INTERNATIONAL SOCCER: United States Trounces T & T

Years ago when I used to come home from a soccer game or a late night out with the boys with my face slightly re-arranged or moderately mangled, my wife used to say something that to this day I will never forget. “Mark…you may like to fight, the problem is…you might not be very good at it.”

Tonight as I watched the United States National Team take on Trinidad and Tobago from Toyota Park outside of Chicago, I couldn’t help but feel the same way as Michael Bradley floated long ball after long ball right onto the heads of the T&T defenders.

Michael…you might like to send the long ball, the problem is…you’re not very good at it. Now, I must admit, I do have a problem with how much hype and how many minutes that the coach’s son is getting. But in his defense, he is now plying his trade in the Bundesliga and does remind me of the defensive central midfielders of the past.

His biggest problem is that he wants and gets the ball a lot, but against good teams he isn’t quick enough with it at his feet and his vision needs plenty of work. But enough about Bob’s son, he scored a nice flick-on goal to open the scoring and still does a pretty good job of protecting the back four. But I think coach Bob Bradley will have some serious decisions on his hands when the big-time games finally do roll around (South Africa 2010).

You’ve got Freddy Adu, Maurice Edu, Sasha Kljestan, Bradley, Dempsey, Beasley and Landon competing for four or five coveted spots. Landon can’t play up front against quality teams, so he’ll have to battle with everyone else for time in the midfield.

I did like the fact that the U.S. finished a few nice goals against an incredibly inferior team. Dempsey’s crack from the right side in the 18th minute was the class of the evening. It was good to see Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching finish one with his noggin in the 57th minute.

So what do we do with Landon in big games? Bench him! That’s what. Here’s my lineup against a quality team when everyone’s healthy.

Howard in goal…Cherundolo at right back (though I’m not sold at all on him, it beats Frankie Hejduk)…Boca and Onyewu in the middle for now, though I’m not sold on them either…Pearce is becoming the go-to guy at left back, but that’s just because there’s apparently a shortage of left backs in a country of 300 million people.

In the midfield, this is where I get creative…I go with Adu, Edu, Kljestan, Bradley and Dempsey all floating around. Up front, it’s not great, but not as bad as Josh Wolff and Taylor Twellman as I’d go with Brian Ching and Jozy Altidore.

Bob’s got to play this lineup as much as possible…and though I’m usually all over his son, I think he might do as long as he’s comfortable grinding away defensively and being responsible for getting the ball to the feet of Adu and Kljestan…and not lobbing the ball to the heads of the opposition’s defense all day long.

My man of the match was Fulham’s shaker and baker Clint Dempsey. He plays with reckless abandon on offense and plenty of attitude on defense. He’s not your proto-typical US Soccer pretty boy and he makes things happen. Now, if he can only move onto a bigger and better club.

Now I know you’re gonna say that Landon played well and always deserves to be on the field…and I agree with you if it’s against a minnow like T&T…but against the giants, your boy belongs on the bench.

Around the world with qualifiers, I’d like to know what happened to Portugal in their loss against Denmark. Denmark!? Come on! How about England blasting Croatia in Croatia 4-1? Good to see Cappello doing solid things with one of the world’s most talented lineups. Give Finland a hand for holding Germany to a 3-3 draw too. Don’t forget to start planning your excuses for calling into work because next week there are some quality Champions League games on tap.

QUESTION: Countries like Holland and Spain have NEVER won a World Cup…do you think the U.S. has any chance of EVER winning soccer biggest prize?

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