Super Bowl Update

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders showed once again that they are a dangerous second half team. On Saturday, to know that this guy is the greatest goalscorer in the club's young MLS history, it's hard to believe that this is the first hat trick of Fredy Montero's career as he struck three times in the Sounders 6-2 blowout win over Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center. With the win, the Sounders climb into second place ahead of Real Salt Lake who knocked the Sounders out of the playoffs last season. If the regular season were to come to an end last weekend, the Sounders and RSL would face eachother again in the Western Conference semifinals with RSL hosting the first leg.

Chivas USA found some openings early on in the match. In the third minute, former LA Galaxy player Tristan Bowen who was making his first start of the season for Chivas was found on the near side with some space. Bowen worked a give and go with Nick Labrocca and looked to strike the ball on goal, but the angle was tight so instead he threaded the ball through to Miller Bolanos who tried to place his shot into the far corner, but instead he hit it straight at Michael Gspurning.

Two minutes later, Miller Bolanos played in a low ball toward the near post for Juan Agudelo who tried to direct it into the far corner, but the final outcome of that was another missed opportunity.

The Sounders first opportunity of the game didn't come until the 10 minute mark and they had no problem making it count. Eddie Johnson flicked the ball on for Fredy Montero who brought the ball down and played an excellent through ball to Brad Evans who got in behind James Riley and Evans calmly slotted the ball into the far corner for his second goal of the season and the Sounders took an early 1-0 lead.

In the 15th minute, Chivas USA had another opportunity to score. After a giveaway, Ante Jazic worked a give and go with Agudelo on the far side before whipping in a good cross for Casey Townsend to got in front of Jhon Kennedy Hurtado but he couldn't head the ball on target. There were so many openings on both side of the field all game long. As for Casey Townsend, he should've scored there. He was in perfect position to head the ball home and he ends up missing it. This is why Chivas USA have scored the fewest goals in the league.

In the 27th minute, Chivas loses possession and the Sounders pour down field in a counter attack and make them pay. Christian Tiffert sent Brad Evans in behind with a brilliant long ball. Evans was looking to try and score another goal, but James Riley tracked back and didn't give him any chance at that and had to wait for support. And he got it as he played the ball back to Mauro Rosales who slid the ball through to Fredy Montero and the Colombian did the rest as he turned and hit it low and hard into the far corner to double Seattle's lead with his ninth goal of the season and his 12th in all competitions. As for Mauro Rosales, remember in mid June he began to struggle on the right hand side and he only had a goal and two assists at the time? It's been a different story since than, that assist on Montero's goal was his 11th in 2012 and there was still more to come later on in the game.

What do I mean by later you ask? Well, let's say the 34th minute when he sets up Fredy Montero again for another goal. Fredy Montero picked up the ball from the near side and he stumbles a little bit and loses his footing, but he did very well to use his strength and maintain possession before James Riley could break up the play. The Sounders worked the ball around outside the area before Mauro Rosales played another excellent through ball to Montero who was all alone and Montero chipped the ball over Dan Kennedy and in to make it 3-0. That goal also put Montero into double figures yet again with his 10th league goal of the season.

A couple minutes later, Chivas USA were awarded a penalty kick. Juan Agudelo chipped the ball to the near post looking for Casey Townsend. Now as Townsend was about to volley the ball goalwards, I thought at first he caught one of the defenders with a high boot. I don't know why, I just did. But Townsend never made contact with any defender, and the ball apparently came off the hand of Jeff Parke and referee Jose Carlos Rivero pointed to the penalty spot. Juan Agudelo stepped up and calmly slotted the ball low into the right corner, sending Michael Gspurning the wrong way to cut the Sounders lead to 3-1.

In the 56th minute, Chivas USA let yet another chance slip away. Juan Agudelo played the ball back to Nick LaBrocca who whipped the ball in first time and getting up was Tristan Bowen for a snap down header which bounced just wide.

In the 64th minute, Chivas were able to finish their chance and what was once a 3-0 Sounder lead has now become a 3-2 Sounder lead. Tristan Bowen fed the ball to the near side for Miller Bolanos. Bolanos had a bit of space to decide whether to pass the ball or strike it from distance. He had Ante Jazic making an overlapping run, but Bolanos decided to go for it alone as he cut inside of Jeff Parke and struck the ball low and hard and it skipped underneath Michael Gspurning and into the back of the goal to make it a one goal game. So things started to look pretty interesting in this match as Chivas USA looked like they were down and out earlier in the game before they scored two unanswered goals to get back in this match.

