Finals Finally here

Well, it all starts Friday. The US team played its last warm-up game on Saturday against Australia. I won't be offering grades for what amounted to a glorified scrimmage, but I would like to hit some of the good and the bad from the game.

The Good:

Edson Buddle was a beast! The guy is on fire right now. You can't help but wonder if he should be playing instead of Jozy Altidore against England, regardless of Jozy's ankle health. That said, we have to remember that Edson has been oustanding against what is really 2nd-tier opposition. MLS is where Buddle is currently shining, and Saturday's exhibition was very much like a MLS game, down to the smaller field (like KC and San Jose currently suffer with) and smaller crowd. This is also a good time to address the ridiculous comments being made about the World Cup ball.

On the left here you can see the Jabulani, the official ball of the World Cup Finals. As is now a time-honored World Cup tradition, it was unveiled by Adidas back in January and hailed as mankind's greatest technological achievement since putting a man on the moon.

As the finals have neared, all national teams were given a score of these balls to use during practices and warm-up games. As is also now a time-honored tradition, all non-Adidas sponsored players have publicly ripped it for being a crappy, almost unplayable ball. Guys have apparently engaged in a contest to see who can make the most outrageous statement about it. Maybe they're getting prize money from their equipment sponsors for the most ridiculous put-down they can imagine. The winner thus far, for efficiency and the inability to disprove, is the comment that the Jabulani "is like a ball you buy in a supermarket."

On the right you can see a picture of the ball MLS has been using all season long, with hardly a word said against it. If it looks familiar, it's not a coincidence. Adidas sponsors all the official team wear and field equipment (excepting the goals and cones, etc.) for Major League Soccer. It uses its latest ball design every year in MLS. This year, that design is the Jabulani. Apart from the color scheme, it is exactly the same ball as will be used in the World Cup finals starting Friday. There has not been a flurry of criticism towards it. Quite the contrary, nobody even seemed to notice it.

So why is there such a sudden surge of crazy insults to the ball right before the World Cup? The cynic (me, in this case) would point out that disparaging the official MLS ball back in March would not make nearly the splash as slamming the official World Cup ball right before the tournament. And if you were getting money and support from say.... Nike, you would be far more interested in publicity than in the actual soccer ball. Having the official World Cup ball is a marketing coup for Adidas, and has been for many years. All the griping about it just before the tournament is just a marketing move by all the other equipment manufacturers, simply done through proxy.

Edson Buddle brought this up, because he certainly doesn't seem to have any problem with the ball, either in MLS or in friendlies against Australia. If Edson Buddle can look good with this ball, surely Ronaldo and Rooney can work with it. When the games start, the ball won't be an issue. For all the hype, the ball hasn't been a significant issue since the 1950s, when they finally made balls without the laces on the outside.

The Bad:

The US defense is SLOW. Jay DeMerit struggled to keep up with Australia's forwards on a small field. How will he manage against England? Oguchi Onyewu is still not 100% and Clarence Goodson is merely adequate. Out left, Carlos Bocanegra is solid and reliable, but he cannot be expected to hang with speedy wingers like Ronaldo, Messi, or Fabiano? The good news is that neither Slovenia or Algeria is blessed with speedy attackers, and England left a couple of their fastest players off the roster. While the lack of speed in our defense is a big weakness, we may be able to skirt by anyway, at least for the first round.

Official Prediction:

I've already given my overall prediction that Argentina will win the cup, with Germany and Brazil as the backup choices. The question now is how will the US team fare? Historically, for whatever reason, the US has been competitive in World Cups played outside of Europe. This World Cup is clearly outside of Europe, so I think the US will give a good account. I predict a 1-1 tie with England, a 1-0 victory over Slovenia, and a 1-1 tie with Algeria. That modest record would probably see the team through to the second round. At some point, I expect our defense to be badly exposed, but I don't think it will happen in the first round. I predict that the US will make the second round, but lose to either Germany or Serbia (ironically, there is a chance that the US could meet Australia in the second round, in a rematch of this Saturday's exhibition). Let's hope I haven't just jinxed the team.

Enjoy the games!!

SAH