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World Cup 2014 Brazil
- Thread starter crzdcolombian
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Wow. jozy altidore just pulled his hamstring. Big loss for US especially w/o Donovan on the roster.
USA in a good place right now.
portugal is always a volatile environment, and this debacle could make them explode. of course that could also work the other way around for them.
pepe's red card will also help
as far as my ranking, it is quite loose and based on one-game impressions.
of course the adversaries make a big diff and thing can change a lot. plus, we haven't even seen every team yet
portugal is always a volatile environment, and this debacle could make them explode. of course that could also work the other way around for them.
pepe's red card will also help
as far as my ranking, it is quite loose and based on one-game impressions.
of course the adversaries make a big diff and thing can change a lot. plus, we haven't even seen every team yet
Yes. Most serious was Altidore (#1 offensive weapon) who collapsed in the 21st minute holding his hamstring. They haven't run any tests yet but I think he's done for the rest of the WC. Even if he comes back he won't be 100% and we need his speed.
Matt Besler tweaked his hamstring about 30 minutes in but played the rest of the half. He sat out the second half (his sub ended up scoring the game winning goal).
Clint Dempsy got accidentally kneed in the face on a header in the first half and got a bloody nose (hopefully it's not broken).
Another fullback (who's name I can't remember) was seen grabbing at his hip multiple times in the second half but he never left the game.
USMNT got lucky. They were playing like my 10 year old's team, giving the ball away needlessly, making several hideous defensive mistakes.
Bradley in particular looked way off his game.
Glad they won, but Ghana should have taken it if they could keep their shots down. So many went way over the crossbar.
JMO.
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I agree Bradley looked off for most of the game (started coming on in the final 10-15 min or so) but I think losing Altidore so early messed with them not to mention a couple of defenders limping around with hamstring and hip(?) injuries.
The US looked ugly at times but they dug deep and fought back for the win. Honestly, after the equalizing goal I was like, "and this is where the wheels usually fall off the bus for team USA." Best chance I thought we'd get a tie and I absolutely didn't expect us to get another goal considering how poorly the team had been playing offensively.
So what I'm hearing is that Ghana played worse than a team of 10 year olds?
So what I'm hearing is that Ghana played worse than a team of 10 year olds?
10 year olds with no finish, no less.
EDIT: Like many of the teams my 10 year olds play against.
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Ugly game for the US, but a wins a win.
There's still a small chance the US can make it out of the group, provided they beat or tie Portugal, and don't get manhandled too hard by Germany. Fortunately, Portugal more or less self destructed, and if Renaldo continues in this rut they *may* be able to eek something out. By the time they get to Germany they'll probably be resting their starters, so the score differential hopefully won't be any 5-0.
There's still a small chance the US can make it out of the group, provided they beat or tie Portugal, and don't get manhandled too hard by Germany. Fortunately, Portugal more or less self destructed, and if Renaldo continues in this rut they *may* be able to eek something out. By the time they get to Germany they'll probably be resting their starters, so the score differential hopefully won't be any 5-0.
Agreed! On one hand I'm very glad they're still in it no matter how they got there. On the other hand, I just hate rewarding/reinforcing sloppy play.
Klinsmann's got work to do before the US
ortugal match!Germany played at a level head and shoulders above all the other teams that played today, and with a level of artistry that is more usually seen with Southern European/South American teams.
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the US really have a chance now.
assuming germany will easily handle ghana (a pretty safe assumption). they play a portugal team in possible disarray (you never know how team react to this kind of debacles, they might fold or come back out swinging) and will play a likely already qualified-as-first german team who will want to rest their best players and avoid possible yellow cards.
a tie with portugal doesn't seem far-fetched now, and 4 points with a good goal differential might be enough to go through in this group
the muscles troubles are worrying. wrong type of training?
btw, why do commentators in the US keep calling it "group of death"? form the US perspective, on paper, yes, but as a general strength of the group is not on par with the England/italy/uruguay/costarica group (with 7 world cups amongst them!) or the spain/netherlands/chile/australia groups (last edition two finalists plus up-and-coming chile)
assuming germany will easily handle ghana (a pretty safe assumption). they play a portugal team in possible disarray (you never know how team react to this kind of debacles, they might fold or come back out swinging) and will play a likely already qualified-as-first german team who will want to rest their best players and avoid possible yellow cards.
a tie with portugal doesn't seem far-fetched now, and 4 points with a good goal differential might be enough to go through in this group
the muscles troubles are worrying. wrong type of training?
btw, why do commentators in the US keep calling it "group of death"? form the US perspective, on paper, yes, but as a general strength of the group is not on par with the England/italy/uruguay/costarica group (with 7 world cups amongst them!) or the spain/netherlands/chile/australia groups (last edition two finalists plus up-and-coming chile)
Because America is the center of the universe. I don't know how you didn't know that already.
