The Paraguayan national team photo
Howdy all,
Not the final everyone assumed 3 weeks ago, but it’s the final nonetheless. Paraguay have reached the final game by not even winning a game. 5 draws, 2 shootouts, 5 goals scored, 5 goals against. They’re hoping this one goes to penalties. Uruguay though are a talented team lead by the two pronged attack of Forlan and Suarez.
It’s a bright and sunny day. Look for the game to be played in the Paraguay half the entire time as they put up a collection of greyhounds to block the goal.
Your lineups
Uruguay: Muslera; Maxi Pereira, Luganno, Coates, Caceres; Gonzalez, Perez, Arevalo Riosm, Alvaro Pereira; Forlan, Suarez. Subs: Castillo, Silva, Godin, Gargano, Rodriguez, Eguren, Lodeiro, Abreu, Hernandez, Scotti, Cavani.
Paraguay: Villar; Piris, Da Silva, Veron, Marecos; Riveros, Ortigoza, Caceres, Vera; Valdez, Zeballos. Subs: Diego Barreto, Fernandez, Alcaraz, Caceres, Edgar Barreto, Martinez, Barrios, Estigarribia, Perez.
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The Shin Guardian 
Posted by dth on 2011/07/24 at 12:16 PM
Love Suarez, that imp.
Posted by Alex on 2011/07/24 at 1:38 PM
And Flowing Golden Locks finally has a goal this tournament. Class finish
Posted by Joe on 2011/07/24 at 7:35 PM
2014 Top 3 Possible Champs…. so nasty up top and back 4. How about a little trade for one of our MF and we get a Striker?! I wish.
Posted by dth on 2011/07/24 at 7:59 PM
Oh, by the by. This is…interesting: http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/los-angeles/blogs/rafa-ramos/_/id/1342420?cc=3888
I’ve long maintained there’s too much money involved and the competition makes too little sense as-is not for this to happen.
Posted by SamT on 2011/07/25 at 6:54 AM
Don’t know a ton of Spanish any more, but I like the sound of “en 2015, jugar en Estados Unidos.” I like the sound of that a lot.
Posted by Nick on 2011/07/25 at 6:56 AM
Any one have a link to a good translation of that article? Google translate just isn’t doing it for me today.
Posted by Ufficio on 2011/07/25 at 10:09 AM
I don’t have time to give a full translation (and there’s quite a bit of fluff in the article anyway), but here are the main ideas:
Plans are being considered by both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF to hold a cup consisting of 16 teams in the US in 2015.
Justino Compean, president of the FMF who happens to have designs on the CONCACAF presidency is the main proponent of the idea.
The ten CONMEBOL teams along with the US and Mexico would automatically qualify. Three teams from the Copa Centroamericana and one team from the Caribbean Cup would qualify, and “a place in qualification will be sought for Canada”, whatever that means.
There would be four groups of four teams, with the top two advancing from each group.
Double-headers will be played, and arranged such that teams will play in sites close to their respective immigrant populations.
It will be an official FIFA tournament which will “allow European clubs to give full support to their players from the American continents”.
The winner would receive a berth in the Confederations Cup, and the best finisher from the other confederation would receive the other berth (or there would be a playoff between the two top finishers from the other confederation).
They expect it to be a bigger success at the gate, based on the superior ticket sales at this year’s Gold Cup.
So on and so forth.
Actually, I posted a link to a different article on the same subject a few threads back. There were a few differences in the outlined plan, though. That article suggested a Gold Cup would still be held in 2016 to determine a Confed Cup berth, and that FIFA rankings could be used to determine the six CONCACAF berths in the Cup, rather than using qualifying tournaments.
Posted by dth on 2011/07/25 at 10:21 AM
Well, the Canada thing is simple enough to explain: geographically, it’s neither part of central America nor the Caribbean. Therefore they’ve got to shoehorn it in somewhere.
Posted by Ufficio on 2011/07/25 at 10:40 AM
I just thought that bit was poorly phrased. He implies the 16 spots will be filled with non-Canadian teams, and then basically says “oh, something will be done with Canada”. I’d guess they’d have a playoff with the third-place Central American team or something like that.
