World Cup 2014

[Nog]

Thank you Ranaldo

That's funny you're calling him Ranaldo. Do you know why his father named him Ronaldo?

 

[Smelly McUgly]

This is going to sound dumb and unrealistic, but I'm only VERY mildly disappointed...maybe happy, but subdued is a better way to put it. Before the tournament started, if someone had said, "The US will go 1-1-1 and finish second in the group," I would have said I'LL TAKE IT NO TAKESIES BACKSIES before that someone had finished talking.

However, seeing how the matches actually shook out, I really feel the U.S could have and should have gone 2-0-1 and won the group outright. If they clear a ball at midfield against Portugal and play more aggressively against Germany, I think they pull it off. Is this dumb?

Don't get me wrong, to me this is an amazing moment for US soccer to earn their way out of a group as good as this one. Portugal even with a hobbled Ronaldo is legit.

Also, I still think the US had the least-talented squad in the group, but Jurgen Klinsmann is super-awesome. I don't know about the tactics all the time (we were kinda playing for a 0-0 draw against a team with an explosive offense and an iffy defense as far as I could tell), but his choice to go after German-American players and all the cool little stuff he does with yoga and checking up on the sleeping patterns of the players and all the prep is just wonderful. It's no wonder that he's friends with Coach Carroll. They both seem to be willing and able to tear things down and rebuild them in a newer, better way.

 

[hawkfan68]

Is the next match for the U.S. on July 1st? I guess the opponent is still TBD but most likely it's Belgium.

Getting back to Suarez. It seems that Italy is always the victim in these instances. The Zidane incident a few years back (I think it was the 2006 WC) and now this. I wonder if they are instigating things. Zidane did say that the Italian player he head-butted was making rude comments about his mother and sister. There seems to be a common denominator in these incidents and it's Italy's team. However, with that said what Suarez did is wrong and disgusting.

 

[Uncle Si]

Smelly you are spot on.

Also, Belgium is very talented, but quite young. They are not the same team the Germans are. Remember this German squad is full of Champions League players. Belgium has a handful

We can play with Belgium much in the way we did Portugal. They lack the speed that we struggle with and the tactical and technical abilities of the Germans

Its a decent matchup for a 16 game as the 2nd place team. Prefer them to Brazil Argentina Colombia France the Dutch.

 

[MLOhawks]

Crap, I forgot it was on this morning, I was thinking 9pm tonight.

 

[Uncle Si]

Is the next match for the U.S. on July 1st? I guess the opponent is still TBD but most likely it's Belgium.

Getting back to Suarez. It seems that Italy is always the victim in these instances. The Zidane incident a few years back (I think it was the 2006 WC) and now this. I wonder if they are instigating things. Zidane did say that the Italian player he head-butted was making rude comments about his mother and sister. There seems to be a common denominator in these incidents and it's Italy's team. However, with that said what Suarez did is wrong and disgusting.

Suarez is my favorite player. He's also a madman and needs help.

Italy can draw the ire of many a player. However, Suarez's madness has no specific trigger outside of desperation.

 

[InSuarezWeTrust]

Best. Loss. Ever.

 

[therealjohncarlson]

Crap, I forgot it was on this morning, I was thinking 9pm tonight.

Could be wrong, but I dont think Brazilians usually play soccer in the middle of the night

 

[Silky Johnson]

Thank you Ranaldo

That's funny you're calling him Ranaldo. Do you know why his father named him Ronaldo?

Hilarious and yes.

I agree Smelly. I hope fans grasp just how improbable it was for us to advance to the 16. This is a great day for USA Soccer even on a day we lost. I think Klinsmann said it perfectly in the post game press conference. We looked intimidated and a bit wore out/tired. The shot by #13 of Germany was just awesome but overall the defense held up well. I was really impressed with Gonzalez and I think a positive thing may have just played out with Cameron having a couple bad plays against Portugal. I just really like his style. He's aggressive, physical, and played with emotion. He had a whiff on a clearance ball in the first 10 which could have been ugly but he was a stud overall. Zusi had a nice shot that was just a bit high and we had a couple opportunities at the end to tie it up. I know the game felt kind of "meh" and I wasn't really enjoying how were playing but I'll keep positive because I've seen us play better than that.

