Spain vs. Scotland; Klinsman Stumbles

Spain pulled out all the stops against Scotland, at least for the first 60 minutes of the game.  With Puyol back and Valdes finally getting a start for la Furia Roja, Spain again had a sharpness not really seen since Euro 2008 and, to a somewhat lesser extent, at the 2010 WC .

Granted, Scotland are not a big fish team. It is still worth recognizing that several of the Scottish players play for top sides throughout Europe, and, in theory, they should be pretty decent. Against Spain, however, they looked more like a disorganized junior varsity high school team from the midwest. They could hardly string five passes together.


I don't think the penalty that Scotland scored should have been allowed.  Yes, it was a penalty kick offense. Valdes was slow to claim a ball into the box and clumsily crashed into the Scottish forward. Goodwillie's run up to the penalty looked to me to be a violation of the no-feinting at the point of the shot rule. It's a shame because Valdes is not a bad penalty stopper, and it would have been nice to see the result of a fair fight. Because of that concession, his track record will be forever blemished. Bad luck, Victor.

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On this side of the pond, Jurgen Klinsman's side lost 1-0 to Ecuador. I agree with this blogger. He's said it best.
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Predictions (hopes) for the weekend:
Betis will draw Madrid in the Bernabeu. Ramos will get a yellow card.
Racing de Santander will go down by one or two goals to Barcelona.

The Klinsmann Era

So it begins --
Tonight's friendly against Mexico in Philadelphia marks Jurgen Klinsmann's debut as US Mens National Team manager. I have high hopes, but tempered expectations. The problems with the USMNT are easily identifiable, but they are not easily fixed. The two most immediate problems are a lack of technique in the squad, and a lack of unity. Technique is something learned at a young age over an extended period of development. Klinsmann cannot be expected to improve this in his players, especially because he will only work with them for a few days per year. What he needs to do is to uncover the technical gems that we do have, somewhere in the United States, and give them a chance in the national side.

I think he can do something about the latter issue. In Germany in 2006, Klinsmann (JK) was able to successfully galvanize his squad into a incredibly cohesive unit, one that combined work ethic with attacking flair. If JK can find the right combination of players, I belive he can bring them together in common purpose to deliver a reasonably successful World Cup campaign in 2014.