A look back at an international weekend

AP Photo

This weekend was a nice little break from the EPL as international duty took over. Over here at Wembley, Fabio Capello’s reign as English manager continued to chug along with a 5-1 win against Kazakhstan despite a scoreless first half.

But one of the main issues that came out from the win was the boos that came from the crowd at different points in the game. The ones at the halftime whistle were certainly unnecessary, because although England didn’t score they were certainly controlling the run of play. Any one of Theo Walcott’s runs/crosses could have produced a goal, and while the finishing touch wasn’t there, the five goals in the second half weren’t a shock.

Ashley Cole got his share of boos to for his misplay that led to the lone goal for the visitors. Still, the fans should bite their tongue with the squad continuing to look strong in qualifying under the new leadership. Maybe they’re forgetting the Croatia miseries that still must be fresh in their minds? Worse things have happened than a “subpar” 5-1 victory.

 If nothing else, Man United fans will be happy to see that Wayne Rooney continues to be in excellent form for both club and country.

On the American front it was a similar goal-filled victory, this one a 6-1 affair against Cuba on home soil in Washington. As it assures them passage into the last round of WC qualifying, the general thought is that the final two games in this stage will allow Bob Bradley to get a look at some of his young guns (aka Adu and Altidore), which will make these last two matchups interesting to watch.

As for those who are wondering about Kenny Cooper and his national team status, here’s an interesting post to check out from Ives Galarcep’s blog. As Galarcep points out, an interesting choice of words if he’s looking for future call-ups.

We’ll check in with some U.S. discussion later this week as they head into these remaining games.