When Cameroon's football squad shook off both the lengthy Fecafoot imposed suspension of Eto'o for his alleged role in organizing a protest against remuneration for national team duty and the ignominious expulsion of Roger Milla from the FA to beat an even more dysfunctional Democratic Republic of Congo squad that had eight players ignore call ins to the national side for a world cup qualifier, Iya Mohammed -- yet another cherub adorning Sepp Blatter's collection of angels throughout the world -- might have whispered a prayer of gratitude that Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting managed to convert his penalty. Or not. Because, of course, in Blatter's FIFA being accused of long-standing corruption while simultaneously pissing all over the players that make football great in your country nets you an invite to manage the 2014 World Cup.
No matter. I can fiddle while FIFA burns as much as the next man and, frankly, the only reason I cared about this match was a player that came on as a substitute in the eightieth minute. Crystal Palace Baltimore alum Matthew Mbuta earned yet another cap for what is, despite Fecafoot's best efforts to sabotage them, a pretty good side. The same Matthew Mbuta who plied his trade as a professional athlete in front of dozens of moderately-interested fans at UMBC's Retriever Soccer Park. The same Matthew Mbuta who could gain no serious run out with an MLS team -- including D.C. United -- to harness his exceptional footballing skills.
Mbuta has, obviously, moved on and has a new (likely far more serious) professional employer, Sweden's Syrianska FC. Thus far in the 2012 Allsvenskan, Mbuta's only played sporadically for Syrianska, seemingly appearing in only three of the club's dozen fixtures to date.
Syrianska is only in its second season of top flight football in the club's history; surviving a relegation playoff last season to retain a place in the Allsvenskan this year. I had planned on learning about and following Syrianska closely this season after Steve Goff reported that D.C. United's Josh Wicks was set to join the club earlier this year. But perhaps because Wicks added another incident (this time a headbutt leading to a red card and league suspension) to the litany of moments where impulse control would have helped his squad, any deal between the keeper and club failed to materialize. Wicks would appear to still be in need of a club.
At the same time, while D.C. United's front-office staff showed little interest in the raw talent of a youthful Mbuta, the team remains interested in past-their-prime European players that are being shown the door by clubs within which they've become living legends. This time, someone on staff appears to have traveled somewhere other than Vienna, and has focused on Hibernians' former captain Ian Murray. Unlike the tabloid-concocted Ryan Nelsen return rumors shot down by Greg Seltzer, there is no obvious reason why a link between United and Murray would be invented.
The thirty-one year old center half has previously expressed an interest in leaving Scotland now that he's been released by former Bohs gaffer Pat Fenlon from a decade long affiliation with the Edinburgh club. Murray has "always hankered for an American style of life . . ." and is reportedly keenly interested in moving to the MLS, so perhaps D.C. United's been the target of his agent's inquiries.
Murray's preference would seem to be to play as a center back or defensive midfielder. If United is interested it would seem to be another person brought in to bury Ethan White (rather than to address weakness at fullback). White deserves much better, but at this point, I need to stop complaining about the composition of the squad. The team this season has been far more entertaining than I had anticipated and I am once again looking forward to games at RFK.
Showing posts with label Crystal Palace Baltimore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crystal Palace Baltimore. Show all posts
Monday, June 4, 2012
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Three Nights of Soccer
I was able to enjoy all three local men's professional soccer clubs over the last week: Wednesday night, D.C. United vs. FC Dallas at RFK; Friday night, Crystal Palace Baltimore vs. Bermuda Hogges at UMBC; and Saturday night, Real Maryland vs. Bermuda Hogges at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.
Before pulling off a great escape tonight in Jersey, United put on an impressive display in a U.S. Open qualifier against what would appear to be a poor (or perhaps disinterested) FC Dallas squad. Stouffer's thoughts adequately summarize the match, and what made the game so enjoyable were the contributions from Pontius, Barklage, Jacobson, Khumalo, Janicki, and Kocic. There is far more talent on this United roster than there was last year and it is going to be interesting to see if they'll be enough playing time for everyone. I liked Jacobson a lot at the center defensive mid and loved the way that Barklage converted a nice ball/play from Santino Quaranta. I also was surprised by the low rating that Goff gave Khumalo for his effort on the wing and up front on Wednesday (perhaps because Steven had him slotted for the chopping block with Avery John's arrival?) -- Boyzzz worked very hard in the midfield, got himself into space, and won an inordinate number of fifty-fifty balls for a guy of limited size.
I'd not been enjoying going to United games of late, but after Wednesday and tonight, I'll be counting down the days this week for the next home game.
On Friday night, the nice weather convinced me to ditch out on my family and head up to UMBC to catch my first Crystal Palace match of the season -- because every game is a night game this season, I doubt I'll be able to see many more as my daughter is not happy to be in a car seat after nine pm. But I was pleased to see how well Crystal Palace played, a quality likely attributable to having many of the same players from last year's squad back. Shin Harada (below) is joined by Val Teixeira, Paul Robson, Mateus dos Anjos, Brian Rowland and Pat Healey as familiar faces in the starting XI. dos Anjos merits special mention: the first few times we watched him play after coming back to CP Baltimore from Real Maryland, he seemed to struggle and displayed some questionable decision making. Now, he looks great, and at 25 (shortly 26), looks like someone who should have the opportunity to play fullback at higher levels. In the absence of Mathew Mbuta, now sitting on the bench with the Red Bulls, dos Anjos' athleticism stands out.
