The US MNT New 2014 Home Jersey

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Hey Danny... did you see any golf courses in Brazil when we toured there in 2011?

No Chip, Can't say that I remember seeing any.

Is there some sort of new trend I am unaware of? Did Nike have Tiger design our jerseys? I am guessing they do owe him some money, so maybe they are getting the most out of it? So many questions and so little time for the God Awful jersey designed for the USMNT. 

Wait, are you saying you think that our new jersey looks like a golf shirt?

That's exactly what I'm saying!

I was thinking tennis. But yeah, tennis or golf, but definitely not soccer.

Do they have to wear ties now? I know England teams have recently gone to some folded collar shirts. BUT that doesn't mean WE have to follow that trend! AND, 3 buttons in front that go down to the mid chest? Are they supposed to show some chest hair now to prove they are men? Why Nike Why?!! 

Actually Chip, I believe it's only 2 buttons.

 Here's a Nike Tennis Shirt

 Here's a Nike Golf Shirt

And here's our new 2014 US MNT World Cup home soccer jersey. 

Yeah, they're pretty much all the same!

Even the players aren't thrilled with it. Here's all our captain, Clint Dempsey said about it in his quote: “It’s always an honor to wear the colors of your country, and this summer we will be hard to miss in an all-white look. We will be traveling all over Brazil, and playing in a lot of different conditions, so the innovative Nike designs will serve us well.”

"We will be hard to miss in an all-white look." Yeah, you'll be hard to miss, as in we'll have the most boring and embarrassing jersey in the entire World Cup Tournament!

Although the online petition is now closed, take a look at what some of our awesome fans who feel the same did... 

PETITION TO GET RID OF THE SHIRTS

Yeah, I don't think we'll be making any top 100 jersey lists and some of the top 100 jerseys of 2012/2013 have folded collars, but I don't like it! Some are somewhat respectable, but in my mind there is no room for folded collars in soccer!

TOP 100 Jerseys From 2012-2013

Here's my take on the folded collar shirts:

#10 Liverpool... Bleck! And I like Liverpool on the whole.

#17 Valencia... not God Awful, but not great either.

#23 AC Milan... so so, I could live with it... but why do we have to??

#36 Lyon home jersey... I say let's switch to Adidas! All Day I Dream About SOCCER! 

#44 Bayern Munich... Simple, classic with a little flash.. even without much color!

#68 Chivas... I still don't like the collar much, but adidas still gets it mostly right with a collar!! 

There are so many more to discuss... Hopefully our team plays better than they will look!!

For me, it's not the collar. I actually don't mind the collar so much- it's about how unbelievable boring they are! But, they are using state of the art technology, so the function of the shirt I'm sure is a first class product and they're somewhat environmentally conscious using recycled plastic bottles. The fabric is 96% recycled polyester. I'm not sure how the cotton growers of America feel about that, but I'm guessing they're not thrilled.  There are some intricate design elements that I'm sure won't be able to be picked up on TV or from the stands. The pin stripes are too subtle, the 13 white stars on the blue field will be rubbing against the back of the player's neck and if you look at the name and number really close under UV light a tiny design features the words, "One Nation, One Team". I guess only the fans who fork over the $150 for their very own boring jersey will get to appreciate that.

Here's a look at some of the jerseys we will be competing against this summer…

World Cup Soccer Jerseys

Here are some of my favorites:

Croatia's Checkerboard

Cameroon's print

Mexico's lightning bolts

Mexico's Red Charlie Brown away jersey

Germany's Hoop design away jersey

Colombia's diagonal stripes jersey

Until next time… GO USA!

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Up Next:
Tuesday, October 15. USA vs. PANAMA, Estadio Rommel Fernandez, Panama City, Panama
9:30pm EST, 8:30 pm CST, 7:30pm MST, 6:30pm PST
Watch on: beIN SPORT
Follow on Match Tracker at ussoccer.com
and via Twitter @ussoccer 

     Well, we did it! We finished first in CONCACAF for World Cup Qualifying with a victory over Jamaica and now the Yanks have traveled down to Panama for the 10th and final match in the Hexagonal. U.S. and Costa Rica are already fine-tuning for next summer's tournament, as Honduras, Mexico and Panama battle it out for the final spots. All Honduras has to do is tie last-place Jamaica and they're through, but the 4th place finisher will be playing in next month's inter-continental playoff with New Zealand and the 5th place finisher will be watching the World Cup on TV next summer. I predict 3. Honduras 4. Mexico and 5. Panama but there are usually surprises and upsets with so much at stake! Tuesday promises to be one of the most exciting days of international football, so tune in!

