USA: Back in Action

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

On Wednesday, May 29, our U.S. National Team resumes play on American soil. A couple of friendlies are scheduled before our June World Cup qualifying games.
May 29 vs. Belgium in Cleveland
June 2 vs. Germany in Washington, D.C.

Here's Chip with our preview...

OK USA fans... here we go! Probably the most important 4 months of soccer in the USA is upon us. Starting in June with more qualifiers and ending in September with Mexico in my hometown of Columbus! There are still a lot of unanswered questions I feel, and so I am nervous AND excited to see how it plays out.

Well, I'd be surprised if it does play out by September. The CONCACAF Hexagonal is way too tight and I wouldn't be surprised if it went to the end. In October we have Jamaica in Kansas City and then we travel to Panama. After that the top 3 will be in and our 4th place representative plays New Zealand in a playoff. So I'm saying it's an important 5 months!

Jurgen (Klinsmann, the coach) has decided to bring in 6 goalies to training camp. That seems a bit excessive to me, especially since we have 2 goalies locked in with Timmy (Howard) and Brad (Guzan). The 3rd goalie is almost never that important to World Cup. He tries to explain is reasoning in a recent interview, but I just don't agree with the decision. We shall see I guess.

Yeah, I think he should just pick a number 3 and then spend his energy figuring out how to get us some goals.

Defense is our biggest question mark I feel. I only see one proven player on the roster and that is Omar Gonzalez. There is potential of course, IF they step it up. Mr. (DaMarcus) Beasley can still show us some things I hope. Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler have sure showed promise, but lack the experience we may need in Brazil. Still hoping that Carlos Bocanegra will make a strong return. We should know by September!

And I hope Jurgen settles on one lineup and lets the guys get used to playing together. They need to build chemistry. If Bocanegra is in the plans for Brazil, he should at least call him into camp.

Strangely, our midfield is probably our strongest asset at this point (excluding the goalies of course). That has not been the case for American soccer as far back as I can remember. But with likes of Bradley, Holden, Davis, Edu (injured) Jones, Shea (injured) Zusi and even Williams if he is healthy. Jurgen might have a tough time deciding who to play there. I know which 4 I would pick at this time, but want to see the others play in up coming games against Belgium and Germany to decide. That's probably what Jurgen is thinking and feeling too right now I suspect.

What about Kljestan? He's on the roster. Did you not mention him because you can't spell his name?

Kljestan

Kljestan

Our forwards are good, but they still make me wonder. Are we going to have to rely on Clint (Dempsey) to score all of our big goals? Or will Jozy (Altidore) show some of his early USA form and continue his form from Holland? Jurgen says he is making progress on his maturity, which is much needed and I would LOVE to see personally. But I would also like to see him play harder for longer. Is his stamina up for the task? That is my big question for him. Will Hercules (Gomez) finally break through with some much needed goals? Eddie (Johnson) scored twice for Seattle recently and that is way promising to me. I hope Jurgen has paid attention to that. Our last World Cup went south because I believe (Bob) Bradley should have played Edson Buddle when he was in TOP form. He never got much chance. Being in form is critical in World Cup, regardless of how "great" other players may be. And speaking of form, can we DREAM that Landon (Donovan) will be in form soon and come back to save the day! He is a super hero in my opinon, and could out-play pretty much anyone on the front line even when not in form. But we do need him in form!

By the way, Donovan the musician wrote a song called Sunshine Superman. Maybe Donovan will start being a Superman now that his winter break is over and the sun is shining again.
Ok, maybe it will go to October, but I still think we should have a spot wrapped up after we BEAT Mexico in Columbus! And I know how to spell Kiljestiran's name.... just don't know much about him to be honest... experience! I agree that Jurgen should just pick a lineup and get on with it! Oooh, Sunshine Superman... I will have to look that up and when I see Landon in Salt Lake, I will ask him to make it his theme song! Go USA!!

 

What say YOU?! Agree with me or disagree, I want to know what USA fans are thinking out there!

And what do you think of our match ups with BELGIUM and GERMANY? We could have picked anyone to play our Centennial Celebration friendlies with. The European sides might help us get ready for playing in The World Cup, but we could have found other Latin American teams that might help us better prepare for qualifying. And one last note, I'd hold out on playing Beasley tonight. Save him for the Germany. Only because he would get his 100th Cap for U.S. Soccer on U.S. Soccer's 100th Birthday- that's way cool!