Watching Belgium right now and they are good, all teams are good at this point but They aren't France, Nedtherlands, Argentina or Brazil. Wow and Belgium just lost Defour on a red card. Speaking of which I'm glad the ref let the guys play today because Jermaine Jones could have easily got a yellow and been out next match.

 

[HawkinNY]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2110 ... -world-cup


Nothing like rooting against the country that has made her millions.

 

[Gatehawk]

Suarez, ahahahahaha. 9 match ban and barred from participating in ANY soccer-related activities for 4 months, in other words, looks like it'll be Lambert and Sturridge up top for the first 3-4 months of the EPL season for Liverpool.

And shaqiri and Sanchez. (there's a transfer window that hasn't opened yet their hotshot)

Bummer it effects Liverpool..but we dealt with this just fine last time, and will again

But Suarez brought this on himself, Uruguay and Liverpool. May have brought it on Barcelona as well

Well, the things I've heard is that Liverpool only gets Sanchez if they give Suarez in return and Shaqiri does look like he's going to Anfield, but I'm not 100% sure he'd be able to help you guys that much. Of course that might be because he's on Bayern and he's never gonna stand out much there.

 

[SonicHawk]

Win 1 game out of 3 and advance?

Does everyone get a trophy too?

 

[InSuarezWeTrust]

Win 1 game out of 3 and advance?

Does everyone get a trophy too?

Shut up and leave please.

 

[Uncle Si]

Win 1 game out of 3 and advance?

Does everyone get a trophy too?

World cup is 32 teams across the globe who have played anywhere from 12 to 20 qualifiers over 2 years

But yeah... One win and you advance

 

[camdawg]

Good news is that Germany is easily the best team we'll face for a couple of rounds.

Really? You guys will face Belgium... They probably have the most talented players in Europe.

The last time the U.S. faced Belgium, they throttled the American team 4-2. Lukaku tore right through our defense. So the potential for Belgium to be great is there.

How long has it been since Belgium have played to that level, though? After their qualifier win in Zagreb against Croatia, they went 0-2-1, all in Brussels, against Wales, Colombia, and Japan. Then drew with Ivory Coast in Brussels. They had a nice two goal win at Sweden. Since then, have they really looked close to elite? They were incredibly boring in their final warmup win vs. Tunisia. Give them credit for winning all three group games, but they did so against one of the easiest groups of the tournament.

They could beat us, but I don't think it will be anything like their 4-2 win in Cleveland.

 

[Smurf]

Win 1 game out of 3 and advance?

Does everyone get a trophy too?

How does the average sports fan not understand how group play works? Are people really consistently this dense?

 

[Smurf]

Good news is that Germany is easily the best team we'll face for a couple of rounds.

Really? You guys will face Belgium... They probably have the most talented players in Europe.

The last time the U.S. faced Belgium, they throttled the American team 4-2. Lukaku tore right through our defense. So the potential for Belgium to be great is there.

How long has it been since Belgium have played to that level, though? After their qualifier win in Zagreb against Croatia, they went 0-2-1, all in Brussels, against Wales, Colombia, and Japan. Then drew with Ivory Coast in Brussels. They had a nice two goal win at Sweden. Since then, have they really looked close to elite? They were incredibly boring in their final warmup win vs. Tunisia. Give them credit for winning all three group games, but they did so against one of the easiest groups of the tournament.

They could beat us, but I don't think it will be anything like their 4-2 win in Cleveland.

Belgium have balance issues. They, like Germany, are playing CB's out of position at outside back. There best midfielders are small, and technical sans Fellaini who has trouble staying in the starting 11 for both Club and Country. There striker is an egotistical nutcase (Lukaku) and there depth, while impressive, is incredibly similar to their starting 11. They rarely have players that offer a different skill set. Nearly all of their available changes are Like-For-Like type of deals.

