Brazil U20

I attended the Brazil U20 exhibition last night at the Scott Gallagher complex in Creve Coeur. My God! I forgot how cold and windy it gets on the Missouri River bottom.

This was my first 'official' live soccer match. Although they we 50 minute exhibitions, I'll call them 'official' because everyone was in uniform, they played the national anthems, etc. As luck would have it, I ended up sitting next to National Soccer Hall-of-Famer Harry Keogh. This is the rough equivalent of going to your first baseball game at some AA park and finding yourself next to Kirby Puckett.

The Scott Gallagher All-Stars, all high schoolers, acquitted themselves well. On their heels most of the game (they only managed one shot on goal in 50 minutes) they only let in one goal from a very talented national squad.

Speed and conditioning were the hallmarks of the Brazilians, covering the entire field while the S-G squad were bracketed by the visiting squad. The Brazilians also possessed the ability to shift gears on dime as a unit - their bursts of speed putting the home squad in a reactionary mode. The All-Stars seem to have the edge on aggression and, surprising to me given Brazil's reputation, ball control.

Despite freezing my toes off, I had a blast.

Hull City (0-3) 17-14-9 65 pts.

Aidy Boothroyd's comment said it all "We didn't put anything out there today, we just put eleven shirts on".

The telling moment came when Aidy pulled our multi-million dollar striker, Nathan Ellington in favor of moving Danny Shittu to the front. Nice try, but we still ended up 1) being shut out 2) giving upp another goal and 3) losing Steve Kabba to suspension with a red card in the 75th minute. Arrgh!!

The Hornets have slid to fifth place. Bristol City defeated Norwich 2-1, thankfully Sheffield Wednesday equalized against Stoke, and West Brom defeated Colchester.

The next match is Saturday, April 5 at Vicarage Road against Coventry City. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

0-2 at the Half

Watford found themselves deep in hole early on as a free kick in the first minute turned into a goal for Turney (asst. Morney). Twelve minutes later Campbell made it 0-2 (asst. Pederson) before Watford could get their legs under them. Watford has recovered, but the damage will be tough to recover from.

The Three Counties Commentators have been questioning Al Bangura's insertion for O'Toole as Al has not played his position well today. Speculation is J-J is injured.

Mat Sadler picked up a yellow and narrowly avoided a second. The last thing we need is more suspension woes.

Finally, Bristol City & Stoke City both lead at the half.

Game Day: Hull City

Another crucial match, this time against the red-hot Tigers, occupiers of third place - one goal ahead of Watford. Hull City is on a tear, 8-3-2 since late January and winners of their last three matches by a collective score of ten goals to one.

Watford takes to the field without the services of John Eustace or Darius Henderson, both serving suspensions. Steve Kabba and Nathan Ellington start upfront with Colins John on the bench. Full line-up:

Lee

DeMerit Bromby Shittu Sadler

Smith Bangura Williamson Mc Anuff

Kabba Ellington

Go 'Orns!!!!

The Political Economy of Football

An interesting site, especially for someone like me who 1) is in finance, 2) is not familiar with the economics of club football, and 3) is a total geek. This site looks at the finances of soccer from endorsements to funding to marketing.

Brazil U20 National Team to Play Exhibition Matches in St. Louis Saturday

The Brazil U20 squad will be playing two 50 minute exhibition matches Saturday at the Scott Gallagher Soccer Club in Creve Coeur. Play starts at 6:00pm against the Scott Gallagher Academy All-Stars and 7:00 against SIU-Edwardsville.

Bring a lawn chair - no stands

Food & drink available

Admission is $7 for adults - $3 for children

Directions:

* NEW SCOTT GALLAGHER COMPLEX: Directions from the Page Extension:
Take
the Page Extension (also know as I-364) to the Maryland Heights
Expressway. Turn north, or in the direction of Sportport. Go north
until
you come to Creve Coeur Mill Road-South and make a
right. (If you pass the
left turn for Sportport, you have
gone too far.) Once you turn right onto
Creve Coeur Mill Road our new
facility is located a short distance on the
left side of the road, just
past a small golf complex. Look for the large
light standards that
surround the new fields.

{Complex is in the lower right-hand corner of map below}

View Larger Map

US Tops Poland 3-0

. . . and Jay DeMerit earns another cap (for the uninitiated, a 'cap' - no longer an actual cap - is a tally awarded when a player appears for his country's squad in an international match).