The Hogges, on the other hand, struggled. The 2-0 final scoreline belied how much CP dominated the match. We've seen the Hogges play a few times and are conflicted about celebrating wins over the team: the players from Bermuda work hard, are scrappy, and show flashes of speed and skill that might eventually make them competitive. But, in the interim, they face difficult circumstances and must overcome non-sports related obstacles to even compete in the third-division league.
A case in point would be that after having lost their starting goalie on the field in UMBC and being run ragged the night before, the Hogges had to suit up again (in red uniforms this time) to take on Real Maryland on Saturday night. We did not go to any Real Maryland home matches last year, so this was a first, but a six pm start time meant that our ten-month old could join us for the festivities. Real Maryland, unlike Crystal Palace, has undergone an amazing turnover. Former DC United players Jeff Carroll and Ryan Cordeiro were in the starting lineup, along with former Crystal Palace Baltimore's forward Gary Brooks, Cuban defector Yendry Diaz, former Wrexham FC midfielder Tom Taylor, and Charleston Battery's former forward Jamie Holmes. And they, unfortunately, did not play terribly well together. The photo below is representative of the effort for the match and prompted Real Maryland's general manager David Noyes to scream "why are three guys making the same run?" (which caught the attention of all Real Maryland's reserves that were warming up on the sideline, who turned in unison to the stands, forcing Noyes to recover quickly with: "but I like it, I love the effort"). Playing a weakened Hogges squad that also saw its backup keeper get tossed after taking Brooks down, Real Maryland managed a narrow 3-2 victory. The talent level on the Real Maryland side is certainly more than adequate to be competitive in the third division, but they'll need to learn to play as a team and I'll be curious to see when and if that happens.
Otherwise, despite having to play on a football field, Richard Montgomery is a decent venue for a soccer match and is a reasonable ride from College Park. We may find ourselves at more Real Maryland matches this season than CP Baltimore games because of the scheduling, so we've got a vested interest in their improvement.
Before pulling off a great escape tonight in Jersey, United put on an impressive display in a U.S. Open qualifier against what would appear to be a poor (or perhaps disinterested) FC Dallas squad. Stouffer's thoughts adequately summarize the match, and what made the game so enjoyable were the contributions from Pontius, Barklage, Jacobson, Khumalo, Janicki, and Kocic. There is far more talent on this United roster than there was last year and it is going to be interesting to see if they'll be enough playing time for everyone. I liked Jacobson a lot at the center defensive mid and loved the way that Barklage converted a nice ball/play from Santino Quaranta. I also was surprised by the low rating that Goff gave Khumalo for his effort on the wing and up front on Wednesday (perhaps because Steven had him slotted for the chopping block with Avery John's arrival?) -- Boyzzz worked very hard in the midfield, got himself into space, and won an inordinate number of fifty-fifty balls for a guy of limited size.
I'd not been enjoying going to United games of late, but after Wednesday and tonight, I'll be counting down the days this week for the next home game.
On Friday night, the nice weather convinced me to ditch out on my family and head up to UMBC to catch my first Crystal Palace match of the season -- because every game is a night game this season, I doubt I'll be able to see many more as my daughter is not happy to be in a car seat after nine pm. But I was pleased to see how well Crystal Palace played, a quality likely attributable to having many of the same players from last year's squad back. Shin Harada (below) is joined by Val Teixeira, Paul Robson, Mateus dos Anjos, Brian Rowland and Pat Healey as familiar faces in the starting XI. dos Anjos merits special mention: the first few times we watched him play after coming back to CP Baltimore from Real Maryland, he seemed to struggle and displayed some questionable decision making. Now, he looks great, and at 25 (shortly 26), looks like someone who should have the opportunity to play fullback at higher levels. In the absence of Mathew Mbuta, now sitting on the bench with the Red Bulls, dos Anjos' athleticism stands out.
The Hogges, on the other hand, struggled. The 2-0 final scoreline belied how much CP dominated the match. We've seen the Hogges play a few times and are conflicted about celebrating wins over the team: the players from Bermuda work hard, are scrappy, and show flashes of speed and skill that might eventually make them competitive. But, in the interim, they face difficult circumstances and must overcome non-sports related obstacles to even compete in the third-division league.
A case in point would be that after having lost their starting goalie on the field in UMBC and being run ragged the night before, the Hogges had to suit up again (in red uniforms this time) to take on Real Maryland on Saturday night. We did not go to any Real Maryland home matches last year, so this was a first, but a six pm start time meant that our ten-month old could join us for the festivities. Real Maryland, unlike Crystal Palace, has undergone an amazing turnover. Former DC United players Jeff Carroll and Ryan Cordeiro were in the starting lineup, along with former Crystal Palace Baltimore's forward Gary Brooks, Cuban defector Yendry Diaz, former Wrexham FC midfielder Tom Taylor, and Charleston Battery's former forward Jamie Holmes. And they, unfortunately, did not play terribly well together. The photo below is representative of the effort for the match and prompted Real Maryland's general manager David Noyes to scream "why are three guys making the same run?" (which caught the attention of all Real Maryland's reserves that were warming up on the sideline, who turned in unison to the stands, forcing Noyes to recover quickly with: "but I like it, I love the effort"). Playing a weakened Hogges squad that also saw its backup keeper get tossed after taking Brooks down, Real Maryland managed a narrow 3-2 victory. The talent level on the Real Maryland side is certainly more than adequate to be competitive in the third division, but they'll need to learn to play as a team and I'll be curious to see when and if that happens.
Otherwise, despite having to play on a football field, Richard Montgomery is a decent venue for a soccer match and is a reasonable ride from College Park. We may find ourselves at more Real Maryland matches this season than CP Baltimore games because of the scheduling, so we've got a vested interest in their improvement.
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