Despair – it has a reputation as a rather pejorative term, but as the definition is apparently simply ‘the absence of hope' it fits in the whiskey cabinet quite snugly, what? For sure our lot will put Sunderland to the sword – or complicate things somewhat before stretching ahead in the final 10-20 – but even with a mooted million pound bonus being dangled in front of them, the chances of Newcastle doing the necessaries seem more Stuart Nethercott than Ledley King.
It would seem after that particular nerve-wracker to swerve rather wildly from reality by suggesting that the Spurs go marching on. Limping on, perhaps, or maybe sputtering to a halt and having our constituent parts stuffed unceremoniously into a sack and dragged towards the finish line by Bale. A less catchy ditty though, what?
Quite the 80thbirthday present for AANP Senior. Is there a more joyous sight to behold in nature than a tide of adrenalin-pumped lilywhites pouring forward in wave after wave of irresistible attack at a sun-baked White Hart Lane? A spritely cheetah catching a young upstart of a gazelle and tearing it to pieces perhaps?
With curses duly bestowed to the interweb for breaking yesterday, preventing this from being a more timely posting...
I suppose Adebayor most conveniently matches the e-fit of "Dastardly Scapegoat" that was issued almost as soon as the deed was done on Thursday night – and he certainly made a complete pig's ear of the penalty, but in the occasional moments of sanguinity that have interrupted the otherwise non-stop grump at AANP Towers since then, it has seemed reasonable to attribute both praise and opprobrium where appropriate.
Watching our heroes fight the good fight sans Master Bale was quite an educational experience, from which the AANP conclusion was, not for the first time this season, to yearn wistfully for a VDV-esque creative type. Sideways, and sideways once more, seemed to be the mantra, even in the final half hour when sleeves were rolled up and battle-cries sounded.
No Bale. No Lennon. And just in time for the most crucial multipack of fixtures of the season. Maybe Skynet did win after all.
‘Tis a test that ought to put some hair on the AVB chest. For all the huffing, puffing and neat technique, if our heroes are not scything teams open through nifty interplay and a killer pass of the VDV mould – and these days it tends to be the exception rather than the norm – the default setting does seem to be to look to Bale to magic up a goal from nothing, on his own.
The Top Four vs Europa debate has become increasingly academic over the course of this season, because whatever the rights and wrongs AVB is clearly intent to keep hurling at kitchen sinks and first-team players at his Thursday nights, until that ineffably-shaped pot is in our mitts. As has been pointed out by various scribes, for all the potential hazards around fatigue this whole European campaign has, in general, been a rather edifying process for the mighty lilywhites, allowing the players time to dashed well understand the gravel-voiced murmurings of the grand fromage in the early part of the season, and also providing the occasional night of merriment and good cheer for the shuffling throngs on the White Hart Lane train platform.
There weren't many surprises in 26-player roster chosen by Jurgen Klinsmann for the upcoming U.S. Men's National Team training camp starting in Cleveland on March 26th.
The camp, which will prepare the team for a busy stretch of matches from late May to mid-June, features Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley, as well as March qualifying standouts such as DaMarcus Beasley and Matt Besler.
Clint Dempsey has never made it a secret that playing UEFA Champions League Soccer is the biggest remaining unaccomplished goal of his career.
On Sunday, he showed just how badly he wants to achieve that goal.
Dempsey played arguably his best game of the season, scoring a goal and setting up an Emmanuel Adebayor winner to help lead Tottenham to a 2-1 victory vs.
"It was a clear black night, a clear white snow" or so I misremembered the opening lyrics to Warren G's "Regulators". No matter though whether it was white snow or a white moon the United States national team and newly christened captain Clint Dempsey were most definitely "regulators" against Costa Rica last night.
The Estadio Azteca is one of the most difficult places to play in world football and getting a point at the vaunted Mexican stadium is a very difficult task. The draw with Mexico actually moved the United States down the CONCACAF standings, but a draw at Mexico's home field is an encouraging result.
Unhappy over a 1-0 loss in a blizzard at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, the Costa Rican federation has filed a formal protest over the March 22 game.
While FIFA, world soccer's governing body, has promised to look into the matter, soccer's overseers would do well to disregard this after-the-fact protest.
As the U.S. Men's National Team pushed on for an insurance goal against Costa Rica, it was becoming increasingly evident that Clint Dempsey was running out of gas.