Posted by kaya on 2011/07/25 at 1:52 PM
Paraguay turned me off so much I didn’t bother, but the highlights made it look more entertaining than I expected. Still, I think the most interesting aspect of the final was Caceres in the locker room celebration.
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2011/07/25 at 4:04 PM
I wonder where all those people who were claiming that Uruguay’s run to the SF last year was a fluke, are? This Cup-run has been a classic example of ‘the best players don’t always make the best team’.
As a neutral, the Final was a little disppointing, as you don’t expect a Continental championship game to be so one sided. Uruguay outmatched them in pretty much every department.
Posted by dth on 2011/07/25 at 6:03 PM
The thing about the “best players don’t always make the best team” line, is that while Argentina and Brazil were probably more talented in aggregate, they weren’t that much more talented. Cavani scored 20+ goals in Serie A, Suarez is a wonderufl player, Forlan, etc. Argentina was attack-heavy, but Uruguay’s defense was better (and actually featured fullbacks who could attack). Brazil have a stacked backline, but their attack is young and unproven. So, the gap in talent was not so large and, better yet, it was much better distributed.
Posted by KickinNames... on 2011/07/26 at 5:36 AM
Uruguay, like Spain, reminds us that this is one of the few remaining Team (with a capital T) sports. I never get tired of watching Suarez and Forlan. Unfortunately I think Forlan will be a bit over the hill by the next WC and they will have a difficult time riding this wave.
And nice job with the Paraguay team photo. Keeping us on our toes….
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2011/07/26 at 8:22 AM
You’ve basically agreed with what I have said. Sometimes DTH, I think you could have an argument in an empty room!
Posted by dth on 2011/07/26 at 9:03 AM
I don’t think so. I think saying that line in this case obscures the differences between Uruguay 2011 and, say, Greece 2004.
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2011/07/26 at 11:59 AM
I think it goes without saying that you need balance in a team, refer to Brazil82.
And I feel we can all agree that Greece packed their third, rode their luck and nicked a goal in every elimination game.
Posted by Martin on 2011/07/26 at 10:46 AM
George,
Just to re-empahsize your point while Uruguay is basically the same team that just finished 4th in the latet World Cup, both Brazil and Argentina went through big changes since then and are still working out how to play together.
That is an enormous advantage.
Posted by Martin on 2011/07/26 at 11:55 AM
While you and George 3 lions engage in handbags here is omething to cheer you up:
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/9308/9/american-youngster-attracting-premier-league-interest
Posted by mbw on 2011/07/26 at 2:47 PM
There may or may not be anything in the Mixx rumor, but it raises a point that’s relevant to the talent-gap discussion. The 22-24 year olds who make up the bulk of the top end of the Mexican pool have already landed in their second/third destinations. But because this is only beginning to happen for a large number of young players upon whom the US figures to rely in 2014, it’s difficult to project how great a talent gap will actually exist. Bedoya, Mixx, Ream, Lichaj, Brooks, Gyau, and (gulp) Adu could each conceivably be playing regular minutes in top-eight leagues by 2014, meaning the US could field a team composed almost entirely of players who play against top-level competition week in and week out. It’s also conceivable that none of them will be, and the composition of the roster will look more like what it did this summer, with age claiming Boca, Dolo, and Jones.
Posted by Martin on 2011/07/26 at 4:56 PM
It’s also worth asking yourselves to answer these questions honestly:
How many of you had any idea that Chicarito would do this well?
How many of you had even heard of him when he was at C.D. Guadalajara?
There he was as old or maybe a little older than Jozy and then next thing you know he’s a superstar.
How many of you called that?
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2011/07/26 at 5:07 PM
I don’t think anybody can honestly say that they saw this; he has even surprised everybody at United by gelling / adapting so quickly to the life in England, new team and more physical / faster League, and jump up in quality. 2010/11 was supposed to “bed him in”…
Posted by Martin on 2011/07/26 at 9:36 PM
Exactly. The story is a long way from being complete on quite a few US players.