2010 World Cup Thread - Page 2

So that kinda sucked last night.

Great for Gomez making the team. I mean it's clear we are not going to be 100% and making it out of group is about all we can hope for, so cheering for some underdog players will be about as good as it gets.

When Pearce made that awful tackle attempt, I wish Harkes has just said that Pearce had lost his spot. I mean Harkes' sound-a-like, Mary Carillo, wouldn't have sugar-coated it.

Canada has no competitive team, but Argentina proved they can play without Messi. And in fact, play better than with him. The team being SO Messi centric worries me. We have a lot of great players, let them all have fun.

USA squad for World Cup:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (unattached), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jose Torres (Pachuca)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla).

Argentina is completely stacked up front. Messi, Tevez, Kun, Pipita, Milito with di Maria, Maxi and Veron creating....that's one hell of an attacking side.

Ok question.

I thought this was the year the America was assured advantment to the round of 16 (or at least it was going to be way easier then other years).

If America isn't in which team is more likely to break through other than England. Algeria or Slovenia.

Beats me.

I just wrote a piece for my magazine project called How To Follow The World Cup Like An American. The guys in my group thought it was pretty damn funny.

Slovenia is more likely.

Donovan jersey arrived today, going and getting my scarf from former residence this weekend... World Cup outfit is nearly complete.

I think America might make it to the quarterfinals this year, If they can avoid Germany in the Round of the 16. That probably means beating England which considering the turmoil they are going through may indeed occur.

To be honest thought I hoping for either one of the Africa or Asia teams to win it all.

It's going to be weird seeing them without Zanetti at the back though, he's been one of my favourites for years,

Share!

I guess the big worry is getting 4-0'ed by England and then everything falling apart like in '98. The bright side is that expectations for the moderate fan (watches all the US team matches and knows the players, but really knows shit about the game) have dropped so hopefully we can play the underdog card that the US is more comfortable living in.

Another point is that in 2002 we backed into the Round of 16 (getting Portugal to lose in it's final game) and in the Confederations Cup we backed into the knockout stage (winning on goal differential despite losing to the team we jumped over). Both times we took advantage of the gift, 2002-beat Mexico and should have beaten German (stupid scottish ref) and last year beating Spain and dominating Brazil for a half (stupid second half). Not that this means anything it's just a weird pattern for our non-Concacaf international success over the past decade.

Oh, fine. Here you go. This is written for a project we're calling The Hairdryer about British football culture. Keep in mind, this is 850 words, so apologies for the absurd length.

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Everyone who cares about soccer (football, sorry) has a moment where the passion of the game grabs them and doesn't let go.

Mine came during the month of fun known as the 1994 World Cup. While people in England were probably pretending the game didn't exist, those of us in America caught the bug, at least for a few weeks. As with most international events, the U.S. lavished loads of media attention to the tournament, then promptly forgot about it. But some of us didn't forget, and even started to follow club teams named after animals and man-made disasters.

Every four years, though, my fellow sports fans come back and pretend to care about the game, at least while games are on network television. Not only am I in London during the event, this time we actually play England! I couldn't be more excited to read stories from the British media about how Wayne Rooney's going to win the Golden Boot one week, and then the same writer's going to blame his missed penalty in the quarterfinals on those vuuvuzelas South African fans use the next. It's going to be fantastic.

(After putting up with the British media for a year, I'm never, ever uttering a bad word about American journalism again. Well, save for Fox News.)

Anyway, as my gift to you, dear reader, I present to you ten simple rules to following the World Cup like an American. Some of this I've followed since 1994, the others I picked up along the way.

1. Buy merchandise in advance. Always important. The morning of USA-Switzerland in 1994, I was in dire need of something, anything that showed I was interested in this new game I'd only read about. I annoyed my mother enough that I was wearing a T-shirt and hat when the game kicked off. On second thought, this only applies if you're 15. Moving on...

2. Get plenty of rest. Because you know, with that six-hour time difference, watching matches in the morning is going to be difficult. <realizes he'll be able to watch games in prime-time, since he's in London> Er... I mean replays.

3. Make sure you know one player on the team you're supporting, so that you don't sound completely clueless. In 1994, my guy was American Eric Wynalda. This year, I'm throwing my weight behind Fulham's Clint Dempsey, who also has an awesome nickname: 'Deuce'. Way better than Ronno or Crouchy or whatever lazy variant the English media throws at you.

4. Draws, inevitably, always suck. Look, I know they were down to ten men for 80 minutes and only just grabbed an equalizer in the 95th minute, but that doesn't matter! We need overtime, or else it's like kissing your sister! (Remember, North Americans never refer to it as extra time.)

