U.S. vs. Brazil - The U.S. team is even more dreadful then the refs

Blake here:

So as the game was going on I was taking the following notes:
* So Brazil gets a foul call on nothing and score off the resultant free kick. Another phantom foul is called at 10:00 minutes. Again the U.S. is playing against both the opponent and the ref. Meanwhile no fouls called on the other side when Donovan and Altidore are taken down. Its not that those are necessarily fouls, but if the ones against Brazil are called then those should be called too

*Why is Beasley in the game? An egregious giveaway on a corner, Brazil is off to the races and it is goal #2.

*Another harsh red card - clearly a yellow -but a red? And ESPN of course isn't even following the action and misses the issuance of the Red card completely. Can't ESPN send anyone to South Africa? After seeing when the card was giving, it is clear that the ref was influenced by the length of time the Brazilian player spent on the ground.

*3-0. The game is basically over and the U.S. is done in the Confederations Cup. The U.S. haven't really showed anything in this game - unlike the game against Italy. I don't really understand starting Beasley. He hasn't had a good game in ages and if you want to roll the dice, why not roll the dice with Adu or Feilhaber. I am not a fan really of either, but Beasley isn't the player he was 3 or 4 years ago before the knee injuries and the arguments against starting Adu (he can't get playing time or make the bench for his club team) apply equally right now to Beasley. But there is no one really on the bench besides those two that can offer creativity on offense.

*And where is Donovan in this game. Unlike the Italy game, Donovan has offered nothing all game long. As I say this he takes a free kick and it is too high. Can we please find someone who is good on free kicks?

*Dempsey taken down - no call. Clearly the refs in this tournament don't think the U.S. belong and they are not going to get any calls.

*Bornstein gets wiped out - foul but how is that not a card. The double standard gets clearer and clearer. They refs in the Italy game and this one are making the MLS refs look far less bad.

Now after sitting and stewing on this game for a few days and reading the various forums ripping the U.S. Men's team for a lack of heart and Bob Bradley for, well, everything, I have a few thoughts. What happens in the Italian game if Italy scores early on a bogus call? Does the U.S. team quit like it seemed to do against Brazil? Or did the bogus foul call which lead to a the goal just confirm to the U.S. players that they were once again playing 11 on 12? And were they just a bit intimidated by Brazil where they clearly weren't against Italy. Or perhaps it was giving up that early goal. In a way I think it was similar to what happened when the U.S. gave up the early goal to Costa Rica in Saprissa. In both cases, the U.S. has a history of futility and perhaps that was in the players minds. Going down a goal so early made the task perhaps seem insurmountable. And going down on a completely bogus foul call. Then Beasley has the dreadful giveaway - not just the giveaway but hanging his head. The U.S. were fortunate not to be down more then 2-0 going into the half.

So when the second half starts, the U.S. are looking better - they create some chances (Casey and Altidore work a nice give and go, but Altidore, just like the change he wasted against Italy, wastes this one as well. At least put the ball on frame. Then of course the harsh red to Kljestan and the game is basically over. With 10 minutes to go, the U.S. picks it's collective head up and his the crossbar twice, but by then, it is too little too late. Unless the players really start to believe they can come from a goal down against the world's best, they won't.

Again, I don't understand the substitution pattern or the starting eleven. Down 2-0 why not roll the dice with Adu? Yes he hasn't gotten off the bench for his club team, but he has proved in the youth world cup tournaments that he is able to step up in big competitions. Why start Beasley at all? How has he earned a start? And to all those who think Dempsey isn't trying or didn't try till the end, those of us who watched him play for the New England Revolution know this. He may disappear for awhile, but the guy always generates scoring opportunities in the game. He also played well in defense heading a number of corners and frees kicks out of danger from his own penalty area. Yes, I am biased, but Dempsey is the only player on the U.S. Men's team who has scored a brace against Chelsea. Something Robinho can't say and something I don't think anyone on either Brazil or Italy can say (which isn't quite fair as they rarely play against Chelsea - but still).

