Reyna's best play by far was when he cleated that little fat German who pulled reyna down on top of him. Sure he got a yellow, but it was worth it.
The German GK was the man of the match--though Donovan, Reyna and Sonniet (sp?) could have made more with their oppertunities. I actually think this was the best played match by the US team for the most part--they just didn't quite finish as well as in other matches but much has to be credited from the German defenders and especially the GK. Still, I don't think I have ever seen our national team play better on the 90% of the field not in striking range. The passing and skills are so superior to the last 2 world cups it isn't even funny. Speaking of GK, why England put that turtle of one out there I'll never know. That guy has to have one of the worst allowed goals in WC quarterfinal history. It was the kind of goal usually only the women's game produces because their goalies are too short/not enough vertical to reach the top of the goal. If England had that German GK (or maybe even Friedal) Brazil would be heading home. Brazil versus Spain/Germany is pretty much a set final IMO. Senegal could score a couple on Brazil but I look for Brazil to score one or two more in a dazzling open match. SK and Turkey, like the US, can go home this weekend proud.
After watching that outstanding match, Sanneh is easily my favorite player now. The dude is long and skinny, but he still manages to be fast, and in control. It is a wonder to watch. Of course, with another World Cup not happening for another 4 years, I am sure I will have completely forgotten that Sanneh is my favorite player, even if he is still playing. Oh well.
USA played very well...well done! The hand ball was unlucky. You should have had a penalty. However...what goes around, comes around...and you only beat Mexico because the referee missed the most obvious hand ball I have ever seen by your O'Brien. Mexico get that...they win. Still, well done...and Donavan is a very promising player.
Good match. The Germans are too damn TALL! Who's gonna stop those dead ball situations. Brazil won't be able too either. Brazils only hope is going to be to outscore them. And they can certainly do that. It was nice to see the U.S. attacking so well. Even tho Germany laid back, when is the last time you saw the U.S. pass the ball into the box that well? Wow. Whoever was supposed to check Sanneh sucked. He was wide open all night and that almost cost the Germans. Donavan had a chance to turn and fire late but dribbled a roller to the goalie. Damn it all. That was probably one of the better chances. He was in the clear. Reyna had a nice volley when he tried to beat the wandering german goalie. McBride is my favorite player. He left it on the field. He gets his head on the ball, and he even scored with his foot too. The funniest goalie I ever saw was that Campos guy for Mexico. he used to run out past mid-field in a tie game. Talk about wandering. Anyway, good match. In 4 years we will be back with a whole new group of MLS'ers.
You misunderstand, SRJ. He's saying people would resent US success in football even if the American public did "get" the sport; not that the rest of the world stinks. So who's the one with the inferiority complex....
Huh? Even had Mexico converted the penalty kick, which isn't automatic with Friedel, it would've been a tie game. The US got stronger as that game went on... there's no reason to think they couldn't have scored another goal.
David Seaman. He had a heck of a world cup, too bad his international career had to end like that. Give credit to Ronaldinho, it was a heck of a shot. That goal will be talked about for years to come. Seaman was beaten late in the 1995 Cup Winner's Cup final on a long shot from about midfield if I remember correctly. He had strayed out there too, this gave Real Zaragoza the win over Arsenal. Hate to judge him on those two moments, he's been a great keeper over his career.
Exactly, thank you Dakota. SRJ: Do I detect a little bit of jealousy on your part because the US proved that they are no longer patsies in soccer on the World Stage???
Sorry, but it just don't work like that in football (or soccer if you must). A goal changes the face of the game - so there is no telling that if they got a goal then, then they would not have gotten any others, or USA scoring theirs. (this is just general speaking as I didnt see the game, so I'm not saying USA would not have won the game if Mexico would have scored "that" goal, I'm just saying that goals means so much that they can change the rest of the game) As an example, I believe Belgium could have beaten Brazil if the perfectly good goal that would have sent Belgium up 1-0 wasnt taken away. Even if Brazil won 2-0 you cant say that it didnt matter - Brazil would have won anyway. Not the case. The 2nd goal for Brazil even came late when Belgium was going hard for to tie the game 1-1, so they could have gotten that extra goal as a result of Belgium being forced on offense. Maybe if Belgium had gotten that 1-0 lead as they should, that in the end they could have won 1-0, or even 2-0 with Brazil forced on offense, instead of losing 0-2 - you just can't tell.
