Starting Eleven European, World Soccer Blog Random Thoughts:

Mr. Tevez married up

Here's another edition of Random Thoughts; no I don't have anything else to write about. Deal with it.

• Um Carlos Tevez, please go away. Go play in Brazil. Go play in Italy. Go play in Argentina. Go play with yourself. You've become tiresome and a punchline. Your wife and kids don't like England, then make a call for chrissakes. Tell them to stay put in Argentina and cash the direct-deposits, or suck it up and move to Europe. Otherwise, I'm pretty much done with your whining. Play ball, score goals, make money and shut up. KTHXBYE.
• And as for you Neymar. Call me when you've done something. Is there a bigger bust in the making than this Brazilian wonder boy? the kid might have all the skills necessary to be Brazil's next No. 10, but his runaway ego and immaturity will retard all progress until he gets his requisite reality check. Get in line next to Mr. Tevez and shut up.
• How hilarious is Mario Balotelli's attempted backheel goal this weekend against the LA Galaxy. Talk about arrogance. Talk about stupidity. Talk about blatant disregard for your opponent and the people in the stands who paid good money to see your team play. And don't tell me he's just 20 and can be forgiven. No way. Roberto Mancini is my new hero for pulling this Rhodes Scholar seconds after this example of the worst kind of grandstanding. Sit down next to Tevez and Neymar and shut up; don't give Mancini lip either. You were wrong. Next.
• Hope Solo is apparently going to win my informal poll--top right--about the Women's World Cup's biggest star. I like Hope. I think Hope is America's best female keeper. But Abby Wambach, who is currently second in the poll, is the best player on that team and delivered when it mattered most. That's what stars do. Abby made her PKs. Abby scored every time the U.S. needed a goal. That's a leader. That's a legend. Hope has some catching up to do.
• Selfish time: Sporting Clube de Portugal has thrown in the towel and abandoned its philosophy of going with home-grown, young talent and has gone out and signed a truckload of foreign players to play for new coach Domingos Pacienca. They've scored a bunch of goals against a bunch of bad teams. They had their way with Juventus Saturday in Toronto. They're a threat for second in Portugal. What? Wait? I said this last year too after they blasted their way through the preseason and won that cockamamie tournament here in the U.S. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Check in with me around Christmas time on just exactly who is the fool.
• I love the summer friendly season here in the U.S.; look at who's on tour right now in the continental 48 and Canada: Real Madrid; Manchester United; Manchester City; Juventus; Sporting; Clube America; CD Guadalajara; and Barcelona. Best part is that these teams are banging out stadiums across the country; big stadiums too. More than 50,000 for Revs-United; Philly-Real Madrid drew huge numbers as did Galaxy-Madrid. Don't tell me there isn't a hardcore soccer audience in America. We'll come for a good product. Listening MLS? Get off the franchise model; build your clubs stadiums; get on the world calendar; get rid of playoffs; integrate all your smaller leagues and create relegation and promotion. Do it.
• In breaking news: FIFA is still corrupt. ...I personally cannot wait for next summer's Euro. It's better than the World Cup, just sayin ... How much is ESPN going to hype Saturday's ManU-Barca friendly as a Champions League rematch, and how much are real football fans going to snicker ...  That said, if I had a ticket, I wouldn't toss it out of bed ...  The U17 World Cup was pretty awesome; I just may have to watch some of the U20 World Cup coming up ... Kinda pissed Copa America wasn't available on my cable network ...  Let's take a run at this: Champions of European leagues for 2011-2012: England - ManU; Spain - Barcelona; Portugal - Porto; Germany - Leverkusen; Italy - Milan. Damn that looks familiar.

Hope Solo Reinforces U.S. Claim to World's Best Keepers

Hot, er, Hope Solo

What is it with American soccer goalkeepers? Is it because we can catch and the rest of the world cannot? Is it because our kids grow up watching quarterbacks and catchers lead and naturally, the goalie becomes the central figure on the football pitch because they're an equally solitary figure? Or is it because they're batshit crazy sometimes?

Hope Solo is the new darling of American soccer and the debate is on whether yesterday's Women's World Cup loss cost her millions. Don't care. Don't care if Hope Solo is hot, if Hope Solo has a boyfriend or if Hope Solo is dating. I don't care about the Hope Solo controversy from the 2007 World Cup. Don't care if Hope Solo has a tattoo or if Hope Solo is gay. I don't care if Hope Solo is the next USA soccer symbol.

