World Cup 2014

[RDU Irish]

My thoguhts exactly... on basketball...

NBA, I agree. Youth and college is great though, IMO.

Whoever equated baseball to my view of soccer is the real commie on this board. Its as American as apple pie you pinko!

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

Heartbreaking for Algeria

 

[STLDomer]

AND that's how you counter attack. Beautiful from Hazard

 

[sparkyND]

AND that's how you counter attack. Beautiful from Hazard

Beautiful awareness by Hazard! I thought this group was the weakest in comparison to all the other groups. But this is a really good Belgian team.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

AND that's how you counter attack. Beautiful from Hazard

I was about the post the same thing. Perfect pass.

 

[STLDomer]

Hulk out injured, Ramires in for Brazil.

 

[nlroma1o]

Belgium should have won by more than 1. They were so much better than Algeria on every position on the field.

 

[nlroma1o]

How many does Brazil win by today? I say the final score will be 4-1 Brazil. They didn't play well in the first match, but they will come in to this match wanting to prove they are stronger than their first showing.

 

[gkIrish]

I have a weird feeling Mexico will find a way to tie. 2-2

 

[Whiskeyjack]

FiveThirtyEight recently published a good article on why the US isn't better at soccer, despite our built-in advantages of population and wealth:

Is a country good at soccer because it has a long history of playing the sport, or does it have a long history of playing soccer because it’s good?

Szymanski and Kuper sidestep this quandary in favor of a far more interesting discussion about what the experience factor means for the spread of information through interconnected knowledge networks. As they tell it, being isolated from the forefront of tactical innovation is one of the biggest handicaps a national soccer team can suffer. A lack of wealth and a small player pool matter, of course, but only to a point. For more developed countries — those that aren’t subject to malnutrition and extreme poverty — the things holding soccer back might be inadequate training and a sense of detachment from global soccer, whose networks allow innovation to spread.

The United States is a good example. Between 1950 and 1990, the U.S. didn’t qualify for a single World Cup, and played in fewer than half as many international matches as Brazil, Argentina, England, Italy, France or West Germany. Even Spain (held up by Kuper and Szymanski as an example of soccer isolationism under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975), played nearly three times as many international games as the U.S. did during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Cut off from the rest of the soccer world, the U.S. missed decades of innovation, and is still playing catch-up. For years, the men’s national team was defined as unsophisticated — a tough, hustling team that ran a lot and relied on counterattacks, while the rest of the world played tactically advanced, attacking soccer.

There’s nothing the U.S. can do about those lost decades. But as Kuper and Szymanski note, there is a “shortcut” for new-world teams that lack experience: They can import it, bringing in coaches who can teach players the art of soccer as found in continental Europe, the central node in Kuper and Szymanski’s global soccer knowledge network. That’s effectively what the U.S. did when it hired the former Germany and Bayern Munich manager Jürgen Klinsmann as head coach in 2011. Klinsmann’s plan has often been described as one of de-Americanizing the men’s national team, bringing a European sensibility to it. The U.S. is hoping his personal experience in soccer’s most important information network can make up for an entire country’s lack thereof.

Visions of such a utopian future have come in fits and starts. The best American players are still nowhere near the level of the best in the world, and the demand for their services in the club leagues of Western Europe remains limited. In the run-up to the World Cup, Klinsmann repeatedly warned the media that expecting the U.S. to win this year’s tournament was “unrealistic.” Thanks in large part to a brutal draw, American soccer will likely take a step backward before it can move forward.

At the same time, inroads are being made. Klinsmann has stressed the importance of American players securing loans in Europe, to place themselves in the center of the game’s most fiercely competitive, innovative battleground. And he’s also taken steps to rid the U.S. of its traditional playing style, adopting tactics more emulative of the possession-based scheme that correlates best with winning. The Klinsmann experiment is not a slight adjustment to American soccer — it’s a total overhaul.

Viewed this way, perhaps the United States isn’t underachieving at all, even after taking into account its economic resources. American soccer is making its way down an evolutionary path that other countries traversed decades earlier. The early growing pains of the U.S. men’s program under Klinsmann are part of a long process, one that someday may produce a team capable of legitimately competing for a World Cup.

 

[Emcee77]

I thought Mexico looked far better than the scoreline in its first game and Brazil far worse. I think this will be closely contested. Narrow victory for one side or the other, or a draw.

I would love to see Chicharito break out with a goal or two. It would just be a feel good story. He had chances against Cameroon, especially the one he blasted over the crossbar from like the 6 (LOL) but he just seems to be suffering from a lack of confidence after struggling to see the field, for Mexico and for Man U.

 

[ACamp1900]

It's not like USA soccer is bad... we have a legit top 25ish in the world squad and have made it to every World Cup since 1990, gotten to the knocks about half the time and have won numerous international competitions... roughly 90% percent of the national teams across the globe would take that.


