Posts by Noah Davis
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![USMNT]()
We Went There: USMNT’s World Cup Qualifying Campaign Hits a Snag in Honduras
For the past three days, we’ve been told repeatedly that San Pedro Sula, a city of almost 900,000, is the most dangerous place in the world. The United States Soccer Federation informed journalists who were covering the Americans’ first game of the final round of World Cup qualifying of this fact before we arrived. A […]
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America the Ugly: The USMNT Draws With Canada, 0-0
The first United States men’s national team friendly of every new year is a predictably strange affair. It comes at the end of a long training camp and features roughly two dozen tired guys, the vast majority of whom are not first-choice players for the USMNT. Many of them are not even second or third […]
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Solving the Centerback Conundrum: Does the USMNT Need a Leader?
In 2012, United States national team captain Carlos Bocanegra and relative newcomer Geoff Cameron started nine matches each at centerback. Clarence Goodson figured in Jurgen Klinsmann’s first XI six times. A duo made from that trio started 10 of the team’s 15 games, including all six World Cup qualifiers and the last five fixtures of […]
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![Fredy Montero]()
Scoring With Soccer: Analytics Come to MLS
The Seattle Sounders boast Major League Soccer’s strongest fan base, with an average of more than 43,000 packing into CenturyLink Field for the team’s home games. Soon, they might have one of the strongest analytical units as well. Over the past few years, data and statistics have played an increasingly prominent role in soccer. During […]
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![Michael Bradley]()
20 Wishes for the USMNT in 2013
The United States national team finished 2012 with a record of 9-2-3, tying the best calendar year showing in the modern era. They qualified for the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualification. They beat Italy and Mexico on the road, and tied Russia in Russia. They found some talent — Graham Zusi, Geoff Cameron, […]
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![Michael Bradley]()
The Grass Isn’t Always Greener: The USMNT and the Problem With Away Stadiums
When the United States men’s national team plays home World Cup qualifying matches in stadiums around America, they pass the ball around pristine surfaces that have only ever been trodden by soccer cleats. When the squad travels abroad, however, they frequently find themselves dealing with less-than-ideal conditions. Jamaica’s Independence Park boasts long grass in some […]
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![Tim Howard]()
Playing for Your Country Is an Honor, But Also a Royal Pain
On a Saturday earlier this month, Tim Howard played 90 minutes and made two saves in Everton’s 2-1 victory over Sunderland at Goodison Park. Soon after the win, he hopped on a plane bound for Frankfurt to meet up with his American teammates, who were jetting in from all over the world. A couple quick […]
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![Fabian Joh]()
We Went There: The USMNT End Is the Beginning Is the End
I was shivering in the open, unheated press box in Krasnodar’s Kuban Stadium, watching the United States men’s national team as they were losing 1-0 to host Russia, when a friend — who has seen a lot of these matches — sent me an e-mail: “This seems like a traditional game where we get a […]
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![Jurgen Klinsmann]()
We Went There: The USMNT’s Eastern Promises
Krasnodar, Russia, is a gray city. It was founded as a Cossack fortress and now boasts roughly 700,000 citizens, lying about 830 miles due south of Moscow down Highway M4, which skirts the Eastern border of Ukraine. It is 90 miles from the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, five hours by dirty Mercedes from […]
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Landon Donovan’s Legacy Will Be Just Fine
There’s a good chance that Wednesday night will be the last soccer game Landon Donovan plays for quite some time. His Los Angeles Galaxy find themselves down 1-0 after the first leg of the Western Conference semifinal against the San Jose Earthquakes. Unless they can go into Buck Shaw Stadium and get a result against […]