5. We like it when players fight through tackles, not act as if they've been shot when the defender brushes past him. Well, we agree on this one, but keep in mind our version of football involves guys in full-on helmets and shoulder pads, so pain is necessary to win. Not flopping around for 30 seconds hoping that the ref buys it.

6. Read up on the sport, then pretend you know what you're talking about to friends who aren't familiar with the game. Or, as I like to call it, How To Get A Job in American Sports Media. Think the fellas at BBC and other networks are bad? ESPN hired a baseball announcer to be their main play-by-play man in 2006. Whatever you think of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray, they will at least provide coherent analysis for those watching in America this time around.

7. Prefer your extra-time format as the sudden-death variety. The king of extra-time is ice hockey. A fast-paced sudden death period beats the pants off of another interminable 30 minutes. There are still people in Vancouver recovering from the heart problems the Olympic final gave them. Sure, medical bills were high, but it made for great theater. Tell your friends FIFA needs to reinstate the golden goal, and soon.

8. Get used to not winning the tournament, and claiming moral victories along the way. Erm... wait, you've got that one covered. Never mind.

9. Place far too much importance on an event that happened before you were born. Damn, you're familiar with that too.

10. Lastly, there are other sports out there. They deserve your love, too. Part of the reason Americans don't care about the World Cup is that we have other sports that take our attention away from it. For example, when the US and England face off on June 12, both the NBA Finals and NHL's Stanley Cup Finals will be in full swing. By the time the tournament ends a month later, the NFL is ready to start and no one will care about what happens in Johannesburg. Go out and catch a cricket match instead of reading about Everton's first full day of training, and you'll see how we do things in America. You'll feel better, too.
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I just tuned in to all this football shenanigans. I thought we were doing well (weren't we second in the Confederates Cup?) before. What happened?

Just want to chime in and join the fun... I get gripped with Soccer fever once every 4 Summers. So, yes, I will be chatting with you fine folk over here until the end of July.

We're roughly two weeks away from the kick-off. Things are off to an interesting start. Who are we rooting for? Personally, I will be taking South Africa's and Uruguay's sides on 6/11. What say you?

Oh... By the way, I've got 165 stickers to go and my Panini will be filled. (Am I the only geek who's doing that?)

Same here. Dude was a consummate pro and tremendously consistent. He'll be missed.

Nice, Jim. Thanks!

In the confederations cup we lost 3-1 to Italy, 3-0 to Brazil and then beat Egypt 3-0. Because our goal differential was -2 (beating Egypt's -3) and we scored one more goal than Italy (we tied at -2 goal differential, despite having lost to them earlier) we advanced.

Hi. Once every four years, I remember that I like soccer. I know, I know...

In case there are any other lazy American fans like me wandering into this thread, I thought a link to ESPN's schedule might be a helpful thing to include.

Also! Look! A 140-page pdf of the rules of the game! Except they call them "laws!" Cute! Helpful!

You make that sound like a bad thing. I recall when Canada won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. We did be beating a team on a tie-breaker. The tie-breaking procedure, a coin toss.

I'll take it (I better its not Canada is going to win anything else in soccer for a long time).

Turmoil? please

Would distraction be a better word or what would you use.

No problem. Not bad for writing it in about an hour.

As an aside, I'd change the first tiebreaker in international soccer to head-to-head, and then goal difference. I believe it's goal difference, goals scored and then head to head... makes no sense to me, but then again, I'm an American.

As far as Love Machine, I'm guessing he just means the general media insanity around the English national team. Capello has done as good a job as one can deflecting the press, I think. We'll see if it actually works.

Usual much ado about nothing. We qualified in style, the tabloids (who makes a reasonable percentage of their profits on their coverage of the England team) then over react to mediocre performance against Mexico (we which won 3-1). Usual mix of "lets win it for the country" and "england in crisis" headlines. Happens every 2 years.

I mean what exactly is distracting us, (we have Barry abit injured, but Spain have the same with Fab and Torres)?

(I don't except England to win the thing, but don't be fooled into thinking we ain't at least among the best 8-9 teams in the thing)

I was talking about that player having sex with the other player's wife thing. I image even if the issue is more or less resolved between the men its a bit of a general distraction.

Quake in your boots world. New Zealand is on fire.

This is why the Send Off series exists.

I like Donovan and Dempsey on opposite flanks. What surprised me is how far back Bradley played all game. He really played a holding midfielder role, while in the past couple years he has been part of the attack. I think Altidore was kind of absent for most of the game, though he had that beautiful move in the first half splitting the two defenders.

