How could you not love this face?  The one, the only Maximus Bretos.

The surprise team of the 2008 Toulon Tournament did it again as Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile squad pushed past the Ivory Coast 2-1 to head into the Finals on Thursday against the winner of Italy v Japan.

While it felt like the Ivory Coast was just about to score, Chilean #10 Pedro Morales toe the ball away from Ivory Coast defensive midfielder #7 Coulibaly, snuck a peek and chipped the keeper #1 Okoua from 40 yards out in only the 5th minute.

My favorite player in the tournament, Ivory Coast left back #15 Constant Djakpa whipped a free kick across the 6 yard box, and with all the confusion in front of the net, Chile keeper #1 Toselli could do nothing to stop the ball from going in untouched to level 1-1.

The only mistake the Ivorian back four would make would cost them dearly as Chilean #11 Lorca found space down the left side, got his head up and found #14 Fabian Orellana wide open, completely unmarked at the top of the 6 yard box for an easy tap in for the final 2-1 result.

Unlucky for highly athletic Ivory Coast squad, but full credit to Chile and their ability to deal with the pressure and ultimately finish the few chances they had for a tournament leading 11 goals scored with only 4 conceded.

It was the final game of the 2008 Toulon Tournament for the young United States squad, bowing out with a 2-nil loss to Semi-Finalists Italy.

With goals by #17 Abate and #20 Dessena in the first half, Peter Nowak’s men had their backs against the wall in the second half, but were still able to create a couple of chances on the Italian goal with better possession during the last 45 minutes.

For the United States this tournament was a great opportunity for the younger players to get some great experience (2009 U-20 World Cup will have Bryan Arguez, Kyle Davies, Ellis McLoughlin and Brek Shea eligible) and for head coach Peter Nowak having a look at the final group of players who he’s hasn’t seen yet, but wanted to give an opportunity to.

When I was watching this Italian team, I couldn’t help but wonder how soon we would see #13 Coda, #20 Dessena, #17 Abate, #10 Giovinco, #19 Pelle and #9 Osvaldo in the full Italy squad?

Group A

Chile - 9 pts

Japan - 6 pts

Holland - 3 pts

France - o pts

Group B

Italy - 9 pts

Ivory Coast - 6 pts

Turkey - 3 pts

United States - 0 ptsSemi-Final matches Tuesday, starting at 12pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel with Chile facing the Ivory Coast in Semi-Final #1 and Italy versus Japan in Semi-Final #2.

So I’m on my way to Burbank Airport (Thank God it’s there instead of LAX) to catch a flight to Dallas for tomorrow nights game between RSL and FC Dallas, and this is what I get from Nesta.

It’s almost as if she gets pissed at me, then depressed and makes sure I know she’s mad….

Gotta get the first flight out Sunday, landing at LAX at 7.55am and going live with the US v Italy game at 9am at the FSC studios. Hope I’m not delayed!

This is what preparation looks like as Christian and myself had the early Group B match between 2008 Olympic Qualifiers Ivory Coast and United States in the 2008 Toulon Tournament in France.

The first 45 minutes were ugly for the US as they barely had any of the ball, couldn’t create chances going forward and ultimately defended for the entire half with Keeper Chris Seitz coming up with three big saves to keep a nil-nil scoreline at halftime.

The second half saw a lot more possession for the US (similar to what we saw in their first match against Turkey) with their best chance coming from FC Dallas’ Brek Shea, hitting the far post with a diving header off the cross from right back Tonly Beltran.

That miss would kill them as barely 5 minutes later Beltran would make a bad mistake, taking down #9 Niango. Instead of continuing to push him towards the corner with Corey Ashe to his left, Beltran dove in and the foul resulted in a deserved Penalty Kick.

#15 Djakpa, the captain and best player on the day for the Ivory Coast would step up and lace a driven ball to the lower left hand corner of Chris Seitz’ goal. Seitz guessed the right way, but was not able to get on the end of it due to the placement and power.

Seitz would again come up with another huge save, this time a wide open opportunity from substitute #12 Dja Djedje, pushing the shot that was heading to the upper right corner out for a corner (11 in total for Ivory Coast).

