I'm saying it. Were gonna win the whole damn thing for the next century. Brad Davis is starting tonight vs Korea.
Dude stop with that nonsense. The above has been written about and discussed ad nauseum on US Soccer websites and forum. Kam already responded with everything that needs to be said about that.
On my end, I was responding to the post which criticized yours. Thanks for explaining though, definitely clarifies. Fair point made by you.
Real contenders means semifinals. I just replied to your post and said that it's not a realistic scenario, nor a good target. WC 2022 is still a long way to go, but I'd be surprised if US even makes it to the quarterfinals. Winning is not an option until 2038 or something like that. Germany should be a reference point for every ambitious football nation, because they have the best youth facilities in the world and football is their national sport, so they should be a dominant force in years to come. Realistically, USA needs 20-30 years to make up-to-par youth facilities, produce high quality talents year in, year out and have consistently good results on the international level. Of course, it can be done in less time, but that will be a hard task to accomplish in a nation where soccer is the 4th-5th most important sport.
I think the US will make it to the knockout stage. We will beat Ghana, and I actually like or chances to beat Portugal or at least draw.
That is your opinion and you're welcome to it. In my opinion, it is a realistic scenario. Again, not a definitive statement of fact. A realistic scenario.
US will not make it out of the knockout stages this year. Guaranteed. It'll be a reality check that the US soccer system and team is not close to competiting with the elite teams across the world.
I'm not saying it will be easy because it won't but the one thing the US has going for them is their schedule. Playing Germany last is big.
For the US to make it out of the group stage, they'll have to excel at something in those three games. Which part or players of the US' game play do you see excelling in Brazil?
A little confident there aren't ya? I wouldn't be so quick to think that. Portugal are very beatable. The Ghana game is the key imo. As I wrote in the response above yours, a little confident there as well aren't ya? Ghana is not Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico or all those other fabulous Concacaf teams. They are no joke and if there is one things US fans should not be overconfident about or even confident about, it is beating Ghana. Feel free to be confident about beating Portugal because the USA haven't been owned in the past by Portugal but respect better be shown to Ghana or else it will be same old $hit, just a different World Cup, for the USA matched up with Ghana.
I am very confident on that, but would love to hear to counter discussion. I've watched a lot of this U.S. team but am no expert. I really am interested in knowing what people think the strengths are of this US team that will (possibly) allow them to advance from the group. For example, last year, Altidore was playing out of his mind which really carried the team. In the World Cup last time, you had great performances from Howard. What players or part of the team do you see stepping up to beat Ghana, to tie or beat Protgual, to tie Germany?
I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the US may or may not advance out of the group. It really all comes down to if they can finish in one of the top two spots.
Why is playing Germany last "big"? Do you think that if they were already 2-0 they would not play hard versus the US?
The team has had a lot of time playing together, so chemistry shouldn't be a problem. Howard will need to play big to compensate for the relatively inexperienced back line. The recent moves to MLS make me less confident in saying this, but fitness should be fine. Bradley is the team's fulcrum and if he's playing at a high level, the US should be able to dictate pace. If Altidore, Donovan, Dempsey and Johannsson are in form, scoring should come more naturally than it did under Bradley. We no longer play the behind-the-ball and counter-attack style that we had in 2010.
Ah, great point, I think Johannsson will be the X Factor for this World Cup. He is a great player and in great form right now. I'm worried about Donovan and Dempsey, and Altidore has dropped of from his excellent form last year as well.
Big from the US' perspective, not Germany's. The hope is that they'll be resting starters and, if necessary, we won't have to play their A team in a win-or-go-home situation.
