Marcus Tracy: AaB - SonderyskE Game Report

This was my first opportunity to watch Marcus Tracy in action. Tracy's play slightly exceeded my expectations. You do get the occasional awkward touch or unseemly loss of balance. But, although not the case in the early going, Marcus was influential on the day against one of the smaller Danish Superliga clubs, with a few nice touches to his credit. At one point in the first half, he blew by a defender (or two!) and delivered a low cross which resulted in a corner but could have very well produced a goal. However, I was surprised that he had hardly won a header the entire game, often choosing not to even leave his feet. Some of this may have to do with the quality of Aalborg's crossing, which would have been subpar even by MLS standards.

He did have some chances, and made at least one nice run. He had a volley (seemingly) on target fired from inside the box which was blocked by an opponent's midsection. This was followed by a collision in midfield, where the opposing captain(?) looked like he ran into a brick wall, with total damage to Tracy amounting to mild annoyance. Just before halftime, Tracy made a clever run, which I wish I had seen from him more often, resulting in a shot off target from a challenging angle, much to the frustration of his coach. Literally right before the halftime whistle, however, Sonderjyske struck with a brilliant goal from distance.

Tracy earned a foul against, again (I think),the Sonderjyske captain after Tracy posted him up. Early in the second half, blatant simulation by again (I think!) that same player produced a whistle against Tracy: Tracy turned him, which would have had Marcus bearing down on goal in the open field, but the guy cleverly crumpled in a heap to stop play. I temporarily lost my feed at some point early in the second half. Then, Tracy came within inches of reaching the ball on a slide, which would have had him stuff the ball into the gaping net from point blank range. Tracy was substituted in the 80th minute with the score still 0:1.

Marcus Tracy - Golasso No. 2

I'm a bit late, but here.

Marcus Tracy gets second career start

Follow the AaB - Esbjerg fB match here (in Danish).

A excellent article on Marcus Tracy by Ravi Ubha

Here.

A Tracy article in the Danbury paper

Here. A preview:

Growing up Marcus Tracy dreamed more about becoming the next Michael Jordan than the next Pele.

But somewhere in high school, the former Newtown High soccer star fell in love with football -- the European version.

AGF v. AaB (the Battle of Wake Forest NOT featuring Benny Feilhaber)

White starts, but Tracy is not on the field. Let's hope he made the bench and that he is healthy.

Here's a link to the broadcast:
http://livetv.ru/eventinfo/21877/.

Here's commentary in Danish.

UPDATE: An AaB fan on Big Soccer reports that Tracy is out with a thigh strain. That's unfortunate.

UPDATE 2: A heartbreaking loss for AGF deep in stoppage time. Both teams have done an excellent job keeping their shape until the very end, when first Jacob Poulsen hit the post for AGF and then AaB (Enevoldsen) snatched victory on the ensuing counterattack. White struggled to find space throughout, with Danish international left back Michael Jacobsen doing well to keep White generally at bay. However, White did get his head on the ball in the box on a couple consecutive attacks in the second half with the first of the chances barely flying over, and was involved in AGF's goal as he played a nice give-and-go with Kasper Povlsen, who then crossed for Peter Graulund to impressively head it in.

Marcus Tracy will probably start against AGF

It appears that Jeppe Curth is out. As such, Tracy will likely partner with Luton Shelton up top on Sunday. When Curth (top scorer in the entire league last season) is healthy again, either Tracy or Shelton will probably have to make way.


[Nordjyske.dk]

The game is on Sunday at 8 am EST. I'll provide a link and will surely be watching. If I tame ScribeFire by then, I'll do a running commentary as well.

Comments from Marcus Tracy on the AaB official site

Below, as somewhat shoddily translated by Google:

Tracy is hoping for more chances
Jan Schrøder kl. 10.38

AaB's young attacking Marcus Tracy debut in the UEFA Cup match against Manchester City and his first fight in the SAS League against FC Midtjylland, gave the young attacker blood on profession.


For U.S. Marcus Tracy, the last two weeks presented the debut of førsteholdet at Sheff Utd and the first goal of the AAB-shirt. Now hope attacker in several battles, but know that it requires hard work.

- I had not expected that it would go so well for me in my first time at the club. Not after the training camps in Turkey, where I could feel it went far as well as I wanted it to. I think I've moved me very surprising since, but I am humble about it and know I have much I still can and must improve in many areas, says Marcus Tracy to aabsport.dk.

The transition from college football in the U.S. for SAS Ligaen have not been easy, admits the attacker.

- Since I came here I could mark that particular pace and technique was significantly different than what I have been accustomed to, and I could not keep up with just to start with. Much of it is mental at this level, and since I have focused very much on improving it and work on myself. I knew it would take time, and had honestly not expected that it would go so much to accustom myself to the level in Denmark, he says.

He, together with the rest of the troupe to enjoy a few days off from training and match, before starting with Monday is back on exercising the full strength again.

