U-20 World Cup: USA vs. Uruguay (Running Commentary)
Here we are, ready for the USA-Uruguay Under-20 World Cup match. Chris Seitz is on the bench for this one, which is a tough break, but back-up goalkeeper Brian Perk is highly regarded and the match is still going to come down to the US attack delivering like it has been.
Will the defense step up with Seitz on the sidelines? Will Adu work some more magic? We are about to find out.
Here it is, the SBI Running Commentary. Let's have some fun and share your comments on the match below.
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Thanks to all of you who took part tonight. It was truly an exciting, entertaining and memorable night of soccer. Good night.
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FINAL- ARGENTINA 3, MEXICO 0. And we have the Argentina-Brazil Copa America final we were all hoping for (well all us non-Mexico fans). I can't wait for that one.
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87th minute- I have to say I wonder what this game looks like if Mexico's first team is there. They match up well and I was in attendance for that memorable World Cup match last summer in Germany. Some really beautiful soccer played that day.
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81st minute- Is anyone still here? I think I need a sub or something if nobody is still following along. Can't blame, this game is over.
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80th minute- Sanchez saves some face with a nice save on a breakaway chance by Argentina. You know what, there might not be another chance on goal this match but the next 10 minutes will still be worth watching for the looks on Mexico's faces.
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78th minute- So it's 3-0 and the game is basically over. Could we actually have the first loss of Hugo Sanchez's career where he won't make excuses afterwards?
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75th minute- Okay, so I'm watching this Argentina-Mexico match and have watched the replays of all the goals. Oswaldo Sanchez is hating life right now. He got caught on his line on the first goal, got chipped on the second, then saw Riquelme chipped a PK right down the middle as he laid on the ground. Somewhere Guillermo Ochoa is getting ready to rip the No. 1 jersey off Sanchez.
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WOW. So I just watched the video over of the USA-Uruguay scrum and Uruguay's No. 7 just sucker punches Michael Bradley, who was actually just standing and smiling at the time. That changed Bradley's demeanor instantly. What a classless move by that player.
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You have to see Messi's chip shot on Argentina's second goal. WOW. And Oswaldo Sanchez may have to join Kasey Keller on the retirement line.
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It's Argentina 3, Mexico 0. Just when you thought this night couldn't get any better.
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FINAL- After reviewing the footage I think Michael Bradley was hit by an Uruguayan player, which is what set the normally mild-mannered kid off.
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FINAL- The USA will face the winner of the Austria-Zambia match. The Brazil-Spain match is on next. I'll have to watch that one.
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FINAL- An Urugayan player is interviewed after the match and is claiming the team was robbed by the referees. WOW.
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FINAL- The Americans have done it and are into the quarterfinals. I'm not quite sure what Uruguay's players were so upset about after the match. Maybe we'll get that story in the coming days.
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FINAL- USA win 2-1 and yes, Uruguay are sore losers and a fight has broken out.
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122nd minute- Where's the whistle?
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121st minute- Only seconds remain here.
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120th minute- Ferrari tries to get cute again and loses the ball. Here comes Uruguay.
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119th minute- The USA nearly hit on counterattack to seal the match but Uruguay recovers to break it up. Not much time left.
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116th minute- Uruguay makes its final substitution for a foul on Adu. Are the Uruguayan players really complaining about fouls being called? Actually, the replay showed it to be a bad call.
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116th minute- The commentator mentioned PK takers if Uruguay equalizes. Who takes them for the USA? I say Adu, Bradley, Szetela, Sturgis and Rogers.
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113th minute- The US players are getting sloppy and fouling too much. Fatigue is kicking in.
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112th minute- Bradley with a free header but sends it well wide.
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111th minute- USA goal kick instead. There are 10 more minutes to go here. Will Uruguay find an equalizer?
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111th minute- The Uruguay free kick hits the US wall. Uruguay corner kick is cleared out and ANOTHER Uruguay corner is coming.