DeMerit on US Squad Facing Poland Wednesday

The Watford defender joins the US National squad for Wednesday's friendly against Poland in Krakow. FSC will be broadcasting the match, kicking off at 2:30 St. Louis time.

Plymouth Argyle (1-1) 17-14-8 65 pts.

Despite being a man up for a good deal of the second half and having an additional ten(!) minutes of injury time, Watford continued their drawing ways, picking up only one point in the standings.

Halmosi was shown the red card for a hit on Sadler (actually his second yellow of the game but the same result) that left Halmosi being stretchered off, but the booking that will have the most impact was a late yellow card on Henderson, his tenth which will earn him at least a one, possibly two, match vacation.

Bristol City fell to Cardiff 2-1 but red-hot Hull defeated Leicseter to add three points. Stock City & Blackpool are 1-1 with about ten minutes to play. The top of the table remains up for grabs.

The next match is March 29 at Hull. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

1-1 at the Half

An Easter present came early for Plymouth as Jermaine Easter scored Plymouth's goal in the 34th minute despite being clearly offside ('by two yards' as the Three Counties radioman put it).

The lead evaporated three minutes later as Lee Williamson converted a free kick into a goal to equalize. Plymouth's lead on possession but hasn't played much of a game with it.

Game Day: Plymouth Argyle

Lee Williamson starts at Home Park as Eustace begins his (at least) three match suspension today. Darius Henderson will assume the on-field captaincy. The Hornets seek to avenge a disappointing 0-1 home loss in December against Paul Sturrock's squad. Starters:

Lee

DeMerit Bromby Shittu Sadler

Smith O'Toole Williamson McAnuff

John Henderson

Go 'Orns!!

Eustace May Face an Additional Two Game Ban

Referee Rob Styles has reported Eustace for not leaving the pitch in a timely manner after being shown the red card against Stoke City. Eustace faces a possible fine in addition to the ban. With the three game suspension for the red card itself, this would mean Eustace would miss most of the remaining matches this season.

I saw the tackle on Watford World. Hard? Yes. Late? A Little. Malicious? Not at all. Just hard play.

Stoke City (nil-nil) 17-13-8 64 pts.

My first match as a member of Watford World, the streaming audio & video (mostly audio) service that lets me listen to the play-by-play. I got frustrated trying to figure out why Eustace was sent off in the first half (more on that later), so I bit the bullet and bought the service (about $8/mo.). Not only do I get the Watford broadcasts, but just about any league football match in the U.K.. Here's what I heard:

The Hornets started Jay DeMerit today as was Collins Johns, the latter being swapped out for Lee Williamson at the start of the second half. Nathan Ellington sat out.

John Eustace was shown the red card after a marginally high tackle, putting Watford back on their heels a man down. It did not show as Watford dominated time of possession and denied any shots on goal from the league's number two squad. Eustace will miss the next three matches against Plymouth Argyle, Hull City, and Coventry City.

Watford's best scoring chance came to naught as Darius Henderson missed his second penalty shot in as many games. Hendo is now teetering on suspension himself, earning his ninth yellow card of the season today. Also in the race to see who gets a day off, Jobi McAnuff picked up his seventh.

Stoke City got defensive, even as Watford tired in the waning minutes, making no attack of any mention. Luckily for both squads, West Brom and Bristol City both lost today though the standings did not change.

Watford's next opportunity to close the gap on first comes next Saturday, March 22 at Plymouth Argyle. Kickoff is 10:00 am St. Louis time.

Remaining Matches for Table Leaders

To give credit where credit is (kind of) due, I swiped this from ant_uk's post on Gloryhorns:

Sat 15th March:

Bristol City v Argyle
Watford v Stoke
WBA v Leicester

Fri 21st March:

Charlton v WBA

Sat 22nd March:

Cardiff v Bristol City
Argyle v Watford
Stoke v Blackpool

Sat 29th March:

Bristol City v Norwich
Hull v Watford
Sheff Wed v Stoke
WBA v Colchester

Tue 1st April:

Cardiff v WBA

Sat 5th April:

Southampton v Bristol City
Watford v Coventry

Mon 7th April:

Stoke v Palace

Tue 8th April:

Watford v Barnsley
Blackpool v WBA

Sat 12th April:

Bristol City v Wolves
Coventry v Stoke
WBA v Watford

Tue 15th April:

Wolves v WBA

Sat 19th April:

Norwich v WBA

Stoke v City
Watford v Palace

Sat 26th April

Colchester v Stoke
Sheff Utd v Bristol City
Watford v Scunthorpe
WBA v Southampton

Sun 4th May

Blackpool v Watford
Bristol City v Preston
QPR v WBA
Stoke v Leicester

Colin's Crystal Palace Squad Keeps West Brom Off Our Backs

Crystal Palace came from behind to play West Brom to a 1-1 draw yesterday, leaving the Hornets a point ahead in third place.

