Shining Stars

Photo courtesy of nj.com

The US National team had yet another "never say die" moment Saturday night at the New Meadowlands in a friendly match against South American power house Argentina.  When the game looked all but over by the first half, Juan Agudelo came to the rescue in the 59th min to hold a 1-1 draw.  

Looking like they held practice sessions with FC Barcelona during the week, Argentina ran a clinic with the Americans, making them chase every which way for the ball during the first half.  Sergio Batista, the Argentine coach, had his squad well prepared.  They dominated in possession and had the Americans on their leash.

However, the Americans always have a knack for surprises.  Bob Bradley, the American coach, made a crucial substitution taking out Jermaine Jones and placing the young phenom, Juan Agudelo, at the start of the second half.  Turned out to be a genius decision on Bradley's part.

Agudelo, who plays for the New York Red Bulls in the MLS, seems to always be at the right place at the right time.  This is not his first time scoring a clutch goal.  He did it against South Africa last November in the 85th min.  That's where his popularity gave birth to American fans.

Besides Agudelo taking over the headlines, Tim Howard, in my mind, was the man of the match for USA.  He made crucial saves in key moments of the game.  The sliding save by Howard in the 47th min was the stop of the game.  A pass across the box forced Howard to come out, stoning Lionel Messi's attempted chip over him; the chip did not work like it did against Arsenal in the Champions League.

Contributions by new faces for the Americans seemed to be a theme Saturday night.  Timmy Chandler, who plays for FC Nuremberg in the German Bundesliga, showed his speed and crossing abilities on the right side.  He had an impressive debut.

Carlos Bocanegra and Landon Donovan helped set up Agudelo's game tying goal.  Donovan put a beautiful ball in off a free kick where Bocanegra got a head onto it and forced the keeper to make a save, creating a perfect rebound for Agudelo to finish.  

On the other side of the pitch, Argentina had the Americans in their grasp, yet couldn't finish them off.  They made two versus five look like a cakewalk in the park.

Messi was held scoreless, but had a wonderful assist on Esteban Cambiasso's goal in the first half.  Ezequiel Lavezzi had chances to score as did the Real Madrid product Angel Di Maria.

Batista seems to have put the memories of Diego Maradona's tactics in the trash.  It looks like he just wanted his players to play their game.  Argentina is definitely a team to watch for in the future.

Bradley's decision making looks to be effective and his changes in their style of play looked better in the second half.  This is something that they need to keep up for 90 minutes though.  

As Justin Beiber would put it, "never say never" to these Americans.  

Ocho Cinco: the new futbol star?

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  This saying is knocking on the door of Chad Ocho Cinco's brain right about now.     

Because of the NFL lockout due for 2011, Ocho Cinco started his first tryout with Sporting Kansas City, an MLS team, Wednesday morning.  According to Yahoo Sports, he wants to try his luck at a sport he hasn't played since he was in 10th grade.    


His first love was actually soccer before football.  He started playing at the age of four. 

Ocho Cinco can be seen juggling a soccer ball before NFL games as his pre-game warm-up.  He has visited teams such as Real Madrid, meeting Ronaldo, Kaka and the rest of the squad.  

You can also see his soccer traits on the football field.  He has kicked an extra point and performed a kickoff in a pre-season game for the Bengals when the kicker went down with an injury.  His form looked quite impressive.   


Can I picture the last name of "Ocho Cinco" spelled across the back of a Sporting Kansas City jersey?  Honestly, I could.  He has the characteristics and qualities of being a threat on the soccer field.  His lightning speed would enable him to zoom past defenders, while his size could benefit him in shrugging off defenders and intimidating opponents.  


I have yet to see his actual skills on a soccer ball at game speed.  Soccer is a sport that requires coordination, balance, and a skillful touch on the ball with almost every part of the body except the hands (besides goalkeepers).  If Ocho Cinco has a decent touch, then the possibilities of him playing professional soccer increases that much more.   


Being in football shape is also much different than being in soccer shape.  Football provides players with a break in between plays, however, soccer is a sport without timeouts.  In soccer, players are running around constantly.  


“I would be a little winded being that I haven’t ran at this pace or this level since the end of our season of football. It was fun. I didn’t expect to come in here and be Superman,” said Ocho Cinco after his first tryout with Sporting Kansas City, according to Yahoo Sports. 


It's nice to see a change of scenery for professional athletes transitioning to a new game.  


Steve Nash, a point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had a chance of becoming a professional soccer player in Canada.  Instead he chose basketball and that probably was the right choice.  Look at him now (no Chris Brown were not looking at you).


Anyways, hopefully we will see Ocho Cinco again in the news.  It will go one or two ways, Ocho Cinco falls flat on his face or Ocho Cinco proves his doubters wrong.  

The Choice is Yours...Barcelona or Arsenal?

The first leg of FC Barcelona and Arsenal, pure genius.  Hopefully the second leg, coming to you live tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.on Fox Soccer Channel, will follow-up with the same intensity.  This battle is to earn a spot in the next round of the UEFA Champions League. 

     Arsenal received news to look forward to this past week.  Despite their failures in the Carling Cup as well as the EPL standings with Manchester United losing to a hot Liverpool squad last week, Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas are fit for Tuesday's match according to Soccernet.com.  This should benefit the Gunners tremendously because of Van Persie's sudden scoring touch and Fabregas' leadership.  Jack Wilshere, the 19-year-old phenom, will be depended on to control the Gunners' midfield with Fabregas still not at 100%.  He will have to keep at Xavi and Iniesta's pace as the game goes on into the final minutes.  Nicklas Bendtner also is showing his confidence, even though it is off the scale, with his recent hat-trick in the FA Cup.  He will probably have an opportunity to come in as a sub and make a difference.  Arsenal has to bring their "A-game"  Tuesday night (European time) to Camp Nou in Spain.  Tactically, they must come out the way they did in the second half of the first leg.  Goals are a necessity because Barcelona rarely ends a game at their own stadium without having at least a goal on the score sheet.  A tie or a win will put Arsenal through to the next round.

     On the other hand, Barcelona will have a different mindset.  They are down 2-1 in aggregate and hope to erase memories of the second half meltdown of the first leg.  Needing at least a 1-0 win on Tuesday night will put Barcelona into a favorable position to the next round as favorites to win it all (not like they weren't picked as favorites before Champions League started).  Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets are the masterminds of the Barcelona midfield; they will dictate how the game will flow.  With the additions of Ibrahim Allefay and Javier Mascherano, the depth for Barcelona will be stable.  Lionel Messi, the best player in the world (in my opinion), will have to showcase his abilities in the clutch, whether it'd be moving Barca to the next round or having the Champions League hopes and dreams door closed on them by Arsenal, handing them a pair of glasses that will only be visible to a La Liga title.  David Villa is a natural born goal scorer who will be expected to finish off goals like he did in the 2010 World Cup.  According to Soccernet.com, he has bagged 17 goals in 25 games in La Liga.  Last but not least, let's see if Pep Guardiola's swagger, even dealing with irritating back pains, can lift Barcelona to the next round and possibly a third title in five years.