And Danny and I will be heading to the Honduras game in Salt Lake and 90% chance we will be in Columbus for the big Mexico game! Come out and meet and greet us, the Red White and Blues Brothers!! You won't be disappointed I promise!

USA vs. Mexico Recap

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

On Tuesday, March 26, our U.S. National Team traveled to Mexico City for Matchday #3 in the the final round of World Cup Qualifying. Here's our recap...

We are not Irish, but I must say we had some luck on our side Tuesday night in Azteca. Even an earthquake could not deter our determined lads. I felt like we controlled and possessed the ball fairly well, especially for a young team. However, we made a few mistakes again and could have easily paid for it, but luckily Mexico wasn't up to the task. We got away with a couple of calls, BUT every game and every team gets away with a call or two. I felt the ref did a good job. Mexico had plenty of opportunities in front of the net that they just missed, plain and simple. If they would have spent more time and energy on focusing on the goal instead of whining and rolling all over the ground like they got run over by a steam engine, then they probably would have won.

I personally like watching Mexico play. I know they’re our big rival, but they are a good team and they play an exciting style of soccer. But it is really hard to respect a team that dives so much and flops around like they were just body slammed by The Crusher. And I agree with you Chip about Mexico and their missed opportunities. They couldn’t find the net if they were a fish under a tuna boat. They completely outplayed us but only 3 of Mexico’s 17 sots were on goal.

A point is a point they say and I agree for the most part. Just curious… when is a point not a point? I really did want 3 points, and I now have some respect for Jurgen as he appeared to want 3 as well. He made some late subs that suggested he wasn't playing for a tie. He wanted a goal and a win. I LOVED it! It didn't work out of course, but I was happy to see his effort.

At that point I was thinking that Jurgen was on crack. That thin air at 7200 feet was probably influencing those decisions. He’s bringing in forwards when Mexico was putting big pressure on our defense. It felt like the whole game was played on our side of the field.

I know Jozy was upset when he came out, but really we had NO shots on goal at that point! How could Jozy possibly complain? He really needs to play harder and with more direct effort in my opinion. Of course, he didn't get a whole lot of help from his mates. Still, if he is the main forward, he should be attacking! Jozy and Bradley had the only real challenge of the first half that I saw and Mexico broke it up easy enough without us even getting a shot off. It is a little concerning to me that we didn't get more chances, but it is Mexico and high altitude and all that jazz. I will be curious to see how we progress in the next few games and if Jozy will come out with FIRE in his pants to prove himself worthy, or sulk in a corner? I am hoping for the FIRE! I think he can be a great goal scorer on the international level. I would like him to be a great soccer player along with that!

I was extremely impressed with Brad Guzan! He was confident and outstanding! I dare say he may be a better keeper than Tim Howard at this point, and that is saying something! I wouldn't say there is a keeper controversy, but I wouldn't knock Jurgen if he continued to play Guzan after Howard gets healthy. Trying to make THAT decision just might be the biggest challenge for him as a coach.

Guzan did a fine job and it’s great he got a few big games under his belt this time around but I don’t think he was really tested all that much. He was selected as Budweiser’s Man of the Match. I do think he was deserving of this, to be able to keep his composure and direct the defense while they were getting bombarded late in the game. I was watching the Spanish broadcast and they selected Bradley as their player of the game. Too much of the time I saw our guys standing around on defense during Mexico’s set plays. This is unacceptable! Mexican attackers were left wide open on more than one occasion. I think Graham Zusi deserves special mention for making that 30-yard run back towards our goal to break up a scoring chance. Our defensive backs really seemed to read the game well and they stepped up to break up several more potential Mexican attacks.

Beasley did OK, but I think we need him on the left side at midfield and we need to find a true defender for the left back. Of course, I don't know if there is one to be had out there and we may have to live on the edge with him. I do love a good Aerosmith song, so that might not be so bad. Again, time will tell.... as is the case for a big part of this team! With youth comes growth, we hope!!

And speaking of youth, they might have to carry us through some of the games in the hex. We now have 7 U.S. players carrying a yellow card. Fortunately, the three that were handed out on Tuesday were not to any of the players already carrying one. It’s almost inevitable that there will be some yellow card suspensions served by the U.S. later this summer.

After 3 of the 10 games each team will play in this Hexagonal round, here are the standings

1. PANAMA 1-0-2,  5pts
2. HONDURAS 1-1-1,  4pts

3. USA 1-1-1,  4 pts
4. Costa Rica 1-1-1, 4 pts
5. Mexico 0-0-3,  3pts

6. Jamaica 0-1-2, 2pts

I also must say I think I like the kits. They are a little simple, but that gives them a "classic" look and feel to me. I will take ALL WHITE over all black ANY day!!
Nice!!

