Roscoe’s February Soccer Report:
Roscoe hopes that Patriots’ fans have finally recovered from their team’s terrible loss in the Super Bowl. Though it’s no consolation, he said that he was surprised that the final score was so close, because (as he reckoned) the Patriots’ linemen were getting whipped all afternoon. He was miffed after having been told to keep his nose out of oblong football affairs and stick to the round ones. He said that’s why he chooses to root for obscure teams in lower level leagues.

He said that there are probably no more than five people in the United States who actually know or care where Wrexham (Northeast Wales) or Piacenza (Northern Italy) are on a map, let alone the incredible passion these communities have regarding their football teams. He said that Americans have no comprehension of how these communities live and die with their teams because that’s all there is for 9-10 months out of a year. Once football season has played out in America, it’s on to something else, whether it’s baseball or “soccer” or the conclusion of the indoor winter sports. Losing a Super Bowl may cast a pall on the community for a few days, then there’s the anticipation of something new.

MLS/US Soccer:

As the MLS teams have already begun training for the upcoming year, the best American players had a “friendly” with Mexico before a packed house in Houston on Wednesday the 6th. There is nothing at all “friendly” between these teams. There is only respect and dislike, which is a tribute to how well soccer has developed in the United States.

As was the case in last year’s Copa America final in Chicago last summer, the crowd at Reliant Stadium was overwhelmingly pro-Mexico. Roscoe has no problem with taking pride in one’s national origin. This is all well and good, BUT…when a person is a citizen of the United States either by birth or naturalization, isn’t it only appropriate to support this nation? Roscoe said if the fans wanted to cheer for another country then why are they here in America?


Geopolitical considerations aside, the match turned out to be a thrilling 2-2 draw. Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu (seen above scored for USA and Landon Donovan’s goal would’ve given the Americans a victory, but the goal was called back on a dubious offside call. Next up for USA is a match with Poland on the 26th of match.

The Revs recently filled one of their international slots when they signed midfielder Mauricio Castro from Honduras’ CD Olimpia. The squad opened their preseason by blasting the Bermuda National Team 6-1 in Hamilton (not the worst place on Earth to be training in February). Kenny Mansally went for the hat trick while Revs also received goals from Spencer Wadsworth, Adam Cristman and Amaechi Igwe. In their second friendly against Bermuda, Revs pulled out a 2-nil victory on goals from Kenny Mansally and Adam Cristman in a match that featured Khano Smith playing one half for each team. The squad then moved to beautiful Cancun for a week of training and exhibitions before heading back to New Orleans.

Piacenza:

Biancorossi have dropped like a rock in the new year. They started off the month of February by losing 2-nil at Modena the 23° giornata of Serie B. Antonazzo’s header in the 4th and Okaka’s rebound in the 25th provided the home side all that was needed in the first half and they coasted along thereafter to pick up the three points. According to reports, Piacenza’s only chance to score was a header by Nef that was grabbed by Modena’s goaltender Narciso.

Piacenza then hosted Brescia in the 24° giornata of Serie B on Saturday the 9th and were simply blown off the pitch in an embarrassing 4-2 defeat. What was particularly painful was that they went in ahead 2-1 at the half and completely fell apart thereafter. De Zerbi put Brescia ahead in the 27th, but Anaclerio struck in the 30th to equalize and Dedic put biancorossi ahead on a penalty kick in the 39th. Before a home crowd most fans thought that three points were in the offing. Wrong! Possanzini equalized in the 55th, then Caracciolo put Brescia back on top in the 63rd. To add insult to injury, Tacchinardi’s penalty kick in the 85th send the faithful home shaking their heads in disgust.

In the 25° giornata of Serie B on Tuesday the 12th, Piacenza traveled to Bari and fell 2-1 on Santoruvo’s goal in stoppage time. Bonanni put Bari ahead with a goal in the 30th, but biancorossi fought back to equalize when Tulli scored on a header in the 59th. Piacenza would’ve been thrilled to escape with a draw then disaster struck. They’ve pretty much been a lifeless lot since the beginning of ’08 and those predictions of a mid-table or higher finish appear to be slipping away by the week.

In the 26° giornata on February 16th, biancorossi played Treviso to an uninspiring scoreless draw at the Garilli, so now Piacenza are 8-15-3-27, having won only one match in their last six tries. It appears as if the squad has done little if anything to improve following the change in gaffers during the fall and it seems like Somma has not been the answer. If anyone among you is conversant in Italian, you’ll have no trouble understanding how the supporters feel. When a team is underperforming the language of dissatisfaction is pretty much universal.

