CD9 on the Mend

For US fans, this update on Charlie Davies's miraculous on-going recovery from the injuries he sustained from that deadly car accident back in October is a must read.

I'm still not willing to consider him for a World Cup spot until I see him on the field because I know how much remains before he can get back on the field and how so many players suffer injury setbacks when trying to come back too soon. Yet when you read this report, it's pretty convincing that he'll be on the field for Sochaux in France with time to spare.

This is both amazingly encouraging and just a really good personal story.

Apparently all his broken bones and torn PCL are healed and he's been jogging. His accelerated timetable is remarkable, especially when you consider the mental struggle he's been through in light of the accident. Imagine living with the self-doubt after making such a poor decision that easily could have ended your life.

Of course, he's had plenty of physical struggles. I would like to highlight this line from the report in particular -- "a shorter haircut reveals the scar he has from ear to ear arcing over the top of his skull. That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess." (My emphasis added -- good god!)

In light of Clint Dempsey's injury and the abysmal showing by the US reserves this weekend against Honduras, it's pretty clear that a miracle recovery is desperately needed. But I for one wouldn't have believed it could be answered.

(Update: here's more from the Davies interview that's not included in the ESPN article.)

An Emotional Release

Sometimes a rare or unusual confluence of things make what should be an ordinary event become something greater. Well, last night at RFK Stadium was surely one such event. From events happening before the game to the progression of events during the game, it all lead to a rather gratifying and joyous last-second 2-2 draw.

The USA already qualified for the World Cup, so technically this game was meaningless. The players wanted to win to finish first in the hexagonal and possibly get a seed for the World Cup draw. But let's face it, that seed is not happening, just forget it, so the match was meaningless from the standpoint of being absolutely necessary.

Yet Tuesday morning's accident that left Charlie Davies seriously injured and another person dead altered everything.

The US has never really gotten a hold of what type of team it is in terms of formation and attacking style, and you can tell it has somewhat bothered the team in the past, and certainly bothered fans for a long time. Sometimes it's two deep defensive midfielders, maybe one defensive midfielder and an attacking mid, sometimes attacking through the wings, sometimes trying to force it through the middle, you never really know. But with a shortage of World Class talent to build around an attacking style that can dictate a set style or pace no matter the opponent, the US team has formed one hard and true identity- the classic never-say-die attitude, always fighting and lots of heart. They showed resilience in the Confederations Cup, and time and again during World Cup qualifying when fighting back from deficits, such as the improbable comeback against a Honduran side previously unbeaten at home.

Well, fighting on behalf of a fallen comrade was certainly another motivator to just fight for everything until the last whistle, to do whatever it takes to get a result and honor their friend and teammate.

Costa Rica, on the other hand, was still playing for it's World Cup life. And they brought their game in the first half. They withstood early US pressure, including a laughable, inexplicable misfire by Saturday's USA hero Connor Casey (at 9 minutes nonetheless, when we were honoring ChuckDeez! RFK might have literally combusted had Casey scored). Then came Bryan Ruiz tooling Oguchi, who looked increasingly off key since his summer move to the AC Milan bench. Then came Michael Bradley failing to track Ruiz before he unleashed an unstoppable shot that must have sent an entire country into delirium.

But a not-so-predictable thing happened. Costa Rica backed off, trying to defend the lead with 10 men, the US took complete control, and despite blowing way too many chances, showed heart to rescue a point, an undefeated home campaign, and first place bragging rights in CONCACAF.

Of course, it never should have come down to the last second. Connor Casey blew that early chance, showed a lack of killer striker instinct by deferring to Landon Donovan on a clear chance later, and then pretty much didn't do anything aside from two or three decent flicks/lay-offs. The man is something of a hero after his Honduras performance, yet he gets no slack from USA fans, and his performance didn't help.

His strike partner was also wasteful, though no one can doubt Jozy Altidore's otherwise immense performance. He was all over the place, winning tackles, setting up teammates, and probably should have scored twice (though his first half chance saved by Navas was good agressive goalkeeping). He clearly wanted to play well for his good friend and his comments after the game about always leaving everything on the field because you never know when it's your last are heartening for US fans and scary for opposing defenses.

Landon Donovan may be even more guilty of profligacy than Casey, and he may have even been a little tired for once. He usually can be counted to attack defenders and push the ball forward when a game gets stretched end to end late in the second half, but he tended to hold back somewhat, though that did help retain possession.

