World Cup
 

Well gang- action is underway for the biggest sporting event in the world.
The USMNT were...uninspiring, perhaps? But better than Argentina. Good
Heavens, can anyone in that country play competent defense? Trent King

I've got money on Denmark as the dark horse.

Go Dutch!

after that upset Argentina. who?

Thought the US team had a pretty good game, although it is a must to get more shots on goal than they did. I believe it was one? First half run of play was excellent. Welsh change of strategy in the second half did change the complexion of the match. Can't fault the US keeper for not stopping that cannon shot off of Bales foot. One thing I would say is that I was not impressed with the level of play from the US substitutes.

Lewandowski picked a heck of a time to get stoned on his PK today. Ouch!

I shed no tears for Argentina. Always have respected them, but the only time I root for them is against Brazil. Goes back to the Maradona days.

I thought the US looked pretty bad, actually. Wales is one of the worst teams in the tournament and they shut down the US for the entire second half. Even the one goal Weah managed to score was soft and not a goal a lot of other teams are going to give up.

I would be concerned with the lack of pressure they were able to put on a team already written out of the tournament.

I hate to sound like a typical American but the lack of scoring makes the whole thing slightly eh to me. It’s a pretty game and all that and there are games within the game that are great to watch but to have 2 of the 3 games go 0-0 today is par for the course and darn fairly in my view.

Having had years of friends reference TMNT, the acronym USMNT just seems really weird.

World Cup
 

Back to the actual games... France didn't miss a beat without Benzema.
Don't like them but they can play. Be interesting to see if Canada stick
with Belgium tomorrow. Maybe Argentina/Saudi Arabia part 2? Maybe?

Trent King

Vive La France.

Same stuff as always from the USA club. Just can’t put together two halves. Zimmerman’s foul was really a dumb mistake from a player who is better than that.

Trying to be positive… this is a young squad that I think will grow and become better but I don’t know if it’ll happen in this WC. They just didn’t look ready for this big stage in their lead-up matches. I hope I’m wrong.

Meanwhile… “Forca Portugal!!”

Just hoping the quality of the Ref's get better

THe quality of play from alot of teams look good

Just hope the off the field stuff quiets down so we can enjoy the games more

As Germany and Japan go at it three of the four preceding games have been the good old nil-nil. Yikes!

It's a little-known fact that soccer was invented by European women so that they would have something to do while they're men were at home cooking and cleaning. It's also the only sport in which the post-game "highlight" reels are devoted to what almost happened.
Seriously though, I'm picking Brazil and Germany to both go deep. And as much as we up here in the Great White North would love to see our boys make a respectable run, they'll be lucky to even score a goal against Belgium, Croatia and Morocco.

World Cup
 

Back at it for USMNT. It seems greedy to ask for a win right now. I’ll take a draw:) Trent King

Mercy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfMf8NiHBXo

sad but agree take the draw. But they need to win at some point to do something

Does this mean we have to keep James Corden?

https://www.newsweek.com/loser-keeps...-qatar-1762304

World Cup
 

Spain and Germany head to head today! Will Germany rally?

Trent King

Some of the goods are turning out real good. Enjoy the upsets but not big on the extended extended time let's get to the knock out round and RAMP IT UP

I wasn't expecting today's Ghana-South Korea match to be one you couldn't take your eyes off of but it turned into one of the better ones of the tournament so far. Terrific stuff.

I watched ENG vs USA on Friday with mixed feelings. As someone with a foot in both camps, I thought I couldn't loose with that match. Well how wrong I was. What a boring match.

I hadn't seen much of the US men's team in recent years but based on what I've seen in the World Cup - they're super fit but they lack quality in the final 3rd of the pitch. If they US team just had a creative midfielder who could provide properly weighted passes and a couple of wingers who can provide decent crosses - they'd be unstoppable.

England on the other hand just seemed tired and lackluster. I think they're going to have a hard time against Wales tomorrow. Wales will want to beat England more than they'd like to progress out of the group stage. :-)

I think the USA vs IRAN will be a good match.

Otherwise, I think Brazil look like contenders for the final and I think Japan could be a dark horse to make it to the quarter finals.

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USA and UK advance! All right!

Trent King

Only part of the UK. Wales is going home.

Thrilled that the US will advance to the round of 16. That said there are a few obviuos reasons to be concerned.

