Confederations progress points way to bright future for U.S Soccer

America’s national football team (by which I imply soccer to any Yanks out there) took one giant leap into the realm of credibility tonight by achieving a feat which many had put beyond the men from the states.

Having lost both their opening group games to powerhouses Italy and Brazil, the U.S would require a miracle of Grand Canyon proportions against Egypt if they were to progress to the next stage of Confederations Cup. The fine margins required were such that even Forest Gump wouldn’t have waged his bus fare on the far from likely outcome which was to unfold.

The U.S took a 22nd minute lead through Charlie Davies, but at this stage Bob Bradley’s men were simply playing to salvage some pride in what had so far been an unrewarding trip to the host nation of the 2010 World Cup.
But over in the group’s other game, a manic final eight minutes of the first half saw Italy’s world crash down around them as Brazil well and truly took the ‘Piza’ out of the Azzuri. Bradley’s half time team talk turned from praise to inspiration as the American dream was somehow on. However is was just merely a dream, a flicker of Bob Hope, as Landon Donavon and co. needed to score twice more with no reply from either the Italians or the Egyptians. And so the second half ensued with only Brazil sure of their place in the semi-final stages.

There were plenty of nerves on display and plenty of near misses for and against America’s chances, but in the 63rd minute, up and coming midfielder Bradley finished from just inside the area to make it 2-0 and all or nothing. With the fans, managers and players of Egypt, Italy and the U.S all on tenterhooks knowing that one goal in either game could sway proceedings very much in their favour, up stepped Fulham’s Clint Dempsey to produce one of the most magical moments in Confederation Cup history. Dempsey superbly held off the challenge of Wael Gomaa to superbly head home the vital third, sending the American contingent into pandemonium.

The overall performance of a team for so long doubted on the international stage was one of guts, courage and no absence of fine skill. Michael Bradley in particular stood out with his driving forward runs and ability to carry the ball for long distances. Jose Altidore was also a handful and showed just why Villarreal took a gamble on him two-years ago. The U.S team now have a much different task in facing the best team in the world, Spain, in the semi-finals. But after what they achieved last night, they will feel that anything is possible.

The American’s have yet to take ‘Soccer’ to their hearts. They do not believe that the ‘beautiful game’ is exciting enough. The thought of paying to watch what could be resulted a nil-nil draw is probably enough to deter even the most ardent of sports fanatics. Soccer is not their game; it cannot be supersized to fulfil their expectations of a sporting experience; glitz, glamour, half time shows and high scoring spectacles. It is just a shame that only a relatively small percentage of their population will have noticed their own national team’s achievement; even less would have tuned in to watch. But those who did, can you honestly claim to have been bored with the events that unfolded?

Ninian Thoughts

In about two months time I will feel a sense of realisation that hasn't quite hit home at present. This sense of realisation will come when I take my seat for the first time at Cardiff City's new £30m stadium, a stone's throw away from Ninian Park.

I will realise that Ninian Park is no longer 'home'. I will realise that I may never stand on a terrace again and I will realise that my club has finally entered a new era of modernisation as we aim to become a Premier League club for the first time. Of course this last point isn't a bad thing. It is essential not only to push on, but with a potentially crippling debt hanging over the club in the form of loan notes owed to the Langston Corporation, it is essential to our financial future. Perhaps Darwin's theories of evolution and survival could never be better applied. It has been rammed down our throats for a number of years now; no new stadium, no club.

It is for these reasons that I am in firm support for the new stadium. It isn't 'state of the art' as described by our club's hierarchy, but it certainly looks fit for purpose and the more I see pictures of its day by day development the more I am looking forward to moving on from Ninian Park. But Ninian Park will always hold special memories for me.

I am twenty years of age and cannot claim to have been present during the days of fifty-thousand plus crowds and European nights. My dad was at the Real Madrid game in 1971 (but then who wasn't?) and has told me of the other numerous scalps we had pulled off on big European nights. I am not jealous because I believe I will witness my own special moments that my children will not have seen.