Go USA!!!!!             

Viva Estados Unidos!

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Up next: Tuesday, March 26. USA vs MEXICO, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico 10:30pm EST, 9:30pm CST, 8:30pm MST, 7:30pm PST
Watch on: ESPN, WatchESPN, Univision
Follow on Match Tracker at ussoccer.com
and via Twitter @ussoccer

Pre-game special: The replay of Friday's U.S. vs. Costa Rica game will be shown on ESPN Classic from 7:30 to 9:30 EST!

It's time for Matchday #3 in the CONCACAF Hexagonal final round of World Cup Qualifying! Our heroes, The U.S. Men's National Soccer team head down to Mexico City where last August they won for the first time ever on Mexican soil in a "friendly" which is a soccer term for an exhibition game. We keep score but the score doesn't really mean anything beyond bragging rights. Yeah, but it will influence FIFA's World Ranking. Mexico is currently ranked 15th in the world and USA is ranked 33rd. There are a lot of draws or ties in soccer. Extra time (overtime) and tie-breakers are usually only used in the final rounds of tournaments. One would think that with only 1 win in Mexico there would be a lot of ties between the two teams. One would think that, but our U.S. team is a pathetic 1-23-1 while playing in Mexico! Let's hope the curse is over and we can start a new winning streak!

The big difference between these two teams is in goal. The goalkeeper for Mexico will probably be Ochoa who has a lot of hair and the U.S. will go with Guzan who has very little. Mexico is coming off a very disappointing result from Friday. They were up 2-0 against Honduras with 15 minutes left in the game. Anytime you can win an away game in World Cup qualifying is a huge bonus. Most teams play very cautiously and look for a draw which is worth 1 point. That's a lot better than giving your opponent 3 points for a win. Honduras scored 2 goals just 3 minutes apart in the 77th and 80th minute and the game ended in a draw. They are going to come out strong against the U.S. If we can get another early goal like on Friday, that will no doubt take the wind out of their sails and fill their heads with doubt. Yeah, but let's get to the real important point... what uniforms will both teams be wearing? On Friday, Mexico wore their traditional green jersey and white shorts. I like that kit much better than their modern black kit with gold and red trim. And will the U.S. debut a new centennial away kit? Against Honduras in February they wore all navy blue with white short sleeves. The Yanks' navy blue is too close to Mexico's black so I predict Mexico will once again wear green or USA will once again wear white.
While you're at it, why don't you predict what color the referee will be wearing? Geez, let's get to the game. The big news is that Jermaine Jones is out with an ankle injury.
Yellow.
You're calling Jermaine Jones yellow?
No! I bet the referee will be wearing yellow.
Is there anything intelligent you would like to add to this blog?
Yeah, most of the Mexican players play in Mexico. Only one plays in England and that is Manchester United's Javier Hernandez, known around the world as "Chicharito." He was the fastest player in the last World Cup so our inexperienced defenders will have their hands full. Chicharito scored both of Mexico's goals on Friday.   Three U.S. players play professionally in Mexico... Hercules Gomez, DaMarcus Beasley and Joe Corona. Maybe Corona will get into this game. He didn't see any action on Friday.
Let's go down to Azteca and get 3 points! The next World Cup Qualifiers won't be until June and our home game against Mexico will be in Columbus, Ohio in September.
GO USA!

USA vs. Costa Rica Recap

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Here's our Recap from USA's Matchday #2
Friday, March 22, 2013,  Commerce City, Colorado (Denver)
USA 1 Costa Rica 0

Photo by Bryon Hetzler, USA TODAY Sports

What a game! Playing a soccer game in a snowy-white blizzard would have been a dream come true for me! That seems like a heck of a lot more fun than playing in driving rain on a muddy field. What a spectacle for both the 19,000 fans in the stadium and also for the TV audience! The game between Russia and Northern Ireland was postponed on both Friday and Saturday because of snow and icy conditions on the field in Belfast but the field in Denver was snow-free until right before the game so the officials felt it was safe enough to go ahead with the game.
It is now being called the SnowClasico. The U.S. did the right thing by getting on the board early. Clint Dempsey got the U.S. goal in the 16^th minute. Even if the game was called at halftime or in the 55^th minute when they appeared to discuss that option, the game would have picked up from where it was left off, with USA leading 1 to 0. They continued the game and Costa Rica filed an official protest with FIFA and is asking for a rematch.
Watch the SnowClasico highlights HERE
The big concern to me was that the U.S. had only 1 shot on goal and 6 total compared to Costa Rica’s 5 shots on goal and 8 total. They also had 4 corner kicks to the Yank’s 2. The fouls were called pretty even with 16 to the U.S. and 15 to Costa Rica. Fortunately, no cards were given out to the good guys in the white shirts, so we’re not losing anyone to yellow card suspensions for Tuesday’s Mexico game. What did you think, Chip?