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110th minute- Uruguay takes a 20-yard free kick and Adu gets carded for coming out too soon. Another dangerous kick for Uruguay.
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108th minute- It was Valentin's shot that Bradley redirected for the goal.
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107th minute- Adu corner kick swings in and Uruguay keeper's punches it out but it is quickly hit back into the mixer and Bradley redirects the shot home from close range. USA 2, Uruguay 1.
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106th minute- GOAL USA. MICHAEL BRADLEY!!!!
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105th minute+- The first half of overtime is over and they're going to switch sides quickly and get going again.
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105th minute- Wallace gets a yellow and definitely earned it by cleating an Uruguay midfielder.
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104th minute- It's worth noting that McCarty and Akpan have settled into the game. So maybe they're not the WSE (Worst Subs Ever).
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102nd minute- Nice little sequence by the US team. Ferrari is doing well to show for the ball and hold it. McCarty with a nice move and Szetela nice idea, but Adu was offside.
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99th minute- Has Adu touched the ball lately? Get him the ball people. Freddy can go get it also.
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98th minute- McCarty worries me every time he touches the ball. Nice save by Perk. Well, it went right at him but he did save it.
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97th minute- Nice save by Perk on a Uruguay header. Perk took a knock. I wonder what field player plays in goal if Perk gets hurt? Scary thought.
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96th minute- Ferrari tries to dance too much and loses the ball. Here comes Uruguay. Corner kick.
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95th minute- I ask and Ferrari delivers a bad cross out of bounds. Why is he crossing? Shouldn't he be in the box?
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94th minute- Ferrari, whenever you're ready.
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93rd minute- Every free kick is an adventure for the US defense to deal with. I wonder how Perk's PK saving skills are. More importantly, who are the five PK takers for the US (Yes, I know, cart before the horse).
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91st minute- US free kick from the left and Szetela takes it. Nothin comes.
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OVERTIME- We're under way.
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PRE-OVERTIME- Guess who came off their line to slowly on the goal? Yep, Mr. Oswaldo Sanchez. Poor guy.
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PRE-OVERTIME- It's Argentina 1, Mexico 0 at halftime in the Copa AMerica semifinal. Heinze just scored off a Riquelme free kick a minute before half-time. NICE.
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PRE-OVERTIME- So what can we expect in overtime? Adu needs to get more of the ball. Uruguay's defenders are clearly afraid of the guy so find him in space and let him work some magic. The US can't afford to give up any more cheap corners because Uruguay can definitely punish them in the air.
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FULL TIME- USA 1, Uruguay 1. And we're headed to extra time.
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93rd minute- Still waiting to hear from Ferrari. Uruguay is putting pressure on.
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90th minute+- An Uruguay player smacks Szetela in the face and he goes down (bad acting by Szetela). No card given.
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90th minute+- The goal has been scored an own goal now. Sturgis limps off injured, not good news since the US is out of subs.
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90th minute- URUGUAY hits THE POST!!!
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90th minute- Uruguay corner kick.
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89th minute- Szetela collected the ball on the left side of the area then slots a ball into the six and it hits off a sliding Uruguayan defender and into the net.
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87th minute- That should be an own goal actually. Great corner by Adu, header by Valentin and ball in by Szetela. USA 1, Uruguay 1.
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87th minute- GOAL USA. Akpan SCORES
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85th minute- Szetela kills a US attack by stepping on the ball, luckily for him, Uruguay's counter led to nothing.
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85th minute- So close, if only Bradley had picked a corner there.
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84th minute- Bradley with a chance but the shot is saved by Uruguay's goalkeeper's knee.
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83rd minute- Adu draws a corner kick. There could have been a penalty call there but the ref isn't calling a penalty no matter what happens.
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81st minute- FERRARI is in the match for Beltran. Let's see what he can do.
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80th minute- The Uruguay diving has reached horrific proportions. Also, Perk looks completely shaken right now.
