Finding Their Game at the Desert Diamond Cup

Courtesy of the New England Revolution

The Revolution could not escape the poor weather conditions of New England as a slushy mixture of rain and snow fell hard Wednesday night in their last round robin match of the Desert Diamond Cup. Fortunately for head coach Jay Heaps, there were plenty of positives to draw from the squad’s 3-2 loss to Real Salt Lake including a glimpse of the many young players fighting for a starting role.

Defender Andrew Farrell, the number one overall pick in the 2013 MLS Draft, looked comfortable in the backfield. He pushed the ball up forward to the midfield nicely, stayed aggressive inside the box, and created a goal from a beautiful lob pass to forward Diego Fagundez in the 50th minute. Although still learning throughout preseason, it looks like fellow defender A.J. Soares is schooling Farrell as the Louisville draft pick will be starting with Soares and McCarthy come March.

18 year old Diego Fagundez looked strong in the second half, assisting Andy Dorman on the Revolution’s first goal while proving he is a viable option at striker during Sene’s absence. His speed and pestering style of play is hard to keep up with, and an upcoming stint with home country Uruguay at the under 21 World Cup could be highly beneficial to his game. Jerry Bengtson will need someone on his wing to rely on, don’t be surprised if Heaps gives Diego the nod.

The most notable part of New England’s game was their ability to convert scoring chances  in the box. A.J. Soares sent a header for goal to put the team up 2-1 in the 57th minute while Jerry Bengtson looked like himself, flying high for some header chances of his own. Chemistry on the pitch and ability to finish games will be top priorities for the club once the MLS season begins. Coach Heaps can not be pleased his team gave up two goals in the final three minutes of Wednesday’s loss, but the team’s offensive pressure and scoring chances throughout the game already looks more impressive than last year.

New England will face the New York Red Bulls in the Desert Diamond Cup consolation game this Saturday at 6 pm ET. Stay tuned.

Matt Bloom

FIFA Announces Goal Line Technology for WC 2014

GoalRef, a technology using magnets to track the ball entering the net, could be chosen by FIFA for World Cup 2014 Brasil.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter made news public Tuesday that FIFA will indeed implement goal-line technology for the World Cup 2014 in Brasil. After controversy arising from Frank Lampard’s goal against Germany in the last World Cup and the Euro 2012 seeing some questionable calls of it’s own, the move is certainly critical to ensure fair matches in the future. However, the question still remains of why FIFA would interfere with ‘the beautiful game’. Why fix human error when it is part of the sport and the profession of the referee?

Much like other popular sports, soccer wants to perfect it’s scoring decisions using technology. We have seen sports like baseball, whom many said will never adopt video replay due its rich history and tradition, do so for just home runs since the umpires simply cannot see 400 feet into the outfield with the sun in their eyes. The same argument can be made for soccer. FIFA does not want technology to make offside calls, blow fake whistles, or hand out red cards. They just want goals to be called fairly. Many players will tell you respect for referees and the reputation they hold is part of the game. Since video replay would undermine the referees in some eyes, goal-line technology will notify the referee if the goal occurred without effecting their judgement on any other calls.

Discussed in an older Foxboro Fort article last year, FIFA has been testing the hi-tech machinery named GoalRef and Hawk Eye for almost a year now. Although neither technology was relied on to determine a goal, both have been tested in games in Japan successfully. Sepp Blatter expressed his urgency on GLT last summer, saying, “Other sports regularly change the laws of the game to react to the new technology…We don’t do it and this makes football an international laughing stock”. Exactly. If FIFA is not to embrace the technology in front of them, more pressure will come every four years when yet another country misses the next stage of World Cup play due to a missed goal call. The game is not being tampered with in a negative fashion, it is fixing the one problem that can unfairly change the match, the score.

Matt Bloom

Klinsmann, Defense Just Start of U.S. Soccer Problems

Honduras’ late goal put them in position for a deserving first WCQ win. (AP Photo)

The experiment that was Jurgen Klinsmann’s starting lineup for the United States failed to deliver Wednesday afternoon, conceding a 2-1 loss to Honduras in a pivotal first match for World Cup qualification. New England Revolution’s Jerry Bengtson would score the game-winning goal for his national team in the 79th minute, finishing a tricky pass from teammate Oscar Garcia in front of the net. The U.S. team looked gassed by the time Bengtson scored, perhaps not accustomed to the 90 plus degree heat and sweltering humidity at Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano.

More criticism will fall on Klinsmann from this loss, but not only for testing out defensive players who have not played together before a World Cup qualifying match. All three substitutions were used before Honduras’ goal,  giving Klinsmann no insight on who to throw into the game for a late offensive surge when the U.S. needed it the most. Perhaps Herculez Gomez could have been the spark the team needed to at least draw. However Jurgen’s roster changes and starting lineup tweaks are not the only problem with this team.

U.S. Soccer has been troubled by inconsistent play and lack of a star player since the departure of Landon Donovan. Where was Michael Bradley’s reliable midfield play? Why has Jozy Altidore lost his touch? Who besides Clint Dempsey can score on this team? These are the issues the team faces now, and could be facing after they miss Brasil 2014 if they do not get their act together. It pains Americans to see their team squeak by on 1-0 victories thanks to Tim Howard bailing out the defense for 90 minutes. It is not the formula to get to Brasil, and certainly not the formula to make it out of the group stage if they were to reach it. Performing to the highest level is critical to staying competitive on the world stage, as well as utilizing a forward on that forces the opposition to make significant changes. Who will be our Wayne Rooney? Our Lionel Messi? Our next Landon Donovan?

Taking a painful 0 points in the first match, the national team will host Costa Rica in March in the next qualifying match. As hard as Honduras fought, games will only get harder from here on out as Panama and Mexico look awfully dangerous at the right time. It is not to say the U.S. team can not turn things around in the next month, but it will not be easy. In nine more games, one can only hope team chemistry and an unsung hero will come about this team.

Matt Bloom

Twitter: @foxborofort