That is until the 67th minute when Seattle restored their two goal lead and began to pull away from there. Mauro Rosales was once again the set up man as he played another brilliant ball to Fredy Montero. Montero avoided the sliding challenge from John Valencia and rifled his shot into the far corner to complete his hat trick and more importantly to extend Seattle's lead to 4-2. Montero is the fourth Sounders player to record a hat trick in the clubs young history. Blaise Nkufo did it on the road against the Columbus Crew in 2010, Lamar Neagle did at home in 2011 which was also against the Columbus Crew, of course David Estrada did it against Toronto FC in the Opener back in March and now Fredy Montero finally joins that list with three impressive goals against Chivas USA.

The Sounders weren't done there. In the 80th minute, the Sounders put together a lot of passes in this move as they worked the ball out wide to Christian Tiffert who looked and curled the ball near post for Sammy Ochoa and the big man got in on the act with a terrific header to make it 5-2 Seattle.

The Sounders would get one more in the 91st minute. Fredy Montero waited for support and chipped the ball into the area looking for Mario Martinez who was making a run toward the far post and Ante Jazic headed the ball into his own net to make it 6-2 and that's how it would end.

The Sounders road trip continues. Right now they're in Trinidad and Tobago preparing for their Champions League match tomorrow against Caledonia AIA. After that they will head to head to FC Dallas Stadium this Sunday to, well take on FC Dallas. Their confidence should be really high right now the way they've played lately. As for Mario Martinez, if you never heard of him, he's a Honduran international who joined the team on loan from Real Espana following the Olympics. This was his debut match for the Sounders, coming on in the 78th minute. In his short time on the pitch, I thought his movement on the ball was good, he's a good passer, he's got a great vision and he's a fast paced athlete. I think the Sounders need to get Martinez completely involved in these late stages as the Sounders get set for another playoff run.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans 2 (Fredy Montero 5) 10'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 9 (Mauro Rosales 11) 27'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 10 (Mauro Rosales 12) 34'

Chivas USA - Juan Agudelo 2 (penalty kick) 38'

Chivas USA - Miller Bolanos 2 (Tristan Bowen 1) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 11 (Mauro Rosales 13) 67'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa 1 (Christian Tiffert 1, Brad Evans 3) 80'

Seattle Sounders FC - Own goal (Ante Jazic) 91'+


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 54'

Chivas USA - Miller Bolanos (caution; off the ball foul) 93'+


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales (Mario Martinez 78'), Osvaldo Alonso, Christian Tiffert (Steve Zakuani 84'), Brad Evans; Eddie Johnson (Sammy Ochoa 73'), Fredy Montero

Chivas USA - Dan Kennedy; James Riley, John Valencia, Bobby Burling, Ante Jazic; Tristan Bowen (Jose Erick Correa 69'), Shalrie Joseph, Nick LaBrocca, Miller Bolanos; Juan Agudelo, Casey Townsend (Juan Pablo Angel 86')

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders were coming off a very disappointing 2-0 loss at home Wednesday night to the Columbus Crew and really needed to find a way to keep that from happening again. The way they played on Saturday, Seattle possibly could've came away with all three points but instead they settled for a 1-1 draw at the Home Depot Center against a new look Chivas USA side. The Sounders will now have a two week break from MLS play. They still have a U.S. Open Cup match this Wednesday down at Starfire against the Atlanta Silverbacks and another one on June 5th should they advance with a win over Atlanta. The Sounders currently sit in third place in the Western Conference with a record of 7-3-3 (24 points).

In the 31st minute, former Sounder James Riley played a long crossfield ball to the near side for Ryan Smith. Now here's the problem, Mauro Rosales was all the way back defending because Zach Scott who was supposed to be defending Smith on these plays was in a central defensive position. Smith took advantage of that and maneuvered around Rosales and sent in a low ball to the near post for Alejandro Moreno, but Jeff Parke was there as well to knock it out of play for a corner kick. Parke has been criticised lately about his defending, but he answered all critics in this match and made some great defensive plays.

In the 39th minute, Fredy Montero sent David Estrada in behind the Chivas USA defense and it looked he had all the time and space to either get a cross in or go for goal himself, but James Riley got back and broke of the attack. That was five yards that Riley made up. Estrada is another guy that has been criticised lately. I understand Eric Wynalda was discussing this on FSN West and I have to agree with him on this part. The reason Estrada has stuggled is because of his lack of pace. So far, he's lacking still and he doesn't have the closing speed and hopefully he'll continue to work on that as the season goes on.

Two minutes later, Alvaro Fernandez headed the ball on for Marc Burch to made an excellent run from the back. However he didn't have much of an angle for a shot or a cross and the ball was easily gathered by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

At the end of the first half, the Sounders had the best opportunity to take the lead going into the locker room. Fredy Montero got away from John Valencia and tried to find David Estrada, but the ball was deflected by Danny Califf right to Mauro Rosales who misses a golden opportunity. I don't know how much Rosales knew about it, but that was the best chance of the half for either side.

