OT: Boneyard "Other Football" World Cup Thread

[Waquoit]

I give this squad a TON of credit. Had the most travel of anyone and still advanced from the "group of death" without their best offensive player. I thought our World Cup was over the second Altidore came up lame.

And the worst travel schedule. JK built a roster for today and tomorrow while advancing from the group of death. Tremendous job.

 

[meyers7]

- Thought we'd get completely hosed by a bad officiating decision.

Still holding my breath on that one. At least it didn't happen in the group stages.

 

[Adios]

It's official. Klinsmann is the best thing to happen to US Soccer ever.

He might be the best thing that happened to the sports culture here in a long time. Kobe knows he is right but I also do agree that it's reasonable to be paid for what's been accomplished in the past.

 

[RioDog]

Proud of the USMNT advancing. Would have loved to go undefeated, or even 2-0-1 with what should have been win against Portugal. Would have been great to advance under our own steam. Thank Christmas Germany demolished them in their first match. All things considered I thought we did a nice job holding Germany to 1 goal.

BTW did anyody get the sense that the Germans were also tired, or at least conserving their energy? I know the US was in full packed-in defensive mode, which certainly slowed the German attack, and the German possesions in our end seemed to last for an eternity, but I kept waiting for them to step on the gas and really start running at the US hard, and it never happened.

 

[Adios]

BTW did anyody get the sense that the Germans were also tired, or at least conserving their energy? I know the US was in full packed-in defensive mode, which certainly slowed the German attack, and the German possesions in our end seemed to last for an eternity, but I kept waiting for them to step on the gas and really start running at the US hard, and it never happened.

Of course. It was obvious the Germans were saving themselves for later.

 

[junglehusky]

He might be the best thing that happened to the sports culture here in a long time. Kobe knows he is right but I also do agree that it's reasonable to be paid for what's been accomplished in the past.

If Kobe were a footballer for Bayern or Barcelona they wouldn't keep him around. (That may be because Euro club teams have development systems of their own instead of having to draft young players). But playing for a US major pro team, they sometimes do decide to pay an aging star too much money simply for the noteriety and because the fanbases expect them to.

PS - I think this is the first time Butch went on a random tangent and I understood what he was talking about! (JK's criticism of Kobe)

 

[junglehusky]

Men in Blazers postgame made a good point - imagine if the games had been in the opposite order, starting off with the 1-0 loss to Germany, then a 2-2 draw to Portugal, so we have 1 point in the group and are behind Germany and Portugal on points. Third game we need the win against Ghana who knocked us out before. The Brooks game-winning goal takes on a bigger effect, as does Germany's drubbing of Portugal.

Now of course you could argue that if you replay all those games in a different order, the scenarios for each game are different and so the strategies might change and the outcomes would be different. Still, it's a good exercise in perspective, at least for the fanbase's psyche.

 

[ZooCougar]

He might be the best thing that happened to the sports culture here in a long time. Kobe knows he is right but I also do agree that it's reasonable to be paid for what's been accomplished in the past.

I agree with that. He is a welcome addition to the pantheon of sports personalities here. Of course we have known him for a few years now as the HMFIC of all things US Soccer but he is really at the forefront now, and he really is the most visible manager in the WC now.

Our Group has really been the most intriguing in the opening stage. Look at all of the storylines.. it was the Group of Death, it had Cristiano Ronaldo, Germany, Ghana as the foil for the US. The US Coach is a German legend and he has to coach against a team that he managed two World Cups ago.

 

[ZooCougar]

Proud of the USMNT advancing. Would have loved to go undefeated, or even 2-0-1 with what should have been win against Portugal. Would have been great to advance under our own steam. Thank Christmas Germany demolished them in their first match. All things considered I thought we did a nice job holding Germany to 1 goal.

BTW did anyody get the sense that the Germans were also tired, or at least conserving their energy? I know the US was in full packed-in defensive mode, which certainly slowed the German attack, and the German possesions in our end seemed to last for an eternity, but I kept waiting for them to step on the gas and really start running at the US hard, and it never happened.

They were not saving themselves in the first half or in the beginning of the second either. Otherwise they would never bother putting Klose in.

 

[spsct]

They would do that to anybody. Germany is just that good.

Yup... And to be honest, they were going bananas here because they couldn't understand how we we keeping them away from goal. I'm not 100% happy with our startegy, but we seemed to really play an Edsall "bend but don't break" game. At the end, it worked.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

In case anyone is scoring at home.

Hey, sometimes you have to be just good enough.

 

[ZooCougar]

Hey, sometimes you have to be just good enough.

Good enough is fine coming out of this group.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yup... And to be honest, they were going bananas here because they couldn't understand how we we keeping them away from goal. I'm not 100% happy with our startegy, but we seemed to really play an Edsall "bend but don't break" game. At the end, it worked.