It did not matter, though. Dempsey had already made his mark.
Clint Dempsey's 16th minute goal proved all the U.S. Men's National Team would need to get a crucial three points from a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in blizzard-like conditions in Denver on Friday night. The win moves the U.S. (1-1-0, 3 points) from the basement of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying final round group into second place.
Clint Dempsey's 13th-minute goal in a Colorado blizzard held up as the winner against Costa Rica – capping off what will surely go down as one of the most memorable weeks in U.S. national team history. The story Friday night [...]
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about Clint Dempsey and his season at Tottenham being, well, not up to par. Since then, Deuce has seemingly woke up. He has scored 3 goals in the past 2 games, and he has figured out what he needs to do to improve his perceived ineffectiveness.
I was pretty hard on Dempsey because to me it looked like he wanted to earn his spot in the starting eleven his way, and didn't want to change his playing style to fit the system.
Extra time couldn't separate Basel and Spurs after two legs of their Europa League quarterfinal, so it had to be decided with a penalty shootout. With Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe all unavailable for Spurs, Clint Dempsey stepped up with two goals to get them to that point. But in the shootout, it was Emmanuel Adebayor who proved manager Andre Villas-Boas' pre-match comments to be prophetic.
Tottenham gave everything they had on Thursday night. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't enough.
The North London side fell to FC Basel 4-1 on penalty kicks, after 120 minutes tied at two in the Europa League quarterfinals. Clint Dempsey had both goals for Spurs on the night, giving the team an early lead before coming back to save them late in the match.
Clint Dempsey has made a habit of turning up his form in the second half of seasons and he continued to elevate his game on Sunday, scoring the first goal in a three-goal rally that helped Tottenham secure a vital 3-1 victory over Manchester City at White Hart Lane.
The CONCACAF Hexagonal battle is heating up and will hit a boil on Tuesday as the United States takes on Mexico. Numerous of fierce battles have encapsulated these two national teams throughout the years and Tuesday night will be no different.
As the Hex continues to separate the weak from the strong a victory could potentially vault one of the teams into a pole position to World Cup 2014 qualification while a loss could possibly place a damper on qualification.
Many thanks to THC, who travelled to Denver for last night's USA vs Costa Rica match, then managed to make it home to file this report despite the blizzard, a mobile phone with just enough juice left to grab the pic you see here, and a serious case of frozen balls. It's dedication like his that makes this country so great.
USA vs Costa Rica 2013 Highlights Score 1-0 Clint Dempsey Goal Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter
USA vs Costa Rica 2013 Highlights Score 1-0 Clint Dempsey Goal Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter USA vs Costa Rica 2013 ( United States Costa Rica VIDEO BELOW) Final score and result:- USA vs Costa Rica 1-0 ( Clint Dempsey) Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Denver, CO- 22 March, [.
Clint Dempsey would score in the 16th minute, but few will remember that. The memories will be about a game played in a significant snow storm. Every stoppage in play between the United States and Costa Rica would see the grounds crew try to clear as much snow as they could. Eventually they would stop trying to clear the 'less important' lines and only focus on the penalty areas.
Quotes, reports, and reaction from Union's win in Chicago. City Islanders top Antigua 4-0 while Reading thumps Westchester 8-0 in season opener. Eastern Conference roundup as Union move to 5th. More news.
Gareth Bale of Tottenham (Google Creative Commons)
The biggest match of the week saw Chelsea travel north to face Manchester City in a FA Cup semifinal clash between two teams also in the middle of a fight for Champions League qualification in the Premiership standings.
Coming into Sunday's match with home pitch advantage, Manchester City clearly had the upper hand.
The United States Men's National Soccer Team defeated a game Costa Rican squad on Friday night in Commerce City, Colorado by a score of 1-0. Clint Dempsey scored the lone goal off of a deflection in the first half, that led the U.S. to three critical points in the hexagonal fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Apologies to whoever invented Spanish. Saturday night the U.S. buried a lot of rightful doubts, even if the game was a largely barren wasteland for anyone trying to extract something tactically. At least, I wrote as much. For NSC eyes only though, are my player ratings*. Brad Guzan 7 Missed a punch in the 54th minute, but gave Costa Rica nothing in nightmarish goalkeeping conditions.