I cannot wait for the game against Australia. They are a good team. It should be very physical.

Agree, I prefer Landon and Dempsey on the flanks, with the option to dribble inside and go at defenders when appropriate; their speed and ability to attack with the ball at their feet will trouble opposing wings and defenders all Cup. I really don't think placing either up front with Jozy would be the best use of their abilities.

However, the lack of attacking partners for Jozy has been one of the biggest disappointments for the squad throughout qualifying. And losing Charlie Davies, the only promising attacking partner we've seen in a while, just emphasized the lack of quality strikers the US has. I'm concerned with the idea that Jozy will be up front on an island, especially if Bradley keeps Landon and Clint out wide rather than having Landon play more central and feeding balls up to Jozy. And especially if he keeps Michael Bradley in a more withdrawn, holding role, which considering our defensive troubles seems more and more likely.

I'd feel a lot better if Beasley were more productive, and we could move Landon from the left, back inside. Even Torres hasn't impressed as much as I'd have liked. It looks like we're going to need someone to really step up and have a great Cup to help out Landon, Clint, and Jozy up front while Bradley provides more possession and defensive coverage. And Howard's going to have to be at the top of his game in net, especially keeping that back line in order.

Despite all this, I'm still feeling optimistic about our chances. We're one piece away from being really dangerous, and we've got a few guys that might step up and provide that production. We've got the squad to get 6 points against Slovakia and Algeria, and a point against England is a definite possibility (given we've got an answer for Rooney (who, despite Capello's comments should NOT be 100% come the World Cup), and Crouch if he makes an appearance; we've really struggled against size in the last few Cups - Czech Rep, Germany, etc.).

well except one of the players in question is not in the squad, and hasn't been since the scandal broke, so no, not really...

Giuseppe Rossi got dropped from Italy's squad. The irrational sadist in me is giggling with delight.

I mean have some Jersey Pride, Guiseppe.

I'm still way too bitter about it, but respect he wanted to be a big fish in a big pond, instead of a giant fish in a smaller pond.

Anyone else streaming tomorrow's game on the ESPN?

On the next episode of That's So North Korea.

So these vuvuzela horns and the new ball will either make this world cup interesting or it will make it incredibly frustrating.

So far, I'm not a fan of either.

The mantra should be "lets not put our best players in meaningless games where they can be hurt".

Yeah I'm really surprised that they were playing in these games.

Prediction: England will get to the quater finals and go out on penalties....

cos it's not like they havent done that before.

6 days to go, what are everyone's picks to go through.

I think France and Uruguay will go through on Group A, although I hope South Africa surprise us.

I think Argentina and Korea will emerge dominant in Group B but Nigeria may also pose a threat.

England but have paid someone off to be put in this group, unless the US really pick up their game, I don't see them being much of a threat. Algeria and Slovakia are tough calls, either one could pull off an upset, I think Algeria will emerge successful.

I think Germany and Australia will get to the next round of group D, Australia have been rapidly improving as a team and Germany will get through in their usual defensive style, they're the Arsenal of World Football.

It'll be either Netherlands or Denmark in Group E, although I think Cameroon have a shot.

I think Italy and Paraguay will win Group F, I don't aee NZ or Slovakia posing much of a threat.

Brazil are practically guaranteed entry in the next round of Group G, I think Portugal will do ok. North Korea and C'ote D'lvoire are both unkowns at this point, they could surprise but it's unlikely.

I think Spain and Chile will do well in Group H.

GOAL!!!!!

Socceroos look sleepy, but that ball has rocket boosters on it.

ETA: Should be 3-2 at half. We are playing pretty sloppy on defense, but Australia is pretty sloppy all around. You can almost feel Australia's frustration with the field.

ETAA: Exactly what the US need headed into the Eng game. Could have been easily been 5-2 Finley probably played himself off the field, but what do I know?

As a Man U fan it feels weird to be saying this but I'm more bummed about Drogba missing out than Rio. I was really looking forward to seeing him do his thing on this stage.

New Zealand will win the tournament, obviously, but if for some reason (crooked refs, food poisoning, alien abduction) we don't then I hope Holland finally does it.

If not them, Brazil, because Dunga is one of my favourite all time players and I'd get a kick out of seeing him become only the third person to win the cup as both player and coach. Also because Brazil are champions of the world in partying and celebration so seeing the footage that comes out of there after they also confirm their status as champions of the world in football is always a blast.

And if not Brazil, then I'd love to see Spain cement the status they gained after the Euros of 2008, and because as with Holland it's about fucking time.

