I thought the other post was getting a bit tricky to load so i started this one off!
First off sucks2bsuarez I still think FIFA shoulda been way more forum
Second muntarai and boateng were both sent home today and apparently Ghana's locker room has entered absolute chaos....certainly can't hurt our odds! Kickoff is a little over an hour away, USA USA USA!
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Muntari was going to be out this game anyways on two yellow cards, but either way, missing him and Prince is huge news, especially if the rest of the locker room is in turmoil too. If we end up needing the right result in the other game, that's a lot more likely to happen now.
Good lord Omar Gonzalez is starting...
I don't like that one bit. Also, Brad Davis is on in place of Bedoya.
Oy I'm going to be a nervous wreck
can confirm, am currently a nervous wreck.
So far so good. Brad Davis isn't doing much though. Omar has proved my fears to be misplaced SO FAR.
how is it looking? I'm at work and popping on and off the game tracker on SI.com. I see port is up 1-0 so that's good.
Currently 1-1 Portugal Ghana, and 1-0 germany.....let the whatifs begin
Not how I wanted to do it but were through damnit! Who cares?! Next up the Belgian waffle
I'd be worried if we got the Dutch. They've been taking names the entire tourney.
Yeah no kidding our first game is prolly gonna be Belgium though, and as talented as they are they've looked beatable. Plus in the knockout rounds anything can happen! Could we be this years Cinderella team?!
Dude don't jinx it! I kinda feel like this thread jinxed it today (not the ko round but the game).
I'm pretty sure Costa Rica is Cinderella. Belgium is the team that everyone said was a sleeper, which inherently makes it not a sleeper.
Costa Rica is wearing the slipper right now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Mexico take it.
The Mexican goalie is unreal and so far might be my MVP of the world cup based on the games I have seen.
It is impossible for us to play Holland until the semifinals. We get the winner of H, which was pretty much always going to be Belgium.
A tie would've been more respectable. Did Coach J rest any starters?
No starters were rested, as the outcome of this game was critical in determining if the US advanced to the knockout round. Respectability aside, it's not like the US didn't want or try to win/draw. Germany is a great team, as demonstrated by them having the 3rd highest odds of winning the whole tournament.
No and you do realize that Germany may be the best team left right? A 1-0 loss is extremely respectable IMO.
The way the possession was going for much of the game, I'm surprised that's all it was. USA couldn't connect on passes, and when they did connect, the person couldn't stop the ball and it just rolled into Germany players.
It was really disappointing seeing the entire team not be able to control the ball. Especially after they played against Portugal. I get that there was an intense rain, but it didn't bother Germany very much.
I wasn't saying they didn't try, but a tie is MORE respectable than a loss.
Easier said than done against a team like Germany, but we did almost score at the end twice.
Call me Crazy but I think Yedlin should start. The guy gets it and played at Akron...my former school. He is very gifted going forwards as we see he can defend. I think a right combination of Fabian and Yedlin would be beastly.
I agree. He's very quick and recovers well to support Fabian on defense. From the limited time he doesn't seem to lose the ball too much either. He looks great the final 20 when everyone else is tired. He finds space forward and runs to it to set up good crosses. Adds some pace I think we're missing from our midfield wingers. I guess the question is does his pace keep up for at least 70 minutes?
I think we saw some nice things from Zusi when he moved to the left in the first half. Moving Yedlin to the right really shouldn't mess us up that much if we continue with this 4-2-3-1.
Agreed. Correct but sadly didn't convert. Therefore less respectable than tie.
Survive and advance! Go USA!
France is all over the World Cup.
Suarez a la Zidane and Ghana a la France 2010.
At least we move on.
Survive and Advance.
Thats what he said...
Fabian and Yedlin combo equals fast runners and getting back on defense. I love it. Yedlin is honestly one of my favorite players on the team.
We have the easier half of the bracket to go through! Finals here we come!
No but seriously, let's rest up, get healthy, and give it to Belgium. Germany is better than them. We can take that team.
Yeah I'm beginning to think Belgium isn't all that tough. Let's just hoped they don't peak at the right time.
Wonder if Altidore will be back. That'd be huge for us. He'd match up well against that defense IMO.
Agreed, our wingers need to have good games too! Their lack of fullbacks make them susceptible to play on the outside. If someone's gonna beat germany that's how its gonna have to be done
Watched all of Belgium's games. Given the hype, they've been decidedly underwhelming. 2018 though, that team is gonna be talented AND experienced. Unfortunately for them, this is 2014, so they best prepare to get freedomed pretty hard.
Yeah, they're at the beginning of their golden generation. I wouldn't sell them too short this tournament, though, because we are not as talented as they are and just as inexperienced (maybe even more so).
Don't forget the Newsroom opening scene, either:
Sorry, but I saw that this wasn't on this board yet and, in my humble opinion, it needs to be...
