FIFA World Cup, 2014 Thread . . .

[BlindnCynical]

I also am excited. Starts on my birthday too

And yeah I'm a bandwagon USA World Cup fan, no point in acting like I follow soccer/football all the time cause ... Well I don't. It pretty awesome when you watch guys run around for hours, have ungodly bad flops, the game goes to stoppage time, which is determined pretty much at random by a ref, jut to have the game finish 1-0.... How exciting!!! Yeah bash me all you want, but id rather see lebron slam dunk over a guy, and have the game finish 120-119 when he buries a 3 at the buzzer.

Yea constant scoring = excitement.

Typical American answer.

NBA players flop just as much, stoppage time is not random at all, A flying header from the 18' is so much more exciting then a dunk. Soccer players are real athletes, how long is the NBA court like 32 ft?

[Ettan]

Americans will probably never like football, yet they still love baseball. How does that even work?

[M0G]

Americans will probably never like football, yet they still love baseball. How does that even work?

Stop with the generalizations. The MLS is growing every year and the quality of play keeps getting better. The US National Team is higher ranked than Sweden and consistently makes it out of the group phase. Unfortunately we are in the group of death this time around so I doubt we will make it out.

I doubt soccer/football will ever get as big as NFL/NBA/MLB in the States but it is absolutely getting bigger and bigger. I doubt we will ever win a world cup but I could see us making a semifinal run at some point. In 02 in Germany we made it to the Quarters. 4 years ago the round of 16. We have the talent, Klinsman is a great coach. We dominate Mexico now on a regular basis and are at the top of CONCACAF.

[Ettan]

Valid response. We only have Zlatan though, without him we are horrendous. I like the MLS, players like Wynne, Opara, Eddie Johnson, Camilo makes it really fun to watch.

[The Boss]

I also am excited. Starts on my birthday too

And yeah I'm a bandwagon USA World Cup fan, no point in acting like I follow soccer/football all the time cause ... Well I don't. It pretty awesome when you watch guys run around for hours, have ungodly bad flops, the game goes to stoppage time, which is determined pretty much at random by a ref, jut to have the game finish 1-0.... How exciting!!! Yeah bash me all you want, but id rather see lebron slam dunk over a guy, and have the game finish 120-119 when he buries a 3 at the buzzer.

I thought I asked for shit-talking to be kept out of this thread?

You've basically given every reason for football fans to hate people like you. Well done.

[The Boss]

Americans will probably never like football, yet they still love baseball. How does that even work?

They're brainwashed and like shitty things.

They also just like to be different, because it makes them feel superior. Seriously, I had people mid-conversation pretend to like things that I didn't like, just to seem "better" when I went there.

Cultural brainwashing is a real thing, and it's American.

[BlackHole83]

^Who is shit talking now? You ask for no shit talking, yet your making a narrow generalisation of an entire country that you really know nothing about. What you see and hear on tv is not always true my friend. Live there, establish yourself and then maybe you can make an opinion on a whole country.

[hellboy]

Let us return to talk of soccer...

[The Boss]

^Who is shit talking now? You ask for no shit talking, yet your making a narrow generalisation of an entire country that you really know nothing about. What you see and hear on tv is not always true my friend. Live there, establish yourself and then maybe you can make an opinion on a whole country.

I have visited the country for several months, and I have personally had dozens of friends from the place (which I talked to daily, face-to-face), so I'm very aware of how football is considered there. I'm also very aware of the cultural quirks Americans have.

Much like the Nords, however, you people are nuts with your women's football. Even in my first two years at uni, I couldn't help but notice how good the women were at playing the game. Took it really seriously, too.

While we're at it, does anyone have any comments on how women's football is viewed in the world? The Matildas just qualified for the World Cup, but I'm pretty sure very few people in Australia even know what I'm talking about.

I'm a firm believer in that if you like something, such as a sport, it shouldn't matter who or what is playing it. And many women's games are usually much better than the men's, as there are less fouls and less bullshit.

I don't know - I don't want to be all feminist here, but I think it's unreasonable for one sports team to get less exposure than the other simply because of their genitals. Because it has nothing to do with their performance, trust me. Sam Kerr is one of the best athletes of all time, for example.

[not tyson]

Pretty simple answer, pit the best male soccer players vs the best female soccer players.

Who would win?

[The Boss]

Pretty simple answer, pit the best male soccer players vs the best female soccer players.

Who would win?

Depends. Anything can happen on the day.

I'm serious.

I'd go with the men, purely because of physical prowess, but football is such a complex game that even that can be overridden by other factors.

I get your point, but I don't see how that is a decent argument against why people completely ignore women's football.

Which is a shame, because games such as the W League Grand Final this season were unreal.

[xZ1mM3r]

I also am excited. Starts on my birthday too

And yeah I'm a bandwagon USA World Cup fan, no point in acting like I follow soccer/football all the time cause ... Well I don't. It pretty awesome when you watch guys run around for hours, have ungodly bad flops, the game goes to stoppage time, which is determined pretty much at random by a ref, jut to have the game finish 1-0.... How exciting!!! Yeah bash me all you want, but id rather see lebron slam dunk over a guy, and have the game finish 120-119 when he buries a 3 at the buzzer.

I thought I asked for shit-talking to be kept out of this thread?

You've basically given every reason for football fans to hate people like you. Well done.

Oh no!! I've been working my whole life to gain friendship with the entire SOCCER fan club!! Now ive messed it up! Dang!!!