Thanks to Egypt (who the U.S. team plays next) there is still the slimmest mathematical chance the U.S. can advance. Brazil needs to beat Italy by 3 or 4 goals and we need to beat Egypt by 3 or 4 goals and we would advance on goal differential. A slim change to be sure and I would be happy with a win of any kind. Egypt is clearly a very good team having played Brazil to a standstill and beaten Italy.

U.S. vs. Italy or why does the U.S. always start 11 vs. 12.

Blake here:

This match will rankle for a while. The U.S. was playing well against Italy and could have (and probably should have) scored two goals in the first 30 minutes. Italy had a chance and in the 30th minute the ref changes the course of the game by issuing a Red card to Ricardo Clark on a foul that nine times out of 10 draws at worst a yellow. Later in the first half the an Italian defender elbows Donovan in the head and gets a Yellow. A Yellow? For an elbow to the head? When Clark gets a Red for his tackle? If one is a red the other is a red. But the U.S. keeps fighting. Altidore draws a PK on a foul the could have drawn a Yellow (which would have been the Italian's second yellow). Replays show the Italian defender kicking Altidore once he is past. If Clark got a red card shouldn't that have been at least a yellow? Donovan puts the PK away and the U.S. is up 1-0 while down a man.

The Italians substitute the mercenary traitor Rossi in at the 58th minute. Dempsey gets trapped on the sideline and tries to make the pass to Feilhaber in traffic who has his pocket picked by Rossi. Rossi walks in and blasts a shot into the net from 30 yards and the Italians are tied 1-1. At this point the U.S. has been playing a man down for over 30 minutes. The midfielders have been chasing the action and Bradley has made no substitutes. Undoubtedly tired legs contributed to Rossi's ability to dibble unchallenged as he did. Fifteen minutes later the Italians took the lead with a long shot by De Rossi (the Italian defender who famously hit Brian McBride in the 2006 World Cup).

And yet the U.S. is still attacking. Donovan gets crushed in the box - but no call from the Chilean ref. It is as if there were two different standards in this game. He is willing to alter the course of the game and give a harsh red to Clark - but doesn't give the penalty here when it would likely lead to the equalizer. It is o.k. to make harsh calls against the U.S., but not o.k. to do the same to the Italians. Given the fact that the U.S. probably don't have the same level, having to play 10 against 12 (the center ref) makes it that much harder. Finally the U.S. gets caught in a counter pressing for the equalizer and the mercenary traitor Rossi scores a third.

Many may disagree, but the U.S. wins if the sides are even. We created better scoring opportunities and outplayed them while the sides were even. That said, I think Bob Bradley's substitution pattern was curious. Why bring Beasley on at all? I understand the Bradley coached him in Chicago and has a soft spot for him - and certainly Bruce Arena was no stranger to playing players past they expiration date (Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope, Claudia Reyna), but Beasley has not played well for the U.S. team in a long time - probably since the game in 2006 against Italy. The problem was that with Clark red carded, Bob had no true defensive mids on the bench. Torres doesn't qualify, Adu doesn't qualify so perhaps Beasley makes the most sense. Unfortunately after Beasley was announced and before he could get in the game, the Italians scored the go-ahead goal. If you look at the midfielders Bradley brought, I just don't understand the philosophy. With Edu hurt and Mastreoni having played his way off the team, why not bring in Stuart Holden, or Jeff Laurentowicz. In the game - if you're going with defense - why not bring in Pearce and move Bornstein to left mid? Why not play Califf as a defensive mid? Perhaps he closes down the mercenary traitor Rossi and the thug De Rossi. Where it the tactical preparation? If you are a man down and up a goal going into halftime, why not play for the win or tie? But Bradley doesn't make a move until the first goal is in and while he is preparing to make a move the go ahead goal is scored.

Yet with all that - if the ref calls the P.K. for the foul on Donovan, I think we escape with a tie. And that's why this match will rankle for a long time. The ref essentially took the game away from the U.S. and gave it to Italy.