In my time as a Cardiff City fan since before I can even recall, I have seen magic moments. It's all relative of course. I haven't seen my team life the Premier League trophy, nor do I ever expect them to. But I have seen my team win promotion from the old Division Three, again from Division two in the playoff final in Cardiff, and beyond my wildest dreams I have seen Cardiff City play twice at Wembley. Add to this the scalps of beating Man City and Leeds in epic FA Cup ties and a whole host of terrific one-off results, and I have a mental vault concealed with a host of personal memories.

Ninian Park is now all but memories and that is saddening. I will miss it's uniqueness in an ever increasing world of homogenous all-seater stadia. I will miss the smell of bovril around the temporary cabin bar at the back of the Bobbank on a Tuesday night. I will miss the sight of the Floodlights dominating the night sky, the rustic stands and close proximity to the pitch. Ninian Park was a football stadium in every sense, a nostalgic relic of what football used to be. The New Stadium is just that, a new stadium. But one thing that won't change is the hardcore fans that will inhabit it each week. It is us who can pass on Ninian Park's spirit and soul and make our new stadium a home.

A new era beckons for us all; fans, players and management. Here is to hoping the new stadium can bring renewed hope for our club; a nest for the Bluebirds to truly reach their potential.

Burnley versus Hull City may not be the most glamorous of fixtures; but next season these two will do battle under the golden umbrella of the Premier League.

A season has gone by which has seen two of the promoted sides defy the odds to stay up, and a relative 'big boy' relegated in the form of Newcastle. Add to this the promotions of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham and finally Burnley through the playoffs, and the Premier League lineup is looking, well, shaken up a little.

But how I am not complaining. The Premier League is refreshed and at both ends of the league it appears the competition will be at an all time soaring high next season. Manchester United have genuine competition from Liverpool and Chelsea, whilst Arsenal could yet make a better fist of last season's impotent title challenge.

The bottom could be occupied by a whole host of clubs, and whilst it is unfair (and probably stupid given Stoke's unexpected 12th placed finish) I am going to predict a tough season for the three promoted clubs as well as a whole cluster of clubs who survived last season's drop.

The Premier League is now populated with clubs who a couple of years ago could never have imagined having top flight status, never mind staying there. Stoke and Hull, recent occupiers of League One and Two positions respectively, have proven that dreams do not have to end at promotion, and instant relegation is not a forgone conclusion. It gives a team like Burnley, promoted in their 61st game of a season with just 23 different players were used, that glimmer of hope that their Premier journey can continue long after the initial 12 month trial period.

I reiterate that Burnley may not be the most glamorous club. But who demands glamour? Can glamour not come in the form of tradition as being one of the league's founder clubs? Football, in England especially, is about variation, and I for one will enjoy seeing Arshavin, Gerrard and Rooney ploughing their way to goal at a packed out Turf Moor stadium.

It is wonderful that in the changing face of Premier League football, teams like Newcastle can be replaced by a Wolverhampton or a Burnley. Newcastle are a big club but have been run nothing the like. Football is evolving too fast and is too dynamic to rest on your laurels of being a 'big club'. In the comparison between Newcastle and Burnley and the league's they will ply their trade in 3 months time, it can safely be stated; size doesn't matter.

Northern trio United in Outrage

The furore this week surrounding the possibility of Sir. Alex Ferguson playing a 'weakened' side at Hull is, in my wholehearted opinion, ludicrous.

Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Sunderland have all come out to lambast the prenotion that Manchester United will field a reserve team against Hull; who are in direct competition with the Northern trio to beat the drop. The issue has even drawn a statement from Premier League chief Richard Scudamore, who himself concluded that United are completely within their rights to field whatever team they see fit.

The whole issue of 'disrespect' is being thrown at the newly crowned Premier League Champions, but it is the respect they have shown the league since August that has put them in such a position to rest players ahead of possibly their biggest game of the season; a titanic battle against Barcelona in Rome this Wednesday.