Let's check in with Chip Daly to see what he thought of Friday's win against Jamaica...

     So USA fans. 2-0 win and we won the HEX! Time to celebrate.... NOT SO FAST! I hate to complain about a win, but did anyone else feel like we were just going thru the motions out there? And I sure wish I had 10 minutes to talk to Jurgen about what he is thinking! Is it just me, or does Zusi make things happen EVERY time he is on the field? He knows when and where to distribute the ball. He can finish when he needs to. He knows when to push and when to get back on D. I am not wrong am I? If not, then WHY does he not start? And when he does start, why is he the first one substituted for in the 55th minute?

 

I was upset that Landon was taken out at halftime, but found out he is fighting an ankle injury, so would wonder if that is why? I still think DaMarcus should be a midfield sub. Not sure if Edgar (Castillo) is the answer in the back, but he did well for the time he was in. We need to get our defense in solid order in my opinion and we should know who should be playing back there by now! And DaMarcus is not the answer. No? Well he is going to be the captain on Tuesday night! Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Jermaine Jones and Matt Besler all went back to join their club teams. 

 

Why did Wondo (Chris Wondolowski) not get the call? All he does is score goals! Was it because he was called up late and they weren't sure he was ready? I say Plbbbt! to that! Everyone says Aron (Johannsson) played well up front, but I didn't see it! He may very well develop into a formidable striker, but not yet. Does Jurgen rely on his "German" background to make decisions? Chip, Aron did look good in the first half which I believe you missed. You're right, he didn't look great in the 2nd half and it would have been great to see Wondo.

 

Now don't get me wrong. I feel Jurgen has done a GREAT job so far! I am impressed whenever I hear him interviewed. I only wish I COULD interview him! I also understand we have been hit with a ton of injuries and we have done well to play thru them and win the HEX. I just want to make sure we are ALL READY to WIN the Cup next summer! I saw a blip somewhere where someone said we can't win the Cup anyway. I am not sure who said it or what the context was, so if anybody out there knows who said it, let me know! I would like to give them a piece of my mind!

 

Well, there is my 2 and a half cents worth of ranting. Agree? Disagree? I am all ears to what say YOU the American soccer fans!

 

Go Red White and Blue!

Thanks Chip! Wow! There's some passion there! Yeah, I thought it was great to see Castillo come in for Beasley in the 2nd half. He looked like he was having so much fun out there and he contributed by getting an assist on Jozy Altidore's goal. And can I just say, Jozy's goal celebration ROCKED! He knocks the ball into a wide open net and just walks right into the goal... I loved it! Zusi has been consistent all year and oftentimes has been USA's best player. I'm looking forward to an awesome night of soccer and I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!

Final Push for WC 2014

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Up Next:
Friday, October 11. USA vs. JAMAICA, Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kansas 
6:30pm EST, 5:30 pm CST, 4:30pm MST, 3:30pm PST
Watch on: ESPN, WatchESPN, UniMas
Follow on Match Tracker at ussoccer.com
and via Twitter @ussoccer 

Last month the U.S. qualified for World Cup 2014 but we're back at it again... Two upcoming games with two very desperate sides are upon us and then qualifying will be over except for a few inter-continental playoff games to determine the final World Cup slots. Thankfully we don't have to worry about that. In this upcoming game with Jamaica we can't let our guard down... they are in last place but they beat us last year in qualifying. And earlier this year they battled back to tie the U.S. late in the game but an extra-time heroic goal by Brad Evans gave the US a very exciting 3 points. What do you think, Chip?