Red Bull Crush

Blake Here:

For the second straight game, the weather at Foxboro was delightful. The Revs lineup featured a lineup that I think we will see most of the time when Twellman is not on the field. The backline appears to have stabilized with Alston – Osei – Barnes – Heaps. The midfield lineup was Nyassi – Phelan – Laurentowicz (apparently recovered) – Mansally. Ralston and Joseph up top with Reis in goal. The first half was a back and forth game and both sides generated chances. The Revs broke through in injury time with Heaps (Heaps?!?) scoring the goal – and not off a header. With that assist it is clear whatever slump Joseph was going through is now over. He had his best game of the year. And although we didn’t know it at the time, that goal at the end of the half was the beginning of a rout.

Twellman came on for Phelan at the start of the second half with Joseph dropping back into the midfield which gave the Revs the lineup I think is probably the best in the league. The Revs came out firing on all cylinders and scored 3 goals in the first 20 minutes of the half. The first was off a great bit of work by Heaps (yes Heaps!). After losing the dribble near the end line Heaps hustled to pick the defenders pocket and then sent in a perfect cross which Ralston headed in for the goal. Shortly afterward Joseph sent one of his great long balls to the far post for Twellman to knock in for the third goal. Ralston fed Twellman for the fourth goal. If Twellman hadn’t decided to try and return the favor to Ralston, I think he could have had 2 more goals. It was great to see Twellman get a goal – which turned out to be his 100^th MLS goal. Reis got his 50^th shutout and Heaps played in his 300^th game in the MLS while scoring a goal and getting an assist. I can’t remember the last time Heaps had a goal. All in all a great night for Revs fans. The Rev next travel to Kansas City and we will get a chance to see if the Revs are ready to go on one of their runs. After that it will be time to defend their SuperLiga title and I will be in my usual seats in section 106 watching each of those games.

One question I have on this game though. How much did Red Bulls pay Kraft so they could send a couple of parachutists (in Red Bull parachutes) to deliver the game ball? Although one was wearing a Revs uniform, it was irksome to see Red Bull parachutes drifting down into Foxboro. And then after the game – they were giving out cans of Red Bull outside the stadium. As the victory was a crushing defeat for the Red Bull, I accepted the gift while refraining from crushing the cans right there. I hope the Kraft’s got good money, because if the Revs had lost, that would have been salt in the wound.

Dempsey’s Redemption

Blake Here:

What is it with the U.S. team lately? Giving up goals in the first 5 minutes on a regular basis isn’t really a good tactical approach. Sure it makes a victory that much sweeter – but it also leads to 3-1 blowouts on the road. And Dempsey? One of my favorite U.S. national team players and one of my favorite Revs players? What the heck were you thinking? That was quite the gaff. Still, where were Clark and Mastreoni? When Clint turned the ball over, the whole midfield was basically empty. Luckily unlike the game in Saprissa though, the U.S. didn’t fold up their tent and quit. They had the better of the play the rest of the half and should have gotten the penalty when Clark was taken down in the box. The Mexican ref basically was forced to call the handball penalty in the second half – to ignore that would have been to make his allegiance all too clear. Although to be fair, I have to say he is one of the less biased refs in CONCACAF when doing U.S. games. Unlike the infamous Peter Pendergast. Still, I don’t understand why CONCACAF doesn’t get CONMEBOL or UEFA refs for the qualifiers. It might cost more, but you avoid the whole suspicion of refs influencing results to benefit their home country.

Anyway, after that initial gaff, Dempsey played one of his better games for the Red, White and Blue. He sprang Spector on a couple of nice runs (one a clever backheel), earned fouls in dangerous positions and whistled a couple of 30 yard shots over the crossbar. And of course he rose up to knock Donovan’s corner back into the mix for Bocanegra to hammer home with a diving header. Then he helps kill off the match by making runs to the corner to kill the clock. A lot of folks think he whiffed on the past from Feilhaber in the second half, but he had to stretch for that ball. It was just a little too far. A little closer to him and he puts in the back of the net like he did he his first in the brace he scored against Chelsea during his premier league season.