- The next few days should I use to comfort myself with a few teammates, and otherwise just relax. The team has played many games recently, so it is nice with a small break where you can get a little restored. I think I have fallen well for the club and looks forward to many great experiences with the team, joining Marcus Tracy.

Just go to BigSoccer and see the Marcus Tracy at Aalborg [R] thread, posts ## 345, 354 and 355 for real translations (## 345 and 355 are translations of 442.dk interviews with the AaB general manager and # 354 is an infinitely better alternative to the abomination in strike-through above).

Marcus Tracy Goal - One More Time

I apologize for the overkill but I can't get enough of this header (so it must be embedded in my blog).

Marcus Tracy and Aalborg v. Midtjylland - the full highlights

Here.

An interview with Tracy is here.

Tracy starts against Midtjylland; commentary in Danish (+ link to match)

Here's the link to the commentary.

Here's a link to the broadcast, which I cannot test right now.

Califf did not dress for the match, by the way.

MARCUS TRACY SCORES TO MAKE IT 3-2 IN FAVOR OF AAB!!!

That's it. Tracy with the game-winning goal. I will post highlights as soon as I can. The win moves Aalborg within two points of fourth place. To guarantee Europe, I understand they need to get into third, but 10 whole points with 12 games to play separate them from that. I'll try to determine whether a cup win by one of the sides ahead of them would clear the path.

Also check Yanks Abroad Soccer Highlights and No Short Corners for the highlights.

And now the GOAL: Greg Seltzer at No Short Corners found that this interview, at the 1:40 mark, contains Tracy's absolutely spectacular, CURLING (Greg's apt words) headed goal (and another nice play by Tracy at the 2:46 mark).

An article on Tracy in the Aalborg newspaper (with a link to an interview)

I used GramTrans this time. Here's the article.

He says he's certain to start against Midtjylland (and Danny Califf) tonight. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here's an interview Tracy did with Greg Seltzer.

Tracy and Feilhaber interviews on 442.dk

Tracy's is here.

Feilhaber's is here.

Tracy's is unremarkable, except that the interviewer is trying to get him to use a word to describe the UEFA Cup experience for a headline but Tracy initially does not offer a specific word before finally settling on "indescribable."

TRACY MAKES PROFESSIONAL DEBUT AGAINST MAN CITY!!!

Tracy enters in the 77th minute with Aalborg down 2:0 to the Citizens on the aggregate.

http://www.flashscore.com/detail/soccer.php?match=159449&gmt_offset=-3600&tab=1

It's tied up at 2 (on the aggregate) and extra time beckons. According to the Sky Sports commentary Tracy had a chance to go through on goal but his first touch let him down allowing Richards to clear.

Penalties. According to the Sky Sports commentary above, deep into extra time, Tracy burst past Onuoha only for the latter to recover with a "last-ditch tackle."

Unfortunately, City win on penalties. But still, that Tracy played in this game at all, let alone what happened within less than fifteen minutes of his coming on the field, is surreal.

Here's some Tracy-focused live commentary from No Short Corners.

The Setanta report, which confirms that Tracy had an assist on AaB's opening goal, is here. Tracy was given a 6.5 in Setanta's player ratings.

Below are the highlights I found on YouTube.

Marcus Tracy won't feature tomorrow

It's certain once you see this.

Marcus Tracy makes the bench against Manchester City

Follow it live here, although it seems unlikely Tracy will make his professional debut in this of all matches.

Aalborg - Nordsjaelland (the link to the Danish telecast)

Marcus Tracy's debut? Michael Parkhust is sure to start.

http://livetv.ru/eventinfo/20613/

UPDATE: Tracy is on the bench. Here's the play by play in English.

UPDATE 2: It's over, 1-1. Tracy did not get off the bench. Parkhurst did reasonably well. In the early moments, he let the opposing forward nutmeg him to create a dangerous chance which the keeper saved superbly. He also committed a couple of fouls, which if you know Parkhurst's game is uncharacteristic of him. The quality of the Danish league seems ever so slightly better than that of the MLS, however, so perhaps Michael is still adjusting. On Aalborg's goal, I don't know enough about defending to tell whether he should have peeled off the guy he was marking and attempted to go for the ball. His touch, passing, and positional awareness does seem to be what us Revolution fans have come to expect, and what is required in the tactically sophisticated SAS Ligaen.

Parkhurst goes 90 in draw, White 77 in defeat

A foul on Parkhurst seems to have resulted in a red card early on. White had the assist on the goal in the 1st minute. See highlights here and here, respectively.

Marcus Tracy makes the bench but does not play in AaB's win.

Ronnie Schwartz makes the bench at the expense of Marcus Tracy

Schwartz seems to be the striker that Tracy is competing against for the fourth striker spot. This time, in the UEFA Cup, Schwartz is preferred.

Marcus Tracy in the 18 against Deportivo La Coruna in the UEFA Cup

Cool.

As in the UEFA Cup each team is permitted seven on the substitute bench, this means he makes the bench.

Wow. Just a few months out of college, Marcus has a chance to make an appearance in the UEFA Cup Round of 32.