Aside from who I think will win as opposed to who I want to win? Italy. Because everyone is writing them off as old and weak, and that means they'll start shaky and unconvincing but go on to win the whole deal again. Because they're Italy.

Rio out and Gerrard captain? Oh yes! Can you imagine if England actually did win it with him as captain and we had to put up with half a century of 'Sir' Rio fucking Ferdinand being wheeled out during every football tourament evoking the 'Spirit of Rio', what a tosser.

I may actually get behind England a bit now although I'd still love to see Mascherano and Argentina win it, Maradona would be a quite a sight too. Bad form leaving Zanetti out though, what a legend and he's just won the treble!

Spain are still favourites although they aren't without their weaknesses in defense and with no Senna I'm not sure how well Busquets will do guarding the defense which lack height and mobility. Their midfield and attack are pretty irresistible with plenty of stength and depth.

I'm hoping Holland will go far, their qualifing campaign was flawless and I've always had a bit of a soft spot for them. Sneijder has had a fantastic season and Robin Van Rapist should be back to his best. They always flatter to deceive though.

Has anyone else seen that Nike World Cup ad? Its directed by Alejandro Innaritu and has Gael Garcia Bernal playing Ronaldo, it's pretty cool.

Just a quick sorts and reactions to the recent posts - it´s about time!

Nathan, I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the type of football Germany is playing by now. The times of the defense being the icing on the cake seem to be long gone. Even during the EC 08 Germany did play rather offensive. This trend only continued in the last two years. Which is due to a large effect to the fact that we are lacking a lot of players for defensive key positions. We have Lahm and Mertesacker set. But then problems start with the best partner for Mertesacker. While Boateng (ManCity will have a lot of fun with him in the years to come) is simply too young for being considered for the starting formation in my eyes, Friedrich is solid. But the very definition of solid just doesn´t cut it for the tougher games in a world cup. On the leftback position we are completely weak. Which can turn out to be a deal breaker.

However, our midfield is suddendly bursting with creative younglings that will be dominating our team for years to come. People like Özil, Marin, Kroos, Khedira and Müller all just won the U21 about a year ago (together with Neuer, Boateng, Tasci and others). This is the youngest German team ever to participate in a WC. And while the injury of Ballack does hurt us badly I guess and hope that the younglings will make more than up for it with their creative game. Especially considering that Schweinsteiger did play the season of his life and is scratching on world class in the center midfield by now. And he and Khedira seem to be made for each other.

So long story short, while I think that the cup is coming two years early for this very young team, I do think that it could be a pleasant surprise, in terms of football style foremost - but hopefully in terms of competitiveness as well.

- England! Another world cup, another bet from my side on England finally getting their second star on the shirt. You have had always great players, exept goalies that is, but Capello could make all the difference this year. Given the potential of your team mixed with a clever Italian coach you have a recipee for success at hand. Unless you´ll face a penalty shootout. Or Germany, because at the end of the day Linneker will be proven right. Again. Obviously.

- But the road to Johannisburg will lead only over Spain. This team has only grown after their triumph 2008. Hard to find any weaknesses here. I would say the same about the Netherlands - but they have disappointed me more often than not. but looking at their offensive squad Robben - van Persie - Snijder - Kuyt - it is hard not to start drooling indeed.

- Argentine and Brazil are as always somewhat of an unkown contender for me, famous names and omnipresence aside. While Messi can make all the difference, I doubt that Diego is capable to coach a team into the final. Brazil seems to be spectatcular as always, but I think they´ll be tactically outclassed again.

- On a final note I just want to split hairs and point out that Nikes awesome ad is not an official WC spot. Adidas is th official sponsor. But in the war between these two companies it is interesting to see how Nike managed to steal all the thunder from the official sponsor by one glorious ad. Without paying a cent.

If I had to put money down, it would be on England... assuming Barry can play. I mean, they could see Mexico in the quarterfinals!

Spain and Brazil will challenge. I don't think Holland has the defense and I don't think Italy has the attack to win it again.

Who else even has a shot? Germany is too young, Ivory Coast is missing their best player, France shouldn't be there and has a mediocre coach... Argentina left it late to get there and has a mediocre coach... Who else?

Argentina/England from 86 is a classic. Watch if you can.

Rex Ryan gives his two cents about the game on Saturday.

Going to Niketown in Oxford Circus to pick up a Dempsey shirt Friday morning.

If the US wins, I'm going to have to reenact Escape From New York just to get back to my dorm, I fear.

My goal for World Cup 2010....watch every match, start to finish. I'm going to do it too.

More like The Warriors...