Aragones Gets Everything Right, and Villa Scores 3!

The Spanish fans were rightfully worried after their narrow one goal wins against USA and Peru.  

The expectations were low coming in, and Spain had only won one major trophy.  However, a 3-0 victory over a strong Russian team will do a lot good for moral and expectations.  David Villa was not going to be in Aragones' plans, but the two poor results against Peru and USA forced him to start Villa and Torres.  Villa and Torres were a winning combination it turned out, and Aragones looks like a genius.  Villa recorded the first hat-trick of the tournament against Russia.  His sublime finishing skills were extraordinary, and he almost single handedly torched the Russian defense.

Spain's first goal was courtesy or some great Torres work.  Torres took a long ball and beat his man.  He pushed the ball by the keeper to the streaking Villa alongside him, and Villa didn't miss the open net.

Villa again made a great run and finished, virtually eliminating the Russia's chances of gaining some points.  Iniesta received the ball on a counter attack, and made space with some smart dribbles.  He played a ball behind the Russians to Villa, who made no mistakes.  He calmly put the ball under an onrushing Igor Akinfeev.  

The Russians were affectively buried at half-time, but Villa would not give up.  In the 75th minute, Villa took a long ball, fooled his defender on a great cutback, and finished perfectly to the near post.  Villa went to the bench and hugged his strike partner Fernando Torres, who had just been subbed. 

Russia still didn't give up, and scored a conselation goal in the 86th minute.  Zyryanov crossed it in off a corner.  It was flicked on to a wide open Pavluchenko on the back post.  Pavluchenko didn't miss from 4 yards and sent a screaming header into the night.  

Spain got the final word though, as Villa turned to provider.  He stole a long ball and played it over the top of the defense to a streaking Cazorla who vollied hard.  It was parried right into an onrushing Cesc Fabregas, and his diving header capped the night off on a fantastic note.  

Spanish fans should be absolutely giddy about this result, and for once, Aragones got it right.  Spain played a more complete game than even The Dutch did against Italy.  If Spain can play like this for the rest of the tournament, they will be the champions, without a doubt. 

USA-Spain Review

            

 

 

 

 

 It was truly a tale of two halves in Santander.  The USA went stride to stride with Spain in the first half, and they were a step slow in the second half.             

Patches of good play for each team marked the first forty-five minutes.  Spain established itself early, passing the ball around the back looking for holes in the US defense.  Spain found little success in this approach, as the US ran hard and limited Spain to two legitimate chances.  The US had spells of possession that resulted in good opportunities, but failed to make their good chances count.  Eddie Johnson ran past Carles Puyol, and shot at Casillas who put the ball out for a corner.  The few US supporters at the game thought the US had gone ahead when Freddy Adu played a ball into the path of Johnson who coolly chipped Casillas.  However, the dream start was not to be, as the replay showed Johnson was just offside.  Bob Bradley had to be happy with a 0-0 halftime score.           

The second half began with Adu making way for Beasley, and Hejduk replacing Cherundolo.  Whether it was the tired legs or something else, the US was not the same team in the second half.  The US began to bunker in early in the second half, and would live to rue the decision.  Spain possessed the ball without pressure within 30 yards of the goal.  Things became increasingly dangerous for the US as legs began to tire.  The US mustered one chance in the second half when Eddie Lewis crossed a ball in for Eddie Johnson who headed wide.  All Johnson needed to do was to put it on goal, but his header was wide and the domination of possession by Spain continued.  Xavi came close when his free kick from 25 yards banged off Brad Guzan’s crossbar.  However, Xavi was not to be denied.  He took a pass, made a nifty move by the first defender, ran by a flat-footed Oguchi Onyewu, and finished in clinical fashion.  Johnson had the final opportunity, but Casillas stopped his shot and Spain was the victor.             

The US found some success against a very good team, but faded at the end.  It was a great learning experience for the Yanks, and there were many positives that can be taken from the game.  Freddy Adu made his second international start, and he was the most dynamic player on the field.  Eddie Johnson was fed great balls for the entirety of the first half from Adu.  All balls going forward went to the feet of Adu, and he made good use of it.  He began most of the Yank’s opportunities, and was the sole source of creativity.  Bob Bradley needs to get Adu in the regular lineup for the US after his fantastic performance against Spain.