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78th minute- I hope nobody blames me for that Uruguay goal, I did call it a minute beforehand.
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77th minute- Have there been two worse subs in U-20 World Cup history than McCarty and Akpan? Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating but seriously, has either of them contributed an ounce?
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75th minute- Perk spills a rebound instead of catching a clean ball and Luis Suarez pounces for Uruguay. I hate to be a pessimist but this one feels over. Who is going to step up for the USA?
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73rd minute- GOAL URUGUAY. I hate to say that I saw that one coming.
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72nd minute- Uruguay is going to find away, this game just has that feeling.
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70th minute- Hey the ref just made a good call. And it's Argentina 0, Mexico 0 after 16 minutes in case you were wondering.
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69th minute- A US corner kick and Adu is set to take it. Too bad there is nobody aside from Szetela and to some extent Bradley to do anything with corners into the box.
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68th minute- Not saying that Andre Akpan hasn't done anything but there are milk cartons being printed up with his face on them.
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66th minute- The referee makes a bad call in the US team's favor for once. Too bad the US attack has lost two of it's three best players and it'll be lucky to make it to PKs at this point.
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65th minute- Is it just me or does Dax McCarty look completely overmatched?
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64th minute- If the US is going to produce a goal it will have to come from Adu or Robbie Rogers, who has done some nice things but has been generally frustrated, particularly by some bad calls against him.
Hey, Uruguay just put together more than three forward passes. What a novelty.
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62nd minute- Still trying to figure out where the creativity will come from for the US team.
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60th minute- Between Rongen's brain freeze and the shaky ref you almost feel like there's a pile of cash on this game or something. If Rongen subs Adu out for Tim Ward then you know the fix is in. I'm kidding.
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59th minute- I'm not an expert on Dutch soccer but is this a 4-6-0 Rongen is using right now? I'm kidding, sort of.
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57th minute- I can't wait to hear Rongen's explanation for taking out Zizzo. Was Zizzo too distracted by the big ESPNU scoreboard?
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55th minute- What was wrong with Zizzo? And what is the US team lacking right now that McCarty provides? Someone help me out here.
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54th minute- McCarty for Sal Zizzo. WHAT?
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52nd minute- Just HOW bad is Ferrari looking in practice that he can't get a sniff? This really is mind-boggling to me.
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51st minute- And we're left to wonder what the referee was looking at when the Uruguayan defender came in from behind and injured Altidore. It looks like a calf strain or bruise.
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50th minute- Altidore is back down and looks like he's done for the day. Calf strain. Andre Akpan coming in.
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49th minute- Looks like Altidore has a calf strain of some sort. No word yet whether he's coming back in. Yep, he's back in.
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49th minute- Altidore is still being worked on. Might we finally see Gabriel Ferrari?
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47th minute- Altidore is hurt after a rough challenge from an Uruguay defender. It's almost as if this referee sees fouls where there aren't any but then goes blind when a really hard foul happens.
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47th minute- The US team is way too content to send long balls forward. If they can start stringing some passes together in central midfield they could definitely break down the Uruguay defense.
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46th minute- And we're back.
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HALFTIME- So what's been good about the first half for the US team? Perk, Sturgis, Zizzo and Altidore. Not so good? Bradley, Valentin and Rogers. Nobody has been terrible but Bradley needs to do better with his passes for the US attack to really sizzle. Adu needs to get more of the ball as well. Uruguay gives him space every time and he could definitely burn them.
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HALFTIME- Okay, so maybe the commercial is somewhat entertaining, if only to hear Beckham say 'dude' and 'cuidado'.
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HALFTIME- Does anyone else think the Beckham-Reggie Bush commercial is too long and not that entertaining? Seeing Beckham in pads is pretty funny though and him dribbling the football was the most impressive part of the commercial.
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HALFTIME- We're scoreless at the half.
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45th minute- The half is almost over and it's been a pretty evenly played game.
