Friday, January 26, 2007

Wannabe Soothsayer

In 2005, during the youth World Cup in Peru, I was impressed by Josmer Altidore in the little bit of time he was on the field. Not only by his game, but also because he was strong and fast, and the youngest player to make the roster, but mainly because in a heated match versus Italy, he was on a breakaway and got absolutely mugged, grabbed hard by the Italian defender who Jozy was easily outracing to the ball. They both went down in a heap, Jozy plaintively still watching the ball even as he fell. Since the ref was on the other side of the field, slow to catch up with the play, the Italian defender took the opportunity to kick Jozy, who bounded to his feet in angry indignation.

Despite his youth, he stopped himself, though. You could practically see his entire thought process on his face, "We're ahead, I've been put in to help my team. Is this idiot worth risking my chance at more playing time?"

Jozy backed off, the U.S. won, the Italians got bounced out in the first round.

All that said, Jozy didn't play that well during U20 qualifying. I trust that he still has it in him, though. I see the games, I make my guesses. It's not an exact science.

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