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LiveBlog: USA vs. Morocco

May 23rd, 2006 | By: Peter | 90 Comments »

USA dropped by the Moroccans, 1-0 after a goal by Midihi in the 89th minute. Ugly game, but maybe you found a bright spot. Discuss the game and leave your comments. Thanks for hanging out while I tried to keep up with the action.
–Peter

Final: Morocco: 1 US: 0

93:55 Bobby Convey just misses. Moroccan fans go quiet.

92:34 Moroccan fans chanting USA! USA! Classic.

90:00 ESPN blames the heat and the fresh legs of Moubarki. Give me a break.

89:40 Midihi pops it over Keller after a nice touch from Moubarki.

89:34 Goal Morocco!

89:15 Still not much action to report other than Landon Donovan’s hairline receded during that last Penalty Kick.

86:23 “Landon Donovan changes his socks at half-time,” ESPN reports. Too bad ESPN doesn’t change their reporters.

84:15 Great sign on TV just now. “Holy Moly, what a Goalie.” We’re planning our “Eepers, Jeepers, what a Keeper” sign for the USA v Czech Republic game.

82:45 Consecutive chances for the USA a demonstration of ineptitude.

78:40 Donovan kicks linesman. Ball’s that way Chief.

74:48 ESPN apologizes for the US team not being ready. We appreciate the gesture but this is still hard to watch.

73:00 Bob just paused the Tivo and no one here knows how to speed it up. Live-Blogging now tape-delayed. My apologies.

70:00 No score. Game almost recognizable as football.

68:00 Close up shot of Kasey Keller shows him bored, eating Granola bar in goal.

67:25 ESPN finally injects some hyperbole into the game. We’ve been WAITING.

64:40 DMB is down, but Eddie Johnson can get UP.

60:00 Landon Donovan on Eddie Johnson. (Beach interview #3) “If Eddie Johnson scores more goals than anyone else, he’s got a legitimate shot at the golden boot award.”

59:40 Eddie Johnson in for Wolff. I’m sorry to see him go, but I would have really liked to see him play.

56:39 Onyewu grabs some helpless Moroccan and nearly lands on him. I’d stay down if I were him too. Free kick deflects off Onyewu and nearly pops.

52:55 Four cups of experience couldn’t get Kasey Keller to that ball. Oh who am I kidding, I love the Bald one. ESPN finally found a rowdy fan to put a camera on.

51:20 Shot on goal. Total uhmm… Pandemonium?

48:20 Canadian referee swallows whistle on handball. Trusted ESPN replay reveals that ref was right. Maybe Canada will get a ref in the World Cup one day.

45:20 US stepping up in the first 20 seconds after what was probably a stern half-time lecture. “Stop falling down!” Arena said.

45:00 Halftime. 0-0. Not exactly a heartening performance by the USA team if you ask me. But I love the Landon Donovan beach interviews. Share your thoughts on the first half. I’ll be back for the 2nd half momentarily.

42:00 If Onyewu were any bigger that shot might have left the stadium.

38:49 Still 0-0 but USA’s got a commanding lead in the important”Players knocked down” statistic.

36:58 Another yellow card for Morocco, they can’t STILL be angry about the portrayal of Casablanca? Can they?

33:48 McBride with a long shot, seems like they’re trying to be a bit fancy.

27:03 O’Brien just keeps delivering balls. Look for him to lead the team in creative hairstyles once the WC actually starts.

26:00 I just had some pretty serious novocaine at the dentist, but it still stings that USA v Angola is a closed door scrimmage.

24:13 Beasley to McBride shot on goal. Reyna would have made that one.

20:00 DMB looks fine after his ankle injury a few days ago.

15:55 Mastroeni in, Reyna out with a strained right hamstring. Fastest diagnosis since O’brien’s upcoming bruised achilles tendon.

13:50 Talk of injuries, Arena will probably play ALL of his BEST players hurt tonight for a typically American show of toughness. I support that decision.

11:27 Not exactly the most athletic play by McBride. Czech team not exactly intimidated by that one.

9:40 Nice little ball from O’Brien. Too bad the Uber-Moroccan goalie was there.

6:35 Morocco’s really brought out the brute squad tonight. Free kick for Reyna looks like it was lost in the sun.

5:05 Morocco foot to Wolff’s face. Wolff finally gets into the action, his first in years.

2:00 Obrien’s down. Lasted longer than expected. Announcer: Best thing about that, he got up quickly.

00:00 It’s a partial sellout tonight and we’re underway. Ugly glare off the pitch, makes the Moroccan jerseys pretty effective camouflage… Interesting strategy.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but there have been more USA world cup commercials in the last five minutes than the last 50 years.

Current count: Beer commercials: 5. Insightful comments from our commentators: 0

This just in: Painful-to-watch TV show “Around the Horn” reports that Tele-Evangelist Pat Robertson can leg-press 2,000 pounds.

I think U2’s Bono just made me go misty-eyed during a world cup commercial. If I get emotional over the next 90 minutes that commercial’s to blame.

Tv’s on, no mention of the match yet. Friends don’t let friends watch daytime cable sports talk shows.

Starting lineups were just announced The US Starting Lineup

Tags: Friendlies, LiveBlog, May 23, US-Morocco

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 90 comments.

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By JohnnyA | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:02 pm

Thanks Cherundolo, why not give it to Keller?

Posted from United States

By ETucker | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:03 pm

This is a nice wake-up call after the Charleston Battery scrimmages. I just wish we were playing other decent teams….

