yyys123
Joined: 08 Jul 2019
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 Posted: 22.02.2009 Post subject: w this week about the formerdays practice. His status f |
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| SAO PAULO - Landon Donovan says the United States will head to the World Cup with its most experienced group of players, giving the Americans a "real chance" to do well at this years tournament. As the U.S. finishes a week-and-a-half training camp in the host country, Donovan said American players have enough confidence and experience to confront more traditional World Cup teams heading into a first round that includes matches against Germany, Portugal and Ghana. "I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and thats a nice feeling going into a World Cup." The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. The Americans will be playing in their seventh straight World Cup, and Donovan is heading to his fourth. "Theres never been competition for places like there is in our team now," the midfielder said during a news conference. "You can really make a case for probably 35 or 40 guys to be a part of a 23-man roster, and thats never been the case. Its really up for grabs in a lot of positions, and that in itself obviously creates competition, which makes the team better." Donovan, who turns 32 in March, said the U.S. team is more respected by opponents. "The reason its the group of death is because we are in it," he said. "In the past, it would have been a relatively easier group for Germany or Ghana or Portugal because they had us in it. But now, because we are in it, it makes it one of the most difficult groups in the tournament." Donovan said the first goal remains to reach the knockout stage of the 32-nation tournament. "Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he said. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at." German coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought 26 players to this training camp get acclimated to the teams World Cup base in South Americas biggest city. The team, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, will play an exhibition against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif. "Weve been very lucky to have two weeks here in Sao Paulo," Donovan said. "Its been very nice to have a couple of weeks to adapt to what its going to be like this summer. When we come back we have a comfort level. We know the people, the club, the training facilities. It makes it a lot easier. You get a feeling for what its like here, and it helps a lot." Klinsmann is expected to visit the Arena da Amazonia on Friday in the jungle city of Manaus, where the U.S. will play Portugal. Corey Davis Jersey . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier. A.J. Brown Titans Jersey . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay. http://www.titansstoreonline.com/Black-99-Jurrell-Casey-Womens-Jersey/ . This week, they discuss the NCAAs revenue sharing, Don Zimmer, soccer language and Super Bowl 50. Tennessee Titans Jerseys .Y. -- Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney was mired in a shooting slump, and his woes coincided with a late-season swoon by the Orange. Ryan Tannehill Jersey .Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game.Philosophy: it shapes organizations. It dictates the direction a team wants to go. And the philosophy under new Winnipeg Blue Bombers acting general manager Kyle Walters appears to be a drastic shift in thinking from the former regime. “The way we feel now, talking Wade (Miller), Kyle (Walters), and myself, were going to bring guys in,” said head coach Tim Burke of the new acting CEO, GM, and himself. “In the future were going to bring guys in, free agents, who might get cut by another team — theres good guys who get cut by teams.” And it didnt take long for the new philosophy to set in as veteran kicker Sandro DeAngelis was shipped in and started immediately in place of Justin Palardy last week and five-year Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive back Bo Smith was inked to the practice roster early this week. Not to mention the firing of Gary Crowton and promotion of Marcel Bellefeuille into the offensive coordinator role. Everyone around Bombers camp has been careful with their words when speaking about the old philosophy compared to the way the new Miller-Walters-Burke trio will approach things, but they are definitely clear in the changes they want to make. “Were going to build our team and not just rely on bringing our own guys in. If somebody else finds them and develops them, thats fine with us,” added the head coach. “Were constantly looking for other people. If we can do anything to upgrade our team, we will.” Somewhat overshadowed by the change at OC and the perpetual carousel at quarterback, the Blue Bombers defence has also been troubled by the opposition - the air attack in particular. And while the roster appears experienced and talented on that side of the ball, the new philosophy is a welcome one to struggling coordinator Casey Creehan. “When you get injuries in this league its nice to have veteran players that can come and fill in. I mean, its good to get young talent but it takes a while to learn this game.dddddddddddd Its different than it is down south. Having to plug young kids in fast, early in the season like weve had to do a couple weeks, is tough.” Creehan, Hamiltons DC last season, is beyond pleased that his roster depth can now be supplemented with players that have competed professionally, like Bo Smith who has 56 CFL games under his belt. “Competition, in my opinion, is the best thing in the world. It makes us all better. It makes us better in any profession, so when theres a guy in here thats played at a high level, sure people are looking over their shoulders. And thats OK because its a results-based business and all of us have to perform.” Notes: Receiver Chris Matthews, who has battled a troublesome back since training camp, is out for 4-6 weeks after tearing ligaments in his foot. Doug Pierce will check in for him… Bellefeuille has swapped Clarence Denmark and Jade Etienne, with Etienne now lining up at wideout while Denmark moves back to the slot where he has found his most success over the past two seasons… Max Hall will make a consecutive start at quarterback as Bellefeuille continues to assess his options at pivot… Former Winnipeg head coach Paul LaPolice had some insightful comments on the CFL on TSN pregame show this week about the former general managers philosophy: ““I could talk a week about this… I didnt have a lot of interviews with Joe Mack besides about five introductory conversations. You dont hit every conversation through there, but when something comes up you have to trust people in their jobs and allow them to do their jobs (with) what has to be done. At times I believed in building a roster a certain way, and if there is a disconnect, thats going to tear apart your team. There was certainly a couple of times that we wanted to sign a couple guys that ( Mack) didnt want to because (he) wanted to go younger…” ' ' ' |
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