George Marchant narrowly escapes the slide tackle

Written By Brandon Best – Pictures by Destiny Fernandez

First all, this week’s game recap needs to start with a correction to lasts week’s entry.  Dave Kron has never and would never score an own goal.  The credit for the own goal last week belongs to Mario Burstein.  Apologies to Dave, his family, his players, and his supporters.

Curtis Greenley approaches goal

Now on to this most recent Sunday’s matchup for the FC Denver Premier squad, which saw them take maximum points and take charge at the top of the table.  Playing a Baxterboo squad in it’s 2nd season in the top flight, Premier had an opportunity to put together a top notch performance that they have been searching for all season.  That is if they refused to play the physical kick and run game that Baxterboo was hoping to pressure them into.  From the word go, Baxterboo, looked to apply pressure all over the field with the hopes that FC Denver’s midfield and back line would either cough up the ball or be content to try and play over the top where their defenders could win the aerial battle.  This initially gave FC Denver fits, as they had trouble finding feet in the central midfield and even when they did, the options tended to be limited.  Has the game wore on, Premier’s superior fitness and poise on the ball began to pay dividends.  In the end there were so many goals that it was difficult for this writer to keep track.

However, it wasn’t until late into the first half, when Tyler Imbrogno broke free in on the Baxterboo keeper, only to see his effort deflected off of the crossbar.  Fortunately the hero from last week’s game, Lio DelPiccolo, collected the rebound and put the ball into the back of the net.  Also, in the first half, Chris Harrison resumed his scoring streak after taking a week off, by Harrison’ing the Baxterboo defense before putting his shot past the keeper.

Brady Yarletts alludes defensive pressure

At the half, FC Denver Premier knew that they needed to come out early and put the game away.  They did just that, with a brace from Mat Haager, and goals from Marco DelPiccolo, Tyler Imbrogno, and George Marchant.  Adding two assists was Vitor Bravo, who was playing his first game of the season.  All in all, it was a satisfying win heading into the Easter break, when Coach Elbin plans on eating lots of ham and eggs.  An interesting side note, is that Premier’s primary rival Chivas Guadalajara, struggled to a 2-2 tie against El Alamo on the next field over, thereby propelling Premier to the top of the table.

Tyler Imbrogno advances the ball

MOTM: Coach Elbin states: “Tyler Imbrogno wins the man-of-the-match award. He was dangerous all game and had a real nice finish to open the flood gates.”

COACHES THOUGHTS: Coach Elbin stated, “Fun game for all. We took care of business and put up a big number in the process.  Let’s keep this momentum going into the stretch run of the season.”

Written by Daniel Valenzuela – Pictures courtesy of AP Photo

This week the US U-23 side was painfully eliminated from the Olympic Qualifying Tournament by El Salvador in an exciting 3-3 draw on Monday night.  Although the US was the favorite to win the tournament, Canada and El Salvador exposed the US’s many weaknesses.

In itself, the loss doesn’t mean much. But when coupled with the US’s failure to earn a spot in the Confederations Cup and failure to qualify for the U20 World Cup, US soccer fans can’t be blamed for feeling a bit uneasy about the development of the program.

Believe it or not, this is a sign of progress. Despite some lackluster results and frustrating performances by the US national team at all levels, a new chapter in US soccer is emerging.  The U23 squad highlighted a few of the positive developments in US soccer.

In particular, the U23 squad attempted to do things the right way by playing the ball on the ground, attacking with numbers, and scoring goals in the run play.  Moreover, players with talent are not only getting a longer look but seem to be more abundant than ever before.

In the big picture, the US is transitioning into the next level the soccer hierarchy.  There was a time when the US could pull a majority of its better players for any international match. That is no longer the case.  Players like Jozy Altidore, Alfredo Morales, Timothy Chandler, and Daniel Williams were all age eligible for U-23 squad but could not attend because of club commitments. Similarly, Joshua Gatt was recalled by his club team after being called into camp. The same was true of the U20 squad that was eliminated from the U20 World Cup Qualifiers. In the end, fans are left to wonder, “what if these players were available?”

As frustrating as it might be, it means that we are starting to have the same problems as some of the bigger teams in the world, i.e.,  Brazil, England, Argentina, Spain, Germany, etc.  Who regularly field youth sides without the best players in that age group.  Needless to say, that is the only similarity we have to those countries at this stage of US soccer’s development.  Considering that the US didn’t have all the best players in the age group, the team was still full of professionals. That, in itself, is a sign of progress.

In some, for too many years the US has rallied behind result oriented soccer.  Winning games was more important than playing the game properly.  Nonetheless, the flaw of that manner of thinking is clearly evident as the US has failed to win anything of any real significance. The new system will take time to learn, but in the end the US will be playing a style that isn’t designed to win games, but to win trophies.