Posted from United States

By Razzle | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:04 pm

Shit - lost to a second (third?) string Morocco. Not good not good.

Is there enough time to give Ronaldinho citizenship?

By Kapcro | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:06 pm

US has a chance for three losses before the WC starts.

Posted from United States

By Karl | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:07 pm

Why do they hate their fans so much?

Posted from United States

By ETucker | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:08 pm

Hey-

is it just me, or did the starting formation 4-2-1-3, remind anyone else of the Argentine 3-3-1-3 formation that sucked ass in Japan/Koraa 02?

The only difference is that instead of putting all the pressure on Juan Sebastian Veron, an international all star playing in Europe at the time, we have Landon Donovan, who regularly disappears in MLS games.

I am going to be mad if Sampson-esque formation tomfoolery costs us a trip to the second round (or at least a respectable showing)

And lets not forget how the 4-3-3 worked in the Azteca last time we used it…

Posted from United States

By Karl | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:10 pm

The world no longer wants to play us: they love to paly us.

Posted from United States

By Kapcro | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:15 pm

Could they please ask the Germans to cool the fields when the US plays according to ESPN the heat bothers them!

Posted from United States

By Razzle | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:18 pm

My grandma has better hammies than Reyna.

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:29 pm

Just a couple of technical questions:

1) Don’t the US shorts look like they’re on the wrong way with that stripe running down the back of the left leg?
2) Was that a zit on Kasey’s lip?

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:32 pm

Listen, gang, I’ve got the real scoop:

Mastermind Il Bruce wanted the game to be close at the end to force the boys to really step it up in the last 10 minutes.

Also, he wanted the US to lose 1-0 going into the next two friendlies, to force the boys to have to scrap together a few “points” in the next two matches - just like what’ll happen in Germany.

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:33 pm

One word - UNINSPIRING!

Posted from United States

By matt | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:36 pm

ouch. please say this was a ploy to be able to sneak up on italy.

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:36 pm

Well, rather than focus on the negative, I’ll reflect on the positive:

1) USA MVP DMB
2) Bobby Convey impressed me.
3) Good to take John O’Brien off; he did well in the 1st half.
4) This was not the opening match of the World Cup.

Posted from United States

By Mirage | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:37 pm

I really regret spending all that time watching the match.I was really excited about the match.Half way through the 1st half I was falling asleep.I’m going back to the playstation. At least there US have a chance…

By Kapcro | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:40 pm

Good news Cajun, mistakenly I thought they played like crap for 90 minutes. Sneaking up on Latvia and Venezuela, tricky. What a football mind, those Brazilians better watch out. Now that I know the strategy I can peacefully wait for the next two friendlies.

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:51 pm

I think that ETucker said it best: the US lack edge tonight. They didn’t look like a team that had something to prove. Maybe they are buying into the Madison Ave hype.

And, the worst part is that it’s not like we were cocky, or over-confident. We simply looked like we didn’t care. Now, I know that the players will say that they did care, but I didn’t see that.

Bruce Arena isn’t one to spin a lot of garbage, so I’m looking forward to his comments following this match.

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:52 pm

Kapcro,

Don’t worry about the heat in Germany. ESPN will blame jet lag, or time difference, or some other irrelevant factor that applies to just about every other team there.

BTW, keep up the good comments.

Posted from United States

By Kapcro | May 23rd, 2006 at 8:56 pm

How do you write off an embarassing loss to Morocco when you are supposedly among the top ten teams in the WC. Let’s see what happens against Latvia. The excuses for this one will fall mostly on deaf ears.

Posted from United States

By Cajun Nick | May 23rd, 2006 at 9:03 pm

There are no excuses, just reasons. Actually, 1 reason - poor finishing.

The one insightful thing I heard all night on from the ESPN commentators came from Harkes.

When Landon muffed his attempt on goal, Harkes noted that a true striker would have smashed the shot, not tried to chip it.

Definitely poor finishing, with a lack of authority tonight.

Posted from United States

By Kapcro | May 23rd, 2006 at 9:12 pm

Cajun, a pattern is emerging in the US play and I hope it turns around before the WC starts or otherwise there’s going to be alot more lauging the those FIFA rankings. Enjoyed the comentary.

Posted from United States

By italiano | May 23rd, 2006 at 9:51 pm

i am very happy since now i am almost sure italy will not only dominate but will kick USas A$$

so if anyone hopes that USA gets anywhere close to getting past the first round remember… italy is better and czech republic will definetly show the US that they should stick to baseball and basketball … also football because if you havent noticed those sports are only played in this country much love

Posted from United States

By Jeff | May 24th, 2006 at 8:48 am

Italiano you are retarded. Baseball is played all over Latin America and the Pacific Rim and basketball…a guy slotted to go in the top 5 in the NBA draft this year comes from YOUR country. The US didn’t even make the final in Olympic basketball last time around. How can you tell me that’s not a world sport?

Posted from United States

By Stuart | May 24th, 2006 at 12:48 pm

Classic! Next time you live-blog a US match, I’m turning the sound down on the TV, and setting up a screen reader on my PC to let you do the audio play-by-play.

By depressed | June 10th, 2006 at 10:37 pm

ESPN sucks so badly, and so do their pathetic commentators. Why on earth would a company *choose* to air a bunch of drivel compared to the excellent and professional job done by the lads at the BBC?

I’ve tried watching several games so far, and its almost too painful to listen to.

Posted from United States

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