Gold Cup Preview

This weekend marks the start of the Concacaf Gold Cup with two matches today and two more on Saturday and Sunday.  As usual the two top contenders for the trophy are going to be the United States and Mexico.

The United States are the defending champions of the Gold Cup, and are coming off a Confederations Cup performance that saw them beat then World number one Spain and get into the final, which they lost 2-3 to Brazil, the team which took Spain’s number one ranking. However, coach Bob Bradley has elected to bring very few  members of that squad to the Gold Cup, opting to give chances to more domestic based players instead.

Players to Watch:

Goalkeeper- Brad Guzan- a member of the Confederations Cup squad that beat Egypt 3-0 to shock everyone and make it out of their group, Guzan plays his club football at Aston Villa and will be looking at the Gold Cup as an opportunity to show he can do more than just back up Tim Howard.

Midfielder- Benny Feilhaber- another member of the Confederations Cup squad, Benny scored the winner in the last Gold Cup final against Mexico. Currently playing for Aarhus in Denmark, he will be looking to perform well to perhaps make a move back to a bigger league.

Forward- Freddy Adu- while Jozy Altidore is another US attacking player to watch, Freddy Adu is the player who needs to perform in this tournament.  Adu went as an unused substitute at the Confederations Cup and is coming off two disappointing club seasons at Benfica and Monaco.  A good performance in the Gold Cup could go a long way to seal his spot in the US team ahead of the World Cup and also put pressure on his club side to play him more in the future.

Mexico is coming into the Gold Cup after two warm up friendlies against Venezuela and Guatemala, the first of which they won 4-0 and the second they drew 0-0.  Before this Mexico were going through a challenging period of internationals which means they are just fourth in their World Cup Qualifying group.  A win in the Gold Cup could go along way to boast the team’s and their fans confidence ahead of next summer.

Players to Watch:

Goalkeeper- Guillermo Ochoa- the talented young Mexican keeper who plays for Club America in the Primera Division of Mexico is going to be hard to beat in the Mexican goal.

Attacking Midfielder- Giovani dos Santos- dos Santos scored his first two goals for the Mexican national team in their friendly against Venezuela and will look to continue scoring in the Gold Cup.

Forward- Carlos Vela- the  forward became just the second Mexican player to score in the Premier League when he scored for Arsenal against Portsmouth in May, he will look to add to his 5 international goals playing aside Omar Bravo up front.

While no non-North American team has ever won the Gold Cup there are several other teams to watch that are going to hope to change that.

Costa Rica- Los Ticos are leading their World Cup qualifying group and have recently defeated the United States showing they have what it takes to cause an upset.

Honduras- Another team putting in a strong WCQ campaign, they will hope to use a strong Gold Cup performance to keep in them in the hunt for South Africa.

Matches:

The Gold Cup kicks off today with Canada taking on Jamaica and Costa Rica facing off against El Salvador. The following games this weekend are:

7/4

Honduras vs Haiti

Grenada vs United States

7/5

Panama vs Guadeloupe

Nicaragua vs Mexico

The full Gold Cup schedule can be found here.

Kaka Goes To Madrid; U2 Goes To Barcelona

Kaka unveiled at Real Madrid

Kaka was introduced to around 50,000 fans at the Bernabeu yesterday.  It was revealed that he was given the number 8 shirt, instead of the 5 that many speculated he might receive. In his introduction he said that Florintino Perez’s project to get Madrid to compete with the best teams in Europe was one of the reasons he joined, and that Madrid was the only team he would leave AC Milan for. He concluded saying:

“It’s a great privilege to form part of great teams. I’ve been fortunate to play with great players, and I’m now going to continue doing the same.”

Cristiano Ronaldo has also completed his reported 80 million euro move to Real Madrid and will have his own unveiling ceremony next week.

Breaking News: Karim Benzema has now become the latest player to join Real Madrid, with it being announced that the 21 year old striker has joined from Lyon for 30 million euro.

