Today I had for lunch chili con carne while rooting for the US The US got lucky on that goal, but Howard made great saves and Onyewu played good defense, so its even. Rooney played good, did some great plays, but couldnt score. I dont mind the vuvuzuelas, its a part of the game, people paid big money to support their favorite team, and they can be as loud as they want, while they are respecting other fans. And if you thought the vuvuzuelas were too loud, the GK of RSA thought they should be louder, and they didnt hear it loud enough. http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/wo...ans-didnt-show-up--fbintl_ro-khune061110.html
Way off. We're 13 in the power index. Mexico is 12. Fifa has US at 14 and Mexico at 17. Doesn't exactly spell decades ahead of us.
This is exactly what I'm fearing for the rest of the round. Slovenia should be favored to beat us. Algeria will give us a tough game but I think we can prevail. I think people are just dismissing our other pool opponents and might get stunned.
Maybe I just hate coaches that play their sons because I go to school at Colorado I just thought he turned the ball over a good amount
Are you sure? I hate to go to the index again but Slovenia is at 49 and Algeria is worse at 65. Fifa rankings has them at 25 and 30, respectively. I don't see how we aren't going to be the favorite in these games.
yeah but if the winner of there game beats USA goes. or even ties us we would have to beat the loser by more goals. still a small margin for error really.
I'm sure y'all are going to agree to disagree, but just because you are ranked higher doesn't mean you're better. I'll just say that it won't be a surprise to me if Slovenia wins. The US will have to play a great game to win. However, I do hope that we destroy them all and finally get to an elim round.
Those rankings are just as much crap as the fifa rankings in my opinion. I don't hold any regard for them. I mean the more ranked games they play the better their ranking in some ways so if teams don't schedule many international games then they really don't get ranked as much. I know they have revamped it since the 2006 world cup but it still puts weight on the games you play internationally that are recognized by FIFA. It's not like teams play the same number of games so it would all be exactly the same.
ESPN's SPI is a better ranking system according to ESPN... USA is 13 (fifa 14) Slovenia is 33 (fifa 25) Algeria 65 (fifa 30) Mexico is 12th in ESPNs SPI ranking.
Hope you're being sarcastic. England is not a top 3 team. They have no specific quality. Are they good defenders? Attackers? Are they excellent at keeping posession? Do they have someone as good as c ronaldo or messi? It's plain to see. England look better than they are, because the EPL is the most popular league in the world. I think we'll see that this year.
Australia v. Germany in a couple of hours. I can't wait to see how good this Australian team really is though I am being realistic and expecting a loss. Would be over the moon with a draw. I don't think Australia has any real scoring threats but with Ballack out I hope Germany's playmaking struggles. Final prediction: 2-0 to Germany Let's go Australia!
I disagree. England has many difference-making players such as Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard. All 3 of these guys can come out of no where and make an impact. ex: Rooney last night when he almost scored (lifted the ball over the defender) They are a really dangerous team, but I agree that they don't have any particular style (defense, offense, etc). Also agree with the fact that they are at 8, not that they are at 3.
Where do you even draw this conclusion from? Slovenia and Algeria both had upsets just to barely make it into the world cup. They are 2 of the worst teams in this world cup, best draw the US has had in a long time as far as group stages. And btw finally reach elim rounds? You do know we made it to the quarterfinals in 2002?
It's going to be Bradly and Torres on Friday. Has to be. There has to be someone to hold and create out of the midfield. 2 defensive mids aren't going to do well against a team like Slovenia that's going to get 9 or 10 behind the ball at all times. I'd even take Edu as he as some creativity to his game. Clark is just a 5th fullback...and he didn't exactly do a great job of that yesterday. I'm satisfied with the result, but it could have been a win with a couple of strategic moves and certainly better finishing. I certainly feel a lot better about the defense than I did before the game.
