USA game articles - 2010 world cup - perspective from former pro in Portugal and USA

David Caetano, June 15, 2010 - part 1 .
(1st round 6th draft pick, New York Cosmos 1982,
pro in USA & Europe with SL Benfica, Portugal)

The goal that changed fans from soccer enthusiasts to passionate
(USA vs England World Cup 2010)

This 1st game in the world cup for any team is one that tests all levels
of anxiety. It is a priority that players can control anxiety to
produce at their highest level. Coach Bradley does a fabulous job but I
feel he may be a bit to intense and sometimes players do not need that
intensity. Some players can control the anxiousness and anxiety with
much ease and others can´t. Well, any goal scored against you in the
4th minute should take away any tension. If you’re a player at the
world cup level this shock will undoubtedly alert a player to control
their emotions. With less pressure the thinking process gets clearer
and therefore, decisions are easier to make. Must be similar to when
children or adults are yelled at or are scared, there is a mental
mechanism that shuts off and learning capacity is reduced.

The USA is one of the top teams in the world cup for the reason they can
work for one another and it is the team that comes 1st. This is part
of the USA culture and is needed to succeed. To be at the top level you
need a Tim Howard who directs and demands his teammates who respond
with open mind and confidence. You need a Donovan who has got to be one
of the best in the world. I believe he could improve and would be
considered one of the best if he was consistently playing in a top
European club.

I thought the US began the game pressuring England’s defense to far into
England’s half. If England counters and the US does not react in
keeping the defensive lines close to the offensive line, then much space
will appear between the US players and it is dangerous as the opposing
team will have space. I believe this happened in the minute 4 England
goal. Well of course I was quite upset, although, now thinking about
the game, it may have been a positive occurrence for the US.

Then the great goal, yes a great goal. The US was playing quite well
and a goal could have happened anytime. England keeper Robert Green
faltered. The ball was hit quite well and caused the keeper to make a
fundamental mistake. The viewer after being upset from the 4th minute
goal saw the US playing well, and THE Clint Dempsey goal absolutely
caused the casual observer to become a soccer enthusiast, and the
enthusiast to be a passionate fan. They may not know this transition
happed to them, but it did.

The US was a well balanced team with clear, clean, and hard objectives.
Players showed a sound fundamental performance that is the basis for
success. England tackled two times with cleats up which could have
caused the referee to give each a red card. Later a US player did the
same and could of also received a red card.

The midfielder Bradley was my surprise player. Having Howard, Bradley,
and Donovan the US players will perform at higher levels they may not of
expected to reach. The top European scouts in my opinion have not yet
discovered Landon Donovan.

There is a notable confidence from the players. An important key to
this increase in ranking and success is having players compete in
overseas leagues. It is fundamental to bring this ingredient to the
team. USA vs England could be a springboard to a high level of
consistent play. They may say that England did not play well, but it
was because US did not allow England to play well.
Let´s repeat.

This game that will bring a cross the country general public interest, then enthusiasm, then….
(USA vs Slovenia World Cup 2010)

David Caetano, June 20, 2010 Part - 2

This was the game that will bring about the across the board national
public interest, then enthusiasm, soon after they who did not understand
soccer and said “scores are low” will be involved then passionate.
Being down by two goals and coming back to win, well not according to
the referee, is exciting. The buzz talk around the goal call back
helps.
We should let referees do their job, but occasionally there needs to be a
comment, and this call certainly needs to be mentioned. FIFA needs to
select referees from across the world and get everyone involved, I
agree. It happens this referee who conducted this game may of not been
use to this speed of game in Mali where he does the domestic league
mostly. At the beginning of the game he made some calls that were not
international standards and these few calls favored the USA. Did he
unconsciously make up for those mistakes on the US legitimate goal he
called back? What ever the game outcome was the US played exciting,
technical, and were tactically sound. The team showed it has the
perseverance of not giving up, something taught and ingrained in the US
school system athletics.
In my view our stopper AC Milan player just back from an injury, Oguchi
Onyewu, was at fault in both goals for Slovenia. The 1st, could have
been 90% his responsibility. The article I wrote on the 1st game I said
that US may be giving up to much space between each other(defensive,
midfield, forward line). Happens that there was enough space for the
Slovenian player, Valter Birsa to receive a ball and shoot uncontested
from 25-30 yards out. Before Birsa received the ball, Oguchi may of
commanded others to mark him. Then when Birsa received the ball Oguchi
should of stepped up closer to the player, he only stepped up 2-3 steps.
In order to avoid this goal and cut the angle of the shot he should of
taken 5-6 steps (yards). This a fundamental basic at every level but
many times it is not done for reasons I cannot get into now. The 2nd
goal Oguchi was about 5 yards behind the defensive line 100% his
responsibility this goal. I believe these mistakes are simply lack of
concentration. Being injured and away from competing, his mental play
is not use to going at this pace and loss of focus is the end result. I
am sure he has helped the team and he may feel more responsible to not
allow this to happen again, maybe even score an important goal.
Here in Portugal in the few sports channels (not including NBA channel,
ESPN classic and ESPN America) world cup is on all day. Also, some
other channels cover the games. After the USA vs Slovenia game the
sports channel (Sport TV) showed the 5 best goals (Donovan´s Slovenia
goal was not included). This unequivocally is my best goal. One that is
calculated and performed to perfection. There probably was more then 30
million (5 million in USA) people watching this game worldwide. On
this Donovan goal when he had the ball, probably 100% of every viewer
watching thought he would cross the ball in front of the goal or back
toward the penalty spot area. His goal was one of genius and that is
why I said in the 1stwriting he should be considered one of the best in
the world. To culminate his galactic soccer intelligence, after briefly
celebrating THE goal that may could even may of surprised him, he as
shown on TV pointed both fingers to his head, being the fabulous leader
he is, to remind his teammates that they need now again to focus and
play to win. That is a big part of what makes this team a great team.

