2014 World Cup - Brazil

I have a feeling that there will be A LOT of the "Mexican plan" today because Brazil will get all the calls.

But if they have skill and can beat us cleanly, there will be no need for this from the refs and line judges.

No, they just didn't have a dual attack like earlier in the game. They like the left side, but Dempsey had to cover a lot more ground.

I don't think ALTIDORE will be back at all.

 

Clint must have had a nose out of steal, broke his and played through

 

GO KOREA! I don't have a good feeling about this but I remain hopeful. Going to duck out of work early to catch it somewhere in Koreatown.

 

They left out the American Plan.

 

I have to admit, I'm only following this World Cup because of several German co-workers(and huge football fans) at work. If US can beat Germany, they'll never hear the end of it from me.

 

Germany looks really good even by their own standard. They are going to be tough for anyone to beat.

 

Welcome to the thread! Hopefully you'll stick around and banter with us - soccer is fun and there's no mutual exclusion between it and the NFL.

 

Anybody watching belgium?

 

Clear penalty. Stupid of jan.

Belgium do not choke on this group.

 

And the argentina plan. Give the ball to messi and get out of the way.

 

Algeria is defending ridiculously well. Great teamwork and their organized. Belgium needs to get Hazard more involved to start breaking down that defense. Can't rely on these long-range shots from Witsel and Dembele.

 

I would certainly be happy seeing them finish 2nd. Assuming the US finishes 2nd, I'd definitely be happier with any of Algeria, S. Korea, or Russia. But there is no logical reason they shouldn't win this group easily.

 

Unfortunately I can't really carry on an internet conversation regarding football. I only watch them at bars with the aforementioned co-workers. I can't really watch football by myself since I don't have a team to root for. And I have trouble watching teams I have no rooting interest in. The teams introduced to me by friends and co-workers have so far been Real Madrid, Sunderland, Dortmund(current co-workers), and Munich. Honestly, none of these teams have really drawn my interest much in any way.

Oh, I harbor no delusions of US having a realistic chance to beat Germany.

But we did have a conversation about whether or not the US would dominate football if we actually cared. I was of the opinion, of course, that US would destroy everyone if non-American football was as popular as MLB/NBA/NFL. So US performing well would help my argument here.

 

Bad first half. Lets hope they improve.

 

Not sure whether Belgium is playing tight and nervous due to all the pressure and expectations, or if Algeria's defense is just THAT good, but this was an unexpected half for sure. Let's see if Belgium opens things up in the second half, or if Algeria continues to thwart them on their attack. Belgium HAS to figure out how to get Hazard the ball more in space. Algeria has him completely boxed up right now.

 

I mentioned earlier that Belgium didn't impress me during the WC qualifying (shared the group with Croatia) and they continue to look average.

 

¡¡VAMOS, MARCO "Chiquidrácula" RODRÍGUEZ!!
¡A arbitrar bien en la Copa Mundial FIFA Brasil 2014 en el juego Bélgica vs. Argelia!
‪#‎refereesArePeopleNoMatterHowBad‬ ‪#‎quieroCreerEnChiquidracula‬ ‪#‎MarcoRodriguez‬ ‪#‎miseleccionYMiArbitro‬

 

Said it here, inexperience would get to Belgium. These guys need more experience on the big stage, WC 2018 will be their real test.

 

So much talent, yet so boring to watch. That is Belgium

I think they are too individually talented and yet inexperienced to put it together as a team.

Still have Fellaini, Miralles, Januzaj, Defour on the bench wow

 

Here comes Fellaini. Belgium is freaking stacked.