LiveBlog: USA v Latvia

May 28th, 2006 | by: Daryl | Comments(68)

The final game in the Send-Off Series kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Latvia should provide a challenge somewhere inbetween that of Morocco and Venezuela, and what Bruce does tonight should make his World Cup thinking a little clearer. Or not.

Follow the LiveBlog here and don’t be shy about voicing (or more accurately, typing) your opinion.

-Thanks to everyone for stopping by. Next LiveBlog will be the big one against Czech Republic.

-Initial reactions: Defence looked solid apart from that one short spell in the second half. Great to see some consistent quality with the crossing. Johnson didn’t score (depsite my support) but did cause a lot of trouble with his running. McBride is great in the air. Beasley still hasn’t found his form, Convey wasn’t awful but it was his worst performance for a while. Paintballing is fun, but it isn’t a real sport.

90+ All over. 1-0. Pretty impressive, and the team can leave for Deutschland on a high after two straight wins.

90+ Keller with the slowest Cruyff turn I’ve ever seen.

90+ Keeper saves at Beasley’s feet. DMB should have hit that much sooner.

90- And it nearly cost us. Keller has to make an excellent save low to his left from a Latvian header.

89- We’re lacking that extra bit of composure required to hold possession and kill the game.

87- The “Don’t Tread” jerseys are OK, but they’re just inside out Peru jerseys with an added snake tattoo.

85- Still 1-0 with five minutes to go. Guy in the crowd looks exactly like Bobby Convey (only with glasses).

84- Great high cross from Cherundolo. Loving his crossing tonight. McBride heads wide from a difficult angle.

83- Think Lewis is OK.

82- Subs: Ching for Johnson, Mastroeni for Bradley. Second cap for Bradley. I just re-read the FIFA handbook and it says 5 offsides is equal to one goal, so Johnson did score after all.

81- Lewis looks injured.

79- Another Latvian shot floats over the bar. They need to work on that.

77- If you said “Brian McBride” you were wrong.

77-USA striker called offside. Guess who.

76- Good strength from Johnson to win a foul in midfield. That’s what Arena praised Ching for doing against Venezuela.

72- Convey wins the ball and releases Johnson, who is called offside again. Arena did ask him to get called offside more, looks like he got his wish.

71- Johnson meets Beasley’s cross with his head. Predictably, the keeper saves. If I was facing a firing squad tonight, I’d want Johnson holding the rifle.

70- Donovan holding onto ball and dictating play a little bit. Until Convey loses possession.

68- Great stuff from Lewis. First cross came back to him, but he flicked it over the defenders head to make room for another cross. Ball falls to Convey who reacts as if he’s never seen one before.

65- O’Brien off for Convey. 65 minutes for O’Brien. Not a performance to remember but playing over an hour is a decent achievement.

65- Great run and shimmy from Cherundolo on edge of box. Shoots high and wide. Still 1-0

64- I spy Bobby Convey sans tracksuit.

63- Another shot from Latvia, that goes just over. Still only 1-0 to USA. Defence needs to tighten up.

62- Real chance for Latvia. No.4 has a lot of space but shoots wide. USA need a second goal here.

61- Donovan corner, EJ header. Wide. Slow breaths, count to 10.

60- Johnson denied by block tackle. I’m losing hope.

60- O’Brien holding his leg gingerly (no hair colour pun intended).

59- Decent long range Latvian effort, shaving the side of the net. Not sure if Keller had that covered or not.

58- Expecting some subs around the 60/65 minute mark. I’m guessing oe of the forwards will come off, and maybe John O’Brien.

56- DMB had an opportunity to get to the by-line with men in the box but checked back instead. What’s going on inside his head?

55- decent passing from Latvia, volleyed attempt at Keller. The big man looked untroubled.

52- JOB finds DMB in the box. Weak, weak shot from DMB. That’s from the Landon Donovan v Morocco school of finishing.

51- Solid blocking tacke from Eddie Pope. He’s done really well in a US jersey lately. I defy anyone to liken him to Jeff Agoos.

50- Johsnson makes just enough space to shoot from edge of box. Just wide. Maybe he isn’t going to score…

48- No penalty, but EJ has been kicked in the thigh. Walk it off Eddie. Then score.

47- Aggressive ball winning from DMB, Landon puts Cherundolo away down the right, crosses in and EJ goes down.

45- Second half is under way. Looks like no changes for the US. How far will O’Brien go in this half?

-Mooch is up next after these ads. Always good to hear from the big fella.

-Is it me or does Dave O’Brien look a lot like David Brent? Maybe he was just a new Ricky Gervais character all along.

-Nice, and realistic, Keller quote: “We’re past the stage where we’re an also-ran.”

-1-0 at half-time. It’s only Latvia, but impressive stuff.

45- EJ finds DMB in the box with a clever back heel. DMB doesn’t react fast enough. Not a great half for DMB.

44- Latvia’s first shot on goal. Keller eats it up. No worries.

44- Celo is right. DMB is tucking in and letting Cherundolo attack down the right flank.