Well folks it wasn't pretty, but as they say.... a win is a win.... the defense got a shutout, which was most important in my opinion. Jurgen pulled a surprise by playing DaMarcus Beasley in the back. He made some nice plays and it may be a good move in the end. He definitely has the speed to cover mistakes made by our inexperience. It MAY be a good move? Jurgen is looking like a genius with that move! The Beez was The Budweiser Man of The Match, and he plays professionally in Mexico, so playing in weather like that was a huge change to what he’s used to.  We will know more on Tuesday when we play Mexico. It is hard to judge how much progress we made, playing in a snowstorm and all. We definitely showed some grit, and that makes me happy. We will need a lot more grit if we are to win in Mexico. One goal most likely will not be enough to win… maybe a draw, but not a win. I want a win in Mexico to solidify USA as the team to be reckoned with in CONCACAF. Our boy, Clint Demsey is now leading all goal scorers in CONCACAF with 7 for World Cup qualifying for 2014. The main goal is to make it to Brazil for 2014, but if we can't win the CONCACAF qualifying, then we most likely won't win the World Cup, and that is the ULTIMATE goal! On to Mexico!

Photo by John Todd/U.S. Soccer

DANNY'S TWO CENTS
In our last post I referred to players who wear fluorescent yellow boots when yellow isn't one of their colors as"flashy, attention-starved prima donnas." Here's a look at the U.S. starting XI before Friday's game. Now as you can see most of the players are wearing fluorescent yellow shoes or laces. Since it was snowing and they even played with a high-visibility yellow ball, I'm ok if the players wore yellow boots to give their teammates a high-visibility target of where to pass the ball since their white shirts made them look almost invisible on the snow-covered field. But I'm guessing that's not the real reason. I really am a fan of flashy boots, but if you look close at the photo there are two players who are wearing really cool blue and red shoes... goal scorer Clint Dempsey and Man of the Match, DaMarcus Beasley. Do I need to say more?  I actually like the centennial kit more than I thought I would. The big USA crest is pretty cool, but if you're going to go retro, I say go all the way! Bring back black soccer boots, or at the very least, get some red, white and blues in them shoes!

CHIP'S SOAP BOX 
This week on Chip’s soap box, Chip goes after TV analysts (and former US players) Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman. They’ve always been a bit controversial and outspoken, but this time they got under Chip’s skin.

Alexi Lalas and Kasey Keller at the SnowClasico

Alexi Lalas is an "abominable" snowman, and I am not just talking about his hat. Let me preface this by saying I loved Alexi as a player and I think he is an adequate announcer and analyst. But, Come On Man!! The things he and other USA soccer "people" say post game just annoy me! First thing he talked about was..."As long as we are winning, the game should go on" (not an exact quote). It implies that if we were losing or tied, we would want the game to be stopped and cancelled! That doesn't say much for our team if that is true. Of course, I don't believe for a second that the team would have wanted to stop the game regardless of the result. Maybe they shouldn't have played at all and rescheduled, but that is difficult to do with a looming game against Mexico and schedule problems in the future.

The second thing he said, and again these are not exact quotes but the context is close enough.... "Why did we waste a win in Mexico on a friendly".... that implies that we can't go down to Mexico and win for a second time. If we can't beat Mexico 2 or 3 times in a row, then we will never be fit enough to win a World Cup! And that is a problem for me. I want the USA to WIN the World Cup, not just make a showing. To win the World Cup we have to be a GREAT team 97% of the time and play our best games against the best teams. I want a win in Mexico!! Period!

At the end of the post game Taylor Twellman even threw in "is it bad that I don't even care about the Mexico game"? Saying that he was so happy we got 3 points that the Mexico game doesn't even matter. That’s very sad to me to hear that from top American players and announcers. Even the British announcer, Ian Darke, questioned Tayor on how the Mexico game didn't matter? Again, if all we want to do is qualify for World Cup and make a showing, then I agree that the Mexico game has little to no bearing on that. If we want to go to Brazil and WIN a cup, then the Mexico game is extremely important to that result! This is the problem with soccer in America to me. We don't think we can really win a World Cup, otherwise we wouldn't be saying these post game comments! Do you think you would ever hear a Spanish team or Italian team say "our game against Brazil or against Holland doesn't even matter?" CRAZY!!

