Achtung! Sooooooooooo any of you guys interested in the international sawker cup?

The World Cup is way bigger than The Olympics.


I'm glad the USA isn't too into footy. If they were to put the sort of money into it they could, all the top players would play there and yes, they would produce a very, very good team that would dominate. As is it, they produce some decent players and have a half decent team. Could be fun if they were just a little better to make them a competitive international team, but not too much.
 
Dexter Inferno said:
What I do find most weird about the US is you've had a fairly decent national team for over 60 years that routinely qualify for the World Cup.
One would think that your guys time and time again taking part in the world's biggest sports tournament (Olympics aside, obviously) would help attracting new followers of the game and help recruitment. If you could be bothered you could actually be a powerhouse in just a few years, with the right coaches/training - you already are in women's football.
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I don't think it's a matter of being good, it just does play well on TV. I also think it hard to follow for new watchers without someone to tell you what'd going on. Any sport that goes 1 1/2 hours with one or two goals is going to have a hard time with an American audience.


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Dexter Inferno said:
What I do find most weird about the US is you've had a fairly decent national team for over 60 years that routinely qualify for the World Cup.
One would think that your guys time and time again taking part in the world's biggest sports tournament (Olympics aside, obviously) would help attracting new followers of the game and help recruitment. If you could be bothered you could actually be a powerhouse in just a few years, with the right coaches/training - you already are in women's football.
Click to expand...

I do think the US team this year might be their strongest ever - but then they end up in a group with Germany and Portugal. And of course Ghana who are the worlds best floppers. The weather today for the US - Ghana game is supposed to be horrible which does not help things. The US MUST win today and hope for a Germany/Portugal draw to have any prayer of advancing. I would love to watch Germany - Portugal this morning but I am at work.
 
Yeah we really need to beat Ghana considering what we have to look forward to in the next two games.

Plus I just read that it was Ghana that knocked us out of the last two cups. I had forgotten about that. :mad:
 
Denverdave said:
I do think the US team this year might be their strongest ever - but then they end up in a group with Germany and Portugal. And of course Ghana who are the worlds best floppers. The weather today for the US - Ghana game is supposed to be horrible which does not help things. The US MUST win today and hope for a Germany/Portugal draw to have any prayer of advancing. I would love to watch Germany - Portugal this morning but I am at work.
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I think our best hope of advancement comes from a Germany win today, actually. We play them last, so if they've already secured advancement from the group stage by the time we play them, they may be resting some starters and taking it easy, which means we have a better (though still slim) chance of drawing against them. I'm most interested in seeing how Ronaldo's knee has recovered. If that Ghanan witch doctor did a real number on him, he might still be off a bit.
 
Denverdave said:
Yes they did. It is payback time.
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Ghana - US is a bit weird for us over here. A Norwegian on each team (if selected to start), Diskerud for the US and goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey for Ghana.
Quite a new thing for us having players on other national teams, although it's not unusual for especially players from Eastern European countries.
 
Dexter Inferno said:
Ghana - US is a bit weird for us over here. A Norwegian on each team (if selected to start), Diskerud for the US and goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey for Ghana.
Quite a new thing for us having players on other national teams, although it's not unusual for especially players from Eastern European countries.
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If we follow our usual pattern, Mix will come on ~70th minute. He has a tendency to come on and be an immediate threat, so expect to see the Americans in the crowd get very excited when he's subbed in.
 
jbj said:
Here's a question maybe someone has some insight into:

Why is the USA one of the few countries in the world where football is fairly unpopular as a sport?

I get that stuff like baseball and American football obviously have a long history and geographical reason for being so popular but christ, maybe apart from Australia, you'd really struggle to find a country outside North America where football isn't a religion and given how many European immigrant flooded into the US particularly from the 1870s and 80s when professional football was starting to emerge... it doesn't really make sense to me.
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You have to keep in mind that even at 48, my generation didnt grow up with it. I dont remember really having any exposure at all with the exception of the one time they made us play it during physical education class. And I knew the kicker for the football team played soccer and he was American. That's all I really knew. Maybe there was more exposure in different parts of the country but not here in South Florida. And it takes having some understanding of a sport to really have any interest. Someone mentioned baseball no-hitters being boring. I grew up playing baseball and find a no-hitter to be an amazing thing to watch. It's all about how much you understand.

My daughter still plays competitive soccer at 18 so I've been exposed to more of the sport at a high level so I will watch the World Cup and enjoy it because I understand it more. Plus the sport has no real appeal from a professional point of view yet. If you are a great athlete growing up here, you are likely going to gravitate to the bigger sports because of the illusion that you might eventually play professionally and make tons of money. Professional soccer hasnt reached that point here yet. Today's generations may be different but it will take a while to filter through.
 
Dexter Inferno said:
What I do find most weird about the US is you've had a fairly decent national team for over 60 years that routinely qualify for the World Cup.
One would think that your guys time and time again taking part in the world's biggest sports tournament (Olympics aside, obviously) would help attracting new followers of the game and help recruitment. If you could be bothered you could actually be a powerhouse in just a few years, with the right coaches/training - you already are in women's football.
Click to expand...


Again, I think the biggest reason is the best athletes in this country will gravitate toward the bigger sports. The best training in the world cant turn sub par athletes into world champions.
 
The US is going to catch a really pissed off Portugal this Sunday looking to rebound from this slaughter. Or maybe Portugal really has dropped off that much and maybe the US can catch a break.
 
I still need USA to win against Germany. But I have to feel proud of my host country.

Ja woll.

And yes Müller is a goal monster. Klose need 2 goals somehow though to become alltime WM leading scorer. He better turn it up a notch with Müller there.

EDIT: Of course if Thomas keeps going the way he is he could eclipse that record by the end of this WM. (I know, I know)
 
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Denverdave said:
The US is going to catch a really pissed off Portugal this Sunday looking to rebound from this slaughter. Or maybe Portugal really has dropped off that much and maybe the US can catch a break.
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Good opportunity for the US imo. Portugal will most likely be without 3 key players. Pepe banned, and Coentrao and Almeida looked like they will be out for a while with injuries.
 
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