  Another thing that went well for the US was Maurice Edu partnering with Michael Bradley in the center midfield.  Edu controlled the ball well and allowed Bradley to get up the field and feed Adu.  Bob Bradley needs to allow Michael Bradley to get forward, and if Edu lets that happen, then he should play alongside Bradley.

  I understand that many of the US players just finished club seasons, but so did the Spanish players. Spain was constantly hustling to balls, and played hard and fast for 90 minutes.  The US played well for 55, and then Spain ran all over them.  To compete against the world’s best, you cannot play for just 55 minutes and expect to gain a result. 

 Overall, the US played well, but could not sustain their high level of play.  When the US play as well as they did against Spain, they can compete with the best.  That fact was proven in Santander. 

Preview: Spain vs. USA

The USA will be looking to bounce back from their loss to England, and it will not be an easy match against Spain.  Spain is a team consisting of superstars at every position, and it will be a huge test for the Americans.  Here is the probable lineup for the USA: 

-------Johnson--Donovan--------

Beasley---------------Dempsey--

----------Bradley--Edu------------

Pearce----------------Cherundolo

----Bocanegra-Onyewu----------

-----------Howard------------------

I hope that Bob Bradley will consider a second half appearance of Michael Orozco, Freddy Adu, and Nate Jaqua, so we can see how they stack up on the international level.  I'm predicting a 3-1 win for Spain.  

My take on the US Roster

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/greg_lalas/05/16/bradley/p1_bradley-ap2.jpg

Bob Bradley recently announced a squad of 33 players to compete in the 3 upcoming friendly's against England, Spain, and Argentina.  He will be selecting a squad of 22 players for each game from that squad of 33.  Sounds like a reasonable idea right, it is if your playing teams like Anguilla or Suriname where the lineup picked doesn't matter, you still will beat them.  We're not playing the worst teams in the world here, we're playing the cream of the crop.  I know some of you might say "England they didn't make Euro 2008, they're not that good after all." but think again.  They are ranked 11th in the world, and sandwiched in between The Netherlands, and Romania, two very good, very accomplished teams.  Bob Bradley will select 22 players for each game, but he will need to pick the best or we won't have a shot at winning.  So maybe he varies his selections a bit and he picks a total of 26 players; then we won't get to see some of the players who have played themselves on to the team with good MLS seasons, like Robbie Rogers, or Kenny Cooper.  Anyhow, In the wake of Bob picking a 33 man roster, I got around to thinking, what players I would pick for each of the games.  I believe I have the answers and they are as follows:

England Lineup

  Subs: Guzan, Califf, Spector, Adu, Lewis, Jaqua, Wolff

---------Dempsey-------Johnson------------

Beasley----------------------------Donovan

------------Bradley---Clark------------------

Pearce--------------------------Cherundolo

---------Bocanegra---Onyewu-------------

-----------------Howard---------------------- 

Spain Lineup

       Subs: Guzan, Demerit, Beasley, Johnson, Califf, Cherundolo, Wolff

--------------Dempsey--Jaqua--------------

Adu--------------------------------Donovan

------------Feilhaber--Bradley-------------

Pearce-------------------------------Spector

--------------Orozco--Onyewu------------

------------------Howard--------------------

Argentina Lineup

     Subs: Guzan, Spector, Orozco, Adu, Edu, Ching, Cooper

------------Dempsey Altidore-------------

Beasley--------------------------Donovan

---------------Clark---Bradley-------------

Pearce------------------------Cherundolo

------------Onyewu--Bocanegra---------

-----------------Howard--------------------

These are the lineups I would use for the game.  Bradley however, might not use Beasley because he's coming off an injury, additionally Clark and Edu, might not travel to Europe due to scheduling conflicts. Guzan is the second choice keeper but might not go to Europe because he would miss game with Chivas USA.  MLS players will be sparce in Europe, but there will be more involved in the game against New York.