The keys were the introduction of Jose Francisco Torres and Robbie Rogers. Benny Feilhaber was ineffective because he was coming far too deep to receive the ball from his defenders, while Bradley was playing above him. Something seems backwards about that scenario. Torres on the other hand played the part perfectly, and his distribution was great, throwing in a key tackle as well. Rogers also came in and missed some chances, though they are more excusable since you wouldn't expect him to finish with his right foot or head anyway. Still, both Torres and Rogers may merit more playing time after last night.

Still, after all these performances, the US was down late, and the air in the stadium was entirely sucked out after Oguchi went down with a serious injury. By the way, I'm going to send a big F You to AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani, who wants compensation from the USSF for Gooch's injury.

Additionally, the Costa Ricans were continuing with absolutely ridiculous time wasting. It began in the first half! At one point an "injured" player was getting up and the Costa Rican medical staffer dumped the entire contents of his cooler on the field. Seriously?! For this egregious poor sportsmanship, the karma gods struck them with what I can only imagine is a horrible, gut-punching twist of fate.

While part of me is upset that we couldn't sell out the final home qualifier and only 26,000 people were in attendance (though that was 75-80% USA fans, filling the entire lower bowl with US fans), at the game the crowd was simply amazing, a great atmosphere around the entire stadium, not just the usual loud side of RFK. And you can't discount the effect and atmosphere of those classic RFK stands bouncing up and down like its glory days. As the game was dying and it seemed like we couldn't get the point, and the disappointment of DC United's season at RFK was bleeding over to the USMNT, well the fans decided the heck with it and jumped and cheered for one last attack, trying to will a goal. And when Jonathan Bornstein came unmarked and buried his header, well we might have celebrated harder than when the US clinched qualification on Saturday. It was an affirmation of the US's heart, getting a point for Davies, bragging rights over Mexico in the CONCACAF standings, and sticking it to the Costa Ricans for their antics all at once (while also benefiting the Hondurans, who I must say the US felt good helping after their country was so respectful of the USA on Saturday, a rarity in Central America). All those emotions were released at once, a necessary outpouring from both the team and its fans.

There's probably more to add (what does Gooch's injury mean for the team, Bornstein's continued good play, the marked improvement of Central American goalkeepers recently - Navas was very good last night, the ongoing central midfield question, who steps in up top next to Altidore, etc.), and I'm sure we'll go over that at some point. But to finish things off, here's the video of the final seconds, with the US crowd, the corner kick and goal, US celebrations, and Costa Rican heartbreak:



(For a sound clip of how important this was to Honduras, listen to the Honduran radio call from El Salvador when the US scores)

Wishing Davies The Best...

I was going to post something about the US team today, maybe look at the current roster status and do something of a power poll for World Cup roster spots. Unfortunately life sucked the air of out of me today as I read the emerging news of a serious car crash involving Charlie Davies early this morning.

When I read the headline that Davies was in a deadly car accident, my stomach just dropped. One person is already dead and Davies is in surgery for non-life threatening but possibly career-threatening injuries. Everyone across the US soccer nation is surely stunned and saddened right now, wishing the best for the family of the deceased and for a speedy recovery for Davies.

There's also a lot of speculation going on right now as to the cause of the accident. One car crashes at 3:15am usually mean one thing. I don't want to seem like I'm stretching here, but through an acquaintance who was a friend of the deceased, I heard there was definitely alcohol involved. However, Davies was not driving. I'm saddened to think that Davies, a player with such potential and a great career ahead of him, put himself in such a poor position. Following along the USMNT during qualification, Confederations Cup, and more, I know lots of people feel very connected to these players, just as I do, and something this horrible really hurts even if I don't personally know Davies.

More to come...

Update: The long and awful list of injuries to Charlie Davies includes: lacerated bladder, fractured right tibia and femur (yikes) that required titanium rods, facial fractures, and a broken elbow, with more surgeries to come the next week to stabilize his facial and elbow fractures. Wow, that's a serious list, and he's damn lucky to be alive, let alone have a chance at recovering in a year or so and having a successful career (which he will have a chance to do thankfully). Not much more I feel like adding today, though I'll certainly be looking out for how both the team and fans honor Davies tomorrow at RFK.

The Sports Guys opines on Mexico, soccer in the US

For those of you who are fans of ESPN's Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, he recently took in and wrote about the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Azteca.

Even though Simmons is not a knowledgeable soccer fan, the sport has been growing on him this summer, and he brings a nice perspective regarding the sport's place in US sporting culture.

As far as the match itself, it's always interesting to read about the experience of the fan at the game, as well as a before and after, and the Sports Guy certainly gives you a feel for what it's like to be in the Estadio Azteca and how nothing in American sports compares to the atmosphere of a game there.

