By MIKE DICK
One Great Season
With Jozy Altidore out injured, Edson Buddle and Robbie Findley each had opportunities to show their stuff to Bob Bradley in the USMNT's tuneup against Australia on Saturday. It was a classic example of one player seizing the opportunity, and the other ... well ... slotting it wide.
Buddle clinically finished two balls in the first half, but Findley shot wide after rounding the keeper and later blazed off the bar in a goalmouth scramble when both should have been put away. At this level, solid chances created simply must be converted.
Buddle, who has been hot for the L.A. Galaxy this season, showed how to do it. Real Salt Lake's Finley showed why his surprise inclusion in the final Cup roster was questionable. Never thought I'd be saying this, but ... Brian Ching, anyone?
BALL BLUES
As the World Cup ball controversy bounces on, we had more glimpses on Saturday of how the orb may impact the upcoming games. Australia keeper Mark Schwarzer looked none-too-sure of himself in the first half. The sun also may have been a factor, but the big Aussie offered nothing on Buddle's fierce drive and awkwardly fumbled a cross out for a corner.
At the other end, Tim Howard got down to parry a tricky crank that had movement as well. We also saw several field players struggling to judge some of the higher-flighted balls. Even if Ballgate is much ado about nothing, it's fairly obvious it's put a dent in the keepers' confidence.
All this would lead us to believe we will see quite a few gaffes/oddities when the matches start this week. While it's true that everyone plays with the same ball and it will be the same for all teams, it won't be cool to see matches decided on flukes. Let's hope it doesn't happen, at least not much.
WE ARE ... PENN STATE?
As the U.S. team continues to try to carve out some sort of identity in the world game, its kit flounders to find some sort of relevance. Year after year, Nike cranks out the most boring designs in the game. And the Swoosh seems to save some of its least creative efforts for the good ol' U.S. of A. Sadly, this Cup is no different. Same old, nondescript, boring all white for the Yanks. Even the Aussies' green and gold looked more like a training top than a proper kit top. Well done, Nike.
When you flip on a match, it takes no time to identify the yellow of Brazil, the blue and white of Argentina, the orange of the Netherlands or the blue of Italy or France and on and on.
The USMNT needs this same sort of color identification, preferably with color. The nod to the 1950 team is cool, but sadly and predictably muted. A blue sash would obviously bring too much color to the party, so Nike opted for white on white? Gray on white? I have no problem with the away shirt, which looks fine. But then again, it has color! Now I'm not suggesting a return to the denim vomit or acid-trip stripes of 1994, but we need to develop our own iconic design that is easily and instantly recognizable. Just say no to being to world football what Penn State is to college football. Leave the all-white stripe to Real Madrid.