Equal parts sarcasm and truth, especially with American media.
A fighting last minute win like that is better than most wins.
A worse US team than this one handily beat a much better Portugal team than the current Portugal team back in 2002. I'd say it's the Portuguese who should be worried.
Have to say that the travelling US support is amazing. I couldn't believe how many US fans were at the game. At first I thought I was hearing things during the the US national anthem with the volume of the singing. However good the team have got, US football fandom seems to have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Wow.
Americans can't take a compliment when they're given one.
The reason it is the group of death is that all four teams in it are good with proven track records. There are no obvious minnows in the group. Both Ghana and the US have made the ¼ finals before, Germany has won it 3 times, and Portugal have recently made the semis. No matter what happens two countries capable of going quite far in the tournament will be knocked out.
In the other groups Chile have never made it past the round of 16, Australia have never made out of the group stage, and Costa Rica have only done that once, 24 years ago. It's almost certain that none of those teams will qualify for the next round. In the US group, Germany is the only certain qualifier.
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actually, Chile made it to the semifinals in 62 and lost to eventual champion brazil, and won the third place game. they were also finalist in the Copa America several times.
at it is not a matter of not taking compliments, it is a matter of the media making up bombastic stuff, that just sounds ridiculous.
before the start of the tourney, group G had two teams that were head and shoulder above the other two, at least on paper. Let us not be delusional, the US and ghana would have not been favorites to go through no matter which group they ended up in. most other group have a more balanced make up.
in group D in particular, any 2 of uruguay/italy/england (all world cup winners) could have been considered for going through and possibly challenging for the top spots in the tournament. And while Costa Rica is in fact a so-called "minnow" (at least on paper), it is at the same level as the US.
It was Bedoya. Also at times you could see Johannsson (Altidore sub) and Beckerman (dreds) limping around too, but that could have just been exhaustion.
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There's a "group of death" every World Cup, and in all fairness I believe it was the Ghanian coach that called it that first.
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I have to say the Nigeria v Iran game was one of the worst games of football I have ever seen. Nigeria couldn't cross a ball to save their lives and Iran really didn't know how to attack at all. When you consider countries like Croatia and, Sweden didn't make the cut for the tournament, its a shame to see such a dull match.
What a start for the US!
Man the US looked absolutely horrible. The goalie had more kicks and touches then the rest of the team combined. They got lucky. How many times did I see a US player stop running after the ball or fail to engage the opposite side when they had the ball. Horrible.
Not to mention how many times did the kick the ball backwards. No life in them except for a few bright spots in the game. I have a feeling if they played this way against the Germans or Portugal it would have been a blow out.
hopefully it does not reflect mistakes in the training approach program
yes, but it just seems self-aggrandizing to call this group the "group of death", when there are (in my opinion) other groups that have a much more obvious claim, if you really have to have one.
apart from the fact that croatia is in group A with brazil, there are always teams that disappoint, especially after only one game, and others that surprise. and there are always teams that didn't qualify that -on paper- "should have been there".
what the correct proportion of teams from different continents should be is always a matter of contention. i suppose on a purely skill/technical level some european teams are 'better' (on paper) than some of the other teams who qualified from other confederations, but part of the beauty of the WC is exactly that it has teams representative of all over the world, and this implies a mis-alignment with the rankings.
that said, it is certainly a pity not to have Ibra (or the talent is some of the other european sides)
It's very, very difficult to foresee a time when the competition will be won by a team who aren't a) European or b) Brazilian/Argentinian. I think 2010, where only three European teams made the last eight, was a freak event (and even then all three made the semis, and two went onto the final).
Uruguay reached the semis in 2010.
All eight quarter finalists in 2006 were Euro/Bra/Arg.
South Korea, as hosts, made the semis in 2002.
Again, all eight quarter finalists in 1998 were Euro/Bra/Arg.
In 1994, the last of the '24 team finals', the quarter finalists were 7x Euros plus Brazil.
The World Cup is effectively the European Championships with a couple of South American countries chucked in.
That said, I wouldn't like to see more European nations in the tournament at the expense of non-European teams. It's not as if any of the four teams beaten in the European play-offs – Sweden, Ukraine, Romania, Iceland – were likely to make the last eight. It's a global tournament, and it needs global representation.
Even if over half the finalists are complete no-hopers, they're organised no-hopers. There have been very few complete mismatches in the last couple of tournaments. Portugal beat North Korea 7–0 in 2010 but even that wasn't quite the hammering that the scoreline suggests...
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I am from a generation which remember the 16 nation World Cups.
Sepp Blatter and the rise of ever more commercialism in football, made the now days tournament bloated.
I got no problem with the back pass as long as it's executed crisply.
Weak, wimpy, or otherwise inaccurate, passes of all kinds and not getting to the ball before your opponent can be deadly at any level of the game.
Tim Howard was definitely the man of the match for me!
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