OT: World Cup 2018

[Rocktheworld]

I think CT has a larger population than iceland

Lol 10x the size

 

[intlzncster]

Nothing to do with the football itself, but I was reading an article on World Cup beer, and this guy's enthusiasm struck me:

 

[Rocktheworld]

Nothing to do with the football itself, but I was reading an article on World Cup beer, and this guy's enthusiasm struck me:

View attachment 32202

On Thursday I'm gonna get my buddy drunk and convince him to try to do that

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

What do you guys think about the state of the US mens team?

 

[UConnTrumbull]

What do you guys think about the state of the US mens team?

Well they already qualified for 2026 so pretty great

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Nothing to do with the football itself, but I was reading an article on World Cup beer, and this guy's enthusiasm struck me:

Enthusiastic quantity for sure, but he's drinking the World Cup's official beer brand. Bud, and it's not the quality Czech Budějovice pilsner.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

What do you guys think about the state of the US mens team?

How would anyone truly know? Post-Brazil, the poorly managed USSF and inadequately coached men's coaching staff waited 4 years too late to jettison old guys and enable young guys to gain required experience, the team won't have a true head coach and coaching staff for at least several weeks to a few months, and other unknowns far exceed the knowns ...

 

[Waquoit]

What do you guys think about the state of the US mens team?

I think we have some promising young players but I think the crew in charge is going to mess everything up even more than it is.

 

[intlzncster]

What do you guys think about the state of the US mens team?

How would anyone truly know? Post-Brazil, the poorly managed USSF and inadequately coached men's coaching staff waited 4 years too late to jettison old guys and enable young guys to gain required experience, the team won't have a true head coach and coaching staff for at least several weeks to a few months, and other unknowns far exceed the knowns ...

In basketball terms, the USMNT suffers from the James Dolan syndrome. Take from that what you will.

While certainly not perfect, I think Klinsman was a better manager than people give credit for.

 

[intlzncster]

This Iran Spain game blows. There's 15 Iranians back even though they started 11. Foul far enough away to make the free kick difficult and see how it all shakes out.

Adding more teams to the world cup will make it so much more of a garbage fest.

EDIT: been a little better now mostly due to Spain's quality

 

[intlzncster]

Really unlucky own goal for Iran. Especially after almost poaching one at the other end.

 

[intlzncster]

I must have jinxed it in a good way because that game became pretty enjoyable.

 

[auror]

Really unlucky own goal for Iran. Especially after almost poaching one at the other end.

They got the fortune of winning on an own goal last game so evens out for them a bit.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This Iran Spain game blows. There's 15 Iranians back even though they started 11. Foul far enough away to make the free kick difficult and see how it all shakes out.

Adding more teams to the world cup will make it so much more of a garbage fest.

EDIT: been a little better now mostly due to Spain's quality

This was one of the problems with the sport that I mentioned to whoever was saying "soccer sucks" or whatever. The penalty for repeated fouling in the middle third is inadequate for the level of disruption, and benefit it provides to a defense.

Here's a fun fix. Any player behind the ball at the point of the foul must line up behind the ball when it is kicked. That would preserve some of the advantage that was lost.

Alternatively, automatic yellows for any one player who commits X fouls, like in Basketball.

 

[BlueMAB]

Here's a fun fix. Any player behind the ball at the point of the foul must line up behind the ball when it is kicked. That would preserve some of the advantage that was lost.

Thinking outside the box here, how about zero points for a scoreless tie, 1 for any game ending in at least a 1-1 tie, and 3 for a win.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

What do you guys think about the state of the US mens team?

Some good young talent
We need a good coach
I’m not happy with being at home that sucks.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Really unlucky own goal for Iran. Especially after almost poaching one at the other end.

Ignoring Iran being offsides, the ref also missed a hand ball by and just before the guy kicked the ball in the net. Despite building a wall and playing 11 back most of the game, they had their chances. Surprisingly, a Persian friend acknowledged both points.

 

[Chuck]

I must have jinxed it in a good way because that game became pretty enjoyable.

It only became decent because Iran had to score. The shame of it is, they actually looked good and had Spain back on their heels a bit. That game was horrible until Spain scored. Iran was going for a tie from the opening kick. I think if Iran tied the game they would've sat back again.

 

[Phorcys]

I think he meant American-born versus immigrant population. But I can see how that can be misinterpreted.

I did not misinterpret his post.

If I recall correctly, based on his prior posts, AZHuskiePop is proudly second- or third-generation Italian-American.

Ask him who he roots for in games between Italy and the United States. Ask him who his parents rooted for. Ask him who his grandparents rooted for. The answers across the board are likely to be “Italia”.

To me, that’s fine. Pride in your heritage is important, and the positive influences of having a multitude of cultures are what make America great.

I also understand rooting for heritage over nationality in sports. Christ, I am 12th generation Anglo-American (my patrilineal ancestors settled in New Jersey in 1636), and, even still, part of me roots for England against the United States, albeit a very small part (say, 1/12th).


Back to discussing the World Cup…

What a weird World Cup this is—no United States, no Italy, no Netherlands—and hosted by a nation that corruptly purchased the tournament and is currently the highest scoring team.


The squads I support (in no particular order):

1) England—Without the US in the tournament, I revert to my heritage.

2) Brazil— My children are, matrilineally, first generation, dual-citizen Brazilian-Americans, both born in the US. My daughter doesn’t care about sports, but my son roots for Brazil over the US, and that’s fine with me.

3) Mexico—Any healthy rivalry in sports requires one to root for your conference, or, in this case, your region. Go CONCACAF!

 

[navery12]

Well they already qualified for 2026 so pretty great

They actually haven't decided how to handle the automatic bids for 2026 yet

 

[UConnTrumbull]

They actually haven't decided how to handle the automatic bids for 2026 yet

Officially no but it’s about 99% sure that all 3 will bet auto berths. USSF president said something along those lines.

 

[Jaker]

The Aussie's looked really good against Denmark, had many chances to win today.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Officially no but it’s about 99% sure that all 3 will bet auto berths. USSF president said something along those lines.

Main benefit is to Canada. I think USA would get in on its own, and Mexico almost certainly would. I wonder what happens to the other teams in Concacaf. That is all three of our slots.

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

Vamos Peru!

 

[intlzncster]

France came out on fire. Perú settled down a bit. This one looks physical.