World Cup Qualifiers: USA Falls to T&T, Jamaica Rising

For Mexico and the United States, World Cup qualifying has become more like a series of tune up matches against weaker opponents, than a battle to make it to South Africa. They act as the only serious threat to one another and are usually unprepared for the type of competition they see once the arrive on the grand stage. Wednesday night, we saw a sign that these two teams will not be able to coast through the next stage of qualifying as easily as they have in the past. True, neither team had to win their matches, but with players fighting for spots and a plethora of talent, compared to other North and Central American teams, they should be dominate each time out.

CONCACAF
Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 United States
The U.S., with a place in the next round of qualification already secure, gave a lackluster performance Wednesday night in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. With goals by Russell Latapy and former Man U striker Dwight Yorke, a combined 76 years of age between them, T&T moved into second position in Group 1.

The United States was missing many of their top players, but still fielded a lineup with the likes of DaMarcus Beasley, Frankie Hejduk, Freddy Adu, and Brad Guzan. Plus, the rest of the starting eleven, Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu among them, were fighting for a spot on the World Cup roster. It is clear when I watch the Americans without Michael Bradley, that he is the most important player on their squad. He runs the show in midfield and can get forward to pop in some goals for them as well. Now, if only there was some way for me to signal Bob Bradley when to pull Landon Donovan off the pitch when he is having one of his games. That's right Bruce Arena, I'm looking at you!

The Rest
-Mexico went far north to play Canada in Edmonton. That's right, not exactly the perfect environment for a visiting team. The final result was a 2-2 draw, with Canada, already eliminated, playing for pride.
-Jamaica has looked great in their last two games, 1-0 home wins against Mexico and Honduras. I like Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Ricardo Fuller up front, and it looks like former Liverpool man, John Barnes, has them headed in the right direction. With a home win over Canada and a home loss by Honduras against Mexico, the Jamaicans will qualify for the next round with a ton of confidence.

Top 3
1. United States
2. Mexico
3. Costa Rica

World Cup Qualifiers: Rooney Double, Ronaldo and Portugal Held Again

Another round of World Cup Qualifiers were played today, with more surprising results from South America and, for the most part, status quo in Europe.

UEFA
Belarus 1-3 England
Capello had Steven Gerrard starting on the left, which although against his wishes, did yield the opening goal. Stevie G pounced on the ball from 30 yards out, after some handy work by Wayne Rooney. Gerrard scores these types of goals more than most players in the world, and he will be less likely to produce a wonder-strike stuck out on the left. He was hampered after his goal and only began to produce effectively when he started to roam the pitch more often. Lampard and Barry are good in holding position, but if Gerrard is to settle on the wing, he must be allowed freedom.

Belarus would even things up before Rooney redirected a low Emile Heskey cross. Heskey showed a rare piece of skill, deking the defender and sending it to a poorly marked Rooney. Rooney would later get on to a nice Gerrard lead pass, before crossing up the defender with a couple of neat dribbles and putting it near post. Gerrard missed a chance to make it 4-1 with a shot that clanged off the post.

With Rooney at this level, finishing and working as hard as he always does, England is a legitimate World Cup contender. But the streaky forward cannot offer any assurances come summer of 2010. I believe this is why Capello must start slotting Crouch in the Heskey role. He is a good target man, and can set up much better than he is given credit for. Plus, if Rooney goes cold, Crouchie's strike rate has been good for England. Fabio will have to the spring now to comfortably sit back and watch how his players develop over the season.

Spain and The Netherlands joined England as the only squads with perfect marks so far, as they beat Belgium and Norway, respectively, away from home. The only real surprise was Portugal, failing to win at home against Albania, with a 0-0 draw. The Portuguese have now failed to score in two straight games. Apparently having a small army of talented wingers and no world class strikers is hampering them. Who knew? Here's my rank of the top five in Europe right now.

1. Spain
2. Germany
3. Netherlands
4. England
5. Italy

Top Four Reasons that Cristiano Ronaldo SHOULDN’T move to Real Madrid.

(I know, why four instead of five, right? Well, shortly after writing this I discovered that another site had something similar, so I ditched the reason that had some snide remark about the English paps and Spanish gypsies.)
Anyway, Bernd Schuster cannot seem to keep quiet about the prospect of bringing Cristiano to Real Madrid. He wakes up in a cold sweat clutching a Real Madrid Ronaldo jersey, screaming his name into the night. Ronaldo wants to play for the team he idolizes and they want him just as much. So why shouldn't he head south next summer?
Well, here are four reasons that Ronaldo SHOULDN'T move to Real Madrid:

4) Comparative Effects of His Gorgeousness
Let's face it, Ronaldo is a pretty, pretty young man. Spain has a lot good-looking feminine-quality laden attackers, so defenders there will not get lost looking into his eyes, convince themselves he is a beautiful woman, and give up a clear path to the goal. Whereas in England, they are used to the nightmarish likes of Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch bearing down on them, and are stunned by the pretty boy dancing their way at Old Trafford. You ever notice how Tottenham defenders seem to swoon as he flies by them?

3) Public Perception
He will be forced to speak in his own language during post-game interviews. At which point accusations of being an arrogant narcissist cannot be countered with the excuse that he doesn’t speak great English. Quick, how do you say, “I am really fantastic, I score fantastic goal.” in Portuguese? (And what is it with Mourinho and Ronaldo and their ‘fantastics’? Is that a translation for a common word in Portugal, or does everyone in that country have a God complex?)

