USMNT/Soccer Thread

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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That Mexico/Uruguay game was one of the funnest games ive watched in a while.... complete pandemonium when they scored that 2nd goal...
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Can/will USA win tonight?

Who the hell knows man.....we should...but I'm about done with this experiment driven lineup idealology we have. Dempsey showed he is no CF, Wood is so much better centrally and Pulisic offers more than what Zardes does. I really am sick of watching teams like Mexico and Chile and Argentina come together and just execute like clockwork without a ton of tune ups. They know who they are and how they are going to play amd what is expected.

We tend to do well with our backs against the wall. I think we get the win, but the Paraguay game is going to be sooo tough.
 

GGCAT

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As Sean said....who the hell knows.

Bottom line is need at least a draw tonight. That would most likely make the Paraguay match winner take all. (Assuming neither Costa Rica or Paraguay defeats Colombia)

A loss tonight, and no telling what direction or makeup the team, coaches, and program as a whole have going into fall World Cup qualifiers.

Am I being too dramatic??....maybe.

So lets just go out and show out and win damn match.
 

mhroe1984

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Solid win tonight! I'm sure Colombia will take care of Paraguay and we should do the same to them on Saturday night. Second place in the group would set us up for a knockout stage game against the Group B winner which will likely be Brazil.
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Wow.... just got a mammoth break in the Colombia v. Paraguay game.... Paraguay best player Romero just got a red card....means he can't play against US....huge deal
 

Violent Cuts

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That doesn't make any sense and most Americans disagree with you. Also, Americans generally love baseball and they'd struggle to beat the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, etc in baseball.
 

Violent Cuts

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The US lost to the teams you mentioned and haven't even medaled. The roster wasn't a joke, the following players played: Brandon Phillips, Jimmy Rollins, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan Braun, Joe Mauer, Gio Gonzales, Roy Oswalt, Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, David Wright, Curtis Granderson, Shane Victorino, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia,

Luckily, Venezuela and the US actually played before and Venezuela knocked the US out, a team with the following lineup:
1 Rollins
2 Pedroia,
3 Jeter
4 Youkilis
5 Wright
6 Dunn
7 Braun
8 McCann
9 Victorino

See boxscore for the list of Venezuelans that would make the US struggle.

http://mlb.mlb.com/wbc/2013/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2009_03_11_venint_usaint_1&mode=box
 

Violent Cuts

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Puerto Rico beat a US team with a lineup of:
1 Rollins
2 Phillips
3 Braun
4 Mauer
5 Stanton
6 Zobrist
7 Hosmter
8 Jones
9 Victorino

Pretty obvious the US didn't treat that game as a joke as you suggest.

Should I go on?
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Only if you intend to eventually make a relevant point. Nothing you have said addresses the basic fact to which I was responding, a misguided comparison between the status of baseball and soccer in the Us:

The US dominates the world in baseball talent whether or not they win some silly exhibition dreamed up by MLB to try to increase international TV revenues. And the US is a distant afterthought in soccer, with roughly the same amount of overall talent as countries like Paraguay and Costa Rica.


But the US doesnt dominate in baseball.... Sure you have your Trouts, but much of The best talent in the MLB are not from the US. And those numbers are pretty skewed too because many of the great "american" players are white pitchers...
 

Violent Cuts

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Eh, let's move on. Soccer is growing in the US and will surpass baseball in fans in the next 10-20 years. It's inevitable and I'm a huge baseball fan.
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Eh, let's move on. Soccer is growing in the US and will surpass baseball in fans in the next 10-20 years. It's inevitable and I'm a huge baseball fan.

And a lot of that simply due to the rapidly changing demographics of this country. The two Mexico games have shown just how much of a massive following the sport has for Hispanics. Two massive sellouts against Uruguay and Jamaica.
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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I think the popularity of soccer in America is already really close to baseball.... not the MLS....but the amount of viewership of the BPL, La Liga and Bundesliga. I read that this past year every Premier League team got a check for almost 85mil and what caused that spike was the interest and viewership in America. This past season saw a boost of ratings and viewership that showed a growth of over 165%. Its going to result in the most lucrative media deal in soccer history this coming year. The check each BPL team will receive is expected to jump to over 100 million and could even approach 115. So you have 20 teams. Thats a media deal worth over 2.3 BILLION dollars.

Thats freaking insane!
 

Dore95

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And a lot of that simply due to the rapidly changing demographics of this country. The two Mexico games have shown just how much of a massive following the sport has for Hispanics. Two massive sellouts against Uruguay and Jamaica.

The attendance at the Mexico games shows what a massive following Mexico has in this country, not "Hispanics" in general. I live in South Florida. If there were Copa games here (there would be if it were not for ongoing renovations to Dolphins stadium) many of the South American countries (Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru) as well as Haiti would have big crowds. Strangely, many of those countries are playing their games in California where few people from those countries live.

But I do agree with your general point - in South Florida soccer is extremely popular. People talk about El Clasico and Champions League the same way they might talk about the World Series or the NHL playoffs.
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Just something about a Brit calling a game....also seem to talk about the small nuances of the game more and explain it better. Romania has to really like where they are at 0-0. They are really solid defensively.
 

BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Why not reach out to like Ray Hudson....the dude that does a lot of La Liga games....he is friggin hilarious and entertaining and brings excitement to the game.



"Real Madrid's defense was stretched out like spandex on a Miami Beach.....lol!" ---dont know who that guy is but I love him... in el clasico he called a missed chance by Suarez "the Donald Trump hairpiece of finishes".
 
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BigBlueSean_rivals178247

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Well, Welcome to the Copa America Mr. Lionel Messi.... goals in what 20 Minutes including a nasty free kick... Argentina is the best team in the world right now... and it's really not close IMO.
 

GGCAT

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Agreed, I've been disappointed with most of the Fox announcing teams.

Agreed, Ian Darke is fantastic and was on his A game yesterday for France / Romania

As far as Fox, prefer J.P. Dellacamera by leaps and bounds over whoever did the US / Colombia match. I mean soccer doesn't warrant itself to overly chatty announcers, but that dude was minimalist and monotone in words to the extreme.
 

BlueRaider22

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They seem to be really onto something with this lineup/formation. Hopefully Klinnsman can show more consitency and keep this going in the future......only making some frequent tweaks with Nagbe, etc.

Nagbe, Pulisic, etc definitely need significant PT over the next 2 hrs though. I would also play around with the front.....playing Wood more at the ST just to get him some more time.