AJC.com > Sports > Soccer blog > Archives > 2006 > June > 11
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Bravo for Mexico
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Omar Bravo, that is, the Chivas lad, which ought to make the Horn Guys just as happy as the score. And a terrific snap header for good measure from Zinha.
Keeper Oswaldo Sanchez flew back from Mexico after his father’s sudden death, and El Tricolor look really, really good against a respectable Iranian side.
An XM commentator was breathless in pumping up CONCACAF but I’ll reserve judgment. Mexico will have a rough second round match, most likely against Argentina or The Netherlands, which also looked very, very strong on Sunday. Arjen Robben certainly lived up to the hype, and not just by scoring the only goal of the game. I hope Trinidad hasn’t had its only moment, and the U.S. has two tough European foes to start. The regional assessment is premature.
Will the Mexican press lay off Lavolpe now? Maybe for a while, but it won’t take much for that to change. And he’ll keep puffing away on the sideline no matter what.
Atlantans everywhere are taking in the Cup, and it’s certain to gain more momentum in the coming week with the U.S., Brazil and a few others still to play.
And Atlanta’s own homeboy, Josh Wolff, is looking to make a bigger mark on the Cup in his second appearance. He’s a grinder, and that’s what has endeared him to Bruce Arena.
I see a reserve role for Josh on Monday, especially if the Yanks need some fresh legs to run at some aging Czechs. Same goes for the youthful Eddie Johnson and his truly blazing speed. Don’t know about Brian Ching, who got a few stitches over his eye yesterday.
My predix for The Bruce’s Starting XI: GK — Keller. D — Lewis, Onyewu, Pope and Cherundolo. M — Beasley, Reyna, Mastroeni, O’Brien. F — McBride, Donovan. Nothing novel there, which makes me think Arena has something else up his sleeve. Convey, somewhere? I like Dempsey’s energy and fire, again, coming in as a sub. The Yanks seem to have some options in reserve; so much for my worries this isn’t a deeper team than ‘02. It may well be.
For those of you who can’t get away to watch, I’ll be back here shortly before 12 p.m. ET Monday to do some live-blogging. Even if you can watch, log on anyway, since none of us have lives for the next month. We might as well not have them together.