Well, it is getting down to the nitty gritty of preparing for the final push to win the World Cup. (Coach) Jurgen (Klinsmann) sure has the right attitude, that we need to continue to build on what we have established. And everything we do NOW sets the tone for WC 2014!

Jurgen called in 20 players to camp, but Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Omar Gonzalez are all injured so there are some gaping holes in the roster.

Without Michael Bradley, Jurgen says it will give a chance for players like Mix (Diskerud)  and Aron (Johannsson)  to step in and show what they can do. Mix showed some gumption against Mexico, so I am hoping he gets to play more to see if he can really play well for a longer period of time, or if he's just a bit player. So, you're saying Jurgen should throw him in the MIX? Either way, we still NEED Bradley if we hope to win the WC!

Without Clint Dempsey, it leaves Jozy (Altidore) up front with?? Jurgen mentions Eddie Johnson as the other forward. I would personally like to see Landon (Donovan) up with Jozy. And I really wish he would have called on Chris Wondolowski to come in and show what more he can do! He is a pure goal scorer I feel, and could really help if Jozy gets tired and we need a goal to win. Yeah, it would have been fun to see Wondolowski in there, but Terrence Boyd and Johannsson are both hot for their club teams now, so we're stacked up front. He can put any of them up there.

Also without Clint, it opens up a captain's spot. Will it be Landon? Will it be DaMarcus (Beasley)? I really don't know how he can't give it to Landon. He has been captain before and has the coolest head on the team in my opinion. I was thinking Tim Howard, but if you want a cool head, yeah maybe not.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict the starting lineup...
GK: Howard
Defense: Evans, Besler, Cameron, Beasley
Midfield: Beckerman, Jones, Donovan, Zusi
Forwards: Altidore, Johnson

and the three subs will be Diskerud for Zusi, Johannsson for Johnson and Bedoya for Beckerman and I'll say Donovan will have the captain's armband.

The most interesting matchup... At midfield we have Jermaine Jones and they have Jermaine Johnson There could actually be 2 Johnsons and a Johannsson on the field at the same time and 4 Jemaines: Jones (US) Johnson, Anderson and Taylor (Jamaica)

OK, let's go out and support the Red White and Blue on Friday. Come on KC, show us what you got from your fan base! Lets not get complacent! I was very impressed with KC's Supporter section in last year's World Cup Qualifier so I know they will not disappoint! They also have to prove to Columbus that they can be even louder! Let's Go U.S.!

Dos a Cero... Again!

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

I must say I was extremely proud of my hometown, Columbus Ohio! We speculated it would be a 75/25 crowd in our favor, but I must say we had about 90 or even 95% of the crowd Tuesday night. I must also say I am extremely proud of the USMNT! It took some guts and determination and weathering an early storm, but they got the result we needed! 

We certainly have A LOT to improve upon too. In a short interview with Danny before the game, I predicted a 2-1 score. WHAT was I thinking? We were playing Mexico IN Columbus... of course the score was going to be 2-0! (The same score it has been ALL 4 times we played Mexico in Columbus!). Yes, Even a Clint Dempsey penalty kick in stoppage time couldn't change that score. He missed the net! I also predicted Beasley to be the Man of The Match. I think I was just trying to project my positive energy towards him, but again.... WHAT was I thinking? Still love Beasley and his commitment to the team, but he NEEDS to be moved out of the defense! Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on that one, Chip. I might be one of the biggest DaMarcus Beasley fans going all the way back to his Chicago Fire days at the turn of the Millennium and I love his attacking style of play, but he needs to be a strong defender and he almost gave up an own goal in front of Tim Howard early in the game. Is he even playing left back for his club team, Puebla?   Goodson played a strong game in the back I felt. Fabian Johnson did not. Fabian was actually playing that position for the first time in over a year and strained his hamstring towards the end of the first half and his dog ate his homework and...  Michael Parkhurst came in at halftime for Fabian.  We shall see how it goes with Cameron and Besler back for the next game. Hopefully Jurgen will not tinker too much just because we have qualified. We still NEED to win the HEX in my opinion to go into WC with a strong confidence. 