2) The Needy Girlfriend Theory
Sir Alex and Man Utd do not need Ronnie, Real has been pleading with him to come for months now. Real Madrid is infatuated with Cristiano. They are a needy girlfriend that is going to pester him constantly, “do you want more passes, Ronnie?”, “Would you like a new batch of hookers?”, “So, you wanted your hair cut just on the sides, and you want the back to scraggle down unkempt?”. At Old Trafford, Ronaldo gets to be with the super hot girl that everyone wants. Sure, they love him, but they don’t need him to stay.
Did I just compare Sir-guson to a super hot girl? Awesome.

1) Recent history
Sure, Real has won some La Liga titles recently, but they have been hit and miss with Los Galacticos. David Beckham, Zidane, Ronaldo (gordo), and Luis Figo had varying degrees of success, but all of them had some of the luster taken off their careers due to signing with Madrid. And Michael Owen and Roberto Carlos were devalued properties after their stay at the Bernabeu. Also, if Beckham is any indicator, then after spending some time in Spain, Ronnie will have to change his hair, marry some kind of freakish doll-looking plastic pop star person, and then it is off to Los Angeles where the likes of Xavier will be holding down the back line. Good luck with that.

Top Five: Football's Teenage Future Stars

Predicting the emergence of young stars in football is never easy. Take Theo Walcott, a star from the age of 16, before he ever even laced up for Arsenal. His move to the Gunners from Southampton put the eyes of England on the young forward at far too young an age. Add to that, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s inexplicable decision to add Walcott to England’s 2006 World Cup squad, leaving off much more capable strikers. Expectation had no chance of being met at such a young age. Two years into his stay at Arsenal and some people even went as far as to say he was a bust. A bust at 18? He is now 19 and has earned a regular spot on one of the most prominent squads in the world. He had a break out performance in England’s important World Cup qualifier against Croatia, opening his national side account with a hat trick, in a 4-1 victory.

This happens much too often in today’s sporting world. The hype is created and then when the young player fails to meet the expectations, he is ridiculed. Part of this is media created and part is due to overzealous managers and owners introducing young starlets into the squad too early. Take a look at a player like Freddy Adu. He was touted as a superstar at age 14, played for DC United at 15 and criticized for not being a superstar by the time he was 17. After his role as MLS savior faded away, Adu settled in as an all-star midfielder in the MLS, eventually moving to Benefica in Portugal. He now plays for AC Monaco, and at such a young age, can still be a star player for the US squad, and sign with a big team in Europe.

Having said that, sometimes a young player’s talent should have a light shining upon it. Last season, we saw the emergence of several teenage talents. Karim Benzema, although he has been playing with Lyon’s top team for a couple of years now, burst out for his French national side and his club. Spaniard, Bojan Krkic and Agentina international, Sergio Aguero, did the same for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, respectively. In Italy, Brazilian Alexandre Pato, rejuvenated an aging AC Milan up front, scoring in half of his matches. The Premier League opened last season with several promising young talents. While Gareth Bale was held back by injury, Michah Richards emerged as a force on the left for Manchester City.

So who will emerge this season? Officially joining the ranks of the slimy hype machine, I will present five players that could break into stardom in the 2008/09 campaign. This list is comprised of only those players that I have had a chance to watch play more than a couple of times. I have made an effort to steer away from players who have already had a good share of top-flight games. Players like Gareth Bale, Lucas Leiva, Adel Taarabt, Gio Dos Santos, Denilson, and Gerard Pique, have gotten their fair share of press and time on the pitch, and I wanted to select some lesser known names.


1) Breno- Bayern Munich- 19 years old
Brazilian born defender, Breno, signed with Bayern last winter, but did not get his first game until the start of this season. In a 1-0 loss at Hannover 96, Breno was his team’s best player. He is currently sitting behind Lucio, Daniel van Buyten, and Martin Demichelis on the depth chart at center back. But with Bayern’s early season defensive struggles, he should start to see a lot more playing time.


2) Carlos Vela- Mexico- Arsenal- 18 years old
Mexican striker, Vela, is part of Arsene Wenger’s never-ending crop of young talent. With Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey, the future looks bright at the Emirates. Vela, already with top international experience, looks the most likely to get some Premier League action this season. RVP is fragile, Bendtner is inconsistent, and who knows what kind of condition Eduardo will be in when he comes back. If Arsene wants some new blood up front, Vela could be his man. His Carling Cup hat trick against Sheffield United may be just the beginning.

3) Toni Kroos- Germany- Bayern Munich- 18 years old
Another young uber-talent in the Bayern system is Toni Kroos. Kroos has already been dominate for his German U-17 and U-21 sides, and now looks to shine in the Bundesliga. In the few times he has hit the pitch for Munich, the midfielder has looked impressive. His crossing ability and ball striking are advanced for such a young player, and his presence on the pitch is also that of a player well beyond his years.

4) Franco Di Santo- Argentina- Chelsea- 19 years old
Di Santo has been doing well for the Chelsea reserves, and he has managed to get into three games for the top team so far this season. While Chelsea is currently competing with Tottenham in the, “who has the most ridiculous amount of talented midfielders on their squad” competition, they are very thin at striker. With the injury to Didier Drogba, only Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou stand in front of Di Santo on the depth chart.

5) Macauley Chrisantus- Nigeria- Hamburg SV- 18 years old
Chrisantus burst onto the scene at the U-17 World Cup, with seven goals in seven games. His pace and talent are evident, but he sits behind two experienced Croatian strikers at Hamburg, in Petric and Olic, and Peruvian goal scorer, Jose Guerrero, stands in his way as well. Competing with another youngster, Eric Choupo-Moting, Chrisantus will have to make the most of his appearances for the early Bundesliga leaders.