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euro & copa America thoughts!

6/21/2021

Euro 2020-21

Denmark's Uniforms: The best!!!

Thank you Denmark for not going with ubiquitous Nike or Adidas! Instead the Danes have adorned their typical (and awesome) Hummel brand! Very nice, a great change of pace! More Hummel please!!!

Copa America 2021

Uruguay. I hate to say it but Uruguay takes all the life from my soul and just stomps all over it with boringness. My goodness are they awful. My apologies Uruguay, but you might be the most boring team to watch, ever! And I mean ever! Wow it hurts to watch, they are so boring. I've rarely seen such a lack of creativity in all my life. Literally.

So then Shane, Mr. Know it all, how does Uruguay qualify for the Copa America and World Cup? Got me!

Here's the thing, traditionally, Uruguay is one of South America's powerhouses. True, but you have realize the list down there is small. It goes like this: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Suriname and that's about it.

Uruguay, man, just get better, please!!! And do it now!!!

BOOK EXCERPT: THE EURO 2020-21 BOOK

6/6/2021

The following is a book excerpt from The Euro 2020-21 Book:

Stay’s UEFA Euro 2021 All-Star 11 Lineup

Who says we need “defenders” in the traditional sense? With a little work, these offensive powerhouses can transition into defensive roles that would unleash outright offensive magic. The 4-3-3 seems like the best formation for such a group. The possession would be off the chart, and few teams would be able to break through this organized defense.

Timo Werner               Harry Kane                 Cristiano Ronaldo

Mbappé                      Luka Modrić               Marco Reus

Julian Brandt               Sergio Ramos              Jorginho          Eden Hazard

Thibaut Courtois

Other players who deserve to be on this list:
Antoine Griezmann, Isco, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitić, Ivan Perišić, Dele Alli, Harry Maguire, Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Bernardo Silva, Toni Kroos, Serge Gnabry, Paulus Arajuuri, Birkir Bjarnason, Leonardo Bonucci, Marco Verratti, and too many others!

EURO Cup 2020-21
All games take place: June 11-July 11 2021 !

The Book & Tournament that Almost Didn't Make it!
COVID-19 Will Be Defeated
Enjoy the Tournament Safely!

the 1991 Holland cup u16 championship: 30 years ago!

5/19/2021

KNVB headquarters, Netherlands, 1991. Team photo after Holland Cup U16 championship.

KNVB headquarters, Netherlands, 1991. Holding Holland Cup U16 championship trophy. (Hit the gym kid!)

I was reminded that this summer—2021—is the 30-year anniversary for a team I was on that won the Holland Cup U16 championship in 1991. The tour was successfully organized by Lyle Ward. Our coach was St. Louis native Ed Gettemeier, SIUE national champion in 1979, NASL and MISL goalie, who led us to victory. In summary, our one-off Metro East team from St. Louis had only two practices before departing. We were supposed to ‘have fun and get a taste of Europe.’ This was code for ‘maybe win a game and lose the rest.’ We went undefeated and became the first North American team to win the Holland Cup. In doing so, we defeated talented clubs from Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Italy. How? It’s a testament to St. Louis soccer! (Much more to come!) To the best of my memory, after our conquest one of the local Dutch organizers suggested to Ward a top-notch team near our living arrangement at the KNVB headquarters.* This team was the equivalent of Scott Gallagher** or something of that sort. Shortly before we left, we played a friendly with them at KNVB and won 2-1.

Now 30 years later I’ve written a book The Euro 2020-21 Book. It seems I’m back in Europe!

Details of the Holland Cup are in Why American Soccer Isn’t There Yet.

EURO Cup 2020-21
All games take place: June 11-July 11 2021 !

The Book & Tournament that Almost Didn't Make it!
COVID-19 Will Be Defeated
Enjoy the Tournament Safely!

* Also staying at the KNVB headquarters, in dorms next to ours, included a youth farm team of Ajax, and Sampdoria with none other than Gianluca Vialli, the Italian national team star forward at the time; we saw him on the way to breakfast, groggy, asking an assistant for water.

** For any new-comers to American club soccer, St. Louis-based Scott Gallagher has traditionally been one of the best in North America since the 1970s.

book excerpt: the euro 2020-21 book

5/1/2021

The following is a book excerpt from The Euro 2020-21 Book:

The UEFA European Championship 2020.

