Some thoughts on the Olympic qualifying so far

People always want to judge results in these things - and they do matter - but it's hard to gauge when you never have the optimal players available. I will say that Kreis made a mistake in not picking Ebobisse. I get why some others weren't available (like Bello), because their clubs simply didn't allow it. If he had been able to play Ebobisse up top last night with an alternative to Saucedo, I think the first half would have gone very differently. Once the US put their best players on the field in the second half, they outplayed Mexico.

Ferreira still has a long way to go, but you can see his talent. He's got a bit of Dempsey in him. Vines has a lot of potential and can see him adding to the fullback depth. Same with Perea in midfield. Glad is the one CB I see as a future mainstay on the USMNT roster.

Yueill and Mihailovic seem to be the types of midfielders we've been missing. I've always liked the both of them a lot. Yueill still has to work on his decision-making, but he clearly has a talent for shifting play into the next third and starting attacks.

The one player who has made me giddy with his play, though, is Ochoa. I friggin love this guy. He's got stones and an edge you don't see in many keepers. I haven't really paid him much attention previously, but he sure had mine within 20 minutes against Costa Rica. That shove on the Mexico player last night sealed it. He took zero shit and stood his ground while a Mexico player charged him down, too. Didn't even flinch. I want this kid starting for the US down the road.