Despite not being that knowledgeable about soccer (his analysis of the game is not quite correct in my opinion, and he doesn't address Charlie Davies' athleticism), he makes some good points I want to hit on.

First, he rightfully notes the long-known fact that only in the United States do the country's best athletes not play soccer. That is, until now. We see Oguchi Onyewu, and more importantly Jozy Altidore, and we see athletes who wouldn't look out of place playing next to LeBron or Ray Lewis. Certainly this will be key as US soccer looks to level the playing field with established world powers. Once upon a time, Eric Wynalda was the greatest US striker. Brian McBride added a level of strength missing before from skilled US attackers. Now Jozy brings with him tantalizing possibilities as we watch the 19 year old post up Joan Capdevila like he was Dwight Howard shrugging off Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Charlie Davies also marries true striker instincts with blazing speed not before seen from a US player. Landon Donovan is fast and can run forever like a Kenyan marathoner, but Davies has that extra gear that makes the defense worry every time he's chasing down a 50/50 ball.

However, the big point I liked about the article was how Simmons analogizes between Mexico's methodical, short-passing possession game (for which I'd use Spain as the example of, rather than Mexico) as the means of "building something from within and trusting the process," rather than "launching those 70-yard kicks downfield and hoping something happens -- aka the Beckham signing."

This is something I absolutely agree with. Soccer supporters in the US should not try to force the game upon people, nor should we be constantly hoping some huge moment (i.e., an upset of Spain, a deep run in the World Cup) will somehow be the tipping point and from that moment on soccer will be on par with football, basketball and baseball.

Building something like a true soccer infrastructure within the US sporting landscape akin to that of the other major sports will take time. The current generation of young adults and their kids will have grown up with MLS, EPL on Fox Soccer and now ESPN, the World Cup, and importantly, a continuously improving US national team. The Jim Romes of the country have less impact than before, and much of their unabashed distaste for something foreign to them will not be passed on to future generations. Practical reasons will also boost the game's popularity, as HD TVs allow viewers to really see the game and appreciate the beauty of the teamwork and athleticism on display. Not to mention that like baskeball, soccer can easily promote not only teams (or in the case of the EPL, the league as a whole) but also its stars individually because the players are visible and recognizable on the field for the entire game, unlike football stars, who are hidden behind helmets and play only a percentage of the entire game time. Furthermore, MLS players are more akin to NHL players in being accessible and relating to the common fan.

Simmons notes that the "most interesting thing about last week's game wasn't whether the U.S. won or lost, but that so many Americans were furious that they couldn't see the game." We've come a long way to reach that point, and that's something we shouldn't lose sight of.

Heartbreak at Azteca

It didn't matter that the Americans scored first. Or that the Americans beat Spain. Or that Mexico isn't quite Mexico right now. At full-time, the Mexicans were once against victorious at Azteca.

For eight minutes, the Americans came out and attacked. They looked poised and confident. Their reward was an eighth-minute tally from Charlie Davies, courtesy of a beautiful through ball from Landon Donovan from midfield. But that was mostly the end of the attacking for the Americans, and nearly the end of the possession. Time and time, when the United States established possession, the backline gave possession away cheaply and allowed the Mexicans to go on the offensive again. Eventually they paid the price.

Getting toward the end of time, it looked as though the United States might be able to escape with a draw. But nearly as soon as he came on, late substitute Miguel Sabah found himself all alone ten yards from goal with a deflected ball at his feet. He rifled the ball past a helpless Tim Howard as a sense of relief spread throughout the nation to the south.

Bob Bradley will have a couple of questions to answer following this defeat. Did the United States pack it in too early? After the first goal they essentially stopped playing any offensive football at all. Worse was that, they failed to consistently close down space in midfield by applying pressure. The first goal was a direct result of this lack of pressure. Also puzzling was Brian Ching's appearance in the starting lineup, particularly after his medicore showing in the Gold Cup. Bradley evidently went with experience rather than the youth of Altidore, and surely also hoped Ching would help the United States hold possession in order to ease pressure from the Mexican attack. Instead Ching did the opposite, giving the ball away repeatedly. Raw as Altidore is, he's simply too talented not to have in the lineup, especially if he is held out in favor of Ching. Let's hope that doesn't happen any more. Altidore did finally come in in the 76th minute. The introduction Stuart Holden was also a surprise.

The next two matches in CONCACAF are now must win for the Americans. Gooch picked up a yellow and will miss the match with Trinidad and Tobago. Honduras' thrashing of Costa Rica has busted the race to not finish fourth wide open.