Travis M. Clark

Sacha Kljestan goal against The New Saints

travismclark — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:31:23 +0000

U.S. men’s national team midfielder Sacha Kljestan scored against The New Saints in UEFA Champions League qualifying. You can’t see Kljestan in the frame, of course. Anderlecht won 3-1.

Australia deals South Africa third straight Tri Nations defeat

travismclark — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:32:58 +0000

Highlights from Saturday morning’s/evening’s Tri Nations meeting in Brisbane. Wallabies beat the ‘Boks rather soundly 30-13, the third straight defeat for South Africa in the 2010 edition. Highlights below:

Thierry Henry’s New York Debut

travismclark — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:22:53 +0000

MLS put together this montage honoring Henry’s home debut against Tottenham.

All Blacks Best ‘Boks Again

travismclark — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:17:56 +0000

Tri Nations defense isn’t going very well for the South Africans, falling again to New Zealand in Wellington. Highlights below:

U.S. fan tribute video

travismclark — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:11:23 +0000

The World Cup hangover continues — yes, it’s almost been a week, but the lack of daily soccer is still a bit depressing. U.S. fans would do well to check out the video below:

Thanks to MatchFitUSA + @markwhyy

All Blacks haka

travismclark — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:59:29 +0000

One of my favorite things in sports is the All Blacks haka. A traditional Maori war dance, the majority of New Zealand national sport teams take part in this prior to the start of the match, but the men’s rugby team in particularly is known for it.

Check out the latest version from July 10, when the All Blacks took on South Africa in Auckland:

New Zealand vs. Slovakia: Anatomy of a Goal

travismclark — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:16:25 +0000

Perhaps one of the greatest things about the World Cup is the pressure. Three games to prove what you’ve got, and a millisecond here or there could be the difference between going home after three and qualification to the second round — where traditionally, anything is possible.

Slovakia can only be kicking themselves today. Facing an over-matched New Zealand side, it would be flattering to say the Slovaks dominated — the All Whites looked the better of the two in the first half, just lacked any quality in the final third. An early goal to the Slovaks seemed fair, despite a hint of offside.

So how did the scrappy All Whites equalize? Shane Smeltz, the goat of just a few minutes, sent in a great cross that undid the Slovakian defense, though a closer look also shows what happened in their defense.

Smeltz clashes with Hamsik to gain possession of a 50-50 ball. Slovakia holding a good line at the top of the box with under a minute to go.

Smeltz draws two defenders into space, while the All Whites have three men flooding the right-hand side of the penalty area, essentially creating a two on one situation with the furthest Slovakian defender.

Smeltz is given too much room by Hamsik, but credit to the striker for turning quickly and sending in a dipping, curling ball that just eludes the Slovaks. More importantly, this happens while Slovakian defender Jan Durica isn’t looking — perhaps trying to set up the offside trap.

With the ball in the air, the positioning of the defender proves costly because of the way it was struck. Durica can’t turn in time to challenge Winston Reid, who finishes smartly. Cue pandemonium for the Kiwis, and head-hanging for Slovakia. That one second, and Durica’s decision to turn his head — not to mention Hamsik for playing a bit loose — could be the difference between a second round berth and heading back after three.

England vs. USA: Anatomy of a Goal

travismclark — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:21:31 +0000

There’s no doubting that one of the biggest questions heading into last Saturday’s England was the form and fitness of Oguchi Onyewu. The central defender started nonetheless, and played much better than anyone could have expected.

However, the U.S team certainly got off to a poor start. And while Ricardo Clark deserves his share of the blame, Onyewu showed a bad habit of drifting towards the ball, vacating space in the middle of defense, and leading to chances for the opposition.

Here’s how it unfolded on England’s goal:

Onyewu moves to Rooney while playing the ball, breaking the shape of the U.S. back line.

Gerrard sees space that Onyewu vacated, and moves towards the goal.