The two injuries, especially to Pulisic, are very troublesome. I see Pulisic is saying he'll be ready for the Netherlands game. I hope so.

The game seemed to me to somewhat mirror the opening game against Wales. The first half - very impressive. Second half - not so much. I know there's a limit to how long guys can go at 100%, and that the opponent's change of strategy will influence a lot of things you can do..... but that leads to the next thought.

Thought the subs were woeful for the second time in three games.

Lastly, how many times did the attempt at one extra pass eliminate a possible shot on a keeper who was obviously a bit shakey (England put 6 in against him)?

I've been very impressed with Dest, Robinson and Adams. Kind of feel that if the starting 11 are at 100% we go in against the Dutch with a decent chance. Fingers crossed.

While I have no doubt that the US will rally around the men's team should they continue to advance, I don't see this tournament so far growing soccer much in the US long term. Young people who played the game are very into it, but casual observers are bored with the 0-0, 1-0 games. And the ridiculous flopping in really beyond the pale. I played soccer for years and can appreciate a well played game. But so much of what I've seen so far is why I'm convinced soccer will always been a second or third tier sport in the US. We just don't watch games all afternoon that end in a tie or worse a 0-0 tie. Yes, we are the outliers on that, but it is what it is.

World Cup
 

Steve- while the original thread was designed to celebrate the world's
biggest sports tournament, I'll dive in and contest your remarks which
downplay the sport...

First, the sheer amount of kids playing in the US is noteworthy- it ain't going
away. Next, the WC's purpose isn't to grow the sport, it's to crown a world
champion. The sport is growing just fine on it's own, whether casual US
fans want it or not...

Regarding "boredom", I can't identify with that comment at all. Soccer is a
sport of surpassing beauty and skill, and is rarely "boring". The NFL, on the
other hand, is BO-RING. Tons of pregame blather, commercials, time outs,
overly long halftimes, and utterly colorless play that goes on for 3 1/2
hours ( I love the endless debate among announcers as they try to
parse whether some luckless WR "made a football move" as he crossed the
goal line- riveting stuff!) Golf? BORING. I'm sure you've heard people claim
they don't understand soccer, which is hilarious as it's painfully simple. If
we understand baseball and it's gazillion rules, we can understand soccer
and it's 17 Laws...

Regarding flopping, couldn't agree more. Keep in mind there are players
who don't do it, and a gender (female) that generally is too proud to do it.
Just like I root for Tom Brady to get drilled inot next year because of his
relentless chiseling and whining, I root against the play actors who flop.
It's okay to do that:)

So, back to the point of the thread. Can't wait to see how the round of 16
plays out, the US could have done a lot worse than Netherlands!

Trent King

It seems by and large Americans prefer sports where there are discrete plays, or in the case of basketball nominally continuous play but with innumerable breaks in the action where everything resets. Soccer and hockey to an extent are much more continuous, and also don't have a lot of statistics to keep track of during the game, so it's a very different mentality.

World Cup
 

Peter- keen observation, I find similarities between soccer and hockey. I
understand soccer 1000 times more but think hockey players are skilled
athletes (and yes, I know that's an understatement).

Back to thread purpose- will be fascinating to keep an eye on Pulisic's health.
Will Argentina remember they are the #3 team in the world? Trent King

agreed and it would be nice if they could score because in the Round of 16 some of the other Countries know how and also play solid defense. Cannot rely on tie games any more

Interesting insight. Never thought of that. And more bettting opportunities when there is a plethora of individual stats, etc.

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awrj...V0_0RpL7zhP0Q-

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awrj...UZ1E18Up300YU-

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Mexico is out- YES!!!

Trent King

Actually I will miss the team. They lost yes but they have an exciting brand of play

Was also hoping for Mexico to go forward. Manager will surely be sacked. While on the subject of the Mexico - Saudi Arabia match - has anyone ever seen a more unorthodox keeper than the Saudi goalie? After watching that game I find it unbelievable that the Saudi side defeated Argentina.

Belgium was just dealt out and I think Martinez will be under a lot of scrutiny about some of his player decisions. This is a very talented side (as are Croatia), deeper than almost any other squad, and it seemed pretty obvious that a lot of the substitutes brought more to the pitch than the players that started ahead of them. Lukaku may not be allowed back into the country!