And I think we may have found a left back. Jonathan Spector also had a very good game. The contrast between him and Wynne was like night and day. He was dangerous coming forward and was solid on defense. Clark was also excellent. I don’t know why Mastreoni got the start after his dreadful game against Costa Rica and I looked in vain for him on that initial Honduras goal. Alitdore and Casey were o.k. Altidore clearly shows the effects of not playing. His first touch was seldom controlled and as a result he was never able to turn on his defender and make a run towards goal. Casey missed an open look in the first half (off a Dempsey header) and although he did a better job holder the ball with the first touch, was unable to make connecting passes. Donovan had a much better game than against Costa Rica and hammered home the penalty with authority. Why he still takes all the free kicks is beyond me though. He makes maybe 3 out of 10 good free kicks. Most of the time he doesn’t get it over the first defenders and as a result free kicks in dangerous areas are wasted. This should be our strength. With our height and the number of players who can score off the header (Casey, Altidore, Onyewu, Bocanegra and Dempsey against Honduras), we have to take better advantage of those opportunities. With better free kicks, I think the U.S. gets another goal or two. Bornstein while much better then Beasley had a couple of giveaways in the defensive half that could have been disastrous.

They showed a lot of heart and grit against Honduras and this was the first comeback victory for the U.S. since 1985. I want to see that heart and grit for a whole game on the road. I am no longer as nervous about qualifying and clearly the tie at El Salvador looks a lot better after Mexico’s loss there – but it was a game we could have and should have won. If we roll over against Mexico at Azteca like we did against Costa Rica, then I don’t see how we can even pretend we could make a run to the quarters (or beyond) like we did in 2002.

Why are all Central America Players Such Fakers and Who Should Start Against Honduras

This was written before the game but I was out of town all weekend and didn't check my e-mail to post it sorry.--Jenni

Blake here.

A couple of things happened in the game against Costa Rica that I just couldn’t leave unmentioned. I have seen a lot of comments on Charlie Davies kicking the Costa Rica player in the groin but when I saw that play happen it sure didn’t look like he was anywhere near the groin area. Replays were pretty inconclusive. Later there was a foul against a U.S. player (I don’t remember who) and the Costa Rican player went down clutching his face. Replays in this case clearly showed that the foul was a kick to the shin in an attempt to get the ball and no where near the player’s face. Not only that, but he doesn’t start clutching his face until the center ref looks in his direction. In both incidents the Costa Rican player either embellished or outright faked an injury. Amado Guevara got suspended a couple of games in the MLS for that kind of antic, but you can be sure FIFA and CONCACAF will do nothing. And it is wrong. Until such stuff gets punished with suspensions, players will continue to do it and soccer will never challenge the big 3 in the U.S. And Costa Rica? You’re up 3-0 at that point. You don’t need to pull such antics and it makes you look bad.

So who should start against Honduras? At this point, our midfield is depleted and our back line looks shaky, old and inexperienced quite a combo and it takes real talent (or lack thereof) to pull that off. All that said, here is who I would start:

Howard

Spector – Onyewu – DeMerit – Bocanegra

Dempsey – Clark – Donovan – Torres

Casey – Davies

I could go with Kljestan in place of Clark, but then who is your midfield destroyer. And I just don’t see how you can play Mastreoni, but I am sure Bradley will. As for the forwards, Altidore just isn’t going to be able to go full speed just 3 days after playing 90 minutes as he hasn’t played a match with his club team all year. Potentially you could put Adu in place of Davies, but again, he hasn’t played a match with his club team all year. Casey and Davies have both been scoring often for their respective club teams.

I went back and forth on the back line and could just has easily gone with Spector – Onyewu – Bocanegra – Bornstein (or Pearce) but that would mean throwing a newbie into a World Cup qualifier cauldron or rolling the dice on Pearce. Neither seems palatable, but then neither does having Bocanegra there either. Whoever Bradley puts there, if the defense plays as poorly as it did against Costa Rica, then we lose and are now sitting in fourth place with the hardest part of our qualifying to come (at Mexico, at Honduras, home to Costa Rica). At any rate, I will be perched on my coach with my jersey, hat and scarf and hopefully will be a happy fan come the end of the game.