And I highly doubt our national team has hit its ceiling... I honestly think we will see a team that could honestly join the "can win the World Cup" conversation in my lifetime.

 

[sparkyND]

FiveThirtyEight recently published a good article on why the US isn't better at soccer, despite our built-in advantages of population and wealth:

Great article. If there was any correlation between economic wealth, population (talent pool) and winning on the pitch then we should see countries like China, India and Pakistan in the World Cup every four years and perform well in the tournament. Seeing smaller European countries perform well and play some exciting football a la Belgium and Holland shows you why tactics matter, not too mention structural innovations and player development.

 

[ACamp1900]

Oh, and I hope Brazil wins 100-0

 

[Emcee77]

FiveThirtyEight recently published a good article on why the US isn't better at soccer, despite our built-in advantages of population and wealth:

That's fascinating, and seems at least partly right to me. I'm really excited to see where we go under Klinsmann.

Bruce Arena sharply criticized Klinsmann's approach:

Not everyone agrees. Bruce Arena, who coaches the Los Angeles Galaxy, told me recently that instead of trying to get American soccer to mimic European culture, U.S. Soccer officials should simply look inward. Italy’s team is coached by an Italian and has a core of players who play in Italy, Arena pointed out. Spain has a Spanish coach and players primarily based in Spain. Germany is led by a German coach and mostly features players on German teams.

“I believe an American should be coaching the national team,” says Arena, who led the national team for eight years. “I think the majority of the national team should come out of Major League Soccer. The people that run our governing body think we need to copy what everyone else does, when in reality, our solutions will ultimately come from our culture.

“Come on,” he says. “We can’t copy what Brazil does or Germany does or England does. When we get it right, it’s going to be because the solutions are right here. We have the best sports facilities in the world. Why can’t we trust in that?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/m...-make-us-soccer-better-and-less-american.html

Arena seems really out of touch there, imo. The examples of Spain, Italy and Germany prove nothing ... those are three of the truly elite soccer-playing countries. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Spain, Italy and Germany ain't broke. Maybe the U.S. ain't broke but it ain't working.

 

[notredomer23]

I can never root for Mexico, but this is one of those games where I am rooting for the meteor. Screw Brazil.

 

[notredomer23]

That's fascinating, and seems at least partly right to me. I'm really excited to see where we go under Klinsmann.

Bruce Arena sharply criticized Klinsmann's approach:


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/m...-make-us-soccer-better-and-less-american.html

Arena seems really out of touch there, imo. The examples of Spain, Italy and Germany prove nothing ... those are three of the truly elite soccer-playing countries. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Spain, Italy and Germany ain't broke. Maybe the U.S. ain't broke but it ain't working.

Bruce Arena has sounded nearly xenophobic in some articles. That was mild for him. He sounds bitter

 

[ACamp1900]

Brazil is making it out of the groups not matter what... if they can blast the ever loving mess out of mexiho then it'll put the tricolored bastards in a must win with Croatia correct?? I'd love to see them lose both and get the boot... shouldn't be here anyways... have I mentioned ten times already how mad I am we allowed them to qualify???

 

[Cali_domer]

Brazil is making it out of the groups not matter what... if they can blast the ever loving mess out of mexiho then it'll put the tricolored bastards in a must win with Croatia correct?? I'd love to see them lose both and get the boat... shouldn't be here anyways... have I mentioned ten times already how mad I am we allowed them to qualify???

 

[ACamp1900]

haha.. nice catch.

 

[gkIrish]

found a Brazil jersey I randomly had. Beat Mexico!

 

[ACamp1900]

found a Brazil jersey I randomly had. Beat Mexico!

In your bathroom? Or was it next tothe fire place??

 

[gkIrish]

In your bathroom? Or was it next tothe fire place??

well it is a Kaka jersey which literally translates to "poop" in Greek. Close enough?

 

[notredomer23]

My news feed is filled with people cheering for Mexico calling them our "respected rivals". I laugh and correct their misinformation.

 

[gkIrish]

My news feed is filled with people cheering for Mexico calling them our "respected rivals". I laugh and correct their misinformation.

Probably SEC fans too

 

[Emcee77]

Haha. So is it just me rooting for Mexico? I feel some affinity for them as our North American neighbors.

 

[IrishBlood81]

Belgium should have won by more than 1. They were so much better than Algeria on every position on the field.

They were far superior. They like just chilled and controlled the whole game and then decided to win later on.


Why the hate on Brazil now?

 

[Cali_domer]

Haha. So is it just me rooting for Mexico? I feel some affinity for them as our North American neighbors.

Can't, it would be unbearable to listen to Mexican supporters saying they are a "elite" soccer nation.. Just would be to much to take.

 

[TDHeysus]

typically, I would be for mexico, but I put down vBucks on Brazil to win the cup on home soil. (however, now I think Germany is going to steamroll the field)

 

[Huntr]

Say no to Mexico.