What A Ride

Yes it does

Was that the biggest two weeks in U.S. soccer history? If not, it was certainly the one most resembling a roller coaster. It went from the lowest of lows following the Brazil loss where the U.S. didn’t look like they belonged in the same stadium, let alone on the field, to 45 minutes from the highest of highs against the same Brazilian team.

Mark tossed in his two cents earlier and I’ve some thoughts of my own. No surprise right?

- Several players will be decidedly better next year. Charlie Davies and Ricardo Clark have already been looked at by new clubs with Rico potentially joining Carlos Bocanegra at Rennes and Davies, who wanted to move on from Hammarby prior to this tournament, getting interest in Germany, Holland, and France. Jozy Altidore will play more next year, whether it’s with Villarreal (even if he doesn’t want to return, should Giusseppe Rossi move on there would open a big opportunity) or another club. If Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, and Benny Feilhaber can stay healthy all three will be ready to make an even bigger contribution. And Landon Donovan might be ready to make a permanent leap to Europe, which would only benefit LD’s game. Add that to another year of experience for Michael Bradley and Oguchi Onyewu (who will also be on the move), and who knows, the Yanks might make some noise in the knockout round next summer.

- Back to Donovan, if he doesn’t tear MLS a new asshole in the next two months, then I might just give up on this whole reporting thing. That counter attack goal was a thing of beauty and will be played for decades to come in USMNT highlights. His decision-making was spot on throughout the tournament and I thought he should’ve been ahead of Dempsey in the Golden Ball voting, but he didn’t have the stats (or the Castrol Player Rating) to give media members an easier time of making the choice. For someone who hasn’t always been a fan of Landon’s, he’s the guy that the offense needs to be built around and his comparatively diminutive shoulders are now ready for the heavy lifting. If he can go to Spain and get more seasoning under his belt, next summer will be an even bigger joy to watch.

- Speaking of Spain, a quick aside if you will, how about this as a stat I haven’t seen anywhere else: Fernando Torres scored 3 goals in his first 17 minutes, none in his final 350.

- Clint Dempsey, on the other hand, is now the image when you check Wikipedia for “starting slowly.” Deuce scored in the final three games and, like others mentioned above, will be better with another EPL season under his belt. I just hope he doesn’t lose that chip on his shoulder assuming he finally has a starting spot going into this season. Oh, and keeping the beard might help too.

- It did occur to me I was sitting on the same sofa in my parents basement from seven years ago when the U.S. upset Portugal. Perhaps the different furniture arrangement prevented a similar finish.

- As good as the midfield was for the U.S., their three best options in the middle weren’t available for this game. Mo Edu was home with a knee injury, Michael Bradley was being restrained in the tunnel, and Jermaine Jones has a broken leg, aside from that whole “isn’t eligible yet” technicality. That trio will lessen the pressure put on the backline and, hopefully, decrease the number of saves Tim Howard is forced into.

- Golden Gloves winner T-Ho had a hell of a tournament. I still say he’s the most irreplaceable player for the Yanks, and don’t use Brad Guzan’s shutout of Egypt in his defense. (For my money, it goes Timmy, Landon, Gooch as the top three in order.) My only wish for Howard is that he’d catch a few more saves instead of always parrying or punching shots. Don’t get me wrong, he made some incredible saves -- the two that immediately pop into my mind were on Robinho’s curler early and on smothering Luis Fabiano’s mini-breakaway -- and I know you can’t catch everything, but he’d do himself and his defense some good by holding the ball and slowing the game down. Oh, and not making saves two yards behind the goal line would help too.

- Bob Bradley…I’m not ready for that one yet. Suffice it to say I disagree with Bushman, but I’m going to leave that discussion to its own post (hopefully) tomorrow.

I think the word for the tournament is “unbelievable.” It was unbelievable they got out of the group on the third match day. It was unbelievable they ended Spain’s massive run. It was unbelievable they went to halftime up two on mighty Brazil. Unfortunately, it was all too believable that Brazil could and would come back to win their third Confederations Cup.

But like they say at Wrigley Field, there’s always next year...

- Pat Walsh