July 23, 2006

I know Toronto is better than their record and the Rhinos were missing John Ball thanks to a yellow card accumulation, but they have got to be better than they showed on Friday.

Aaran Lines played well. But, he was about the only really effective attacking player the Rhinos had on Friday.

Connally Edozien's speed caused the Toronto defense some issues, especially when Theo Zagar did his best Richard Goddard impersonation once or twice. But, Edozien was unable to make any of the chances that his speed created count.

Why Danny Kramer started wide right over Rey Martinez still doesn't make sense to me. I know Coach Calloway doesn't trust Martinez defensively. But, if you are worried about the defensive posture of the team, then why go to a 3-5-2 to start the match in the first place?

Is Francisco Gomez the answer?

On Saturday, Coach Calloway dropped another hint as to who might be the Rhinos latest target to try and address the crying need for an attacking central mdfielder with Jonathon Bolanos out with a knee injury and Juninho on crutches with a groin injury.

This time the hint was that the Rhinos were talking to a midfielder that was recently released by MLS and it wasn't Jermaine Hue.

A look at recent MLS transactions shows that Chivas USA has released Francisco Gomez.

Who knows if Gomez is the guy the Rhinos are talking to now, but it would appear to maybe match up.

The good news with Gomez is that he's American, so there are no foreigner issues to deal with.

The downside is that he hasn't played a game since Bob Bradley took over Chivas USA this season and he'll have some serious rust issues to deal with if he does end up landing in Rochester.

But, could he really hurt things in the central part of midfield for the Rhinos?

The New Captain America

Abby Wambach wore the captain's armband as the US Women's National Team took on Ireland today in San Diego, California.

Abby wore it well as she scored the US's 3rd goal in the 5-0 win and was named the Sierra Mist Women of the Match. The goal was Wambach's 56th of her international career.

The US Women head to Cary, NC next weekend as they take on Canada at 1pm on Sunday afternoon. They will then take most of the month of August off as their next match will not be until August 27th as they take on China in Bridgeview, Illinois at Toyota Park, the new home of the Chicago Fire.

It looks like Romario really was hurt

Some people, myself included, wondered if Romario really did hurt himself when he scored the PK goal versus the Rhinos last Friday night.

Well, if he didn't, then I'm wondering why he didn't play for Miami FC last night as they lost in Charleston 2-0. Gavin Glinton scored twice for the Battery.

Miami FC played with only 16 players on the roster as starting goalkeeper Chris Doyle is done for the year due to the torn PCL suffered in Rochester and the fact that Romario was out with the apparent groin injury.

The win pulled the Battery into a tie with the Rhinos for third place in the USL 1st Division standings with 28 points. Vancouver is one point ahead of them in second with 29 points. The one thing working in Rochester's favor is the fact that they have four games in hand over Vancouver and two games in hand over Charleston.

Seattle on a roll before heading our way

Seattle won both games of a home and home set with the Portland Timbers this weekend. The Sounders are 5-1-1 in their last seven games with the only loss coming at the hands of the first place Montreal Impact.

Seattle travels to play in Montreal on Wednesday before heading to Rochester on Friday.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.