In the 57th minute, first blood went to the Goats. Peter Vagenas, another former Sounder, found James Riley on the near side with loads of space. Riley curled the ball toward the near post. Now it looked like Bryan Meredith was going to punch this one clear, but Juan Agudelo snuck right in front of him to head that one into the far corner to give Chivas USA a 1-0 lead. Agudelo's first professional goal came against the Sounders while he was playing for the New York Red Bulls and now in his second game for his new club, he repeats the trick and scores his first goal for Chivas USA against the Seattle Sounders.

In the 61st minute, the Sounders would come right back and tie it up. Shortly after coming on, Alex Caskey makes an immediate impact as he curled in a low ball right into the mixer and all David Estrada had to do was get a toe to the ball and that's exactly what he did as he made a run around John Valencia and poked the ball home for his fifth goal of the season. As for Caskey, that was his third assist of the season and I got to tell you he's outperforming Alvaro Fernandez so far this season. If Fernandez doesn't pull his head out soon, he could lose his starting job.

In the 90th minute, Eddie Johnson made a run all the way to the end line before trying to square the ball for Cordell Cato, but Cato couldn't get a foot on it. The ball bounced to Andy Rose for a first timed shot, but it was cleared away by Danny Califf. Had he not cleared the ball, it probably could've been a goal at the same time Kennedy may have had that covered, but the bottomline is Seattle couldn't find the breakthrough and come away with only a point.


Scoring summary:

Chivas USA - Juan Agudelo 1 (James Riley 2, Peter Vagenas 1) 57'

Seattle Sounders FC - David Estrada 5 (Fredy Montero 3, Alex Caskey 3) 61'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (caution; foul) 20'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales, Andy Rose, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez (Alex Caskey 61'); David Estrada (Cordell Cato 78'), Fredy Montero (Eddie Johnson 73')

Chivas USA - Dan Kennedy; James Riley, Danny Califf, John Valencia (Rauwshan McKenzie 66'), Ante Jazic; Laurent Courtois, Peter Vagenas, Ryan Smith (Cesar Romero 88'); Juan Agudelo, Jose Erick Correa (Blair Gavin 76'), Alejandro Moreno

By Money Mike


With a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, the United States need to do what they did in the 2010 World Cup, and that is advance out of their group on the final day. Tomorrow, the United States will be taking on Guadeloupe in Kansas City and they will be under so much pressure after suffering an embarrasing 2-1 loss to Panama on Saturday. Panama won their 2 matches and are clear to advance to the quarterfinal round. Now the U.S., Canada and Guadeloupe will be fighting for a spot. Mexico took the top spot in group A with ease. After winning their first match 5-0 over El Salvador, five Mexican players were diactivated from the squad for testing positive for a banned substance. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, Defenders Francisco Javier Rodriguez and Edgar Duenas and Midfielders Christian Bermudez and Sinha were banned from the squad. It didn't seem to effect Mexico as they won 5-0 over Cuba and 4-1 over Costa Rica. Jamaica and Honduras will advance out of Group B. Now tomorrow, the 2nd spot will be decided in Group C, the United States can still win the Group if they beat Guadeloupe and Canada defeats Panama. So that is 6 spots locked in, so we need 2 more. The two best 3rd placed teams in this tournament will fill in the two spots, Guatemala finished with 4 points tied with El Salvador but are in the clear due to a higher goal difference. But it's time to focus on tomorrow...


United States will advance if:

• They do not lose to Guadeloupe or


• They lose by only 1 goal and Panama defeats Canada

Canada will advance if:

• They defeat Panama or


• They draw and Guadeloupe defeats United States

Guadeloupe will advance if:

• They defeat United States by 2 or more goals and Panama defeats Canada

United States will be eliminated if:

• They lose to Guadeloupe by 4 or more goals or


• They lose and Panama does not defeat Canada

Canada will be eliminated if:

• They lose to Panama and Guadeloupe defeats United States by 4 or more goals

Guadeloupe will be eliminated if:

• They do not defeat the United States

By Money Mike


Day 3 of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup is now officially in the books. Both the United States and Canada kicked off their Gold Cup campaign and it was the United States coming out on top 2-0 with Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey finding the back of the net for the Red, White and Blue. Panama and Guadeloupe also kicked off their campaign with Panama winning 3-2. The United States will face Panama next on Saturday at 5pm on FOX Soccer Channel.

