Mark Lincir

Euro Cup 2008 came and went and now I am stuck talking about European soccer until it starts again in a few weeks and watching Major League Soccer.

Don’t get me wrong, I watch…and sometimes actually enjoy MLS. But it’s impossible for the league to compete for our affections against the biggest leagues in the world.

There is just so much more to pay attention to when it comes to European soccer. Here are a handful of topics that have me bursting with laughter…and on other occassions, get my blood boiling.

Silky-smooth floater Ronaldinho looks like he’s headed to Milan. This doesn’t surprise me at all. What did surprise me was all the talk of him going to the EPL and Manchester City. I just don’t see him trying to work his magic while dodging hip-high two-footed tackles on frozen fields. It will be interesting to watch him and Kaka work together and will get really interesting when Milan and Barcelona meet in the Champions League.

American defender Carlos Bocanegra was not offered a new contract at Fulham and has signed with Rennes in France. I say…good for Carlos! I think it would have been easy for the 29-year-old out of UCLA to want to come back to MLS and grind out his last few years of professional soccer in relative obscurity and peace in the States.

But he looks to be counted on heavily by U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley for the next World Cup go around and being in Europe will be the best thing for his game in order to prepare for that. I’m sure that he got a “come home” buddy phone call from Landon though.

Villareal signed American striker Jozy Altidore and I’m almost in shock because of it. It’s not because I don’t think that Jozy has some potential…he does. I just thought he would have to show more before somebody big came calling. He’s got a great soccer body (that sounds weird to say) and has the tools to be a good striker, hopefully they or anybody they loan him to can develop him more than the Red Bulls were.

I think that Jozy is also the ONLY hope the U.S. has of having a true goal-scoring striker in their lineup going into the next World Cup. For years Brian McBride was the only American who proved he could score goals on a regular basis against European competition, now it will be Jozy’s turn to prove if he can do it.

But wait, Josh Wolff scored two goals in 34 appearances while he was in Germany for 1860 Munich, that’s a good return, isn’t it? No, it’s not! And that’s why he’s back playing soccer in a minor league baseball outfield for the Kansas City Wizards. Can somebody at U.S. Soccer please hide his phone number so Bob won’t keep calling him into National Team games? He hasn’t done anything in years, give up on him.

In order for Bob to give up on the guys who have never consistently proven it in international competition like Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman, a new marksman has to step up. Right now, the only glimmer of hope seems to be Jozy. Hope you like pressure young man, because there will be a ton of it on you (domestically and internationally) for the rest of your soccer-playing life. But handle it well and live up to all the hype and you will be a very, very, rich man.

Freddy Adu deserves to start for the U.S. National Team. He’s the only guy on the field besides Clint Dempsey that always wants the ball. The hide-and-seek routine of Landon Donovan doesn’t work in big games and Bob’s son can’t hold the ball worth beans once any pressure gets within the county limits. Freddy is your center midfielder along with somebody else as long as he has a pulse.

Frankie Hejduk looks like he will be an MLS All-Star this season. My question to all the voters out there is…’how much crack did you smoke before you voted?’

ChivasUSA goalkeeper Brad Guzan will move to Europe during this transfer window. I think Deco signing Chelsea just puts another cook in an already crowded kitchen. Cristiano will join the glamour boys at Real, but Manchester United will sign somebody that will have such an impact it will have everybody at Old Trafford saying ‘Cris who’ in a few months.

Eddie Johnson better score some goals for Fulham quickly this season or he’ll be out…there’s just too much pressure on that club to perform this year and stay far away from the relegation zone this season. I will tune in to watch Tottenham play solely to see Croatian Luca Modric in the lineup.

Will Spain join the most elite club in sports, which is the winners of the World Cup (only seven…Italy, England, Brazil, Germany, France, Uruguay, Argentina) when South Africa 2010 rolls around?

Keep checking back for more soccer (or futbol, or football) talk! And don’t be afraid to comment below if you’re feeling it. That’s what it’s all about…the conversation, the debate and passion.

Mark Lincir

The hangover from a tournament this good can last for months. Fortunately, it will only last a month or so until all the European leagues start their 2008/2009 seasons in August. I hate having to come down off the high that these types of tournaments induce.

So much world-class soccer…so many world-class players to watch, day in and day out. All gone now, only to leave me with memories and conversations of the old days…those days being Euro 2008…the most memorable three weeks of soccer in a long time.

The last World Cup wasn’t even close to being this good. Even though I was actually there in Germany and can tell you that even though I was home for my daily walk with the wife during this Euro, those couple weeks in Germany from a fan standpoint were truly unforgettable.

The Euros this year brought with it a new dawn in international soccer.

The waning-moment-winner.

No longer will anybody ever leave the room before the final whistle has blown. Stoppage time doesn’t just mean something now, it means everything. A lead will never feel safe until the main man in the middle calls it quits. Turkey started it and now everybody seems intent on following suit.