On to the afternoon matches!

Germany is out that is also a Shock.

The infield games and results are getting interesting

Germany was knocked out early in 2018 too I believe.

They were indeed. Pretty amazing team to go home early twice in a row. My father is from the Netherlands. Pretty conflicted about the upcoming game. Will be happy either way I suppose. Tend to doubt USA can keep up with the Dutch though.

The thing about these games is that one side can dominate and still easily lose 1-0.

Very true indeed.
But still in shock
Germany has been a very strong team for years but basically choked last 2 world cups.

World Cup
 

Don’t forget Belgium is out as well- incredible. This is one of the many reasons this tournament is great- the big boys can get dumped if they fail to perform, at even the round robin phase. Trent King

Is Mbappe the next Pele?

I think it's definitely an understatement to call hockey players just "skilled".
MOST skilled is arguably more apt.

ESPN did a thorough study on which sports are the most difficult and skilled, with Hockey ranked #1 for team sports, second only to boxing overall.

Devised by a panel of experts that included "sports scientists from the United States Olympic Committee, of academicians who study the science of muscles and movement, a star two-sport athlete, and of journalists who spend their professional lives watching athletes succeed and fail", the study was based on 10 categories, or skills, including Endurance, Strength, Speed, Agility, Flexibility, Hand-Eye Coordination and others.

Boxing scored 72.37, with hockey close behind at 71.75. Football was second for team sports and third overall, scoring 68.37.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

World Cup
 

Back to the topic- Spain OUT! Wow. Morocco was stout. And France /England looming. Great stuff. Trent King

There must be some relationship between the skill level required in hockey and the fact that so many hockey players are playing into their 40s when obviously their physical gifts have diminshed.

Back to soccer, I hate games decided on penalties. Unimaginably bad performance by Spain in that respect today.

That ranking is fundamentally flawed to me. It might be difficult to be an elite basketball player but it's not difficult to play basketball. How does it end up so highly ranked?

World Cup final 8
 

Who will win (versus who you WANT to win):

1) Will win- Brazil, Netherlands, France, Portugal

2) Want to win- Croatia, Argentina, England, Morocco

Basically, if I'm rooting for them, they'll probably lose:)

Trent King

Netherlands all the way

Forward Portugal!

Attachment 546190

Croats! Croats! Croats!

They just don’t quit fighting. What a match. That goalie was standing on his head

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Bye bye Neymar! Perfect start. Trent King

Messi survives, barely. Crazy game.

All these games have been crazy. Being decided by kicks a lot of drama

There has to be a better way. It's so artificial.

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First of all, two INCREDIBLE matches today, filled with high drama. The
teams I wanted to win, actually won:) (Alert the media!)

Regarding PK shootouts -Peter and any other commenters:

It is vital that I begin by saying I greatly, greatly prefer matches that end
after regulation. People express disdain for PKs but don't offer any other
way. The fact is that, in order to get to PKs, two teams are given THIRTY
extra minutes to resolve it, and most do. These teams don't get a million
timeouts and commercial breaks, and can't substitute ad infinitum either.
It's got to end somehow, and PKs are an art (both sides of the equation).
Today's PKs were tense, which was actually cool...

Regarding PK's being "artificial", I'm not so sure. I think the end of
practically every televised college basketball game- which is a glorified
free throw shooting contest brought about by (uncalled) intentional fouls
that often occur 80 feet away from the basket- is the true "artificial"
ending to a sports contest. Now THAT is a joke...

At any rate, no one has come up with a better way after decades of debate.
I'm just glad today was memorable- Trent King

I was reading his tweets today!

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/s...wahl-dead.html

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The alternative to penalty kicks deciding games is simple. Replace them with sudden death overtime at the 90 minute mark. No 30 minute extra time and no PKs. Score a goal and the match is over.

The problem with that is many extra time games will get decided by some dumb ass penalty call on a flop setting up the game winning penalty kick. It's already a huge problem, witness the second Argentina goal.

If a flopper gets up and runs like nothing happened, eject him and shoot the ref.:D

I feel, like with hockey, having important/elimination games decided at full strength would be best for soccer. I know fatigue is a huge issue at the end of games and they can’t just play indefinitely, though.