The pregame crowd was spectacular. Danny and I even got to dance with some of the Mexican fans and they were wonderful and gracious! Well, except  for that Mexican dude who was dancing with my wife. He took our hats off of our heads and started doing the Mexican hat dance, which I was cool with, until  he started kicking dirt on my hat. Hopefully Danny and I can really get our P.E.A.C.E. PARTY movement going for Brazil.... because, there were still embarrassing moments inside the stadium. Beer throwing, cursing and taunting. It just makes me sad that we have to degrade ourselves and the sport I love that way! Hopefully we can change that. Yeah, that would be nice but I don't think we can change it. Unfortunately, I think it will always be a part of the game. I do think we can unite like-minded fans and families and give them a safe and rewarding supporter section experience. To find out more and to join the P.E.A.C.E. PARTY, visit our new website, RedWhiteAndBluesBros.com

I did get to meet Tony Meola and give him our book and our flyer on our Supporter Group movement for families and kids. Hoping he will mention that somewhere and help kick start it. Also met a guy named DJ who does a great blog called Wrong Side of The Pond. He has some soccer connections and knows what he is talking about too. So hoping he will help get the word out about our movement too. And check out his blog, podcast and website at  www.wrongsideofthepond.com

Kyle Beckerman did a solid enough job for the game, but it also has become blatantly obvious that we NEED Bradley desperately if we want to WIN the WC! I say Bradley is our best and most important player moving forward. What do YOU say? Landon and Dempsey played solid and with Jozy coming back I am not worried about our offense at all. But if we don't control the midfield and keep the flowing of the game going well, our defense will break down and it will be ugly I feel! I was surprised to see Zusi on the bench and used only as a late sub, but we also need to mention the great job by Gold Cup stand out, Mix Diskerud. He was the playmaker on the Donovan goal. 

OK, go out and root for the Red White and Blue in KC and Panama!! And see ya all in Brazil!! Next up is U.S. vs Jamaica in Kansas City on October 11. Go USA!

USA vs. Mexico, Gameday

It's USA vs. Mexico finally! Heading down to the tailgate in a couple of hours. Danny is on the road heading there too. I am so excited and ready to experience USA soccer in my home state of Ohio! There should be plenty of passion at the game and I am expecting the Yanks to come out kicking and firing on all cylinders! We have to do better than the poor showing we had on Friday night against Costa Rica. 

Things we learned Friday night I feel are.... We NEED Bradley desperately to be healthy for the rest of qualifying and next year at the World Cup. Without him we have little to no chance in my opinion. He controls everything. We also learned it is time to give up on the Beasley experiment! Please Jurgen, Please! I love Demarcus and his passion for the team. But he is just much better as a late sub at midfield in my opinion. He is NOT a defender and it showed even more on Friday night.

Tonight we need our defense to really step it up! Without Cameron and Besler, it will be a tall order, but I am counting on EVERYONE to step up. Mexico is reeling after the Honduras game and even changed coaches. That might work in their favor, but either way We have to show up and play 90 minutes! Not 89 minutes, but 90 minutes!! So, show up and root on the Red White and Blue with positive energy! Leave ALL of you negativity at home please. I know it is Mexico, but if we can't be gracious host to our worst enemy, then we ARE our worst enemy in my opinion. 

GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!

Fall stretch

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

Well, we are on the eve of the fall stretch. Time to qualify for WC. We could conceivably qualify by beating Costa Rica. A lot has to happen for that to happen and there is some sorta math formula and cosmos lining up and things like that. So, we won't get into that now. Besides, I would rather qualify on Tuesday night by beating Mexico in Columbus! Wouldn't you? I will be there live and in person with none other than Danny Donuts to root on the USA! And I'll be there with the one and only Chip Daly!

But for now... Costa Rica. It won't be an easy game if the airport arrival is any indication. But the Yanks won't allow some taunting Yahoos and egg throwing Bohemians deter us from our goal. Keep that winning streak alive in Costa Rica and on into Columbus!

