U20 World Cup happening in Chile right now. The US is tearing it up so far. Outside of a loss to South Africa (after they'd already clinched 1st in the group), they've annihilated New Caledonia 9-1, France 3-0, and beat Italy today 3-0 in the round of 16. Awaiting the winner of Morocco and South Korea for the quarters. They've looked really good, too. They play tough defense, press well and go forward with numbers. It's what you want to see out of the senior team. They have the Golden Boot leader, too. This is also the first time the US have fielded a team that is 100% professionals...no college players (which just reiterates my belief that the MLS should ditch the draft. We've gotten to the point to where if they're playing in college, they weren't good enough to play professionally).
as for mexico, they might have the player of the tournament in gilberto mora, a 16 yr old kid. i think if mexico beats argentina, he's the favorite. there were talks of him possibly going to the u17 world cup just to be able to say he played the u17, u20 and the senior world cup in a span of a year. ultimately, they decided against it. you're starting to get the usual rumors about every top club being after him. still a couple of years away from being able to transfer, but it would not surprise me if he's sold to top club after the real world cup.
Probably...but Infant-ino will proclaim it as the most successful World Cup ever. The thing is, people here are more willing to pay the prices than in Europe. The US doesn't see this the same way. We, as a country, don't see games/teams as belonging to the people. It's the difference between our sport teams being franchises/businesses vs local clubs that grew out of the neighborhoods. If they try this crap in 2030, there will be almost entirely empty stadiums for the Portugal and Spain matches.
They will turn this World Cup into one gigantic shitshow, won't they? Maybe I have boycotted the wrong tourney.
That's a great draw for the US. I'd feel good about it if our mid-cycle form weren't so poor (even though it's been better lately). It doesn't seem like there are any "groups of death". Maybe that's a consequence of the expanded field? I'll never complain about more games, though.
i think the usa group is very competitive. could even call it tough if turkey wins their playoff. paraguay is not going to blow anyone away but they are tough. australia is another rugged team. turkey has the talent to be good. canada got the easiest out the host nations mexico's group is ok. not tough but i could see it being competitive. whatever euro team qualifies is going to have a real rough time in the azteca games. summer with the altitude and pollution is not something you can prepare for.
Let's just focus on what's important and not the bizarre acts. Good group for our guys (don't even know where Curacao is), first place should be secured but possibly France awaits in the Ro16. Not a lot of quality in the first stage, Groups C and I will probably the most competitive.
They all look like chalk. England/Croatia/Ghana/Panama is the one that jumps out to me. Spain/Uruguay has potential to be fun, wish they had a 3rd decent team though. Too many teams = lame group play
Will be determined tomorrow. June 14: Either Germany/Curacao or Ivory Coast/Ecuador June 17: Either Portugal/IC Path 1 Winner or Uzbekista/Colombia June 20: Either Netherlands/UEFA Path B Winner or Tunisia/Japan June 23: Either Portugal/Uzbekistan or Colombia/Path 1 Winner June 26: Either Spain/Uruguay or Cape Verde/Saudi Arabia ... plus one Ro32 and one Ro16 game.
Pathetic FIFA fellates trump by giving him a nonsensical award just to distract him from trying to move matches from cities he doesn’t like. Forever, FIFA made a big point in keeping politics out of football. This disgusting show unraveled all of that in a matter of hours. Infantino is way worse than Blatter ever was. Granted, we have many posters here who are stupid enough to believe this is a real award and that the orange dumbf*** actually deserves it.
