World Cup

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blahblah

Gym climber

Boulder

Jun 11, 2010 - 06:48pm PT

I didn't know full grown men played soccer, I thought it was just for little kids (mostly girls but little boys can play until puberty I guess).
And why is the US participating in this "event"?
I can see funding for obscure sports like skiing, whatever, but not for grown men to run around chasing a ball like little kids.
What's next--world kickball cup?

426

climber

Buzzard Point, TN

Jun 11, 2010 - 07:17pm PT

Joo sound like un Hatér. Futbol is pretty rough. Lots of high speed collisions sans helmets or protective gear and heart max outs. You ought to try to play "locales" sometime...or on second thought probably not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footballers_who_died_while_playing

Kiping Tom Paine on ESPN ad, somewhat amusing. My prediction, England 2-1

Good first game, soccer sux second game...

stevep

Boulder climber

Salt Lake, UT

Jun 11, 2010 - 07:28pm PT

France Uruguay was boring and France's coach is an idiot.

But I'm agreed with Spain-Brazil as a likely final and Spain as a likely winner.

England is likely to beat the US, but it should be interesting. Beyond John Terry for England, both team's defenses leave something to be desired. So there could actually be a fair amount of scoring.

NikDF

Trad climber

Bay area, CA

Jun 11, 2010 - 09:26pm PT

Yes, the US will likely get out of their group. But beat England? Lets be realistic here. Donovan during his best days in Europe never showed the kind of skill that Terry and co have. The US's best players are generally ignored in Europe (most of the squad plays on teams outside the US) and make more headlines for mistakes than for their great play. Yes the US comes up with occasional upsets and it is a possibility here, but likely? No.

If you watch soccer at all outside of the World Cup, you know that England is STACKED with some of the biggest names in football. Knock Roony all you want, he can score and has become a passing force as well. Then there's Cole (both of them), Terry, Crouch (Do we have anyone that can cover him in the air? Our biggest guy is 6'4, Crouch is 6'7 and good in the air), Lampard, Gerrard, and Lennon to name a few. All these men play in the toughest leagues in the world on some of the best teams. You really think that our 1 internationally recognized defender (Onyewu, who is going to get called for fouls because he is a boorish defender used to playing in Italian soccer [read dirty]) and friends can stop that kind of attack?

Donovan is the US's only consistent scoring threat with 42 goals in 123 games. Beasly is in a distant second with 17 in 92, and it drops off quickly from there. Roony has 25 in 60 games (better average than Donovan), Crouch has 21 in 38, Lampard has 20 in 78. I could keep going but stats are kind of boring.

The US routinely faces weak competition in the smaller South American teams. While England doesn't always play great teams, the regional competition is significantly better than that in the Americas (I realize that Brazil and Argentina are included in this). Sorry, but Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and others are simply not a real threat to the big teams. US players lack the experience necessary to win convincingly at the World Cup level.

That said, I am all for the USA winning. I just don't think its gonna happen. The level of competition that the US players are used to is simply too low for any real success. Once our best athletes play soccer, we could be dangerous. Until then we will dominate the "American" sports (oh wait... we don't dominate our national pastime). At least the USA produces stellar Goalies!

james Colborn

Trad climber

Truckee, Ca

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 11, 2010 - 09:41pm PT

I am a Fulham fan and believe that Clint Dempsey is going to be the US star of this comp. That said, if the US beats England it will be an incredible victory and would be a huge confidence builder for the team. If England goes down why not Italy and Spain.

Last years defeat of Spain must of tasted sweet, hopefully there is more of that to go around.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Jun 11, 2010 - 09:50pm PT

Pretty pathetic reffing for RSA-Mexico.
Mexico deserved to have their goal nullified for all their diving and
whining. I think the ref made a make-up call by not calling a penalty when
Modise was knocked down in the area - the defender made no play on the ball.
A real pity Mphela didn't let the ball drop before he hit it into the post!

It'll be a moral victory for the US to score a goal against the England
defense. It'll be a moral victory to hold England to 2 goals.
You don't mark Rooney, you just try to keep him in sight.
He might be the best finisher in the game after Drogba.
Gareth Barry will run the US silly and Gerrard and Lampard will do
open heart surgery. 3-1 England

GO NIGERIA!!!!!!

NikDF

Trad climber

Bay area, CA

Jun 11, 2010 - 10:16pm PT

"If England goes down why not Italy and Spain."

Because both of those teams have been performing better than England who is still gonna spank the US. Like i said, we could get lucky... but not against all 3 teams you listed. USA is at the top of the "B" level teams who will not win the World Cup. Spain ranked #2, Italy #5, England #8, USA #14(optimistic ranking in my view but oh well)... Optimism is nice, but that is completely unrealistic.