First of all, for those of you wondering about the name: Yes, it has changed over the years. It was initially known as the European Nations’ Cup (during 1960 and 1964), but from then on it became the UEFA European Football Championship, UEFA European Championship, or simply the UEFA Euro.

However, as many of you know, it is most commonly referred to as the Euro Cup, or simply the Euro, as in “Euro 2020.” So don’t be surprised to see a few different references regarding the Euro.

The premise is simple: Europe’s best soccer-playing nations battle it out for the title. It is essentially like the World Cup of Europe and is in fact thought to be the tournament in Europe. Although it might initially sound like a paradox, many people think that the Euro is more competitive than the actual World Cup, and while this may be true, there must be a reason for people to think such a thing.

All games take place: June 11-July 11 2021 !

The Book & Tournament that Almost Didn't Make it!
COVID-19 Will Be Defeated
Enjoy the Tournament Safely!

us men fail to reach olympics, again!

3/28/2021

Does my book below have all the answers? You never know, it just might...

Olympics in Japan 2021
Today, 3-28-21, the US Men's Olympic team (coached by Jason Kreis) failed to reach the Olympics for soccer yet again with a 2-1 loss to Honduras. The last time the US Men played soccer in the Olympics was 2008!

FIFA World Cup 2022
USMNT in the Hunt!

On the flip side, the USMNT is working to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

World Cup 2022 Qualifying is Soon Around the Corner!

On 1-31-21, while announcing the US vs. Trinidad and Tobago game, commentators Maurice Adu and Alexi Lalas were suggesting the team needs Jozy Altidore, its ‘current best forward.’

They’re absolutely right.

Wait, let me check the data…

Since 2007, with Jozy Altidore at the helm, the US’s record:

2010 World Cup: did not make the Quarterfinals
2014 World Cup: did not make the Quarterfinals
2018 World Cup: did not make the World Cup

They’re right. We all see the evidence. We need Jozy Altidore one last time, one last ride.

book excerpt: the euro 2020-21 book

3/18/2021

The historic Euro 2020-21 tournament is right around the corner!

The following is a book excerpt from The Euro 2020-21 Book:

Stay’s Blast From the Past Super Team

Now this was very tricky. How can you pick a starting 11 from all past Euros? It’s impossible. You’re inevitably going to leave someone out, well, multiple people in fact. There were so many players to consider but I had to do it. I had to come up with 11. But, I made a simple stipulation. Members of this blast from the past super team had to be part of a Euro championship team. Each player was evaluated based on how they performed in both Euro tournament matches and club competitions. After all, players are chosen for national teams based on how they perform at the club level. Here they are:

Marco van Basten                   Gerd Müller                Cristiano Ronaldo

Platini

Zidane             Xavi

Paul Breitner               Franz Beckenbauer     Frank Rijkaard            Sergio Ramos

Dino Zoff

There are so many other players that come to mind, ones that theoretically could and should be in this lineup, such as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Giresse, Tigana, Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman, Henry, Iniesta, and, well, maybe just everyone from Spain’s 2008 and 2012 championships. How can you go wrong there? You can’t, that’s the thing.

As far as this lineup is concerned, there is not much to say. However, one position that was difficult for me was Gerd Müller’s. This was only because I immediately thought about choosing David Villa or Henry instead for chemistry’s sake. Gerd Müller is a great one, but in the flow of the game, I might prefer the gamesmanship and on-the-ball savviness of Villa or Henry. Having said that, how can you go wrong with Gerd? The answer is: You can’t. He was a great finisher with an uncanny ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Furthermore, considering Henry’s multi-talented ability, he could very well be one of the starting midfielders. During his time with Arsenal, he took over the field and really showed what he could do with the ball. However, there are plenty of other midfielders to choose from, some of which were mentioned (Iniesta in particular). Gullit, in all his brilliance, could theoretically have any team built around him and things would still fall in line. Lastly, as far as goalies go, you can take your pick. We could go back to Lev Yashin (the Soviet keeper for the 1960 championship side). There is also Harald Schumacher of West Germany. Then you have Iker Casillas from Spain, along with many others. But, really, how can you not have Dino Zoff? The great Dino Zoff. There’s something about an Italian goalie—it just seems right.

