World Cup 2010 begins to take shape can the US play with the big boys?

After the US collapse in the final ten minutes against Mexico to snatch victory for the jaws of victory their ticket to South Africa was in doubt, but now they appear to have righted the ship and will be sailing south next year as they lead the group going into the final set of matches. With that said two major questions remain; will they go in as a group winner? If you’re a fan of the NCAA tournament then imagine the difference between a number 1 and number 9 seed. That how big winning the group stage is. Even so, if they do get the largest tournament on the planet, how long will they stay? If you look at how the best countries in the world are playing right now compared to the US, one has to inquire if we’re even going to get out of the group stage, ON the big stage?

North/Central America and Caribbean Group Stage Results
Team..........MP........W.....D.....L.....GF.....GA.....Pts
USA............8........5.....1.....2.....14......9.....16
Mexico.........8........5.....0.....3.....12......9.....15
Honduras.......8........4.....1.....3.....14......8.....13
Costa Rica.....8........4.....0.....4......9......13....12
El Salvador....8........2.....2.....4......8......10.....8
Trin N Tobago..8........1.....2.....5......8......16.....5

A case in point, England and Spain have cemented their domination of Groups 5 and 6 respectively when they sauntered to their eighth wins in eight games to join the Netherlands at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia and holders Italy look poised to follow them to the finals after picking up valuable results in their respective groups. It's not often that a European nation goes through a FIFA World Cup qualification campaign without dropping a single point, but that is exactly what England, Spain and the Netherlands have done. The Oranje have now completed their eight-game schedule, while the Three Lions and La Roja play their final two matches next month also looking to make a clean sweep. Each of the three traditional heavyweights have impressed in their own right. The Netherlands were the first to qualify back in June, brushing aside their opposition on the back of a remarkable defensive effort that has seen their goal breached just twice.
So, will the US National team be home before their postcards arrive or will they show us all something and find another level? Which of the dominating European sides looks the best to advance? Is this the year Brazil re-claims the title of world champion? Let us know here or in any of the quick links:

See the entire group stage results here.

EPL season kicks off with one major surprise

The EPL season is underway with many of the usual suspects at the top of the table but one major infiltrator, Spurs. Sitting atop the table from a perch they’ve never seen, Tottenham (3-0) have Premiership lead based on goal difference over familiar Champions League participants Chelsea and Arsenal. Ok, it’s only three games in and some clubs have only had one taste of competition thus far but you are already hearing the rumbles of the argument that the EPL has become a two-class system. Where the clubs at the top of the table are so far removed from the bottom half that the only drama left in the league is the shuffling of players, and positions among the top four clubs. In fact since 2006 Chelsea, Man U., Liverpool, and Arsenal are the only clubs to break into the exclusive club of the top four. There has been more drama at the opposite end of the spectrum with plight of the regulation/promotion experience. I realize it’s blasphemy to every correlate the ‘beautiful game’ to an American sport but not specifically speaking, is it time for, (do I dare?), a salary cap? It would give the other 13 clubs not threatened by regulation something else to play for rather than the subject of toast at “spoiler rallies” for the any of the big four who for fortunate enough to have someone else take care of their business for them. Does the EPL need to level the field for the smaller markets? Let us know here and in the World Sport chat rooms or EPL Sport page. Complete EPL up to date standings here.

Yang breaks the mold, and Tiger's streak with comeback win

After we were less than a couple of minutes away from calling the Arizona Cardinals “World Champions” I’d thought I had seen everything but seeing Tiger caught AND passed in the final round of a major makes me feel like I should go out and buy a lotto ticket. YA Yang is youir 2009 PGA Champion, ranked number 110 in the world, took it to Tiger on the final round and won his first major. Tiger’s putter, that is normally more reliable than a golden retriever, suddenly didn’t come when he called and didn’t return all day. An amazing eagle chip for Yang on 16, following a par-5 that Tiger didn’t bird, put Yang in position to shock the golf world. Even with that TW had his chances as Yang bogeyed 17 only to have Woods do the same. After that it was clear that the Woods streak of going 14/14 in majors when he held at least a share of the lead would be over. It was like watching Bill Walton’s fade away fall short in South Bend when UCLA’s 88 game consecutive streak came to an end, you were just waiting for overtime or in this case and extra hole or an amazing ace from Tiger to win it. But the buzzer has sounded and now the headlines from Seoul to Southern California will read the same. In the end, it was Yang that was poised under pressure, and had all the right stuff. Hats off to the new Champion. So has Tiger lost his mystique? Let us know here and in the World Sports Chat Rooms.
View the final leaderboard here.

US keeps the dubious streak going

In similar fashion to the Confederations Cup Championship Game where the US just couldn’t stand too much good fortune, the US National Soccer Team kept their dubious winless streak at Azteca Stadium rolling with a 2-1 come from ahead loss in a World Cup qualifying match. We’ve all been made aware of the plethora of obstacles that the US faces when traveling down south, the altitude, the smog, 100k plus fans shouting obscenities that we can’t understand and throwing plastic bottles at our players as they attempt to take corner kicks. We know. But that doesn’t change the reality of having a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes or a tie with less than 7 minutes to go. Once they started to fathom what they were about to pull off, the couldn’t pull it off. They were way to content with stopping Mexico then kicking it deep and letting them come right back down and try to score again. Way too many turnovers and lack of ball control. Mexico controlled possession at an incredible 67% clip. No one, especially us, can stave off that kind of pressure. So, we can take solace that we’re still in second place in the group and have a good shot of advancing to the South Africa next year, but if the US doesn’t learn how to close on the big stage they’ll be home before the postcards.