Wednesday kickaround
*The Insider had the scoop a couple weeks ago, and now it's official: The U.S. national team's friendly May 25 against the Czech Republic will be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. -- the site of an American send-off match four years ago. So the pre-World Cup schedule now looks like this:
Today: vs. Netherlands in Amsterdam (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Galavision)
May 25: vs. Czech Republic in Connecticut (8 p.m., ESPN, Galavision)
May 29: vs. Turkey in Philadelphia (2 p.m., ESPN2, Galavision)
The U.S. squad will open training camp May 16 at a northeast facility to be announced soon and depart for South Africa two weeks later. There are tentative plans for a friendly in the Johannesburg area prior to the June 12 opener against England.
*Coach Bob Bradley is receiving help from unexpected places in preparation for the England showdown.
*Lubos Kubik, a former Czech international who played for Bradley with the Chicago Fire, has been appointed a U.S. assistant coach. He joins Jesse Marsch, another former Fire player.
*In the FIFA rankings, which should be largely ignored, the USA dropped four slots to No. 18. The top four remains unchanged: Spain, Brazil, Netherlands and Italy.
*Be sure to join me this afternoon for minute-by-minute updates as the USA-Netherlands match unfolds.
*The USA women play for the Algarve Cup trophy in Portugal at 11 a.m. ET today against Germany, which outscored its first three opponents 16-0.
For today's complete TV listings.....
*Soccer on TV:
Netherlands-USA 2:30 p.m. ESPN2, Galavision
Germany-Argentina 2:45 p.m. GolTV
England-Egypt 3 p.m. Fox Soccer Plus
France-Spain 3 p.m. ESPN Deportes
Italy-Cameroon 4:45 p.m. GolTV Premiere
Switzerland-Uruguay 5 p.m. ESPN Deportes
Mexico-New Zealand 11 p.m. Telemundo, mun2
By
Steve Goff
|
March 3, 2010; 8:25 AM ET
Categories:
2010 World Cup
,
England
,
FIFA
,
TV
,
U.S. men's national team
,
Women
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Next: Poll: USA-Netherlands
Posted by: Godfather_of_Goals | March 3, 2010 8:41 AM | Report abuse
bob's comment is a good demonstration of why so many coaches and players speak only in cliches and blather.
Posted by: troy6 | March 3, 2010 8:52 AM | Report abuse
no linky to the great WSJ article on the deadly Brazil penalty kick known as the paradinha? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704548604575097543305084092.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6
Posted by: nairbsod | March 3, 2010 8:53 AM | Report abuse
Perhaps SAF was whispering in Bob's ear . . .
Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!
Let us do or dee!
Posted by: OWNTF | March 3, 2010 9:04 AM | Report abuse
Lovin ESPN360 these days! And next week, TEST CRICKET, woohoo!
Posted by: Kev29 | March 3, 2010 9:10 AM | Report abuse
And SAF's fellow Scotsman, David Moyes, is helping Bradley by making Landon Donovan a better player. Possibly a conspiracy there.
Posted by: Rhio | March 3, 2010 9:24 AM | Report abuse
Oh no, we dropped four points! We'll never get them back now.
Can't wait until Fifa totally goes nuts based on the WC results. If we do poorly, suddenly we'll be 54. If we do great, they'll take a poll to see which country will send them less hate mail if we leap frog. Oh, pointless.
Posted by: UnitedDemon | March 3, 2010 9:28 AM | Report abuse
Test Cricket? One day, 20/20, or five day?
Posted by: I-270Exit1 | March 3, 2010 9:38 AM | Report abuse
Test Cricket? One day, 20/20, or five day?
Posted by: I-270Exit1 | March 3, 2010 9:38 AM
Proper test cricket, 270. Five day match (all tests are five days) between Bangladesh and England, ESPN 360, March 11-15.
http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/channels?channel=4596445&
Final one day international is also being covered tomorrow night.
Posted by: Kev29 | March 3, 2010 9:44 AM | Report abuse
When should we know today's starters?
Posted by: soccerman | March 3, 2010 9:45 AM | Report abuse
nairbsod, I covered that weeks ago!
/me pwned wsj
Posted by: Reignking | March 3, 2010 10:13 AM | Report abuse
What caused us to drop in the FIFA rankings? Our loss versus Honduras had already been accounted for in the last rankings set (we held steady because some other teams dropped further). And in this round, we had a win, versus El Salvador.
And yes, I know -- the FIFA rankings don't mean diddly. But they ARE still widely cited, and it would be nice to head into the World Cup with a decent number next to our name, if only to help nurture the interest of casual American viewers.
Posted by: ChristopherMc | March 3, 2010 10:15 AM | Report abuse
Any idea if the match will be available for replay on ESPN360 for the next few days?
Posted by: davemcl | March 3, 2010 10:20 AM | Report abuse
Test Cricket? One day, 20/20, or five day?
Posted by: I-270Exit1 | March 3, 2010 9:38 AM
---------------------------------------------------
** crickets **
Posted by: fischy | March 3, 2010 10:48 AM | Report abuse
If Bob keeps blurting out the secrets, the welcomes and offers will go away quickly.
Posted by: spata1 | March 3, 2010 11:26 AM | Report abuse
soccerman: The 18 is released an hour before game time.
Posted by: bonghits4gomez | March 3, 2010 11:43 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
On espn360.com:
Wed, Mar 3 10:00AM Greece vs. Senegal
Wed, Mar 3 11:30AM Bosnia vs. Ghana
Wed, Mar 3 2:15PM Switzerland vs. Uruguay (SPA)
Wed, Mar 3 2:30PM Netherlands vs. USA
Wed, Mar 3 2:45PM Belgium vs. Croatia
Wed, Mar 3 3:00PM France vs. Spain
Wed, Mar 3 3:45PM Portugal vs. China