I just can't help myself. The last time I pulled out the "Fun With Translation" post, I promised that it wouldn't come back until the Americans head to Azteca in August.
But tomorrow's Confederations Cup semi-final match with Spain provides a just-too-perfect opportunity to pull it out again; the Spanish press is bound to have stories on the match, and it's always fun to see what a foreign nation's media has to say about our cute little national team.
Most of the stories I've come across present it as a foregone conclusion that Spain will meet Brazil in the final if they are able to take out the Americans. This El País story is no exception, and it also includes a few interesting statements. Of interest is a comment on how the inclusion of European-based players has "strengthened" the American team, while at the same time the story notes that the US offense is improved but that the "defense is still weak".
I've seen this piece in several places, so it would appear that it's a wire story; "The Honor of Bradley" gives a bit of background on the American head man, while framing it with some of the typical filler on the condition of soccer in the United States. The final two sentences of the story echo the sentiments of our first translation: "Back are very vulnerable. A bargain for Villa and Torres".
El País also has a nice writeup of Jozy Altidore, calling him (among other things) "strong as a bull", "very American", and "contour of (her?!?!) neck reminiscent of a defense in the NFL rather than a soccer player". Also included in the article is a mention of the infamous poorly phrased Spanish text message Jozy sent to Joan Capdevila, something fairly ironic considering the poor translations I'm linking to here.
Another profile, this time of Michael Bradley, also from El País, notes the massive amount of ground covered by Bradley, Dempsey and Donovan. The followup to that note is the (mostly correct) statement that the Americans "have trouble controlling the game". I would point out to the El País writer that the Americans have faced two of the better possession teams in the world, but it doesn't subtract from the truth of his statement. The glowing review of Bradley is nice, and even includes a reference to the midfielder being compared to Michael Ballack.
Nothing really of note in this story, another that I believe to be a wire piece, except for the projected lineup; while Guzan started against Egypt, I think it's been fairly evident that Howard is the US number one keeper. The Spanish press seems not to have gotten that memo, and looks to have just rolled over the Egypt lineup to tomorrow's game.
Either I'm looking in the wrong places, or the Spanish press is entirely too nice when it comes to the USMNT. Color me just a little disappointed.