Many times when Donovan gets the ball in the offensive 3rd there is some
sort of danger created on the opponents goal. On the TV in the 50th
minute, during and injury it showed Donovan quickly talking to Oguchi.
On the free kick taken by Donovan he put the ball far post as Oguchi was
running onto it. I am sure Donovan told Oguchi he was going to put the
ball there. If Oguchi had more confidence in what Donovan was saying
he would have scored, as he hesitated just a second on his forward run
to the far post.

Concerning the USA national team in the 60´s, 70´s and maybe some in the
80´s Landon Donovan would of not made the US national team as his
height, game intelligence and skill would not fit into the selection
philosophy. It is good this has changed, and have players playing
overseas. Now we can compete at the highest levels.

Ricardo Clark was substituted by Jose Torres for this game. It seemed
to me at the beginning the the USA vs England game Clark was off his
game. He was not quick enough in his timing. Torres was even more far
off. You could see it right from the beginning. It is logical, though,
he just came from playing Mexican league that plays in hot weather at a
much slower pace to this lighting game speed, is obvious he is going to
make mistakes. Though, he seems that he can quickly adapt to playing at
the highest level and help the team.

Need to mention the career of Jay DeMerit. DeMerit was a three-sport
high school athlete in Wisconsin, and University of Illinois at Chicago.
In 2003 with only $1,800, in an attempt to find a club to play for. He
started off playing in the ninth tier of English football for Southall,
earning only £40 a week. Now in the Premier league, and in this game a
stalwart defender who dominated the defense and was key to this exciting
game.
Concerning the development of youth players, games like these are one of
the best coaching tools. Not very much is written about this. This in
my opinion is fundamental in developing players. Not only do they begin
to emulate their favorite players but also their favorite moves. The
youth can watch the games with adults, if they get distracted with
something else let them. They will observe the adults natural reaction
of enthusiasm and the child will understand the fun that sport can be
and increase their interest. The child is making their own decision in
this scenario which validates much more their enthusiast and in turn
want to train and improvement will occur naturally with appropriate
training.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a popular player the youth emulate. On that note
we support Portugal today who happens to also have as goalkeeper coach,
from Connecticut, Dan Gaspar.

Go USA

Now the curious are enthusiasts and the enthusiast are passionate ……..
(USA vs Algeria World Cup 2010)


David Caetano, June 24, 2010 Part - 3

Exciting game. One of my best buddies in the sates, Vic, has never
watched so much soccer. He is actually talking about the standings
which even surprises him. Vic had some interest but now he has turned
into an enthusiast.

My first writing I said this will be a World Cup of surprises, well it
seems that way. The reason for this is that many national teams now
have players playing in highly competitive leagues. For the national
teams to do well there needs to be a some players who compete regularly
at this level. From my experience in playing pro in Europe I have
always understood this. The team does not need an all-star group of
players i.e. France, but a combination of both.

The goals missed in a game are the prelude to scoring goals. Can´t
always score on the 1st few chances. Key is to have the attitude
engrained in the US culture not to give up and that is the attitude of
this US team. Players need to help each other as seen on TV. For
example you can see players helping newly starter Jonathan Bornstein.
Jonathan Spector May have been a better choice but I am not training
daily with the team so it is difficult for me to know.

I wrote this after the 1st WC game: "You need a Donovan who has got to
be one of the best in the world." For many years I could see his
exceptional ability.
The world should be beginning to believe this. Even scouts and agents
of top teams in Europe who have not seen his potential and ability will
take a better look now. Although, Bayern Munich as one of the top teams
in Europe believed in his abilities.