The marketing of Hope Solo doesn't interest me. Know why? Because I know and enjoy football and I can appreciate a good keeper. For the most part, Solo is a good keeper. She's sensational on penalty kicks--which is super important in a Women's World Cup, apparently. And she's solid in the run of play.

I ranted about the abysmal quality of goalkeeping in the Women's World Cup, and Solo was head and shoulders above the rest. Now, does that make her the tallest midget? Maybe so, but Solo is a keeper through and through. She's tall, agile as hell for her size and has booming kick. I think she was guilty of some real stinkers in this tournament, but she was the best keeper in the tournament, and temporarily makes her the best keeper in the world.

She'll be back in four years no doubt and like Tim Howard, she can complain of poor play in front of her leaving her on a figurative island far too many times. American's have far too few stakes to put in the ground when it comes to soccer. Goalkeeping is definitely one place where collectively we're the best. Hope Solo is reinforcing that notion. Now if we can start building out from the back and beefing up that defense, we might be able to close out one of these big tournaments with a trophy!

U.S. Women's World Cup Soccer Team: You've Won Me Over

Abby Wambach and Hope Solo

OK, you've won me over United States Women's National Team (#USWNT as we say in the Twitterverse). I got sucked into that game yesterday and I enjoyed it; why is this starting to sound like some kind of Alcoholics Anonymous initiation rite?

I admit I was late, forgive me, but I did catch up quickly after halftime. Heard about the own goal; and became enraged at the ref on the red card to Rachel Buehler. Hope Solo, you too, you got me. It was a damned shame that first Marta PK save was taken away from you. It was sheer confident, cocky brilliance on your part. Such moments don't deserve to be what-could-have-been footnotes.

Speaking of footnotes, that's what you're supposed to be Australian referee Jacqui Melksham. Instead, you were the epitome of everything that's wrong with officiating in top-level professional sports. You interjected your fat face into every crucial play; what was the deal with those on-field conferences during corner kicks and free throws--not enough TV time for ya? Not only did you screw up the penalty re-take, but on Marta's extra-time goal, you and your equally incompetent linesmen (lineswomen?) missed the offside two passes before Marta's chip over Solo. And oh-my-freaking-God Julie Foudy, let's clean up the slobber over Marta's goal. It just wasn't that good. She stuck her leg onto a pretty good pass and flicked high on a prayer toward the back post. Solo was a tad out of position, otherwise, yes another footnote.

Thankfully, however, this U.S. team doesn't quit. Tireless engine Megan Rapinoe made the pass of the tournament to Abby Wambach's forehead. Yes, with less than a minute to go before minute 120 ticks off the clock, chances are you're a little spent, but the Brazil keeper and fullback were abysmal covering Wambach and coming out for the Rapinoe cross. Regardless, Wambach finished it. She finished it because she was FINALLY where she should have been the whole match--standing inside the 6-yard box using her 6-foot frame to score goals. It was a brilliant and unexpected goal, and a precious sports moment. If you were watching, you were on your feet the nanosecond the ball went in. You had to yell, loudly. Your hands went up, your dog starts barking. It's a big-time moment.

And how about some kudos for good fundamentals and coaching. U.S. coach Pia Sundhage makes these girls take PKs during practices. This ain't no Allen Iverson practice. This is dedication. This is a bunch of pros who understand that these situations and happen and repetition and precision are the keys to penalties and the U.S. were just better. BTW, watch the Brianna Scurry ESPN interview on the 1999 World Cup win over China. Listen to her talk about the save she made to set up Brandi Chastain's sports-bra moment. She knew she'd stop it by the Chinese player's body language.

Methinks my new favorite crazy goalie Hope Solo (I'll never forget how SCREWED she got during the last World Cup) spotted some of that same body language issue in Brazil's Daiane, the same Daiane who'd scored the own goal in the second minute to put the U.S. up 1-0. Daiane did not want to be at the spot. She took a short run-up to the ball and hit it poorly. Solo guessed right and the rest was history when Ali Krieger hit a worm-burner for the game-winning penalty.

Now I'm not gonna go all squirrely and say this is the game that brings soccer to the forefront of the American sports landscape. Nope, not gonna happen. But it's a great moment, one of the best of the sports year so far. And if the U.S. wins the whole thing as it should now, there are more memories to come.

For now, I'll concede that I'm hooked. I'll be watching the semifinals against France on Wednesday and hopefully I'll be leaping off my couch again.

U.S. Women Have Hope (Solo), And Gold Medal

Remember the mess former Olympic women's football coach Greg Ryan made at last year's Women's World Cup benching goalkeeper Hope Solo on a whim in favor of veteran Brianna Scurry? The result was a predictable 4-0 loss to Brazil, a tirade from Solo and disdain from her teammates.