Middlesbrough look certain to go down baring a miracle this Sunday afternoon, whilst Newcastle have had a miserable season and have looked anything other than relegation candidates throughout. Sunderland too have not been able to pull themselves to safety and if Hull do end up beating Sir. Alex's men at the KC Stadium, Newcastle and Boro should sink into the Championship with a bit of dignity and not refer to United's final day selection as a contributing factor.

Sir. Alex will do what is right for his club and supporters. He doesn't need to answer to anybody. The Northern quartet of threatened clubs all have to concentrate on their own jobs in hand in what promises to be, for the neutral atleast, a fantastic Sunday of football in the Premier League.

Chelsea exit sets up Rome-antic Final

So we didn’t get a second consecutive all-English final between United and Chelsea; John Terry won’t get his chance to put last year’s penalty heartache behind him; and Guus Hiddink will not have a fairytale exit from the Stamford Bridge hot seat.

So what have we got? Well, in my opinion, we have the ideal final; a meeting between the two sides who have impressed me most this season in the Champions League, and who both play a brand of football that sets them apart from the rest of Europe. A certain subplot is the likelihood that these two will enter the final as domestic champions and for me this would make it the perfect final.

It’s not that I am anti-Chelsea, far from it in fact, and I couldn’t have complained too much had they booked their place in Rome to face United after pushing Barcelona all the way. But a Chelsea versus Manchester United part II would leave too many questions unanswered. A Chelsea win for example, and the Blues would be crowned European Champions, despite being way off the pace of Sir Alex’s men in the Premier League. The winner from this year’s Champions League final can actually say ‘we are the best team in Europe’.

Let us not forget that this match will also showcase the outrageous talents of the planet’s top two footballers. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will both want to light up the Olympic Stadium in Rome, whilst staking their own claims for being the best individual footballer in the world. And who knows, Ronaldo could be coming up against his Barcelona counterpart more often if this is to be his last game for United ahead of the whispered switch to Real Madrid.

The match has it all. It promises to be a beautiful game with both team’s looking to add to their trophy cabinets for the season with the biggest trophy of all.

For whom will it be Rome sweet Rome come the 27th of May; that we will have to find out.

Can Shearer Lift Gloom from Toon?

It's the breaking news that could easily be mistaken for an early April Fool's joke; Alan Shearer has been appointed the Newcastle manager until the end of the season, with the punchline surely to follow

A true legend alongside the likes of MacDonald and Beardsley, Shearer's task will be to ensure the north-east giants do not fall through the Premier League trap door, and into the Championship.

Make no bones about it, Championship football for Newcastle United next season could prove disastrous. The current astronomic wage bill headed by the likes of Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen and the loss of a lucrative TV deal could cripple the club financially. Leeds United, Southampton and Charlton are just three clubs who can testify to that!

But whilst the Geordie nation will no doubt celebrate his long awaited arrival into the St.James' hot seat, much like they did the return of Kevin Keegan (and that didn't exactly go to plan), attention must be cast on his empty managerial CV. Since King Kev's departure there would not be a more popular choice on the terraces than Shearer, but can the man who scored over 140 goals for the Magpies win matches from the touchline just like he used to so often on the pitch?

With just eight remaining league games left, it won't take long before that question is answered.

You only have to look 30 miles down the road at Middlesbrough to discover great ex-players can't always transform their club's fortunes right away. At any other club Gareth Southgate might not still be in a job; but ultimately Steve Gibson's loyalty to his young manager could end up in tears. Roy Keane too at Sunderland left the club staring relegation in the face, but at least left at a time which allowed a new manager to save them. Shearer doesn't have the time that his ex-professional colleagues were afforded. Shearer has just under two months to save his club and his own hero status.

With Chelsea next at home, and tricky fixtures to come away at Liverpool and Tottenham, Shearer will need to get his team firing on all cylinders. It could all come down to the final day at Aston Villa as to whether Newcastle will retain their status as a Premier League club, and Shearer's status as an infallible Toon hero. But Shearer knows more than anyone what is on the line and what he's got himself into. His situation is black and white; Premier League survival, or Championship tragedy.