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44th minute- Zizzo lays off a great ball to Beltran in the penalty area but Beltran loses it. Altidore gets a shot off a few seconds later for a corner kick.
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41st minute- Some good attacking soccer both ways and Perk is late to a ball that nearly costs him. It's back and forth stuff right now.
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40th minute- Uruguay with a dangerous sequence but the US defense does well to stop it.
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39th minute- At this point the referee is calling fouls if a defender winks at someone with the ball. The game has no flow because of it.
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38th minute- I'm not saying that Uruguay dives a lot but I think Greg Louganis is playing right wing for them.
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36th minute- Altidore with a header on goal that is saved easily but the chance came easily too so that is promising for the US.
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33rd minute- I think both teams deserve some praise for not using the top side of the field much so the ESPNU scoreboard monster hasn't gotten in the way too much. It will be a problem in the second half when we can only see Sal Zizzo's feet.
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31st minute- I didn't realize that this is the same ref who stood by when Sierre Leon savaged Freddy Adu in a Under-17 Tournament match four years ago. Hard to believe considering the ref looks like he's 12.
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30th minute- Looks like an Uruguay player tried some rough stuff with Altidore in the penalty area while awaiting the free kick.
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27th minute- Uruguay has controlled the past 10 minutes of the match or so. The US can't get any possession going and Uruguay is drawing fouls all over the field.
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26th minute- The free kick misses just high.
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26th minute- Uruguay with another suspect free kick going their way. THis one is dangerous.
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24th minute- Bradley earns a yellow for a professional foul. On the replay it was nowhere near yellow worthy, but the Uruguayan midfielder did a good job selling the foul.
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23rd minute- Uruguay earns a free kick thanks to a dive on the right edge of the penalty area. Szetela with the phantom foul.
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21st minute- Szetela comes perilously close to drawing a yellow.
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20th minute- By the way, if you're wondering about drinking games remember that this is a U-20 game (and yes, I know the drinking age in Canada is 18, but still).
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19th minute- The first yellow goes to Uruguay and Altidore drew it.
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18th minute- Szetela with some nice defensive work to deal with a good Uruguay run.
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17th minute- Uruguay forward Edison Cavani is a beast. It's going to be tough keeping him off the scoreboard today.
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14th minute- A Uruguay free kick leads to some very shaky moments in the US area, but Altidore tracks back to clean up the mess.
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13th minute- Uruguay with some good possession and the ability of their midfielders to dribble at people is something special. US defenders need to avoid silly fouls and cards (which this ref seems like he's ready to give.
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12th minute- Not sure why but this referee bothers me.
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12th minute- Adu is on his game tonight.
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9th minute- The Uruguay keeper makes a meal out of a long ball in. Not the best first touch.
Altidore heads a cross from Adu straight to the keeper. That should settle him down.
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8th minute- Perk does well to pick off an intended cross. Solid stuff so far from him.
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7th minute- Not much central midfield work so far as both teams keep booming long balls.
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6th minute- Zizzo with a great run down the right flank. Nobody has increased their stock as much as this kid. Torching Real Madrid's Marcelo was good enough but he's on fire.
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5th minute- Perk with his first touch, running out to pick up a long pass intended for an Uruguay striker. He looks okay so far, even with his 80s rocker hair cut.
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4th minute- Nothing much going on early as the teams feel each other out.
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3rd minute- Seriously, did they bother to do a test run with this scoreboard? Jeez.
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2nd minute- Okay, I was the first to complain about ESPNU not having the score and time on the screen during matches ub it's new scoreboard is a mess and is blocking part of the screen.
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1st minute- And we're under way.
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PRE-GAME- It looks like Uruguay is also playing its back-up goalkeeper, which may not be a bad thing for the South Americans given some of the shockers their starting keeper had in the group stage.
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PRE-GAME- I'm actually watching this game on ESPNU instead of Galavision. The Galavision guys aren't that great and I actually like the English guy who does the ESPNU games. It helps that it's just him, no color guy, like you hear for EPL games.