In the end, Ryan was not long for his job and deservedly so. Solo, meanwhile, has come just about full circle. Today in Beijing, she carried the U.S. to the gold medal with a 1-0 overtime win over, yes, Brazil. Solo made a half-dozen game-saving stops, including putting up a stone wall against the tournament's leading scorer Cristiane in the first half, and Markgraf 20 minutes before time. Solo told Reuters:

"Vindicated? I feel great, I feel amazing. I just won a gold medal. I went through hell. A lot of people did. But I feel stronger in the end. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m glad I went though it. I learned a lot about myself."

Kudos to coach Pia Sundhage for realizing she had no team without a keeper of Solo's ability. She quelled the situation, cleaned up Ryan's mess and elevated the U.S. women to the top of the heap again.

"I asked two questions: 'Do you want to win? Yes. Do you need goalkeepers to win? Yes,'We had to move on, and this day you could see that we did it."

Carli Lloyd netted the game-winner 6 minutes into overtime.

Hope Solo Mending Fences with U.S. Women's Team

Associated Press has an informative interview with Hope Solo, the U.S. women's keeper banished from the team following her abrasive comments after the U.S.'s 4-0 loss to Brazil in the World Cup semifinals.

Solo's story has been hashed and re-hashed. She spouted off after Ryan's head-scratcher of a roster move, inserting ancient Brianna Scurry between the posts in the semifinal in favor of Solo; not to mention the fact that the U.S. had not been beaten in 50 matches. Scurry was abysmal, the U.S. was equally pathetic, and excused from the World Cup. Not surprisingly, Ryan did not survive his blunder, despite his stellar record.

Solo's father had died in June and she wanted desperately to win the World Cup for him. It's a sad tale especially after the U.S. gets so far on Solo's goalkeeping, and she was snatched away just as things were getting good. The rest of the interview covers her attempts to mend fences with her teammates and re-establish herself as the U.S.'s No. 1 keeper as it tries to secure a spot in the Olympics.

All well and good, but the interview I want to read is with Greg Ryan. Now that a few months have passed and he's had time to reflect on the mess he made, perhaps he'd care to reflect on the biggest coaching mistake in football history? Yes, that's not hyperbole; I think it's the biggest blunder of all time when you consider the stakes. If it were the men's World Cup, we'd still be talking about it.

Carson In For England Friendly; What is Future for McClaren, Robinson?

England rejoices. Paul Robinson is out as England goalkeeper--at least for tonight's friendly against Austria, which is four days ahead of a do-or-die Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia. Youngster Scott Carson gets the call and Robinson sits, much to the glee of the fans and pundits who've watched shaky play between the posts from Robinson for months. It's safe to say the McClaren-Robinson connection has made England's posture in Euro 2008 tenuous.

McClaren need look no further than the mess former U.S. women's coach Greg Ryan made at the women's World Cup with his goalkeeping situation to understand how closely tied a coach's tenure his with keeper. Ryan, to review, inexplicably pulled Hope Solo in favor of grandma Brianna Scurry in the World Cup semifinals against Brazil. The result was a 4-0 loss to Brazil, anger and dissension from Solo and ultimately, Ryan sitting on the unemployment line.

England needs a hopeless scenario of help to qualify for the continental championship, and surely McClaren's days are equally as numbered. Bottom line: A coach needs to put his best players on the pitch in order to give them the best chance to win. Paul Robinson is not the best England has, yet McClaren stubbornly sends Robinson out there figuring the odds are with him and things will eventually turn around. Robinson doesn't have the make-up to be a high-profile national team coach. Just ask Tottenham fans. Robinson is signed there through 2012, and for its investment,
Tottenham is mired in 14th place in the Premiership with 11 points and 24 goals against. Only one club has given up more: bottom dweller Derby County with one win and six points. By the way, that's one win fewer than Tottenham.

Is it all Robinson's fault? Of course not. But winning breeds winning, and Robinson obviously doesn't raise his game when conditions are adverse. It will be interesting to see how Carson does tonight. Carson's doing well with Aston Villa, which is on the cusp of a spot in Europe next year. McClaren, however, has put himself in a no-win situation. If Carson does well, the clamoring for him to be in goal against Croatia is going to be deafening. If Carson fails, McClaren is almost forced to go with Robinson--which is likely his plan any way--and another shaky outing not only seals McClaren's fate as England manager, but resigns fans to the fact that the national team won't be involved in the game's second biggest tournament.