It would end 1-nil for Ivory Coast, who now have the chance to continue on to the Semi-Finals with a result against Turkey on Sunday. For the US, not soo much.

Just goes to show how important it is for clinical finishing at the International Level.

I was Rollin’ With Rogo this morning (he does the play-by-play, I am the analyst) at the FSC Studio this morning for the 2008 Toulon Tournament Group A match between hosts France and Japan.

While it would end 2-1, it was really a match about converting your chances as Japan had two great scoring opportunities and scored them both, while continuing to show their commitment to full team defending.

For the hosts, it was more of the same wasteful chances in front of the oppositions net that cost them their opening round match against Chile, a game that saw them lose 3-5 but easily could have been a 6-2 scoreline before Faty’s Red Card Ejection.

Today’s chances were mainly missed by their #8, Quercia. And while his name would eventually end up on the scoring summary with an amazing strike after going down 2-nil, it was his 3 glaring misses in on the keeper one v one that would cost France the 3 points and quite possibly qualification for the next round.

Remember, the host nation has won the last 4 straight Toulon titles.

Oh, and Bonnet kept his shorts on this time.

I’m studying for tomorrow’s Toulon Group A match between Japan / France and this is what I come across watching the replay of France’s 3-5 loss to Chile.

Let’s hope Alexandre Bonnet wears his banana hammocks again.

I’ve got to say I was pretty surprised to see so many cars on the 405 South this morning as I made my way to the Fox Soccer Channel studios this morning at 4.45am for the US v Turkey Match with Max Bretos.

For Peter Nowak’s U-23 Toulon Tournament squad, it’s about getting results while giving an important look to the younger, less established players for the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In todays opening match against Turkey, they didn’t get the result they were looking for as they fell to the much more organized Turkish outfit which was led by Full International Nuri Sahin, Adem Buyuk and Ilhan Parlak.

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These are the Skullcandy’s I rocked this morning for the opening match of the 2008 Toulon Tournament between Japan  and Holland on Fox Soccer Channel.

Japan ended up 1-nil winners after both Dutch center-backs let the long ball bounce off the goal kick, with #20 Tadanari Lee skipping past his defender Van Eijdan and finishing with a sweet, outside of the left foot finish past keeper Tim Krul.

Yup, assist to the keeper on the score sheet.

Holland will face Chile on Thursday, following the France v Japan showdown.

Peter Nowak and Lubos Kubik have assembled their Toulon crew ahead of next Wednesday’s opening match against Turkey on Fox Soccer Channel at 9.30am (EST).  Their match against Ivory Coast (23rd) will be at 12.30pm (EST) and Italy (25th) at 12.00pm (EST), both on Fox Soccer Channel.

Looks like the last of the scragglers have made it and now it’s about getting everyone on the same page and getting over the jet lag.

To stay up on the latest developments from France, check out the team’s YNT-USSoccer Blog.   They’ve got updates on the latest gear, balls and team activities that are updated regularly.

This is going to be a great opportunity for the younger, less visible players to impress the coaching staff before tough decisions are made.  It also might be the last chance for others.

image via YNT-USSoccer.Blogspot.com

UPDATE - US Soccer and U-23 Head Coach Peter Nowak have announced the roster for the Toulon Tournament that kicks off May 21st.

While it doesn’t have the big name players were used to seeing, there will be a few to keep an eye on, namely Benny Feilhaber.

Anyone else think this tournament could earn him not only a spot in Beijing, but also a new club?

Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake), Quentin Westburg (Troyes)

DEFENDERS (10): Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Eric Brunner (out of contract), Kyle Davies (Southampton), Michael Gavin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Kamani Hill (Vfl Wolfsburg), Jonathan Leathers (Kansas City Wizards), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Julian Valentin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Rob Valentino (New England Revolution), Blake Wagner (FC Dallas)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin), Corey Ashe (Houston Dynamo), Greg Dalby (SC Charleroi), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Lee Nguyen (Randers FC)

FORWARDS (4): Gabe Ferrari (Sampdoria), Bryan Jordan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Ellis McLoughlin (Hertha Berlin), Sammy Ochoa (U.A.G.)

[Courtesy of US Soccer]

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