U-21 European Championship Team of the Tournament

After a great tournament showcasing Europe’s top young footballers, here is Off the Post’s team of the U21 European Tournament:

Goalkeeper:

Manuel Neuer- Germany (Schalke 04)

Defenders:

Andreas Beck- Germany (Hoffenheim)

Jerome Boateng- Germany (Hamburg)

Salvatore Bocchetti- Italy (Genoa)

Kieran Gibbs- England (Arsenal)

Midfielders:

Mesut Ozil- Germany (Werder Bremen)

Sami Khedira- Germany (VfB Stuttgart)

Ola Toivonen- Sweden ( PSV Eindhoven)

Sebastian Giovinco- Italy (Juventus)

Forwards:

Marcus Berg- Sweden (FC Groningen) *Winner of the Golden Boot with 7 goals*

Robert Acquafresca- Italy (Genoa)

Germany win U21 European Championship

Germany U-21’s defeated the England U-21’s today 4-0,  with goals scored by Gonzalo Castro, Mesut Ozil, and two by Sandro Wagner.  It was always going to be a hard test for England who had three players out suspended for the match, two of them strikers, which left Theo Walcott up front on his own. Walcott was isolated most of the game and saw very little of the ball, and England had only one solid chance the whole match coming from a James Milner run and cross which found Adam Johnson whose backheel attempt deflected off his other leg and went wide.

Mesut Ozil was the star performer again for Germany, who along with scoring a goal assisted the first goal with a brilliantly placed pass to Castro who lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.  Ozil, who plays his club football for Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga, was certainly one of the best performers in this European Championship.  Tomorrow we will profile some of the other top performers in the tournament. And for our readers, which players stood out to you in this U21 Championship?

Finally, congratulations to Germany, winners of the 2009 European U-21 Championship!

And We’re Back

After a long period of inactivity I am happy to say that we are back.  As some may notice our return has come with a name change as well, Off the Post is the new name we have come up with as we feel it will better identify the site. The name change has also come with a slight change in content as well.  We are going to cut down on the match recaps and focus more on the latest news in the world of football, and also have more player profiles and pictures/videos.

So welcome everyone to Off the Post! Tell us what you think about the changes and what you would like to see in the future in your comments.

Kaka going to…no where

Chelsea are  getting hot and heavy for Milan’s star player Ricky Kaka. They have been trying to pry their way into negotiations no matter how much Milan try and keep the door close denying the rumors. But I think we will finally be able to get some relief, Milan published an official statement saying:

“KAKA’ E’ INCEDIBILE”
19/07/2008
MILANO – In merito alle dichiarazioni pubblicate oggi dal quotidiano inglese “The Guardian”, Vittorio Mentana, direttore della comunicazione rossonera, ribadisce “Kakà non è assolutamente in vendita”.

Translation? Thought so…

“KAKA IS NOT SELL ABLE”

Milan- In regards to the publication today of the english news “The Guardian”, Vittorio Mentana, director of communication rossonera, says “Kaka is absolutely NOT for sale”

I will start with saying that I dislike the transfer window so much that if it were a person I would dump a cold bucket of water on it and then give it a swift kick in the behind.

Kaka leaving Milan will hopefully be when he can no longer play. He’s achieved a lot in the rossonera shirt, and at Milan he’s worshiped like a God, the fans are crazy about him. Him going to Chelsea would be a big blow to his career if he weren’t to do well the first game. The British after all aren’t exactly the forgiving type, where at Milan he’s already proven himself time and time again. We milan fans are easier to forgive the bad moments and look forward to the good because we look at Milan like a family.

Hopefully all these rumors about where Kaka will be at come the start of next season will be put to rest!

Cannavaro Out of Euro 2008

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro was injured in training today going for a 50-50 ball with Giorgio Chiellini.  He lay on the ground after and had to be carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital where it was determined he damaged ankle ligaments and will most likely need surgery. Alessandro Gamberini who plays domestically with Fiorentina has been called into the squad to take the place of Cannavaro.