Generally speaking, these players were very hard to select. Let’s put it this way: Imagine if Dino Zoff, Walter Zenga, and Gianluigi Buffon were all the same age and they all showed up to the same tryout. How would you choose? It’s unfair that two of those players would end up sitting on the bench. And that’s the essence of a list like this.

When it’s all said and done, it’s a tough list to compile because there are so many options and combinations. It is almost unfair to suggest such a list in the first place. However, one had to be compiled and this one is very good. It is a great starting 11, one that has the capacity to astound any audience at any time. And, should any team ever face this group...I truly pity them.

This leads to the next team. Considering there are so many quality players to choose from, I had to put together a Blast from the Past B Team.

Stay’s Blast From the Past B Team

David Villa                  Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Iniesta             Henry

Ruud Gullit

Nani                Marcel Desailly          Puyol              Tigana

Ronald Koeman

Iker Casillas

I know what you’re thinking. Why would Nani be a defender? Here’s the thing: Attacking players like Nani make great defenders. For starters, he knows all the dribbling moves so there is no chance of fooling him. Secondly, he is quick and fast like nobody’s business. Lastly, he’d make a great attacking threat down the wing. If he didn’t work out, we would bench him. Get over it. Same goes for Tigana. He was more of a midfielder, but, given his talent level, how can you resist having him on the team? Look, we could have gone back to 1968—when defenders stood around like cones—and chosen an Italian player. A safe steady Italian, the kind that played for Inter Milan for 5 million years. The kind that drank espressos at the nearby coffee bar with locals every morning before practice. Maybe Giacinto Facchetti. Instead, I chose to go off the grid and take a chance with Nani and Tigana. So there we have our B Team, and what a team it is.

You have Desailly and Puyol in the middle as all-out defensive stoppers. Behind them, backing with brilliant technical passing, is the one-and-only Ronald Koeman. Henry and Iniesta would work off of the brilliance of Ruud Gullit, and up top you have David Villa and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge acting as brilliant set-up players, giving Iniesta, Henry, Nani, and Tigana a vast amount of opportunities to work with.

This might be the “B Team” but realistically, it’s an “A Team” in every sense of the word.

Petaluma, california in the news

3/5/2021

Petaluma, California (the heart of San Francisco’s North Bay), where I owned a restaurant for some 10 years, allegedly voted to ban all future gas stations. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Petaluma, CA, Thai Ginger Bistro, circa 2010

book excerpt: the euro 2020-21 Book

2/12/2021

The historic Euro 2020-21 tournament is right around the corner!

The following is a book excerpt from The Euro 2020-21 Book:

Stay’s Fab 5: The Top 5 Players of UEFA Euro 2020-21

Luka Modrić
Mbappé
Cristiano Ronaldo
Harry Kane
Eden Hazard

Plus 6:
Timo Werner
Jorginho
Julian Brandt
Marco Reus
Sergio Ramos
Thibaut Courtois

chess = 11 & 0

1/30/2021

My 10 & 0 game. A first (I think). Here’s why going 10 & 0 is next to impossible: The first few games are always going to be “why did I just do that?” games. You need a few warm-ups to get all the stupid out of your system. So when you take a break and then return to playing hours later it’s very challenging to get back in a flow and win your first game; essentially, I’ll play one or two games per day as a break. Hence a 10-game winning streak is super-difficult. The streak went to 11 & 0 then it came to an end just like Tony Danza’s movie career. There’s always next game

Another christmas list!

12/24/2020

For some reason, around the holidays I have a habit of romanticizing sports movies. Every year. Around June, forget about it; I could care less; they’re not important then. But Christmas, can’t get enough. I make lists, I post those lists like a list dilettante because I’m convinced the world needs more lists! Well, not this year. I’m too busy. In fact, the break I took from being so busy was to point out just how busy I am and that I’m not going to post anything about sports movies. How very sad! I know. I like nothing more than to inform the world that Hoosiers is the best sports movie ever made. That or The Natural. Maybe The Best of Times.

Wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone and especially doctors and nurses for all their work this season!

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euro & copa America thoughts!

BOOK EXCERPT: THE EURO 2020-21 BOOK

the 1991 Holland cup u16 championship: 30 years ago!

book excerpt: the euro 2020-21 book

us men fail to reach olympics, again!

book excerpt: the euro 2020-21 book

Petaluma, california in the news

book excerpt: the euro 2020-21 Book

chess = 11 & 0

Another christmas list!

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