I think JK was right about how our team gave them too much respect early on, the 2002 team wasn't nearly as intimidated if at all.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

How long can JK go with Omar after taking a yellow. Playing with fire.

Luckily, Center Back is a position the US has depht with between Besler, Cameroon, Gonzalez, and Brooks. As for central midfieler or striker, not so much.

 

[Mots010]

I think JK was right about how our team gave them too much respect early on, the 2002 team wasn't nearly as intimidated if at all.

Totally different situations. Quarterfinal game with house money is not the same last group stage game where we didnt need to press to advance. If you want to compare to 2002, howabout us getting down 3-0 to an average Poland team in a similar scenario?

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Oh thank you God Ronaldo.

Rooting for Portugal was one of the hardest things I have ever done…

 

[whaler11]

Luckily, Centerr Back is a position the US has depht with between Besler, Cameroon, Gonzalez, and Brooks. As for central midfieler or striker, not so much.

My comment was just about how Omar was making a lot of tackles when recovering and was at risk to put them a man down. He played somewhat better as the game went along but I don't think I get a lot of the praise others have for him.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Before this one we were scoring two goals a game. This team just looked tired today.

There has not been a team that played in Manus that did not look tired in its next game. Can only hope FIFA is watching this and realizes that it will be worse for teams playing in a desert. The best team won’t win that Cup, the team with enough bodies left to field a team at the end will win.

 

[ZooCougar]

Totally different situations. Quarterfinal game with house money is not the same last group stage game where we didnt need to press to advance. If you want to compare to 2002, howabout us getting down 3-0 to an average Poland team in a similar scenario?

I remember that game well. We looked like lilliputians compared to the Poles, who basically eliminated and playing with complete abandon.

 

[ZooCougar]

There has not been a team that played in Manus that did not look tired in its next game. Can only hope FIFA is watching this and realizes that it will be worse for teams playing in a desert. The best team won’t win that Cup, the team with enough bodies left to field a team at the end will win.

I don't think there is any chance that the WC in Qatar will happen. Thankfully..

 

[junglehusky]

I don't think there is any chance that the WC in Qatar will happen. Thankfully..

But, but... it's going to be air conditioned?

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Proud of the USMNT advancing. Would have loved to go undefeated, or even 2-0-1 with what should have been win against Portugal. Would have been great to advance under our own steam. Thank Christmas Germany demolished them in their first match. All things considered I thought we did a nice job holding Germany to 1 goal.

BTW did anyody get the sense that the Germans were also tired, or at least conserving their energy? I know the US was in full packed-in defensive mode, which certainly slowed the German attack, and the German possesions in our end seemed to last for an eternity, but I kept waiting for them to step on the gas and really start running at the US hard, and it never happened.

My gut was that Germany would push hard for a quick goal and the sit back and rest a bit satisfied with a 1 to 0 win or even if the US got lucky at the end like the US does sometimes and leave with a 1 to 1 draw. No need to push hard against a physical US team and risk injury with the 1 seed secure. Credit to the US though, the defense bent a lot; but, only conceded 1 goal and almost had the equalizer there at the end.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Men in Blazers postgame made a good point - imagine if the games had been in the opposite order, starting off with the 1-0 loss to Germany, then a 2-2 draw to Portugal, so we have 1 point in the group and are behind Germany and Portugal on points. Third game we need the win against Ghana who knocked us out before. The Brooks game-winning goal takes on a bigger effect, as does Germany's drubbing of Portugal.

Now of course you could argue that if you replay all those games in a different order, the scenarios for each game are different and so the strategies might change and the outcomes would be different. Still, it's a good exercise in perspective, at least for the fanbase's psyche.

Playing a physical, fast, angry Ghana team after playing a game in Manus would not have gone well for the US.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

My comment was just about how Omar was making a lot of tackles when recovering and was at risk to put them a man down. He played somewhat better as the game went along but I don't think I get a lot of the praise others have for him.

I am not a fan of Gonzalez either, especially as he had the freshest legs for the US on the field at the end against Portugal and still was somehow trailing the play and out of position. That said, he came up big in this game and the Yellow he did get was a foul he had to give.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I don't think there is any chance that the WC in Qatar will happen. Thankfully..

Pulling the Cup from Qatar will require Sepp and FIFA admitting it made a mistake, which will happen just after Uruguay admits that Suarez is at fault for biting yet again and it is not an ‘isolated’ incident pushed by the jealous Italian and English media, including the use of digitally edited photos (all 5 zillion that were taken by 100+ agencies at the game).

Oh, and that does not take into account the legal action that Qatar will take if the Cup is taken away.