In the 27° giornata on February 23rd, the squad traveled to Lecce and fell once more by a 3-1 score. Serafini’s goal in the 3rd put biancorossi ahead early and the team had the best of things early, but Abbruscato scored the equalizer in the 20th for Lecce. The match remained tied at 1 well into the second half with both sides having nice opportunities to go ahead, but Diamoutene put Lecce ahead for good in the 77th. Patrascu picked up his second yellow card in the 94th and a minute later Tiribocchi sealed the deal for the home side.

Things are getting ugly…

On March 1st, the 28° giornata finally saw biancorossi pick up a 2-1 victory on the road against Spezia, who are languishing near the bottom of the Serie B table. Somma elected to start Maurantonio in goal instead of Cassano, and he was the difference maker in the match.

Giuseppe Gemiti put Piacenza up shortly before the end of the first half (41) and things were looking good for the visitors. Alain Nef put biancorossi up by two in the 70th, then the team withstood a furious charge from the home side in the final stages of the match. Eliakwu scored in the 73rd, then Millesi was given a penalty try in the closing moments and Maurantonio made the crucial match-saving stop.

After 28 weeks, Piacenza are 9-16-3-30pt., good for 15th place in Serie B. There is yet time to build on this victory and get closer to the middle of the pack.

Wrexham:
Dragons continue their painstakingly slow climb out of the relegation pit. There is less than three months’ time remaining in the season, and should they continue to progress, the decision to hire Brian Little to right the ship will be regarded as a stroke of genius.

On February 2nd, Dragons maintained their roll with an exciting 2-nil win over second place Darlington at the Racecourse. Steve Evans (21) and Michael Proctor (86) were the goalscorers for Wrexham. The full match report is here. Needless to say, knocking off the two leading sides in League Two in the space of 14 days is quite an accomplishment.

On the 9th, Dragons traveled to London Road for a date with Peterborough United where the sides played to a scoreless draw. The full match report is here. Little kept the same starting XI that appeared in the Darlington match. The match was marked by an unfortunate incident in front of the Posh goal in the 77th when Steve Evans cracked heads with their goalkeeper Lewis, who was eventually carted off the pitch. There was a melee that followed when the home side thought that Evans deliberately attempted to injure Lewis, though cooler heads prevailed. Both sides had several chances to score, but the goalies kept their teams in the match.

Just as the squad seemed to be building a head of steam, Mother Nature had other ideas as the matches at MK Dons (2/16) and Hereford United (2/19) were called off due to cold temperatures in Britain that caused frozen pitches and unplayable conditions. The Hereford match has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 22nd while the new date for the MK Dons match has yet to have been announced.

The team finally got back to the Racecourse pitch on the 23rd when Grimbsy came to town, and the sides played to a scoreless draw. Dragons had the better of it in the early going, but were unable to maintain the pace and the defenses came to the fore as both sides appeared content to kick the ball around the middle of the pitch and take away a point each.

Dragons closed out February by losing a 2-nil heartbreaker to second-place Peterbourough United (“Posh”) at home on Tuesday night. Wrexham came into the match without their top goal scorer, Neil Roberts, and Danny Sonner who were out of the lineup with injuries. Without two of their best players, Dragons were at a disadvantage all night. Although the match was scoreless at half-time, Posh’s superior talent came to the fore in the second. Jamie Day scored twice on freekicks (65, 81) and the home side simply lacked the ability to counter.

Despite the recent run of success in February, Dragons remain entrenched in 24th (last) place in League Two, and are six points out of safety. There are two months remaining in the season and the only saving grace is that the team has a few games in hand over the other teams. It’s hard not to root for them, seeing the moves that Little has made to pull the team out of relegation.

Dragons kicked off March with a 1-1 draw at home against 23rd place Mansfield. In the traditional St. David’s Day celebration, fans were treated to a brass band performance, but the festive atmosphere didn’t quite make its way to the Racecourse pitch as the capacity crowd were given a rather sloppy performance by both sides. Dragons remained without Roberts and Sonner in the lineup and the creativity they bring to the XI has been sorely missed (as evident in the lack of scoring in these past two matches. After a scoreless first half, Michael Boulding put Stags on top in the 53rd, much to the consternation of the Racecourse faithful. Things continued to look bleak until Michael Proctor’s goal in the 70th (the first in 344 minutes!) pulled Wrexham out of the hole. There are but 14 matches left on the schedule and Dragons are still five points adrift. Little will keep the squad on their toes as the season comes down to the final two months.

After 32 matches, Wrexham are 6-18-8-26pt., still dead last in League Two and five points adrift…