There is one drawback I'd like to discuss when it comes to the World Cup. If you play, I find there is this phenomenon that happens to amateurs during the big tournaments (World Cup and Euro especially). Amateurs forget they're amateurs. They see Ronaldo do something and they think they can do the same in their O-30 indoor game later that night. They see the dives. They see the complaining. They only seem to remember the very good and the very bad when it comes to their actual game. Then, they're not physically capable of doing the very good...but they're mentally capable of the very bad. Even worse, it draws the new player out into thinking they can play at a higher level. I'm in a league full of guys that have been playing for decades. Many played in college, semi-pro or even full pros. You stepping onto the field after having purchased your foam shinguards from Academy an hour ago with these guys is not a good thing for anyone. Either you're going to get hurt or you're going to accidentally hurt someone else. Those are really the only 2 possible outcomes. I'm all for adding to the ranks. Please come out and play...just understand there is no shame in playing in Men's 6.
Vidal played 15 minutes against Northern Ireland, much to the worry of everyone in Chile. Seriously, a guy not even a month removed from MCL surgery shouldn't be playing. But we'll see, he says he's playing against Australia, I don't think that's a good idea.
If you're an US fan, you should want Mexico to do well. Both team and region rankings would improve and that's huge since both are values in the formula. Personally, I'm rooting all CONCACAF. I would love to out perform AFC and CAF overall in 2014. I think 3rd best region after UEFA and CONMEBOL should be the goal.
I usually root for all Spanish speaking countries plus USA. Obviously if I have money on another country I would root for that country.
It feels like we say that EVERY World Cup. I wonder if it's really true for this one or if say the stars injured prior to 2010 were more than for 2014? Someone grin should do a comparison. I'm too busy(lazy) to start googling.
Good chance it happens. But I think it is a tie. Australia and Korea dropped down significantly. Iran is in a difficult group. Japan is second round fodder at best. Mexico, US and Honduras are all in difficult groups as well. Best chance for Mexico to compete with Croatia for 2nd place. US has a slim chance that Portugal or Germany slip up but I do not see that happening IMHO. BTW imagine what it would be like to have a "Uruguay, England, Italy, US" group instead of Costa Rica
Sorry to disappoint, Dave-O. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9vd-SQUaY_g?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
you say there is a chance? of course there is. Germany and Portugal are Top 5 teams. One is the odd team out. There could always be more injuries to players like Reus, Ronaldo.
The German team is probably about 18-20 deep, and player no. 20 is probably still better than the best US player. I'm not saying we will win the World Cup (don't think so), but a lot would have to happen for the USA to have a chance against Germany.
4-2-3-1 today for the USMNT: Code: Johnson-Cameron-Besler-Beasley Jones-Beckerman Dempsey-Bradley-Bedoya Altidore
US has no chance if Ronaldo is healthy, and they would have a even worse chance if they were in that theoretical group w/ Italy, England, and Uruguay.
