USA! USA! USA!

DerHntr

All-Conference
Sep 18, 2007
15,826
2,782
113
Well....

Either I jinxed us or they were just gonna kill us anyway
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
7,503
0
0
I said...

""

Let's just get through this first 10 mins. And there it went... Every year, the same story. They looked like a group of 4th graders out there then.

Playing without a score, they could have really turned up the heat on the Portuguese. The Portuguese have no idea on what heat is.
 

HammerOfTheDogs

All-Conference
Jun 20, 2001
10,771
1,571
113
As long as the US tried their hardest, and had fun, EVERYBODY'S A WINNER. Mondos and orange slices for everyone.
 

OrrDawg

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
487
1
18
Surely to hell we have somebody on the bench that can play more aggressively than this *****.
 
Nov 16, 2005
27,639
20,678
113
I promise you, they need Bradley to play. I know everyone's pissed but he's the best at that position.
 

Xenomorph

All-American
Feb 15, 2007
15,407
9,173
113
Are you saying he's TJ Mawhinney?

Is he the only guy who's capable of making the defensive calls??
 

Lawdawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Jul 22, 2012
5,335
1,150
113
Or if 20 puts a body on the wide open guy behind him, games over. And wasn't 20 the one who failed to clear on the first goal? Just sayin.
 

Desoto

Redshirt
Mar 10, 2013
272
0
0
Please. Before you start talking about Bradley go watch all the qualifiers and his play for Roma. Then tell me he isn't good. By the way, I think he played pretty freaking good today. They all did. You may not realize but when we got dealt this group, most people would've said you were full of it to say we'd have 4 points right now. More ways we get through than we don't.
 

dawgman42

All-American
Jul 24, 2007
5,946
5,732
113
Campbell was the cause of both goals for Portugal. He played very well other than those two lapses in judgment.
 

FlotownDawg

All-American
Aug 30, 2012
6,853
7,190
113
All Bradley had to do was kick it to the corner flag

And we win the game. Absolutely can't give the ball away like that. And he's been doing it all tournament. He played well in the qualifiers but he's been our worst player so far at this World Cup.
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
7,503
0
0
Or if 20 puts a body on the wide open guy behind him, games over. And wasn't 20 the one who failed to clear on the first goal? Just sayin.

If you go down that road, why is there only one man back with 1 minute left to go in the game?
 

rugbdawg

Redshirt
Oct 10, 2006
5,251
0
0
Bradley is our best player and it's not debatable. These last two games he has been dreadful. That's not debatable either.
 

Lawdawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Jul 22, 2012
5,335
1,150
113
There were at least three guys back on that cross. One guy was short post. One guy (the little late sub maybe?) was behind the cutter. Maybe he should've caught the cutter. But only one guy was in position to head the ball out. He simply made no play.
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
7,503
0
0
There were at least three guys back on that cross. One guy was short post. One guy (the little late sub) was behind the cutter. Maybe he should've caught the cutter. But only one guy was in position to head the ball out. He simply made no play.

No, I just saw the replay. There were four guys at the top of the box. Three of them started watching Ronaldo instead of marking the ONLY player who could score.

ETA: maybe they were playing for an offsides call. I sure hope not.
 
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Shamoan

Redshirt
Jun 27, 2013
12,466
0
0
bradley cost us 3 points today. his play was better today, but his poor ball control have cost us 2 goals thus far this tournament.
 

Lawdawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Jul 22, 2012
5,335
1,150
113
He wasn't the only one who didn't make a play. But he was the one in the best position to make a play. And he didnt. Obviously yes, other guys should've made a play too. But that's HIS position.

I just don't see how you can watch that match and put the blame on Bradley, when Campbell made mistakes on BOTH of their goals.
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
7,503
0
0
I just don't see how you can watch that match and put the blame on Bradley, when Campbell made mistakes on BOTH of their goals.

That was a Bill Buckner moment. The Buckner Blunder didn't lose the series, but it set up the loss. If they advance, everyone will forget.

Up to that point, the US had a ticket punched to the knockout round and could rest players in the 3rd match.
 

MSUDC11

Redshirt
Aug 23, 2012
7,316
0
0
If you would've told me two weeks ago that we would beat Ghana and tie Portugal, I would take that all day every day. But Germany not winning yesterday changes that dramatically.