Bristol City (nil-nil) 17-12-8 63 pts.

Crap!

I can't believe I spaced of the most crucial game of the season thus far. Just sat there at work yesterday afternoon - football being the farthest thing from my mind. As it were, I may have saved myself much aggravation as Darius Henderson failed to convert a penalty en route to the draw.

Watford remains in third place as Stoke City picked up three points on a 1-0 win over Norwich. West Brom has a chance to sink us further down the table as they play Crystal Palace today plus have one more game remaining than Watford.

The next match for the Hornets is Saturday against the aforementioned Stoke City. If I'm not befuddled by Daylight Savings Time, kickoff should be 10:00 am St. Louis time.

FA Cup Update

What was almost an all-upset weekend leaves only one Premiership squad in the FA Cup.

I managed to catch the first half of the Barnsley-Chelsea match while in Vegas Saturday (the Luxor had a nice variety of soccer on the big screens though betting was limited to the EPL & Champions League only). I thought Barnsley would wear themselves out, but Odejayi, playing well from the action I saw, managed a 67th minute goal to upset Chelsea.

In other action, Portsmouth dropped Manchester United (1-0), West Brom tromped the Bristol Rovers (5-1) and Cardiff City eliminated M'Boro (2-0).

The semi-finals will be held April 5th & 6th at Wembley Stadium.

Norwich City (1-1) 17-11-8 62 pts.

Tragically true to form - an equalizer in the last ten minutes - this one from Jamie Curtis from 25(!) yards out through a tired defence. Bristol City tied keeping us 3 pts. out of first but we are 3 goals up on an idle Stoke City.

We make our own destiny next week as we take on Bristol away Tuesday, March 11 (1:45 St. Louis time - I think - there's an intervening time change in the states) and Stoke at home Saturday 15th.

The Hornets are idle this weekend as their scheduled opponents, Barnsley, try to continue their giant-killing ways in the FA Cup against Chelsea. The match is kind of early here but I'll be in Vegas and, schedule permitting, will try to catch it.

1-0 at the half

A Jobi McAnuff corner kick headed into the goal by Danny Shittu in the 11th minute is the only goal of the match thus far. Watford has dominated with possession nearing 60% and no shots or corners allowed. But they will need to seal the deal - one point will not cut it with matches against Stoke & Bristol looming - we need three points today and too often the Hornets have let in goals in the second half and settled for one.

Game Day - Norwich City

The Hornets play host to mid-table Norwich City. The starting line-up looks little changed. Bristol City travels to Charlton and Stoke is idle so a win here could land us back on top. Starters:

Lee

Mariappa Shittu Bromby Sadler

Smith Eustace O'Toole McAnuff

Henderson Ellington

Go 'Orns!!

Sorry St. Louis - Maybe Next Time

Philadelphia has been awarded the newest MLS franchise, thwarting the effort to bring pro soccer to St. Louis, at least for now. Citing a lack of depth in the investor pool, the league did leave open the opportunity to place future franchises in the area.

Burnley (2-2) 17-10-8 61 pts.

The Hornets failed to defend the lead twice in the second half to remain mired in third place after Saturday's 2-2 draw. Robbie Blake (not Baretta) managed both equalizers, the first in minute 74 (asst Cole) and the second in the 88th minute. Jordan Stewart , a minute off the bench, left-footed Watford's second goal into the net (assist Henderson).

The point leaves Watford trailing Bristol City (2-1 victors over Hull) and Stoke (downed 3-0 by QPR) as we start the last couple months of league play.

The next match is Tuesday at Vicarage Road against Norwich City, 3-1 losers to Watford last fall, followed by make-or-break fixtures against the aforementioned Cities Bristol and Stoke. Kickoff for Tuesday's match is 1:45 pm St. Louis time.

1-0 at the Half (Burnley)

A header by Hendo in the 22nd minute (assist McAnuff) is sole goal so far. I'm going on the road and will miss the second half, but will catch up tomorrow. Collins John is suited up on the sideline for the first time since moving to Watford.