Si se puede?

As I was watching the debacle unfold (Costa Rica up 1-0 within 2 minutes and 2-0 before the quarter hour), a couple of things occurred to me: 1. Is it possible that playing in the English Premier League has made Dempsey both a better and worse U. S. National team player. The better is easy to see – his composure on the ball, his ability to make clever passes and his ability to hold the ball and not lose it. The worse is those very same clever passes. On more then one occasions Dempsey would make a quick pass to a space that on his Fulham team a forward would be headed to. However on the U.S. team (at least on this night) no one was making those runs to the spaces he put the ball. I counted at least five occasions where this happened in the first half and then gave up. 2. Torres has great composure when dribbling, makes nice passes and nice attacking runs. He has no right foot. I don’t think he touched the ball more then twice with his right foot. I am not clear how he does it but he manages to dribble in either direction with only one foot. I still don’t understand why Bradley took him off at the beginning of the second half. Why not take Mastreoni off? 3. Mastreoni may have gotten old overnight. He looked terrible in this game. He was slow, out of position, and was partially responsible for each of the first 2 goals. 4. John Harkes is beginning to grow on me as an announcer. After replays of the third goal showed Bradley getting beaten, Harkes made the very valid point that Bradley had already chased the ball down three other times leading up to that play to force passes. Where were the other midfielders? Where were the defenders? 5. This is the second time in a row that the U.S. has looked flat and/or uprepared for an away game. They were able to come back and tie against El Salvador but they never appeared in the game against Costa Rica. Part of me wants to blame Bradley, but part of this has to fall on the players. How can they come out flat for a game of this magnitude? You are playing for your country – if you can’t get up for that why are you playing for the National team? 6. It is becoming ever clearer that Landon disappears in tough games away from the U.S. This makes him a liability in those game, because no coach is going to leave him on the bench, but when he disappears for those long stretches its as if the U.S. is playing a man down. I have said this before but for a guy who claims to want a leadership role on this team, he does not act or play like it in critical game.

So now the U.S. has a couple of days to prepare for another tough qualifier. At least this one will be on home soil and on grass, but the U.S. will be without Bradley which is fairly critical given that Edu is out with an injury and Mastreoni is apparently done. They are also without Kljestan which hurts but not as much. So the U.S. now has questions in the midfield to go with the ongoing questions at right back, left back and forward. I pronounce myself officially concerned that the U.S. could conceivably miss out on qualifying for the World Cup. I don’t think it will come to that but if I’m Bob Bradley, I have to think that if I don’t beat Honduras, I am out of a job…

Debacle in Saprissa Re-Cap

First of all – what was I thinking in saying Marvell Wynne should start at left back. Did I forget that playing well at left back for the MLS is relatively easy given the propensity of teams to go for hulking forwards instead of speed? Did I forget that playing a qualifier on the road is probably the worst place for a young player to make his first U.S. National Team? Did I forget that Sparissa stadium is perhaps the toughest place for the U.S. to play in CONCACAF? Yes, yes and yes.

Many are saying that Bradley showed guts in starting a lot of the youngsters on the road. Well only if satisfying insane idiot bloggers like myself is a sign of courage. Seriously – how do you start a newbie at left back and a guy at right back who not only doesn’t play right back, but hasn’t played competitive soccer since December against Costa Rica in Saprissa Stadium. Now given Bradley’s options perhaps he didn’t have many choices, but a have to believe that Spector’s experience in the Premier League is worth more than Wynne’s MLS experience. At right back, why not put DeMerit as a center back and push Bocanegra to right back – a position he plays for Rennes in Ligue 1 in France. I can’t quibble with the rest of the lineup given the options and I thought Torres played the best of anybody on the U.S. team in the first half. But that raised the question – when Ching went down, why not bring another target forward like, oh I don’t know, Conner Casey? As it was he went with Altidore, Donovan and Dempsey in what was ostensibly a 3 forward attack. The problem with that is that Landycakes never plays forward even when he is one. And Dempsey has been playing midfield for Fulham all season. When a team only has a couple of days to train together, moving folks into positions they don’t usually play just doesn’t strike me as a great idea