We must find a way to draw. You play to win, but I just don't see that happening. And I think Ghana beats Portugal, possibly badly.

We can lose and still advance, but we can't lose by more than a goal and Ghana can't win by more than a goal. And even then we need to be even with them on goals scored.

For instance, let's say we lose 1-0. We would advance if Ghana wins 1-0, but not if they win 2-1. And if we lose 2-1, Ghana can't win 3-2 and us still advance. The score must be the exact same in the final games for us to advance with a loss and a Ghana win.

Or one of us could tie and none of it matters.
 

Lawdawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Jul 22, 2012
5,335
1,150
113
First tiebreaker is goal differential. Whether they win 1-0 or 14-13, that only counts as a +1 for goal differential.
 

FlotownDawg

All-American
Aug 30, 2012
6,853
7,190
113
Yes, but 2nd tiebreaker is total goals scored, 3rd tiebreaker is head to head

First tiebreaker is goal differential. Whether they win 1-0 or 14-13, that only counts as a +1 for goal differential.
Right now, we have scored 4 goals, Ghana 3. If we lose by one goal and they win by one goal, we will still go through if we have still scored the same amount of goals as Ghana. If we lose 1-0 and they win 1-0, we would be even in both goal difference and total goals scored, but we would go through on the head to head tiebreaker. However, if we lose 1-0 and they win 2-1 or we lose 2-1 and they win 3-2, they would go through because they would have scored more total goals than us. We really need a draw against Germany, because I think Ghana will beat Portugal and score at least 2 goals in doing so.
 

HammerOfTheDogs

All-Conference
Jun 20, 2001
10,771
1,571
113
I am, but every time I try to buy into it.....

...something stupid happens like what the US did today- they totally Mississippi State-ed it in the last minute...all the while some American player was laying on the ground like he was shot, instead of running back on defense.

I say, get up, push the leg bone back in, and try to put a body on the Portugese guy who made the goal.

Oh, and when I was watching it, no South American swimsuit models came in to re-arrange my man-cave.
 

HammerOfTheDogs

All-Conference
Jun 20, 2001
10,771
1,571
113
We need Sylvester Stallone in goal against the Germans:
 

MSUDC11

Redshirt
Aug 23, 2012
7,316
0
0
After watching them yesterday, I'm baffled at how we beat Ghana by playing so poorly. They can beat anybody in this tournament.

Portugal is a one man show. We gift-wrapped their first goal, and the second one was all Ronaldo.

That one may end 4-3 if CR7 is on his game. Both teams have pretty pedestrian defenses. Ghana is better all-around though.

I'm terrified that Ozil and Muller will just pick us apart. Plus Klose and Podolski are scoring machines every World Cup. I hope we have enough left in the tank to somehow get a draw.
 

UpTheMiddlex3Punt

All-Conference
May 28, 2007
17,963
3,965
113
The relevance of soccer in America will be seen if we don't advance. The round-of-16 games will have ratings close to the Birmingham Bowl.
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
7,503
0
0
After watching them yesterday, I'm baffled at how we beat Ghana by playing so poorly. They can beat anybody in this tournament. Portugal is a one man show. We gift-wrapped their first goal, and the second one was all Ronaldo. That one may end 4-3 if CR7 is on his game. Both teams have pretty pedestrian defenses. Ghana is better all-around though. I'm terrified that Ozil and Muller will just pick us apart. Plus Klose and Podolski are scoring machines every World Cup. I hope we have enough left in the tank to somehow get a draw.

I agree with you about having enough left in the tank. Plus, can the team pick itself up off the mat? This scenario has just made it worse that they left Donovan off the roster.

Don't forget about the Sweinsteiger. What's bad is that Germany has Sweinsteiger and Klose coming off the bench. Ouch!

The Group Stage is a complicated beast. Who's ready to play the first game? Who loses a player because of injury or red card? Who will play to win the third match?

If the USMNT would have played Ghana in the second game, no doubt they would have lost. The difference between the US matches were scoring in the 1st 10 mins. vs. trailing in the 1st 10 mins.

I wouldn't say Portugual is a one man show because that one man only played like his life depended on it for only 20 seconds. He'll play vs. Ghana, but I doubt he has anything left in the tank.