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PRE-GAME- Apparently Uruguay lost its uniforms and had to borrow Poland's. Just kidding, but it is odd to see Uruguay wearing something other than light blue.
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PRE-GAME- The anthem has a way of getting you worked up before games like this, doesn't it?
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PRE-GAME- The teams are about to take the field and we had our first look at goalkeeper Brian Perk, who is sporting some mean golden locks. It seems like there are a lot of Uruguayan fans in attendance, but a good number of Americans are there.
Aqui.
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:31 PM
Expect Uruguay's attack to be relentless. But the U.S.' back four should be better than theirs. That should win the game.
Maybe I should predict another scoreless tie? At end of regulation?
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:33 PM
Boku mo iru. (No hablo espanol. Hablo solamente ingles y japonese.)
Posted by: NewsToTom | July 11, 2007 at 07:34 PM
3-2 U.S., but Uruguay strikes first before the defense settles down.
Posted by: Luke | July 11, 2007 at 07:34 PM
Ah, so des ne
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:37 PM
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:38 PM
Looks like no Seitz tonight, guys. Some dude with blonde bush head is behind Adu.
Posted by: Brad | July 11, 2007 at 07:39 PM
ugh, the internet isnt coming through for me, gonna have to head out and over to the barrio!
Posted by: Jasen | July 11, 2007 at 07:39 PM
I'm here Ives and hoping for a good game (though I would settle for a result).
Posted by: Derek | July 11, 2007 at 07:41 PM
I've got a pretty decent sopcast stream, I just wish I wasn't watching with Chinese commentary...
Posted by: Joamiq | July 11, 2007 at 07:42 PM
Brad, Seitz out due to injury suffered during practice. Brian Perk is in, UCLA GK
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:42 PM
joamiq what channel is it
mines clear but right now its just some chinese guy talking
Posted by: shaj | July 11, 2007 at 07:43 PM
Valentin is a good, big kid but I, too would have liked to see O4E.
Watch out for Cavani.
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:44 PM
That Cavani kid looks like he should be in U-28 World Cup.
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:45 PM
Here now. Will probably be in and out for the next hour or so.
Posted by: Collin | July 11, 2007 at 07:45 PM
I'm using this site (works if you have sopcast)
http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/wed11.7/USA_Uruguay.html
I was watching channel 5 but accidentally clicked out of it, now trying channel 3 to see if it's any better...
Posted by: Joamiq | July 11, 2007 at 07:45 PM
I'm already not a fan of this ref.
Posted by: Luke | July 11, 2007 at 07:47 PM
The Uruguayan keeper is out on a red. Way to take charge there, Perk!
Posted by: Joamiq | July 11, 2007 at 07:50 PM
"His face looks like it's been chiseled out of granite"
Nice touch by the UK commentator. I thought people liked him because he wasn't American and seeing that his British accent makes him more "football." But he really as done a great job.
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:54 PM
I'm watching in Chinese via sopcast, and the commentary is still preferable to all but a couple American broadcasters.
Posted by: the metrologist | July 11, 2007 at 07:55 PM
Oh Jozy! He could have put that one in. His aerial game is not as advanced as the rest of his game.
Perk looks confident early. I recall hearing great things about the kid. I think he'll be fine.
Posted by: Joamiq | July 11, 2007 at 07:57 PM
Anyone have a flashback to Paraguay with that header? Hopefully that's out of our system now :)
Posted by: Luke | July 11, 2007 at 07:57 PM
I like how the three-man wall keeps inching forward when the ref looks away.
Posted by: Dominghosa | July 11, 2007 at 07:58 PM
The poor defending at the U-20 WC actually makes the games a lot more exciting sometimes. I 'bout had a heart attack!
Posted by: Nic | July 11, 2007 at 08:01 PM
I have to say, I do like the bird that keeps flying across the top of the camera view.
Posted by: NewsToTom | July 11, 2007 at 08:01 PM