I'm watching the game on tape right now. Is it me or is #6 and #7 for Germany complete assholes?? #7 especially...he thinks he is something. Somebody please tell me that he is not a star in the German league...please someone say he is not... Heath (my demi-God): You can say that in any sport. It's called momentum. Maybe if Mexico gets a penalty kick on the handball, they score a goal and get the momentum to win the game against the US. Maybe if the US gets a penalty kick on the handball, they score a goal and get the momentum to win the game against Germany.
well scoring a basket and a goal is two different things - in football you can see teams change the way they play over 1 goal - that dont happen for a single basket - you might call it momentum - but it is so much more in football than highscoring sports
Manny, while you're watching the game let me know what you think about the foul that led to the german goal. They simply would not show the replay of that "foul" and i wanna know if you think it was legitimate.
so was the mexico game 1-0 at the time of our handball. then there might be a point. however, mexico's didn't actually have the ball going into the net and have it handed away. they should've have gotten a PK right (if i understand the rules correctly). also, has anyone seen a replay of whether the handball had crossed the line or not. first off, since i don't know, does the whole ball have to cross the whole line or just the front of the line or does just any part of the ball have to be over any part of the white line. becuase it sure looks like at least part of the ball had gotten over the front of the line even before being hit. of course there are no goal line camera's (that's how you know it's not an american sport, we've got camera's out the ass and from every angle at every sporting event) so you can't really tell. also, this reminds me of the raiders/pats game with that whole non-fumble thing. it may have been the right call by the rules, but it sure seems like a stupid rule. you can't just be knocking balls out of the goal.
Cat A deliberate hand ballin the penalty area is an automatic send off. Thus, score becomes 1-1 and USA have 10 players. Odd are Mexico win from there pretty easily. TPL...We'd all actually like to see you do well. You guys have pretty quickly forgotten that FIFA gave you the 1994 tournament to BOOST the game in the USA. Sport is global...and that includes the USA. Just like the NBA DESPERATELY WANTS a Chinese guy to do well and go first in the draft...
Well, you can understand how it would kind of suck for millions of obsessive fan-people if the USA won the whole thing this time round, because most of the country doesn't really give a crap about the game. It would be like America winning a cricket match in India, or something, but not giving a toss about it really, while Indians love cricket to the exclusion of all else... or conversely, a New Zealand team going to the Super Bowl when our entire country is really rugby-mad and mostly thinks gridiron is incredibly silly. Wouldn't that drive you all nuts? (If you ever let any other countries actually *play* in the Super Bowl, of course. ) There's a cool, if obscure, political/sport/musical/everything commentator called Russell Brown. He said something interesting before this match took place: Dunno if I agree, though it's an interesting thought. The editor of Salon said something similar, I believe. (Obviously, I'm more interested in what soccer means rather than how it's played. I only watch highlights shows, and New Zealand *really* REALLY sucks at it, on an epic level. We specialise in own goals. So tell me to bugger off and continue b****ing about handballs and Mexico if you like. )
I just saw your post. KK: That was a weak call at best. Of course, I saw the handball that didn't get called. As a former soccer player, I know that calling a handball is a judgment call. If the referee does not feel that the player deliberately used his hand or arm to stop the ball, then he doesn't have to call the play a handball. Unfortunately, the corner happened so fast that unless the ref was like within 20 feet, I think it would be very hard for him to call that. It reminded me of a bang-bang play in baseball. The real-time action happened so fast that you almost have to be expecting a handball to happen if you are going to call it. Of course, looking at the replays, you can make an argument in either case to call a handball or not but once again a judgment call. I hated to see us lose 1-0 instead of 2-0 or 3-0, etc. because we will always wonder "what if" if the ref calls that play a handball. Now, I never saw the game with Mexico and did not see O'Brien's play, but from what I have been told or read his was even more obvious. Of course, we would be all upset if the ref called it... Seriously, I would have had no problem if the ref called a handball on that play. Nonetheless, it was a great performance by our country, and maybe this will help get even more people in the States into soccer.
