Gold Cup Final: USA v Mexico Watch Party at Brickhouse on Saturday

Gold Cup Final Watch Party at Brickhouse

 The Gold Cup Semifinal watch party last Wednesday night was a huge success.  The place was standing room only; songs were sung; the ubiquitous U-S-A, U-S-A chant rang out; and most importantly the US won. 

Gold Cup Semis USA 1 0 Panama AO-Huntsville at the Brickhouse 

 

USA vs Mexico is the final everyone wanted and that's what we got.  So now, join the American Outlaws - Huntsville for the Gold Cup Final watch party at the Brickhouse Sports Cafe on Saturday night at 8PM.  It's bound to be a classic.

Another RCU Loss to CFC, USA v Jamaica Watch Party at the Brickhouse on Sunday

RCU Loses to CFC Again

They say "the third time's a charm", but that wasn't the case for Rocket City United as they fell to Chattanooga FC by the same 2:0 scoreline for the third time in 4 weeks.  Goals from CFC's Mark Sharrod and Chris Ochieng sealed the three points for the Blues while torpedoing RCU's chance to play in the NPSL Championship in Madison at the end of July.



Gold Cup Quarterfinal: USA v Jamaica Watch Party at Brickhouse

The US Men's National Team's form hasn't been very good, but that is not for lack of support from the American Outlaws, and the local would-be Huntsville chapter has been stellar in that regard.  They have had terrific crowds for each of the three first round matches, and are hosting another watch party for the Gold Cup Quarterfinal match between the USMNT and Jamaica at the Brickhouse Sports Cafe on Sunday at 1:30PM.  Come out and join us and bring your father, too!

RCU at CFC, CFC Fall In US Open Cup, My New Favorite Writers

RCU Try To Be First To Win At CFC Since 09

Rocket City United have had a strange season so far.  Undefeated on the road and winless at home (2-3), RCU will try to keep that undefeated part going this Saturday at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.  RCU will have to overcome inconsistent play if they want to be the first team in years to come out of Finley with three points.  The team has looked disjointed at times, perhaps due to the revolving lineups as players have joined the squad late.  I spoke to RCU veteran Brian Hadley who is the ranking player on the roster, having been with the team since 2008.  He's optimistic that the team will come together soon.

Longtime RCU player Brian Hadley   

CFC Can't Hold On To Lead, Fall in OT

Chattanooga FC may be a little tired for this weekend's match with RCU after they bused around 24 hours to and from Pittsburgh and played 120 minutes before falling 3:2 in the US Open Cup match on Tuesday.  CFC held a 2:0 lead with about 30 minutes left to play, but gave up two goals late and one in overtime to lose 3:2 to the USL Pro's Riverhounds.  Only one of the four NPSL teams in the tournament survived the first round as the Madison 56ers beat USASA team AAC Eagles 4:0.  


Writers Rip US team, Becomes My Hero

We all know the US team has played terribly in the past two weeks.  This AP writer gives it to us straight saying Clint Dempsey failed to finish a chance "a third grader should make".  NICE! She's not the only one criticizing the US team.  This writer compares coach Bob Bradley to George Lucas, and if you've seen Episodes 1-3, you know that's not a compliment.

AOHA Gold Cup Watch Party: USA v Canada at the Brickhouse

The Huntsville Chapter of the American Outlaws are at it again.  They'll be having Gold Cup watch parties for all of the US matches in the Gold Cup starting Tuesday night at 7PM at the Brickhouse Sports Cafe.

Here's the US Gold Cup schedule:

Date, Opponent, Kickoff Time, 

Tuesday June 7, Canada, 7 p.m.

Saturday June 11, Panama, 7 p.m.

Tuesday June 14, Guadeloupe  8 p.m.

Sat/Sun June 18/19, Quarterfinal, TBD

Wednesday June 22, Semifinal, TBD

June 25, Final, TBD

The US is a favorite to make it to the final.  So, there will be plenty of chances to join the AOHAs at the Brickhouse for a game.  So, mark your calendar.

If you're still on the fence about joining the American Outlaws, here's a brief interview with the man behind the Huntsville Chapter, Andrew Adams.

Andrew Adams- American Outlaws of Huntsville, AL

What Have We Learned From the USA's Run?

What did we learn from the wonderful '09 Confed Cup from the US Men's National Team? Other then I have the fact that I should quit with the predictions? In my pre-Confed Cup posting, I said not to expect much from the USA's squad. I figured it would be a rerun of the World Cup 2006. I didn't expect the USMNT to get out of the group and it looked like I was correct, right up to the kickoff of the final group match.

USMNT who won the 2009 Confederations Cup silver medal

That was when we learned about the effort and heart that this group of players can show. Their belief in themselves was a joy to see. They played like they had nothing to lose, which is commendable. They made everyone who has been following this team for years and years proud. The audacity to believe that they had a chance to advance after 2 losses and a -5 goal differential was amazing. That never-say-die mentality is typical to the American culture and is something that continues to amaze the international soccer community.

Unfortunately, in the Final against Brazil, we also learned that the USA has depth issues. The USMNT player pool has 12-13 players who are of what I will call international pedigree. You saw it clearly in the second half of the Final, when the frantic pace and altitude finally started to wear on the starting eleven. There was no one on the bench who could come in and keep the level of play where it needs to be. In fact, there were seven players on the bench who didn't see a minute of play in the Confed Cup.

Now, injuries have certainly hurt the USA in the past few months. I definitely think the likes of Steve Cherundolo, Maurice Edu, and Brian Ching would have provided a Bob Bradley better options than he had on the Confed bench. It will be interesting to see if Bradley can identify more players during the upcoming Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifying campaign.

And it obviously will not hurt to add a player or two like Jermaine Jones and Edgar Castillo to the USMNT player pool now that FIFA rules have changed for switching National teams. Will these USA "defectors" be the answer? No, but they will add to the current depth of the player pool, which is vital to international success.

Of course, these are not the only thing we learned, but they were the most obvious. If the USA wants to maintain this level of international play, they will need to keep the never-say-die attitude and they will have to dig the player pool deeper.