USA can beat them.

They play like individuals.

 

[Nog]

Good news is that Germany is easily the best team we'll face for a couple of rounds.

Really? You guys will face Belgium... They probably have the most talented players in Europe.

The last time the U.S. faced Belgium, they throttled the American team 4-2. Lukaku tore right through our defense. So the potential for Belgium to be great is there.

How long has it been since Belgium have played to that level, though? After their qualifier win in Zagreb against Croatia, they went 0-2-1, all in Brussels, against Wales, Colombia, and Japan. Then drew with Ivory Coast in Brussels. They had a nice two goal win at Sweden. Since then, have they really looked close to elite? They were incredibly boring in their final warmup win vs. Tunisia. Give them credit for winning all three group games, but they did so against one of the easiest groups of the tournament.

They could beat us, but I don't think it will be anything like their 4-2 win in Cleveland.

Of course, they wouldn't tore you down because it is a top 16 game. Anyway, you mostly talked about friendly games. For Christ sake please, you got to know that Friendly games don't mean anything especially the ones before World Cup. Coaches use them to try new system and players, that's all!

They have players like Hazard, Felliani or Kompany who are IMO world class. How many players of that calibers the US have in their team? I mean I don't wanna underestimate your team. You guys have showed great team effort so far, but there is gap between your teams (you got to observe that I don't have any bones in this fight).

Oh and btw, Belgium played a top 16 game against Brazil in 2002, and they got literally robbed as far as I remembered. Afterward, Brazil won the World Cup.

Belgium have balance issues. They, like Germany, are playing CB's out of position at outside back. There best midfielders are small, and technical sans Fellaini who has trouble staying in the starting 11 for both Club and Country. There striker is an egotistical nutcase (Lukaku) and there depth, while impressive, is incredibly similar to their starting 11. They rarely have players that offer a different skill set. Nearly all of their available changes are Like-For-Like type of deals.

USA can beat them.

They play like individuals.

I agree with you. Belgium plays like individuals; however, European teams start their competition from top 16 game. Usually, in World Cups, teams who got the best show-up in the group stage ended up losing. I still remembered the Albiceleste in 98 who got players like Ortega, Veron, Ayala, Crespo, Batigoal and made quite an impression in the group stage. Well, guess what? They were taken down in quarter finals.

On the other hand, I have the vivid memory of France in 2006. We had the worst group stage ever, and we barely passed them. But, we took down Spain, Brazil and Portugal... All the way to the finals, and we lost in the worst way ever. We deserved to win this world cup, and I personally think that if Zidane didn't screw up we woulda have our second star.

 

[knownone]

They have players like Hazard, Felliani or Kompany who are IMO world class. How many players of that calibers the US have in their team? I mean I don't wanna underestimate your team.

I don't think anyone here is going to argue that the United States is the more talented team, let's face it they aren't. However, the gap in talent isn't that huge and we've seen already in this tournament that having more "world class talent" can't necessarily beat tactically sound groups who play within their system.
Spain has as much world class talent and anyone, Same with Italy... Where are they?

 

[Nog]

They have players like Hazard, Felliani or Kompany who are IMO world class. How many players of that calibers the US have in their team? I mean I don't wanna underestimate your team.

I don't think anyone here is going to argue that the United States is the more talented team, let's face it they aren't. However, the gap in talent isn't that huge and we've seen already in this tournament that having more "world class talent" can't necessarily beat tactically sound groups who play within their system.
Spain has as much world class talent and anyone, Same with Italy... Where are they?

I think they aren't good examples. All right, I have no problem to say Spain has great players, but most of them are getting old, plus they were out of shape coming to this World Cup. They either played more than 50 games either they were injured. I remembered that this killed French national team in 2002 as well.

Considering Italy, well I personally think that they have a great midfield and a decent defense. However, Balotelli is a real scam. Having no liability as a striker costs them this World Cup IMO.