I believe! Beat the fightin' Belgian Doormats! ...Or whatever other historically ironic mascot their team has...
A couple quick notes. Belgium is a very good team, I know they haven't blown anyone out this tournament but they are still easily a top 8 team in the world. Also, while our half of the bracket is easier, we are still in the unenviable position of playing against Argentina if we make the quarterfinals. This is Messi's tournament and with the goals he's been scoring that doesn't bode well for us. With all that said, I'm really happy with how much I think this World Cup appears to have grown soccer in America. It's always been my favorite sport to play and I hope it continues to grow even after this tournament ends, whether that is Tuesday or July 13th.
Personally, I almost always agree with the world Elo ratings for soccer. They seem to be more acceptable and make more sense than FIFA's. Have a look at the current ranks...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Football_Elo_Ratings
Belgium at 12 - 1878 pts.
USA at 13 - 1844 pts.
And I think that's pretty close really. Belgium has a lot of young talent, but they're very inexperienced, much like us. I think it will be a very good game.
I agree they haven't lived up to the pre-tournament hype. But in my opinion they have more talent than us. The midfield played very well in the Portugal game, but in the Ghana and Germany games they looked bad. I'll give them a pass on Germany because that's a damn good team, but not looking good against Ghana was a bad sign. If Bradley continues playing as poorly as he has been then I don't see us getting through. His first touches have been horrendous and that's a sign of someone with no confidence anymore.
Like I said, I just think it will be a good game. I'm not willing to commit to a prediction in this particular case. Our defense is legit performing better than I ever would have thought, and when the defense is keeping you in games, anything can happen.
I agree, and obviously I'm hoping for the best. Just trying to give my take on the situation we're in.
if altidore is back, even at 80-90%, it'll help open things up in the middle field. remember, altidore went out in the 21st minute of the 1st game, so bradley has been getting the squeeze for just about all 3 games. hopefully a little bit of extra space will help bradley get comfortable. another note about altidore being on the field, even if he's not 100%...the goalie for belgium definitely won't be able to play out as much as the german goalie did. i thought the german goal play was brilliant. minimize the distance to dempsey on the entry passes and don't let him possess close to the box. worked like a charm.
in my opinion, the difference between belgium and usa is marginal enough that we can keep the game squarely in the "anything can happen" zone. at this point, could we really have expected much more?
You know, earlier today I would have agreed with this Bradley opinion 100%. I even think I posted something to that effect recently. If you saw him in his interviews, his voice was shaking, he had no confidence, and it seemed like the stage was too big for him.
But on the way home from work today I heard another interview with him, this one on the radio. He sounded different. He sounded more composed. It was as if he'd broken down a bit, eased off the pressure, and started to relax. I wouldn't be surprised to see him play better against Belgium. I think, with the advancement to the knockout stages, he's breathed a huge sigh of relief, and he could pull it together.
Having said that, if he has a bad first half, yank him.
The fact that we have made it to the round of 16 is far more than most people expected from the US.
Yes, it's odd, isn't it? The '94 Cup was here, and after that, MLS started. But from 1998-2010 the game didn't appear to grow much. This World Cup, I'm seeing a whole different group of people beginning to pay attention to the tournament, people who I didn't know gave a damn about soccer.
It's pretty unifying, and if you've gone to your regular sports bar for any of the US games, how did you feel about not being able to find a seat? Were you bitter that all these people came in to YOUR tournament? Or was it a delight being part of it?
We had a few big things happen this World Cup before it even started that grabbed the attention of a lot of people. First, Landon Donovan was cut. Whether you liked it or not (and I'm on the record for really really liking it), it generated headlines. People heard about it. Then, Klinsmann comes out and says that it isn't realistic for us to think we can win it all. Whether you agree with him or not (and I'm also on the record for agreeing with him), it generated MORE buzz.
With as high-scoring as this tournament has been, it's been a great group stage already, and as casual fans tune in a bit to get a better look at our team and, as a result, some of the other better teams in the world, I think they'll appreciate soccer a bit more.
Also, Colin Cowherd is mocking all the anti-soccer emails and callers he gets every day. Good stuff, Cowherd. He's probably the only ESPN guy I've been listening to recently.
I've always actively followed soccer and sought out the best place to watch, but it seems to me like the biggest eye-opener for people getting into the game outside of the World Cup was the 2011 Women's World Cup. That's when I saw people watching games because there was nothing on and by the end of it saying man, there's more to this sport than a tournament every 4 years. My soccer bar of choice has seen huge growth the last 4 years.
There's no such thing as an easy side to the bracket. Assuming we win, we (should) play Belgium, Argentina and probably Netherlands. There's nothing easy about that road. Looking at the other side, Brazil has not overly impressed me, Columbia and Chile have over-achieved but how legit are they, Uruguay has talent but they've lost the teeth in their attack, Germany is Germany and France looked good but in a very weak group. There's no easy road.
Lost their teeth... I see Whatcha did there