Now I will give props to Alexi for pointing out that it is a skill to win games by adjusting to conditions, crowds and adversity. The Americans certainly did that on Friday night and deserve kudos for getting the 3 points, when it could have easily been a draw or even a loss with the snow playing havoc. We can't assess our true "soccer" performance because of the conditions, but we can assess our mental toughness. We need skill and toughness on Tuesday night in Mexico... Go USA!!!

Chip and Danny welcome replies to their rants.

March Madness- Soccer Style!

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Yes, March Madness means it’s college basketball tournament time but in World Cup soccer, it’s taking on a whole new meaning. National teams from around the world will be playing a couple of qualifying games in the next few days but it won’t be until October that the final 32 teams will be set for The 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The casual fan might think it’s just a walk in the park and since we are the USA we will for sure be competing in the next World Cup. Well here’s a wake up call… six teams are left in the CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football of which the U.S. plays in. Only 3 to 4 teams will make it, and after our 2-1 loss against Honduras, the U.S. sits alone at the bottom of the standings. I think most experts predict the top 4 will be Mexico, U.S., Honduras and Costa Rica with Panama and Jamaica being eliminated. This is the Hexagonal and we hope the voodoo spells and hexes the witch doctors from these countries will most certainly be placing on our Yanks won’t hold us back.

Up next: Friday, March 22. USA vs COSTA RICA, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, (Denver) Colorado 8pm MST, 10pm EST, 9pm CST, 7pm PST  Watch on: ESPN, WatchESPN, UniMas
Follow on Match Tracker at ussoccer.com

The U.S. Report by Chip:
5,280 feet high... that is a lot of feet on a soccer pitch. The U.S. only needs 22 feet to get the job done against a Costa Rica team they should beat. We will most likely use 24 to 28 feet to get the job done, counting substitutes. Jurgen (our coach, not a baby food) has said that the connection between Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones is critical. I agree, but we also need someone to score goals. Clint will hopefully provide that, but maybe Eddie Johnson will get a chance to show his form? Or perhaps a Herculean (Gomez) effort is in store. Jozy would be a good late substitute in my opinion as he is playing well over in the Netherlands, but I am still not convinced he can play 90 minutes all out. He could be a good spark in the 50th minute I say. Or play him in the first half knowing you will have to sub for him in the 2nd half. I personally would go with Clint and Hercules as they seemed to play well together. Our defense needs to step up and play mistake free… easier said than done considering our last few games. Yeah, we shut out Canada, but that is like holding a S.A.Y team scoreless. Giving up 2 goals to Honduras is unacceptable, even on the road. To be honest, I don't even know who are defense is... Without Boca and Howard, we have NO experience in the back. They better learn quickly if we are to beat Costa Rica and Mexico in the next two games. If we can't beat Costa Rica, we may hear cries for Tab!

If you have no idea what Chip is talking about, allow me to translate…  Denver is 5,280 feet high. Many people think the U.S. Soccer Federation chose that location to help acclimate the U.S. players to Mexico’s City’s 7,200 ft-high Azteca Stadium where they will be playing on Tuesday against a much tougher Mexican side. It will take 11 players to get the job done, but they can use up to 3 substitutes in World Cup qualifying so there could be up to 14 U.S. players (28 feet) earning a cap (a national team appearance) on Friday. Jurgen Klinsmann is our German-born coach. Clint is Clint Dempsey, one of USA’s most prolific scorers who plays in England for Tottenham Hotspur. He has 11 career World Cup Qualifying goals but he is coming off a calf injury.  Hercules (yes, that’s his real name) Gomez has been a bright light in the U.S. lineup and has been scoring lots of goals for his Mexican team, Santos Laguna. Jozy is Jozy Altidore. S.A.Y. is Soccer Association for Youth. Boca is Carlos Bocanegra who was surprisingly left off the roster. Jurgen said Carlos is “not getting any minutes with (Spain’s 2^nd division) Racing Santander, so he has no flow, he has no rhythm.”  Howard is goalkeeper Tim Howard who is out with a back injury. I call it a back injury because the more accurate broken back description is just way too depressing. Tab is Tab Ramos who played for the U.S. team from 1988 to 2000. The cries for Tab won’t be for him to suit up, come out of retirement and get back on the field. They would be cries of sacking Jurgen Klinsman as the coach and putting the current U.S. Under-20 coach Tab Ramos at the helm to steer the U.S. ship through the rough Caribbean waters on the way to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

This is what soccer fans and analysts do. They argue and debate which 11 players should be playing. Here’s another point to consider. Tuesday’s game in Mexico is a much bigger challenge for the U.S. side. Four players are playing with yellow cards and if they pick up one on Friday they will have to serve a 1-game suspension during the Mexican game. Let’s hope we’re not without the services of Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu or Graham Zusi when we take on Mexico.