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Jun 11, 2010 - 11:14pm PT

I kinda thought Mexico was robbed. No way was that player
offsides. Should've been their 3 points.
I'm happy for Uruguay.

Cpt0bvi0u5

Trad climber

Merced CA

Jun 11, 2010 - 11:32pm PT

SteveW the player actually was offsides. In the replay Khune was pressed up far enough that when Dos Santos played the ball to Vela the last defender was the one on the line and the offsides rule states that the player must be behind the penultimate defender for a play to be onside. Good call by the ref.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hxzLGYBaXs

NikDF Your case on Italy is wrong. Italy has been in horrible form and lost to Mexico in their warm-up games. They will be lucky to advance past the round of 16. And as for the United States ranking it is a completely fair ranking as we have had solid performances from the confederation cup on. The loss to the Czech Republic can't really be counted as bad form as we had our second string keeper in goal and only one regular starter. From that game the majority of the players that played were cut from the final squad. USA has every chance to win this match and I actually fancy our chances more than I fancy Englands. While England are the favorites to win for many people I don't see why. They will more than likely not be play Gareth Barry which means their midfield will not be as quality as it should be. Capello will also be playing Sean Wright Philips and Aaron Lennon on the wings and both have had average at best seasons in England. The United States has advantage on the wings with Dempsey having a fantastic season at Fullham and Donovan having a fantastic loan stint with Everton. The main threats of England will be Gerrard and Rooney both of which can be negated. If Capello opts to play Gerrard on the left wing he has a natural tendency to cut to his prefered position in the hole behind Rooney leaving the left flank exposed. And Rooney while dangerous on the ball has not been receiving the service he should from the midfielders. If the US can mark Gerrard and Rooney with Onyewu and Bocanegra that should reduce the threat. The English defense is far from solid as well with Terry the only real defending threat. Johnson is a fantastic player but he pushes forward to much meaning it will be easy to get him on the counter attack (Donovan and Dempsey should be able to out pace him). Capello also seems adamant on playing Ledly King in the middle instead of Jamie Carragher who is arguable a better defender. With the lack of consistency in the central defense and Johnson's tendency to go forward the US should be able to counter attack down the left and Altidore and Buddle can get through the center. Furthermore England has not been set on a goal keeper. Joe Hart had a good season but its looking like Capello may start David James (aka Calamity James to England fans). We have Howard in goal and he has had a fantastic season at Everton and can always force fine saves. Ultimately the US has EVERY chance to win this game and top the group. I don't see why so many people underestimate our chances. USA USA USA

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Jun 12, 2010 - 01:22am PT

Cap'n. . .my apologies, I'm eating my portion of crow.
I thought the ball was directly from the corner kick itself,
not off the head of the other Mexican player.
I got caught up in the excitement!!!!

Cpt0bvi0u5

Trad climber

Merced CA

Jun 12, 2010 - 01:38am PT

SteveW
don't stress mate i totally did too. It wasnt till after the match I started looking at replays that I noticed that it was actually offside

tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber

Leading Edge of North American Plate

Jun 12, 2010 - 01:38am PT

Just watched Mexico VS S Africa. I thought Mexico looked flat and SA looked very strong once they started dominating in the 1st half. SA looked very fit and aggressive at both ends of the field. I was impressed at how they were able to get back on defense with numbers in the box even when Mexico would counter attack. They missed winning by inches with that shot to the near post toward the end.

hb81

climber

Jun 12, 2010 - 08:26am PT

Not to change the subject here, but what is the best site to watch the game for free? I don't own a TV or cable...

have a look here: http://myp2p.eu/

they usually have good streams there.

Cpt0bvi0u5

Trad climber

Merced CA

Jun 12, 2010 - 11:19am PT

Also the game should be on ESPN3 online

hb81

climber

Jun 12, 2010 - 04:34pm PT

Well done! England seems far away from their top game though.

Jingy

Social climber

Nowhere

Jun 12, 2010 - 04:39pm PT

Needing to find a location to view the USA vs England match later today...

I'm in Yosemite and my subscription is not showing anything... damn UEFA..

any help would be great, but I laugh when I think of the odds of getting any information from the board here..

Cheers

Strong favorite, for me, would be England... but then again.. USA could pull it out...

hb81

climber

Jun 12, 2010 - 04:41pm PT

Needing to find a location to view the USA vs England match later today...

Uhm... the game just finished.

SteveW

Trad climber

The state of confusion

Jun 12, 2010 - 05:12pm PT

Bump for a 1 1 Draw. Hooray for Dempsey, and Robert Green too--
(poor guy, that's gotta hurt.)

And to Argentina. Messi was robbed of a hat trick today--the
Nigerian keeper was superb!!!!!!!

And refereeing has been SOLID in the matches. The disallowing
of the Mexican goal was right on.