in 2004-2005 that were reportedly subject to fixing. In the limelight is former Juventus manager Luciano Moggi who now possibly could see prison time on the new allegations.

Also an FYI to everyone if you love soccer as much as I do, but obviously live in America, where soccer isn't as popular as the rest of the world, check out www.live-footy.org. This site uses some P2P services like SopCast and other programs that let you watch footy for free around the world. Check out the site if you want to watch some games you can't get in the states. Sometimes they are in English, Japanese, French, whatever language it's broadcasted in, but hey, commentating in Japanese can't possibly be as bad as the commentators we have in the US. If you are looking for more footy coverage as well, check out the podcasts of the 606 via BBC and World Soccer Daily, which I listen to, religiously. It's witty, funny and if you are new to the game, or a long time follower, you will get your fill of Soccer news every day.

And Finally…

Something you've all been wating for. The 'savior' of the MLS himself. I love this commercial because I know some Spaniards (and Landy Donovan) who are actually crying because of Beckham's departure. And a ton of stores in the Madrid area that are crying now that Posh is leaving to spend her money in Beverly Hills.

Thanks to Ryan for another great post, and remember that you can contact me if you're interested in being a guest author.