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Honestly, I would have rather been playing soccer than watching it on Saturday night, but the fields around New York City were pretty silent - which tells me it’s not that people aren’t interested in the National Team, it’s just that ESPN keeps letting us down by not prioritizing the games they televise. If you were to change the word ‘baseball’ to ‘college football’ in my story about the last Guatemala game, you would basically have my thoughts from Saturday night: pre-empted television, pouring rain, and a bunch of guys who have little or no team experience (and their play proved it). Besides the fact that the tape-delay gave us the whole game this time, the one BIG difference from Guatemala was that we got worked by Costa Rica (proving, rookies or not, that Costa Rica deserves the final automatic bid for Germany).

Random thoughts

So did Arena come any closer to deciding who he will take to Germany? The easy answer is yes (he did see some new players), but I’m not so sure. The game was full of rookie mistakes and missed opportunities, ending in a stunning 3 goal loss in what is admittedly one of the toughest stadiums to win in as a visitor… and I think we all know how much I hate artificial turf at this point. If anything, I think we saw more of what Arena will not take than what he will.

All of a sudden I am questioning our depth, especially at midfield positions. The proof will be in the Panama game on Wednesday. Will this lackluster performance be repeated against the worst team in CONCACAF?

Streaks.
We finally got to see the EPL (English Premier League) goalkeeper of the year, Tim Howard, who ushered in the end of the US MNT shut-out streak by giving up 3 goals (one of which you will likely be seeing in a CONCACAF ‘greatest goals’ video). But that wasn’t the only streak to end. Bruce Arena’s streak of 115 games without a three-goal loss was also snapped, and Twellman’s unusual streak of near misses and off-sided goals is now into its second CAP for the young striker, who, if nothing else, has proven to be a ball magnet inside the box. I’m betting he finally scores against Panama.

Bobby Convey, except for his tendency for cards, deserves to be a starter. Nearly every chance we had began with a well placed ball from the only midfielder who proved his worth on a forgettable night.

Finally, ESPN is really doing their part for pushing American Soccer (let me tell you). And this lack of soccer priority comes after announcing their full coverage of every game next summer. Will those games be pre-empted by baseball come July ’06?