The Costa Rica Report by Danny:
Los Ticos (Costa Rica’s nickname and it’s not offensive) is ranked 53^rd in the world in the most recent FIFA football poll, but don’t let that number fool you. This is a very promising team and I can see them being one of the top 3 CONCACAF teams qualifying for the World Cup. On January 27 they defeated Honduras in the championship game of the Central America Cup of Nations. A week and a half later in their first game of the Hexagonal, they were 2 goals down against Panama and came back to tie them. Although they missed out on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, they were there in 2002 and 2006.  Five players Americans might be familiar with are defenders Roy Miller from the New York Red Bulls and Bryan Oviedo from Everton, midfield/striker Bryan Ruiz from Fulham and forwards Jairo Arrieta from the Columbus Crew and Alvaro Saborio from Real Salt Lake. Ruiz and Saborio are probably their two most dangerous players.

Other U.S. Soccer News You Can Use:
For the casual fan or someone just looking to have fun in Denver this week, head on down to the Paramount Theater on Thursday, March 21st for a Pep Rally held by the MNT. That stands for Men’s National Team for those of you new to the game. And for those of you new to the game, don't look for a lot of goal scoring. Soccer is a beautiful game about flow and ebb. I know that sounds like two characters from a 1960’s sitcom, but it is how the game is won. Flo was a waitress at Mel’s Diner in the CBS sitcom “Alice” which was on the air from 1976 to 1985 and Eb Dawson was Oliver Wendell Douglas’ farm hand on “Green Acres” which aired from 1965 to 1971. Hey Chip, people wouldn’t have thought it sounded like TV characters if you would have used the more popular expression, “ebb and flow” but because you reversed it, I’ll have to admit, it does remind me of TV characters!  Allow the ball to flow on the field and the goal will come…maybe even 2 goals. Ebb and flow is a lot like an ocean scene if you are a beach bum or a swaying crowd at a country concert. Get the crowd swaying, get the team playing and cheer on the Red, White and Blue!

For the stylist out there, check out the new centennial kits to be worn for the first time. It is in celebration of 100 years of organized soccer in America. It seems to be a plain kit, but I will have to see it in person to decide. A “kit” is the term the soccer world uses for uniform, which includes the jersey, shorts and socks. It doesn’t include the shoes. That’s why you’ll see some flashy attention-starved prima donnas wearing fluorescent yellow boots (shoes, cleats, etc) when yellow isn’t even a color in their uniform.  Let us know here at redwhiteandbluesbros.blogspot.com  what YOU think of the kit and any other comments about the game, strategies and opinions you might have.
Go USA!

Introducing the Red White and Blues Brothers!

Hi, I'm Danny.
And I'm Chip... and we're the Red White and Blues Brothers!
Welcome to our brand new U.S. Soccer blog!
Yeah, we're excited about sharing our passion... U.S. World Cup Soccer!
The road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is not an easy one, and we're inviting you to join us cheering on the Yanks as they navigate the rough waters of the CONCACAF Hexagonal final round of qualifying for the World Cup.
Whether you're just as passionate about U.S. Soccer as us, or you're a new fan, a casual fan or an uninformed observer, we invite you to stick with us (Subscribe to this blog or follow by e-mail). We plan to write a preview and recap blog of every U.S. World Cup qualifier and maybe for some of the Gold Cup and friendly games too.
Yeah, and our blog is meant to be entertaining and amusing as well as informative and thought-provoking so we'll be sure to keep it upbeat and fun to read!
Speaking of fun to read... how do you like our color-coded print? Every time you see RED print, you know it's me, Chip
And every time you see BLUE print, you know it's me, Danny.
We encourage feedback and comments and opinions, so be sure to let us know what you think... even if you disagree with us!
Thanks for reading and we'll be bringing you some new posts real soon because we have some big games coming up in the next few days!
GO USA!