All carping aside, this was always going to be a tough game. It was moved up in the schedule to accommodate the Confederations Cup and many of the U.S. players (and not just MLS players) had games over the weekend for their club teams. In addition those in the European leagues (excluding Scandanavia) were coming off the end of a long season. That coupled with the appalling turf surface at Saprissa made this a very difficult game going in. Then when the veterans don’t show up, well you get a 3-1 posting that wasn’t that close.

Who I Think Will Start, Who Should Start and Who Should Really Start Against Costa Rica

photo courtesy of US Soccer.

Blake Here

So the U.S. has a couple of tough matches over a four day period. The first is at Saprissa Stadium in Costa Rica – a place that has been not been friendly to say the least. The U.S. has never won in Costa Rica and has never even gained a point at Saprissa Stadium. Having watched the U.S. only manage a draw on the road against a vastly inferior El Salvador side, I am very concerned about this match. The U.S. needs to come out with a lot more intensity then they did against El Salvador if they want to have any hope of managing a draw let alone a win. Given the fact that the savior against El Salvador is out (Hejduk), Altidore’s lack of experience and Pearce’s poor play over the last two games, here is what I think the starting lineup will look like:

Howard

Spector – Onyewu – Bocanegra – Bornstein

Dempsey – Bradley – Mastroeni – Beasley

Donovan -- Ching

And here is the lineup I would like to see given who is in the National Team camp:

Howard

Wynne – Onyewu – Demerit – Bocanegra

Dempsy – Bradley – Donovan – Torres

Altidore – Davies

And here is who I would like to see if I could pick from the entire U.S. Player pool:

Howard

Wynne – Onyewu – Parkhurst – Bocanegra

Dempsey – Bradley – Donovan – Torres

Casey – Altidore

I saw Casey against the Revs a couple of weeks back and he was a beast. Big, physical and with a nice touch. I think I and every other Revs fan in the stadium breathed a sigh of relief when he was subbed out. He had a couple of call ups while Arena was coach and got some limited minutes. I liked what I saw then and he has improved greatly since then. As for Parkhurst, as a Revs fan I have a great fondness for Parkhurst. He is always overlooked because of his slight build, but no U.S. Defender since Pope in his salad days reads the game better. And the drop off in the Revs defense since he left is all too apparent. I though about Feilhaber and Kljestan but Kljestan looked terrible in his last full start and has not looked all that great on the field for Chivas in the MLS. Feilhaber disappeared after that wonder goal against Mexico in the Gold Cup, but his creativity is something the U.S. could use. I know that many would select Adu, but if he can’t get any playing time for Monaco in France, then he doesn’t have what it takes to crack the U.S. midfield. With the exception of Donovan all the midfielders I have selected play on teams in leagues that are considered (and rightly so) far superior to the MLS and not only hold spots on these clubs but also made positive contributions to their teams' standings. I know Wynne hasn’t played overseas yet, but his speed makes up for a lot of mistakes and until Alston from the Revs is ready, he is my pick.

I think we will know within 15 minutes whether or not the U.S. is likely to get a good result. If Costa Rica scores in that first 15 minutes, I think the U.S. loses. If the U.S. scores in that first 15 minutes, then I think they have a chance to walk away with a victory which would be a great achievement for this team. If it is 0-0 I will be nervous as a cat. I will be nervous as a cat the whole game anyway unless the U.S. goes up 3-0 or down 3-0. I look forward to the game and hope to be able to post on a historic victory.

Douchebag Ref of the Week Award First Installment!!!!!!!!