Clark fails to recognize the danger and pick up Gerrard’s run.

Rooney plays ball to Heskey.

Heskey plays ball to Gerrard — you know the result.

By stepping up to contend with Rooney, Onyewu vacated the space. And while the fault falls onto Clark’s shoulders as well, Onyewu should have held his line a bit better, and not gotten sucked in so soon. It’s one thing to close down a player when he’s in possession heading on goal, but mistakes like this can’t be made when the pressure is on.

Write the Future

travismclark — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:12:56 +0000

This little ad from Nike Soccer is going viral, and it’s certainly worth passing along.

World Cup Preliminary Rosters: Group H

travismclark — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:34:38 +0000

Group H is Spain’s to lose — the other three nations are going to duke it out for second place. Xavi’s presence in midfield will help drive a dangerous Spanish attack.

Chile

Goalkeepers: Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad), Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile), Luis Marin (Union Espanola).

Defenders: Roberto Cereceda (Colo Colo), Pablo Contreras (PAOK), Ismael Fuentes (Universidad Catolica), Mauricio Isla (Udinese), Gary Medel (Boca Juniors), Gonzalo Jara (West Brom), Waldo Ponce (Universidad Catolica), Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders: Charles Aranguiz (Colo Colo), Carlos Carmona (Reggina), Marco Estrada (Universidad de Chile), Matias Fernandez (Sporting Lisbon), Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo), Jose Pedro Fuenzalida (Colo Colo), Manuel Iturra (Universidad de Chile), Rodrigo Millar (Colo Colo), Pedro Morales (Dinamo Zagreb), Rodrigo Tello (Besiktas), Jorge Valdivia (Al-Ain), Jaime Valdes (Atalanta).

Forwards: Jean Beausejour (America), Mark Gonzalez (CSKA Moscow), Hector Mancilla (Toluca), Fabian Orellana (Xerez), Esteban Paredes (Colo Colo), Alexis Sanchez (Udinese), Humberto Suazo (Real Zaragoza).Honduras

Goalkeepers: Ricardo Canales (Motagua), Noel Valladares (Olimpia), Donis Escober (Olimpia).

Defenders: Victor Bernardez (Anderlecht), Maynor Figueroa (Wigan), Boniek Garcia (Olimpia), Sergio Mendoza (Motagua), Emilio Izaguirre (Motagua), Johnny Palacios (Olimpia), Mauricio Sabillon (Hangzhou Luchen), Osman Chavez (Platense).

Midfielders: Edgar Alvarez (Bari), Julio Cesar de Leon (Torino), Roger Espinoza (Kansas City Wizards), Amado Guevara (Motagua), Ramon Nunez (Olimpia), Wilson Palacios (Tottenham), Hendry Thomas (Wigan), Danilo Turcios (Olimpia).

Forwards: David Suazo (Genoa), Georgie Welcome (Motagua), Carlos Pavon (Real Espana), Walter Martinez (Marathon).

Spain

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), David De Gea (Atletico Madrid), Diego Lopez (Villarreal), Jose Reina (Liverpool) Victor Valdes (Barcelona).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid) Cesar Azpilicueta (Osasuna), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao) Marcos Senna (Villarreal), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona).

Forwards: Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia) Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Dani Guiza (Fenerbache) Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC), David Villa (Valencia).

Switzerland

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Johnny Leoni (Zurich), Marco Wolfli (Young Boys).

Defenders: Mario Eggimann (Hannover), Stephane Grichting (Auxerre), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lazio), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt), Steve Von Bergen (Hertha Berlin), Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria).

Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Valon Behrami (West Ham), Gelson Fernandes (St Etienne), Benjamin Huggel (Basle), Gokhan Inler (Udinese), Marco Padalino (Sampdoria), Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Xherdan Shaqiri (Basle).

Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexander Frei (Basle), Blaise Nkufo (FC Twente), Marco Streller (Basle), Hakan Yakin (Lucerne).