In a couple hundred words, here are my final thoughts…Spain proved you can look good AND win. Italy proved that it has a lot of work to do before 2010…France who? Germany looked like they felt they deserved it the whole time, but got beat by the better team in the final. I think I may have a man-crush on Cesc…

Croatia still can’t believe they actually lost that game and neither can we. My Dad is STILL watching the replays to see if the outcome changes. Don’t have to worry about using the words Czech Republic and world-class team in the same sentence anymore.

What happened to France (I know I already said something about them…but I had such a pleasant time in Paris when I was there years ago that I had to rub it in)? Romania looks better than I expected. Fatih should bag coaching and go on the motivational speaking circuit. The refereeing could have been worse.

The Netherlands needs to win a World Cup…but now they even have Spain to worry about. Austria and Switzerland repped better than I thought they would. Guus is a genius and worth every penny. Torres had an extra lung in the final.

Ballack’s crushing free-kick beats Beckham’s bends. Lehman could be the least likeable player in modern history. My neighbors are bound to find out that I used their house for the Final party…I feel like playing again, just need to figure out how NOT to run so much in this game.

I wish I was there…I wish you had joined me…we’re all losers for not going…if you were there I hate you…I plan on heading to London for Boxing Day…with the wife…whoever said that you can’t have it all was…well, right.

Your final thoughts? Was it worth losing your job, house or significant other?

Make sure to check back for plenty of transfer talk this week and don’t ever hesitate to comment…unless you disagree with me. Kidding of course…well, not really.

Mark Lincir

I can now say that I have seen it all. In the hours leading up to today’s much-anticipated final between Spain and Germany, I was watching the Galalxy (how the heck are they in first place? Oh yeah, the Western Conference is god-awful) vs. DC United game…suddenly a flash came across the screen stating that the channel ABC15 would be undergoing routine maintenance and would be out of commission for a while.

A while? This was at 10 am my time with the Euro Final starting at noon…no problem, I thought initially…this can’t be more than a few minutes fix, right?

WRONG!

Two hours later and no picture…but I did like the note that they had on the screen that read “NO NEED TO CALL, WE KNOW THE SCREEN IS OUT” or something to that affect.

What it should have read is…”WE KNOW YOU’RE AN AMERICAN SOCCER GUY AND WE JUST WANTED TO SCREW YOU ONE MORE TIME.”

I wonder if this would ever happen to the Superbowl or World Series? Not in a million years buddy…because those events are too important…but this little thing called the Euro Cup…no big deal. Scheduling maintenance on a national television channel between 10 and 4 pm on a Sunday? I want the channel to email me the next time that they plan on doing that….oh wait, let me guess, it will probably be sometime during July in 2010.

I have always thought that there was a conspiracy against the game of soccer in the U.S. and now there is NO DOUBT in my mind. Like I said, this would have NEVER have happened with any other sport, let alone one of the most globally watched events in the history of mankind.

So as I’m cussing at the screen and calling my satelite provider who was about as much help as a referee when you need the latest interpretation of the offside rule, I couldn’t help but think that all the people who I had invited to my Euro Final party would be faced with a blank screen when the arrived at my house. Perfect!

But there is a happy ending to this story.

My neighbors are out of town and we are watching their house. Actually, my wife is doing all the things that go into watching it…I look out my window from time to time and make a mental note that the house to the west of me is still there. Watching it, right? I’m a pretty literal (pun intended) guy.

So I told my wife to go over and see if they had another cable company (I will not name any of the companies, because I think that they’re all totally useless) that I had heard from my network of soccer friends was carrying the game and actually did have a picture on their screen. My absent neighbors did have the cable company that did have the game and that house did become the site of MY party.

When was the last time you hosted a party at your neighbor’s house when they weren’t even there? There’s a first time for everything I guess. We moved all the food and beverages over there and tried to get the air conditioner fired up as best we could, but with triple digit temps, it never got as comfortable as we all wished…but at least we were watching the FINAL!!! Thanks Brad and Sharon, I owe ya! If something’s broken…I didn’t do it!

I was glad to see Spain win even though I called Germany in overtime and in a 3-2 goalfest. I was surprised that Spain did so well in the back. Torres was a man possessed and finished a great goal to win it. He looked every bit worth the big-time coin that Liverpool is paying him today. The whole team is stacked. I loved watching Cesc start and play well, but still don’t understand bringing him off.

I didn’t think the ref had anything to do with the outcome, so it was good to see the better team on the day win, no questions asked. There is a major problem brewing in my household though. My Julie Foudy loving wife WON our Euro Pick Em Group.

Talk about the tv going out as unbelievable…how about the wife suddenly looking like an expert? It hurts…so much I feel like my appendix just burst…but she actually does play the game and in all reality doesn’t think Julie Foudy knows anything (that was her prize…I had to admit she knows this game and that she isn’t a JF fan)…it pains me, but I can’t deny her the title.

My friends all left and as I gave each a hug on their way out they asked when we would all see each other again…I told them blunty.

Summer of 2010 and not a day earlier.

TOMORROW: Some final thoughts and the name of the new cable company that I am starting.