[Football] FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa

hehe, very childish but if it makes your e-peen feel better then good for you.

 

These people would have to be programmed at an early age to not have a robotic thought process to the game. And that goes against American ideals. Even American basketball is extremely stop and start compared to the European game where there's a lot more team work and ball movement, in terms of making the pass that leads to the assist, but much less individual talent. You have guys like Steve Nash and Tony Parker who would thrive with their creativity and wily moves but Derrick Rose, Carmelo, etc? Let's not make a joke out of this thread.

It goes back to the nature vs nurture debate. The rest of the world has the fiesty chip on their shoulder and trickery that makes very good soccer players - the mentality of the nation you grow up in plays a big factor in shaping your approach and feel for the game. I think Donovan is a bit of an anomaly, he was an extremely rebellious child and fed off the "system" when he was at IMG if I remember correctly. If Derrick Rose grew up in England playing soccer, who knows what his ceiling would be like. But he didn't - as a result he'd just be another strong athlete running around with his head cut off playing for Team USA.

 

there is a ton of creativity shown on the court night in and night out. Nearly every game, whether it's Wade doing some amazing pass around a guy and partially out of bounds, or Paul passing it through someone's legs.

Also, the whole European style of basketball compared to America is irrelevant, the Spurs play nothing like the Lakers, and the Lakers play nothing like the Rockets...etc etc. The reason a lot of Euro teams play like that because quite simply, they don't have a go to player to literally play through. If you have Yao Ming, who scores at a incredibly high rate...you get him the ball.

Also when Fiba rolls around you are going to see teams who rely more on teamwork because of the lack of a game changing player...and teams like Argentina who may put a large workload on a guy like Scola because they have a guy like that.

...most of the guys in the NBA grew up with a chip on their shoulder and not much to lose. Not everyone in a nation is born with the same mentality. Some guys grew up just fine, it still didn't stop them. I'm not into grouping people together and saying they can't do something.

About the robotic thing, I am not saying you have to be robotic while playing(great players know when to be disciplined and when to let loose in both games) but all the skills you learn are forced into your brain. Basketball just like soccer allows a lot of creative expression, Magic was the perfect case of that...and Duncan is too. In that Magic thought the game should be played with a certain flair, and Duncan did not. Both are HOF all time players who approached the game differently.

Also, the rest of the world is getting better at Basketball...oddly enough as the popularity of the sport grows you get guys like this...

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Dirk said himself, he became a basketball player because he watched the NBA and saw Jordan play, i'm sure that is the case for a lot of players.

In America, EPL or any of the Euro leagues are hardly ever televised. Kids here don't ever see players like Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney, they barely see any MLS.

I'm with DD, that if the MLS was more popular you'd see a better team.

Also I didn't realize that it was American to be stale and not creative at all. I think our history argues against that if anything. But this is way off topic now.

 

Ronny, you're an idiot. Enough said.

 

It was England being England.

Good players, bad team.
We're like the dutch in that we have good players but on the national team we flatter to deceive(I should mention we don't play good football like the dutch)
for reasons mainly being managers that don't pick the right players or players being placed in formations and positions that don't suit them. The dutch just have the little internal conflicts while we have managers that flub their lines.
No one would have ever thought the Don would fall prey to the same mistakes that other England managers make. Falling for certain players that have no business being on the team and not playing to the strength of the team.
We don't deserve to go through. Neither of my countries deserve to go through.

England are sh!te and we should all know it by now. Any Englishman that is optimistic before an England match vs any opponent, be it Cape Verde or Brazil, needs to have their head checked.

 

To qualify my last statement. To say that a nation is inherently "natural" while the US is not means that South Americans or Europeans or Africans or Asians or whoever have a genetic advantage over the United State's brainless, robotic athletes.

FYI, Ronny, America is the most diverse country in the world. We have no homogeneous genetic makeup. Your idea of an inherent advantage is just as brainless as your conception of American athletes.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/the_beautiful_blog/2010/06/how-the-us-can-move-on-group-c.html

The United States should have had a win today, but it was still a good day for American soccer, as the U.S. did get a 2-2 tie with Slovenia after trailing by two goals at halftime, and now, thanks to England's stunning scoreless draw with Algeria, a win on Wednesday will get the U.S. through to the knockout stages of the World Cup.

The U.S. plays Algeria on Wednesday at 10 a.m., the same time that England and Slovenia square off. Here are the possibilities...

USA win, ENG win: USA and England tie atop group -- Group winner would be team that wins by more goals on Wednesday. If it's by an equal margin, it goes to total goals scored. The U.S. currently has a 3-1 advantage.

USA win, ENG tie: USA and Slovenia tie atop group -- Group winner decided by goal differential, so USA would win the group with a margin of two or more goals. If USA and SVN are tied at +1, next tiebreaker is goals scored, currently 3-3. After that, it would be numbers out of a hat to decide which team wins the group, and which faces the winner of Group D in the round of 16.

USA win, ENG loss: Slovenia wins group, USA advances

USA tie, ENG win: England wins group, Slovenia advances

USA tie, ENG tie: Slovenia wins group, USA and England tie for second -- Tie would be broken by total goals scored, in which the U.S. currently has a 3-1 edge. So if England has a 2-2 tie and the U.S. a scoreless one, it would then go to numbers out of a hat, the cruelest fate of all.

USA tie, ENG loss: Slovenia wins group, USA advances

USA loss, ENG win: England wins group, Algeria and Slovenia tie for second -- Tie would be broken by goal differential, currently a +1 to -1 edge for Slovenia, but that would obviously disappear in the case of a Slovenia loss to England and Algeria win over the U.S. Next tiebreaker is total goals, currently 3-0 for Slovenia. If that's even, Slovenia advancesa based on its head-to-head win.

USA loss, ENG loss or tie: Slovenia wins group, Algeria advances

 

It's awesome, but the US team was robbed. It should have wrapped with a win.

 

Dribbling ball on the side is perfectly legal, any ways it means he'll fit right in with the rest of the league

Carrying isn't really as strict a rule anymore, as long as it isn't blatant, it is hardly ever called now.

 

OMG. He's soooo good.

 

Predictions for Wednesday: Slovenia draws with England and Algeria beats US.

SLOVENIA AND ALGERIA MOVE ON !!

Unlikely predictions but if we get the US from the first half of todays game, it could happen.

 

Wooppeeedee doo for small favors.

The USA should be on the top of the group only needing a draw to advance.

DD

 

wow,wow,wow. i <3 america. i think we will beat ronny and advance to the next round. wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

An USA draw combined with an England win would eliminate the USA.

 

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You have to love USA odds on advancing, since England was a no show.

 

Ya, ESPN is talking about it now. Dude doesn't deserve to be involved in ANY way in the world cup....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-.../us/fifa-ax-us-slovenia-ref-wc?cc=5901&ver=us

lol. He just never had control of the game, lots of yellows....shoving....then that goal. bah.