But maybe make it a half-field game after regulation (and maybe one extra 15-minute traditional period). At that point, let a team offensively attack for 5 minutes from midfield. If the defense clears it out past midfield then the attacking team resets and starts again. Then the other team gets 5 minutes of attack. Keep going until you have a winner.

That would mitigate the fatigue factor of playing a full-field game at that point, but allow for aggressive, risk-taking offensive play at full strength (without the fear of giving up a chance the other way) that would closely resemble normal play.

I'm thinking a simple option and an entertaining option to finish games.

Simple option: Rochambeau best two out of three at the end of regulation.

Entertaining option: switch from soccer to rugby rules, sudden death.

World Cup
 

I knew there had to be a bad side to the coin- France advances. Please,
please- ANY of the remaining 3 for the title! Tight games today. Trent King

I know Trent is not a big Ronaldo fan but I don't think it was very smart not playing him until the 55th minute or whatever it was.

World Cup
 

Hi Peter- I know you're just having fun, but you may have a point. Portugal
had been fine without him, just ran into a surprisingly tenacious Morocco
team today. Maybe Ronaldo could have provided a spark- despite all his
character flaws (on and off the pitch), he's not a typical Portugal player who
looks for grass to fall on:) Maybe he could have added spark. Problem is he's
made his own bed, and teams (not just his national side) have decided his
talent no longer merits the bucket full of headache that goes with him.

Trent King

I get the negatives but in a game you're not virtually certain to win (unlike the prior one which was a joke), how do you really justify not playing a scorer of that caliber?

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Peter- yep, I get it. You can say the same for Brazil though- did you see the
firepower on their bench? These managers have to balance what they think
will work best and, until Port ran into a staunch Morocco, it held up. Can't
wait for semis! Trent King

Right, and who knows if it would have changed the outcome, but I can't imagine too many people in the soccer world would have benched Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout round of the World Cup.

If I was coaching I'd of benched Pele!

....of course he's like 82 years old so probably the right call.

World Cup
 

Peter- I did find an interesting stat about Ronaldo, as it relates to World Cup
knockout matches. Across 5 WCups, he scored exactly ZERO goals when it
was win or go home. Zero. Perhaps this consistent lack of production within
vital Cup games tipped the scales in his manager's mind; after all, the
manager already knew Ronaldo was a) ageing and b) a cancer. Who knows,
maybe it would have been best to leave him off the team completely? At
any rate, the semis should be fun. My heart says Croatia, but before yesterday
I was hoping for a feud W Cup rematch between Argentina and England:)

Trent King

Trent that is indeed surprising, although still a small sample size. As for the semis, I think France and Argentina, Morocco feels like a Cindarella team whose time is going to run out although with that goalie who knows.

So what's the deal with Reyna? It sounds like he didn't come to play, was breaking team rules and basically blew off a scrimmage. It was weird that Berhalter didn't play him, now we know there was more to the story than an injury.

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World Cup
 

Hi Al- yes, I saw something about that as well. If true, it's a heck of an
indictment on Reyna. I'd wager these managers deal with a lot of "stuff"
behind the scenes. Trent King

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Here we go! Argentina and Croatia in a few hours. There will only be a 1/2 billion people watching. No pressure:) Trent King

Reyna made a statement yesterday acknowledging the story. He said he got emotional when Berhalter told him he would only have a limited role for the WC, and let his disappoinment affect his behavior. It's a shame that between Reyna, his dad and Berhalter, they couldn't figure out a way to get Reyna, who is maybe the most talented player on the roster apart from Pulisic, onto the pitch.

As for the game today, my grandparents came over from Croatia after WW1, so Go Croatia!

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Unless you have a tie to Croatia how can you not root for Messi?

World Cup
 

Whew, Argentina looked SHARP!

Peter- I admire Croatia. Tiny population, hard workers who are deceptively
skilled with "A" league European players. What's not to like? I love Messi
but preferred Croatia's team and story. Trent King

Go Morocco! Would be nice to see an African nation win the World Cup for the first time.

+1 agree

But for me no specific country to route for.

I just want to see great close and dramatic games

The stultifying defense that Morocco plays is definitely NOT my type of football. That said full kudos to their coach for what he has gotten the team to accomplish. They are extremely difficult to break down. Would strongly prefer France in the final with Argentina. Just think it would be a much more entertaining affair.