The U.S. is hot with our longest all-time winning streak and we’re coming off an undefeated Gold Cup Championship. The European leagues are up and rolling and the MLS players should be in mid-season form. Since the last qualifier in June, big moves have Clint Dempsey back in the MLS and Jozy Altidore playing in the English Premier League. Landon Donovan had a successful Gold Cup run, signed a big contract with the LA Galaxy to stay in the MLS and has found his way back onto the Senior team. A couple of youngsters who had good showings in the Gold Cup found their names included in Jurgen Klinsmann’s 23-man roster. I’m most interested to see what he does up front. Jozy Altidore is hot and needs to be the target in front of the net and Captain Clint Dempsey will most likely be up top with him. Will Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson be used as subs?  Rumors of playing Landon at halfback or using him as a substitute abound. Cleary Jozy and Clint have earned their positions and I am afraid Landon is going to have to prove himself once again. I think he will. IN fact, I predict Landon comes on early in the second half and provides a spark that leads us to a 2-1 victory! What say you?
I was also surprised to see that Chris Wondolowski did not get called into camp. He had the magic touch scoring goals in the Gold Cup but he’ll have to wait and see f he gets called up in October. We also have several players carrying one yellow card. If anyone gets a yellow in Costa Rica on Friday, chances are they’ll be sitting out with a suspension against Mexico on Tuesday.
Even though U.S. took care of Costa Rica without two much difficulty in the Gold Cup, the last time these two teams met in qualifying was the famous SnowClasico back in March in Denver. Dempsey got the only goal and Brad Guzan was in net because Tim Howard was out with a broken back. I’m pretty sure snow is not in the forecast in Coast Rica this Friday, but one thing is for certain, Los Ticos wants revenge and this time they’re the home team. It’s going to be a tough game on the road. Although the Yanks need to take it one game at a time, Us fans get to look forward to an amazing game next Tuesday at the sold-out Columbus Crew Stadium. The Red White and Blues Brothers will be in attendance as part of U.S. Soccer’s largest Supporter Section! There will be 9,000 U.S. screaming Supporters and several more fans!

Golden Boy Wondo Gets 3, USA Beats Belize

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too! 

The U.S. Men's National Team opened their 2013 Gold Cup with a powerful 6 goal blowout over Belize Tuesday night in Portland. Chris Wondolowski, the 30 year-old striker from the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS gets a hat trick in the first half, Landon Donovan scores another goal on a penalty kick goal and gets 2 assists and this Gold Cup squad after 2 games together looks like they've gelled. Despite his age, Wondolowski is a relative newcomer to the MNT. He has about 13 caps since 2011 and now has scored all of his 4 goals in the past two games. The name on his jersey was spelled wrong... U.S. Soccer added an extra "W... Wondowlowski" Let's go to Chip for some Gold Cup analysis...

So, how do you spell Wondolowski.... Wondolowskie... Wondowlowski.... I spell it  GOALS! 6 goals in back to back games for the USA is an encouraging sign! The players are making it tough on Jurgen to pick his WC roster. Someone is inevitably going to be left off the team that should have a chance. We will have to see how the rest of the Gold Cup plays out and see if Jurgen tinkers with the lineup again in Sept. and Oct. Landon is still producing, so that adds pressure too. Pressure is a good thing. The caliber of teams in Gold Cup are not great, but as Danny pointed out any team can be dangerous on any given day. See you in Salt Lake this Saturday.

That's right! Chip is right down the road from The Rio Tinto stadium where the U.S. MNT beat Honduras in their last World Cup qualifier last month. The temperature was almost 90 degrees for the 7pm start. What is it going to be this Saturday for the 1:30pm kick off? Hey supporters... remember to drink plenty of water! We need you for a full 90 minutes!

Yes, Jurgen is going to have some tough decisions to make. Hercules Gomez and Oguchi Onyewu each sat on the bench and their replacements both scored. It will be good to have deep talent when we go into the World Cup. Between yellow card suspensions, injuries and slumps, we'll need several players who can step up and put the ball in the net. 

Interesting tidbit I discovered at ussoccer.com  ... Chris Wondolowski is half Native American (I'm guessing the Wondolowski name is Polish.) His tribal name translates to "Warrior Coming Over The Hill." Well at 30 years-old he is coming over the hill and if he keeps battling like this for a spot on the World Cup roster, he's going to be a victorious warrior!

Go USA... Beat Cuba!