Pre-Euro 2008 News and Rumours

As I sit in my living room watching the third place match in the Toulan Youth Tournament it strikes me how much more I am going to enjoy this summer than last, football wise at least.  Last summer dragged by with never-ending transfer rumours that largely amounted to nothing, and waiting for the start of the new season to begin. This summer we have the Euros, the Olympics, and yes, never ending transfer rumours that will largely amount to nothing. However, some deals have gone through such as Alberto Gilardino leaving AC Milan for Fiorentina, and Chelsea signing Jose Bosingwa for 16.6 million, and some rumours must amount to something (right?!) such as the already getting long saga of Samir Nasri and if he will or will not be moving to Arsenal.

Apart from the transfer rumours we have also had the joy of watching and waiting to see who will be part of the Euros. Teams have now submitted their final rosters, and there are a few surprises.  One of these ’surprises’ is the inclusion of Antonio Cassano on the Italian squad. Now most probably know what a loose cannon Cassano can be, but for those who do not take in his reactions to be sent off in Sampdoria:

However, while there have been plenty of moments like the one above in Cassano’s career, he is also a fantastic player who could be a wild card for Italy in the tournament. One thing for sure is all eyes will be on him when takes the field.

The other main shock when the squads were named was the exclusion of not only David Trezeguet from the French squad, but also AC Milan’s new boy Mathieu Flamini and Roma defender Philippe Mexes.  All three of whom have had great season’s domestically, and its really surprising that Domenech has left them out. However, none have ever seemed to be in Domenech’s favor in the past, so its not as surprising as it should be.

What makes Euro 2008 different from previous tournaments for fans in the United States? ESPN has deceided to show every match live over its family of networks. Yes, there is no need to pay for those annoying online streams anymore. Please try to contain your excitement, and check out this schedule of matchs here which will be useful for anyone planning on watching the tournament.

 Finally, if anyone is interested in writing about Euro 2008, the Olympics, or just their club’s news in general just drop me a note.

The Race for the Scudetto

With one week left in Serie A few might have believed just weeks ago that only one point would separate Inter from Roma. Inter seemed to have it locked up after Roma’s surprising and disappointing draw with Livorno. But this season in Serie A has been a surprising one in general, with players deemed past it returning to the form that made them household names around the world, and with the struggles of AC Milan, who seemingly have finally got their Champions League place with their win against Inter, only to lose 3-1 to Napoli, and give Fiorentina the spot again.

 But onto the title race, one I very much doubted would even take place, but thanks to Milan, and now Siena we have one to talk about.  The matchups this weekend have Inter away to Parma, and Roma away to Catania, so not only is this a race for the title, it is a race to stay in Serie A.  All teams should be putting up a fight, and that will only make these two matches more exciting.  Ahead of the future deciding clash Parma have sacked manager Hector Cuper, and put their youth team manager Andrea Manzo in charge.  Now if this seems like a funny way to show your desire of staying in Serie A to you, consider that under Cuper, Parma has won just 8 points in 9 games.  That doesn’t make it less strange, just somewhat more understandable.  Other news leading into the weekend is that Roma has received a fan ban to keep their tifosi from travelling, because it was deemed to be too dangerous.  While the decision is laudable for the attempt at safety, Roma fans surely will not be happy with this decision to ban them, while Inter are allowed to take their fans to the Stadio Tardini without any ticketing restrictions. 

 So, who will win and become champions?  Inter seem to still be favorites in my book, even though they are slipping up, and will be without Cambiasso, who has been key for them all year.  Roma will be without Totti, Taddei, and probably Perrotta. Things just seem to be falling Inter’s way this week, but it will be up to the players on the field to determine who wins.   Both matches should be extremely exciting encounters, and something no football fan should miss.