43- Maybe we should wack McB in the head every game?

42- GOAL! Another sweet Dolo cross and a nice header from McBride into the top corner. 1-0.

42- McBride’s lump looks to be fading.

41- No foul for that hatchet job on JOB!

41- O’Brien hacked down. Don’t do that! He’s fragile.

40- No shots on goal for Latvia yet.

38- O’Brien crosses, McBride heads down. Saved. I smell a goal coming.

37- Counter attack, Donovan nearly finds McBride in the box.

35- EJ off-side, replay shows he wasn’t. He’s officially too fast for the linesman, which isn’t necessarily a good thing if you think about it.

34- High shot from Landon. At least he’s trying it. No more ‘flick’ shots a la Tuesday night.

33- Proper anchorman play from Masto, calmy taking the ball of a Latvian foot in our box.

32- Damn the Panasonic Gameshots. It’s a smart way to mix advertising and highlights but why cut into the live footage to show them?

30:30- Lewis beats the full back and chips a beautiful high cross to far post. EJ hangs in the air like Jordan but can’t connect properly. He will score tonight (no more caps lock from me).

30- DMB had the ball on the edge of the box there but still just layed it back. Where have his attacking instincts gone? Did he leave them in Eindhoven?

29- Great cross from Cherundolo, Donovan heads, keeper makes great save. Looking good.

28- Shelley says Arena has called out DMB today.

27- Far post header from EJ. Just wide. HE WILL SCORE.

26- Nice reverse pass from Donovan to McB on the edge of the box. Tame shot from McBride though, who definitley adheres to the ‘take your lumps’ philosophy.

22- EJ nearly meets cross with his head. He WILL score tonight. Still 0-0.

22- EJ receives ball in area. Offside again. Awful awful shot though. It actually went away from the goal. He WILL score.

21- Replay shows EJ and defender were pulling each others shirts. Dave O’Brien jealous.

20- EJ brought down again. Then Donovan brought down going past someone about 35/40 yards out.

19- Johnson through, looks like he was brough down trying to shoot. No penalty. Dave O’Brien finds Johnson appealing.

18- McBride and his extra head will play on.

17- McBride is down. He has a lump the size of a golf ball on his forehead. Nasty.

16- DMB ran it out of play. Convey curses all the deities he prayed to.

15- Dolo dribbles at pace, one-to with DMB but then gets brought down. Good to see him go forward.

15- EJ looking lively, and players keep looking to release him. He WILL score tonight.

14- Dave O’Brien starts history lecture: “Latvia used to be a part of the old Soviet Union etc…” Watch it mister.

13- Hard but fair tackle from Mastroeni leaves Latvian player down.

12- More good work from EJ to find DMB. DMB with a tame shot straight to the keeper. Still 0-0.

11- Johnson fouls a Latvian defender after losing the ball. Bruce will be pleased with his aggression

11- Johnson does some refereeing calling the handball

10- Another wasted free kick from Donovan as he floats it too far.

9- yellow for the Latvians for a foul on Donovan, who looked quick.

7- Donovan plays Johsnon through, but EJ was offside. Glad to he’s keen though.

7- Donovan not happy about being kicked in the chest

4- Verpa- verkp- verpoks- Verpi… STRIKE ONE! O’Brien and Celo fail to pronounce the Latvian forward’s name. They’ve only had all day to prepare.

3- Good to see an almost aggressive tackle from Donovan there. Shame it was off the pitch, but we appreciate the effort.

1- Donovan spreads it wide to O’Brien who hits a duff cross. I already prefer to see him play in the middle.

0- We’re off. Reactions to those “Don’t Tread” kits?

-Still not sure about that Eric Cantona Nike ad. I don’t really think he believes what he’s saying about the US team. It’s almost as if someone’s paying him to say it…

-Reyna update from Shelley. Encouraging footage of him running.

-Spotted the little red headed kid running around with a soccer ball in the Home Depot commercial. The next generation’s John O’Brien?

-Clips of Convey making monkeys out of the Venezuelan defenders. Players dribbling past multiple defenders is still the best thing about football.

-It’s Dave and Marcelo! I’m giving Dave three strikes tonight.

-Track & Field over on ESPN2. In all seriousness it’s good to see some actual sport on the channel, as opposed to poker/jump rope etc. Bring on the football.

-Quick preview of Keller warming up from ESPN2. Not my idea of an in depth pre-game show, but better than Mike & Mike’s Marriage Madness.

-Anyone brave enough to predict a score? I’m going for another 2-0. And for what feels like the hundredth game in a row I’m backing Eddie Johnson to score.

-Jimmy Conrad will sleep well tonight, after two games in three days. Can he play his way into the first eleven? Probably not, but Arena was very happy with him on Friday night.

-Good to see O’Brien make another start. Just another 45 for him, or can he go 60 minutes?

-Starting XI has been named. It looks like this:

Good news for everyone on the Backstreet Bandwagon. If Beasley has a good game on the right, the left hand side is Convey’s for the taking.