Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    Twitter
    Home » Thiel: A good Seattle night for Dempsey, U.S.
    MLS

    Thiel: A good Seattle night for Dempsey, U.S.

    Art ThielBy Art ThielJune 16, 2016Updated:June 17, 20164 Comments4 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Clint Dempsey, Ciara and Russell Wilson got together Thursday for a pre-game strategy talk, which apparently worked. / SoundersFC.com

    Hey, thanks, South America, for loaning the U.S. your soccer championship this year. So far so good, from us here in Seattle. The three Copa America Centenario matches at the Clink were entertaining — hey, more than 96,000 showed up — particularly the part Thursday night where there were ejections, scuffling, dubious officiating and general disorder.

    Anytime you can induce U.S. Men’s National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann to call an officiating call “an absolute joke” and “a disgrace,” well, it makes us in Seattle, a home to Pac-12 Conference officiating, feel comfortable.

    Letting the local hero, the Sounders’ Clint Dempsey, carry the event was a nice touch.  Thanks. We hope you enjoyed our supply of green grass, blue skies and long daylight. Too bad about Ecuador losing 2-1, but the soccer giants can’t always win, even against the doughty little USA.

    Feel free to loan us your tournament as often as you want. Especially if you were to have the U.S. win the whole thing. The Yanks are booked into the Copa semifinals against the winner of the Argentina-Venezuela match Saturday, likely as a huge underdog.

    But what the heck, Ecuador was supposed to be a bully too.

    U.S. men’s soccer traditionally doesn’t do big international tournaments well. But based on Thursday’s outcome, things may be changing.

    “We made a huge step forward,” said Klinsmann, with whom critics were having their way after opening the tourney with a 2-0 loss to Colombia. But the Stars and Stripes strung together tidy work against Costa Rica, Paraguay and now Ecuador.

    Especially with Dempsey leading the way. Dempsey too, was under criticism from those who thought that he was, at 33, past his prime and taking up prime real estate on the U.S. roster that could have gone to younger players.

    “I’m not worried about that — I go out and perform,” Dempsey said after the match. “That’s what I’ve always done. Hopefully there’s more games left in me where I can keep getting goals, contributing in a positive way.”

    In fact, he’s scored in each of the three Copa wins, including the Thursday opener in the 22nd minute when he snapped a header from 10 yards past GK Alexander Dominguez. He also assisted on the second score at 65′ when Gyasi Zardes, by day a formidable rival with the Los Angeles Galaxy, tapped in from inches a Dempsey grounder that may have gone inside the far post on its own.

    Each moment caused a civic eruption from the 47,322 attendees, who were decidedly pro-U.S. — a marked contrast with many American venues hosting international games that get filled with fans of the visiting team(s).

    Not this night. Not in Seattle. Not with Dempsey in charge.

    “His performance was unbelievable in front of his home crowd,” Klinsmann said. “Very special.”

    Same was also noted from from Klinsmann’s Ecuadorian counterpart.

    “We were thinking about number eight,” said assistant coach Luis Suarez (no, not that one). “Number eight and number four (captain Michael Bradley) were doing everything for them.”

    As much as Dempsey did, Ecuador in the second half slashed away with a fury that produced a set-piece score at 74′ by Michael Arroyo and numerous other late threats that left the crowd gasping.

    “I thought we played well, created some chances and had good looks in front of the goal,” Dempsey said. “Unlucky not to score more. The second half wasn’t as pretty. We didn’t keep possessions as well. It’s always was nail-biting when you can see the goal, and they still had some good chances to equalize it.They do that, it looks like it might go into (penalty kicks).

    “At the end of the day, I thought we deserved to win. We find ourselves in the semifinals.”

    The semifinals and finals will be contested elsewhere in the fruited plain. Pity.

    Seattle seemed to be getting the hang of being a soccer capital of South America.

     

    Share. Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email

    Related Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    4 Comments

    1. Sonics79 on June 17, 2016 1:14 pm

      A bit off topic, but do you know if they’ll be leaving the grass down for the summer? I know Guns n Roses are playing at the Clink in August (surely to 60,000 rabid fans), but it’d be great to have grass for the Sounders at least for the next 6-7 weeks or so, if possible.

      • Dionnajhorton4 on June 17, 2016 10:29 pm

        <"my room mate Mary Is getting paid on the internet $98/hr"…..!td246y
        two days ago grey McLaren. P1 I bought after earning 18,512 Dollars..it was my previous month's payout..just a little over.17k Dollars Last month..3-5 hours job a day…with weekly payouts..it's realy the simplest. job I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months. ago. and now making over hourly. 87 Dollars…Learn. More right Here
        !td246y:
        ➽:➽:.
        ➽.➽.➽.➽
        http://GlobalSuperJobsReportsEmploymentsAuthorityGetPay$98Hour…..
        ★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★::::::!td246y….,…

      • art thiel on June 17, 2016 11:06 pm

        It was done just for the three Copa matches. Seahawks priorities prevail. Besides the grass isn’t set up to survive a season.

      • Audreyebrown3 on June 18, 2016 8:54 pm

        <"my room mate Mary Is getting paid on the internet $98/hr"…..!td124y
        two days ago grey McLaren. P1 I bought after earning 18,512 Dollars..it was my previous month's payout..just a little over.17k Dollars Last month..3-5 hours job a day…with weekly payouts..it's realy the simplest. job I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months. ago. and now making over hourly. 87 Dollars…Learn. More right Here
        !td124y:
        ➽:➽:.
        ➽.➽.➽.➽
        http://GlobalSuperJobsReportsEmploymentsExcellenceGetPay$98Hour…..
        ★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★✹✹★::::::!td124y….,,……

    • Follow @Art_Thiel on Twitter
    Use our affiliate link on Amazon

    Subscribe to Our Weekly Roundup

    Get the top stories sent to your inbox every Thursday.

    Art Thiel on KNKX 88.5FM

    Kirsten Kendrick's Q. & A. with Thiel can be heard every Friday during Morning Edition at 5:45am and 7:45am and again that same day on All Things Considered at 4:44pm. It also airs Saturday at 9:35am.

    Listen now!
    Latest Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    Rams win a survivors contest called the Super Bowl

    February 14, 2022
    Twitter
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    © 2025 Sportspress Northwest

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.