A few words, when my dad and I discussed setting up this blog it was after watching yet another poorly officiated Revs game. Poor referring in my opinion is one of the biggest obstacles to MLS being a respected league world wide. In discussion of the game and the future blog I threw out the idea of a weekly award to be given to the most horrendous referee of MLS that week. It is now with great pride I bestow our first Douchebag Ref of the Week Award to Mr.Hilario Grajeda photo courtesy of www.examiner.com

5 reasons Mr. Grajeda truly earned this award on Saturday

1. More handballs than an under-6 soccer game and no calls for any of them
2. Very particular about where throw-ins were taken.
3. Missed an obvious penalty kick call when Taylor Twellman was unceremoniously taken out in the box.
4. Called nothing when Osei was pushed by a DC player, twice, right in front of him.
5. Managed to get the Fort to boo him for every whistle he blew past a certain point in the second half.

Vote Matt Reis for Save of the Week

photo courtesy of the New England Revolution official site

Save of the Week for Matt Reis!


According to MLSnet.com Matt Reis has been nominated for best save of the week of May 25-May 31 so cast your vote now at the link above.

The Return of Twellman

Blake here

For the first time at a home game this year, the weather was neither cold nor wet. The Revs had a lineup similar to the TFC game with one change being Nyassi replacing Thompson after the horror show at Toronto.

At around the 25^th minute, Larentowicz took a soccer ball to the face from about 10 yards away, Larentowicz went down and although it was clear he wanted to stay in the game, the medial staff took him into the locker room. This set the stage for the return of Twellman. There was a standing ovation when Twellman entered the game and it seemed the Revs began to play with more intensity. Twellman had two chances within the first 5 minutes after entering; both headers and both within easy reach of the goalie Wicks. I think some rust was showing particularly with the first, because I have seen him in the past power headers like that past the goalie. Still,it was great just seeing him stick his head in for the attempts after the horrific punch he took from the L.A. Galaxy goaltender last year. D.C. also seemed to pick up the intensity as well and in the 36^th minute after hitting the crossbar twice Fred (Not the good Fred who played for Brazil in the 2006 World cup, but the MLS Fred…) put one in the back of the net. The half ended with D.C. up 1-0 .

Stevie Nichols made a substitution to start the second half putting Mansally in for Tierny. An interesting substitution and it paid off as Mansally seems much more comfortable in the midfield then he did as a target forward. Midfield is the position he plays for the Gambian national team and Nichols use of him as a target forward was I think based on a lack of options for forward. Mansally played a key role in the Rev’s first goal which started with a nice knock down header to Ralston by Twellman (isn’t it nice to have a true target forward). Ralston laid it off to Mansally who made a great cross that Sharlie Joseph drilled in the far corner of the net. On that play the goalie came out and knocked Twellman down. Scary moment for the Revs fans but after a few minutes down of the ground Taylor got up and seemed little worse for the wear.

Play continued back and forth which each team generating chances. Around the 80^th minute of so a ball was served into Twellman at the edge of the box. Twellman flicked the header up to turn and go towards goal and was flattened by Wicks. No call. A clear foul and the Revs were incensed as this was way too close to how Twellman got his concussion last year that put him out until now. Twellman was down for a few minutes and Heaps picked up a Yellow for arguing as did the D.C. Goalie Wicks. Why Wicks was yapping was beyond me. He got away with one and should have just shut up and stayed out of it. But then D.C./Revs games always seem to have at least one or two near brawls. Needless to say the Revs fans were incensed and Wicks and the Ref came in for some verbal abuse. The Revs fans however got a lot happier with the Ref in the closing minutes of the game as D.C. was called for a foul in the box when Namoff pulled down Twellman in the box. I have to say that this call was iffy, but after the non-call on Wicks (and the non-call on Namoff’s handball in the box in D.C.) it seemed to be justice. Ralston put away the penalty and all that was left was a few tense moments and a lot of whining from the D.C. United players. And with that a very happy crowd of Revs fans gradually filed out of the stadium.

photo courtesy of the Official New England Revolution website.