Jay demerit again outstanding. Looked like he bit his tongue and had a
gash from the beginning of the game. His hard work in the English
league is paying off.

With so many World Cup games there have been hardly any player
confrontations and for the most part a sportsmanship type of aggressive
competitiveness. This is a strong teaching tool to all participants and
viewers in the world and it will assist and validate to all worldwide
that sport should be played in this manner. Referees are making some
mistakes as players when they miss goals. For the most part the
reactions concerning frustrations are kept in control.
Of course there has to be a silly situation: “Algerian Player Slaps
Reporter After (US) Loss”. In another scenario Algerian player slaps
another player on the field and this is viewed on the game highlights.
What is this with the slapping? FIFA could review and punish. If FIFA
does this the “gate” will open and there will be comments on FIFA
reviewing everything that happens. I believe FIFA should and has the
organization to implement the new technological abilities for reviewing
during the game and after the game incidents. They need to create
strict rules and be very clear to what they can and cannot review after a
game. There should be a group who meets at the stadium after the game.
After players leave the stadium any incident reported should be
reviewed. Consequences have to be describe with as much clarity as
possible. If FIFA does not make these changes, weaker teams will take
advantage and intimidate star players (whom we all like to watch) to
possibly frustrate them to react inappropriately then the star player is
punished. This after game reviewing will also relay the message to
all world participants that unsportsmanlike actions are not ok.
USA vs Ghana, almost better to play Germany. Probably a better match
up. USA players may have difficult time vs Ghana´s style of play,
especially if Jonathan Bornstein left back stays on(he is an exceptional
player but is not ready for this level on a consistent basis). But
Oguchi Onyewu is not in form and may be worse. On a positive note, good
thing is that you can see the players talking to one another and
helping, and that is half the battle. Ghana will pressure with very
high intensity. Better for US to play the ball quickly and keep
possession, increase the confidence and create scoring chances.

I wrote this after the 2004 EUFA cup finals in Portugal:
http://www.caetanosoccer.com/downloads/youth-dev.pdf

Here in Portugal, USA soccer is now being spoken about in a different
tone. When I played this week with the old boys from, UK, Canada,
Ireland, Portuguese I even felt like a better player.
Go USA, thanks Donavon for the goal, but of course the overall talent we can appreciate.



And the nation is captivated
(USA vs Ghana World Cup 2010)

David Caetano, June 27, 2010 Part - 4

What a great run the US had, not only from a competitive standard of play but also how these games captivated the nation.

As I had previously written Ghana was going to pressure very quickly
with high intensity. Their goal was scored due to this. Yes it was
Ricardo Clarks fault, but no one player can be at complete fault. This
was a result from how the US started playing in the 1st half. The
players were hesitant and seemed like they were flatfooted instead,
should be on their toes for quicker movement. Having played with such
high intensity the previous three games, this is understandable as the
mental and physical strain is very overpowering. Although, knowing this
and understanding it fully the players, i.e. Clark should have made
even more of an effort to play the ball quickly. Again the US fell
behind early in the game.

A second error after Clark missed the ball was that Jay DeMerit stepped
back to far while defending the scorer. Again, as in a previous game
where Oguchi Onyewu did not step up to delay or cut the shooters angle
DeMerit did the same. Although, DeMerit was outstanding at every phase
technical, tactical, and seemed to be a leader who inspired confidence
in the other players.

The level of people across the country showing an interest in the games
was outstanding. A friend from Indiana wrote me: “ yesterday at a
graduation, someone ask, Where is everybody? "In
the house watching soccer". The acceptance of the sport in the general
culture you can say is now a reality in North America. The youth
players, as I have always said, when they become involved in the media
more soccer will be put in the newspapers and TV. All the former youth
players who are now adults can now discuss with colleagues, who have
never been involved with soccer, and they understand as this world cup
produced a common topic everyone could share.

Technology needs to help make referee decisions. If FIFA does not and I
believe they will use technology soon, then the sport will be
discredited. When the TV was not at the point it is today it was ok
because TV could not define as well the final referee decision. Now TV
is so refined including game analysis computerized systems that I work
with, that every smallest detail is viewed and analyzed. It would make
complete sense to allow each coach to challenge the referee two times in
each game for a video review. In a booth near the 4th referee using
the 4th referee and 2 others that would be given 30 seconds to 1 minute
for a final decision. Come on FIFA change it up a bit.

The soccer mom has now a nation who did had never watched a game on TV,
who now understand more about soccer and have developed an interest for
the sport.

Hope you enjoyed the comments and reading.


www.caetanosoccer.com