The U.S. got on the board first in the 15th minute. Landon Donovan with a good through ball found Jozy Altidore, who made a nice turn and slotted the ball under goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld for the opening goal. It was Altidore's 11th international goal, and this dude has received a lot of criticism for his lack of confidence while in Europe. You know, the lack of playing time, lack of goals (6 total. 2 for Hull City, 3 for Villereal and 1 for Bursaspor), etc. So I don't care how lucky that was, it was nice to see him get a goal for the U.S.

By Money Mike


With the CONCACAF Gold Cup now a couple weeks away, some teams have still yet to unveil their squad, while the others are all set and ready to go including the United States national team. USA head coach Bob Bradley earlier today, announced his squad for their friendly match on June 4th against Spain and also for the Gold Cup, and after looking at the squad, I must admit, I'm a little disappointed in his work. Looking at the squad, of course there are players that definitely deserve a spot on the roster like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Juan Agudelo, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, etc. And there are players that I just do not understand why they are on the roster or how they made the roster. I mean, looking at the squad here, you'll understand what I'm talking about here...


United States 2011 Gold Cup squad:

1. Tim Howard (Everton; England)

2. Jonathan Spector (West Ham United; England)

3. Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne; France)

4. Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach; Germany)

5. Oguchi Onyewu (A.C. Milan; Italy)

6. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96; Germany)

7. Maurice Edu (Rangers; Scotland)

8. Clint Dempsey (Fulham; England)

9. Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; MLS)

10. Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy; MLS)

11. Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes; MLS)

12. Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres; Mexico)

13. Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04; Germany)

14. Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa; England)

15. Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls; MLS)

16. Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht; Belgium)

17. Jozy Altidore (Villarreal; Spain)

18. Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; MLS)

19. Robbie Rodgers (Columbus Crew; MLS)

20. Freddy Adu (Caykur Rizespor; Turkey)

21. Clarence Goodson (Brondby IF; Norway)

22. Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution; MLS)

23. Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers; England)


Players that should've made the squad:

Timmy Chandler:

- I don't get this at all, he's only 21, he now has a starting job at right back with FC Nurnburg. Bob Bradley what the hell did you not like that made you decide to leave him off the squad. He made his debut against Argentina and did very well all around the pitch. He made his second appearance for the U.S. national team against Paraguay, and again, didn't disappoint. Every was expecting him to make the Gold Cup squad and now I look at the list and he is not there.

Alejandro Bedoya:

- This guy graduated from Boston College in 2008, went straight to Europe and quickly earned a starting job at Orebro SK in Sweden. Since he began in 2009, he's made 58 appearances and scored 8 goals for that club. Now, he didn't make the World Cup squad in 2010, and nobody expected him to make it either, but no Gold Cup either?

Teal Bunbury:

- Why is he left out? Another young player that was expected to make the roster and I don't see his name. Teal Bunbury had a good rookie season with Kansas City last year and I know he came back from injury at the start of the 2011 MLS season but he's still having a good year. This guy is very good on the ball, he finds ways to burst through a trap and he has that goalscoring potential. Leaving him off the roster - STUPID MOVE!!

Edson Buddle:

- Why is Buddle left out? Didnt you see him domintate in 2010 while he was with the LA Galaxy? He is a goalscoring threat, and the US team only has three strikers because Bob Bradley just ditched him because he's not thinking straight.


Players who made the squad that absolutely did not deserve a spot:

Jonathan Spector:

- This guy had a crappy 2010-2011 season at West Ham. He was only useful for cup matches because he scored in those matches, but in the League, he sucked. Pretty much the reason why he lost his job at right back and also why he shouldn't be on the U.S. team.

Freddy Adu:

- God damn, this guy is a worthless soccer player. How the fuck did he make the squad. Ever since he left for Europe, it was like, nobody wanted him anymore. Look, in 2004, he gets drated by D.C. United at 14-years of age, he makes 30 appearances and scores 5 goals that year, and everybody started to love him when he was at D.C. from 04'-06'. Get's traded to Real Salt Lake in 2007, but then he opts out of his contract and moves to Europe (TOO DAMN EARLY!!). He signs with Benfica and he just struggles. He gets loaned out to AS Monaco to try to pick up his game, that didn't work. Next season, he's loaned out to Belenenses and he sucked over there, then loaned out to Aris FC, same story, he sucked. Seriously, I can't believe he's on the roster, especially after he's proven to be worthless.

Jonathan Bornstein:

- Here's another guy that doesn't deserve to be on the roster. The last two times he's capped for the United States, he was terrible defensively, and he also keeps giving the ball away. So let me get this straight, you add him on the roster so he can continue to play like shit? If the U.S. wins the Gold Cup, then maybe I'll take back everything I said, but if not, I think it's time Bob Bradley stepped down.