[The Boss]

I also am excited. Starts on my birthday too

And yeah I'm a bandwagon USA World Cup fan, no point in acting like I follow soccer/football all the time cause ... Well I don't. It pretty awesome when you watch guys run around for hours, have ungodly bad flops, the game goes to stoppage time, which is determined pretty much at random by a ref, jut to have the game finish 1-0.... How exciting!!! Yeah bash me all you want, but id rather see lebron slam dunk over a guy, and have the game finish 120-119 when he buries a 3 at the buzzer.

I thought I asked for shit-talking to be kept out of this thread?

You've basically given every reason for football fans to hate people like you. Well done.

Oh no!! I've been working my whole life to gain friendship with the entire SOCCER fan club!! Now ive messed it up! Dang!!!

I love the World Cup for a far more insidious reason, too: That it may fully convert fair-weather fans like you.

I hope America does very well, and that you enjoy all the games you manage to catch.

[xZ1mM3r]

I love the World Cup for a far more insidious reason, too: That it may fully convert fair-weather fans like you.

I hope America does very well, and that you enjoy all the games you manage to catch.

I've watched every World Cup since I've been alive. I follow World Cup pretty closely. Not saying I watch any mls or other championships, soccer/football doesn't really interest me. But I love how World Cup is set up, and I love the competition.

[The Boss]

I've watched every World Cup since I've been alive. I follow World Cup pretty closely. Not saying I watch any mls or other championships, soccer/football doesn't really interest me. But I love how World Cup is set up, and I love the competition.

You'd probably get a lot more enjoyment from leagues like the UEFA Champions League, or even the MLS.

Even if a country qualifies for the World Cup, they're not necessarily playing at peak performance. Just this year the Australian team has changed several times, with less chances to train together as league teams do.

You could argue that Cahill knows and can play with his MLS team much more efficiently than the Socceroos. It wouldn't be a great argument, but it would have merit.

Furthermore, the best game I've ever watched was Liverpool vs West Ham back about six years ago. It was the English Premier League Grand Final at 3:00am in Australia.

My point is, branch out a little, and you might find yourself really enjoying the different aspects of the game. I sometimes watch random games on the link I posted earlier, just to keep up to speed with how the game is progressing in other parts of the world.

Great stuff.

[BlackHole83]

Mia Hamm was the shit, and Marta tears it up. Mad skill set

[The Boss]

Mia Hamm was the shit, and Marta tears it up. Mad skill set

Nice!

I'll add Nadine Angerer to the conversation. That she played in the W League is akin to Del Piero playing in the A League.

Just amazing.

[BlackHole83]

Looks like Donovan's sabbatical hurt his chances to play this last time. Out with the "old" in with the new. Good call by Klinsmann? I'd say so. We shall see

[ilikecheese]

^No lost sleep here with him out.
Don't mean to sound harsh at all;
There's a time to move on for everyone.
The world cup is the best of the best, no country, not even Canada, respects us when it comes to the foot game and
I just want to field the most competitive team possible.
If he makes the team, more power to him.

[hellboy]

Australians can only manage a draw against an undermanned South Africa. We're fucked in 2 weeks time tbh.

[M0G]

Looks like Donovan's sabbatical hurt his chances to play this last time. Out with the "old" in with the new. Good call by Klinsmann? I'd say so. We shall see

Fuck Kilnsman. Leaving Donovan off the team was criminal. You bring your best 23...period. You don't experiment with untested, unproven young players so you can prepare them for the future. It is the fucking World Cup you play to win right now. No one who actually understands football thinks this is a good decision. I hope the U.S. gets crushed. I am actually looking forward to revelling in Klinsman's failure.

[markuspoop]

About the 23 best players and Bruce Arena's comments saying, "If there are 23 players better than Landon Donovan then the USA has a chance to win the World Cup."

I get Bruce sticking up for his boy and all but it's not about 23 players being better than Landon. It's about the handful of players who play the same position(s) as Landon being better.

3 goalies and 8 defensemen is already 11 guys who were gonna be on regardless. You throw in defensive-minded midfielders and guys like Altidore, Dempsey, Bradley, and Wondolowski (who I think definitely earned a spot on the team) and you're up to 17-18ish players.

So, it's really about Landon being better than those last 6 or so guys that made the roster. Not all 23, Bruce.

[ilikecheese]

poop...if i told ya once, i told ya million times, you're supposed to just pop off at the mouth, not research answers and shit....wtf...this is soccer! riots! violence! all that shit! getting drunk and killing the other teams fans! that's what soccer is all about, so none of that sense now, ya here?! Or i'll pop ya one right in the kisser, I will.

[The Boss]

Australians can only manage a draw against an undermanned South Africa. We're fucked in 2 weeks time tbh.

1. Three of our key players didn't play.

2. Young bloods like Taggart didn't play.

3. Anything better than a defeat was a foregone conclusion.

And most importantly, consider the following:

4. This close to the tournament, you DO NOT want to show your opponents how you will be playing.

5. A friendly match is perfect to test formations, strategies, and test the players you know you can to their limits, due to the fact that . . .

6. Their training schedule is monumental at the moment. I'm amazed no one was injured, to be honest.

I know you've never said that you've understood (or even liked) football, so I hope this gives you a better perspective.

I didn't even try to watch it last night. We're low on data, and I'd rather watch Taggart play against the Croats, anyway.

THAT will be the game to watch.

We're still in the testing stage. There are things going on behind the scenes that we would have no idea about. I'd be surprised if Ange even told the boys to play to win.

[The Boss]

About the 23 best players and Bruce Arena's comments saying, "If there are 23 players better than Landon Donovan then the USA has a chance to win the World Cup."

I get Bruce sticking up for his boy and all but it's not about 23 players being better than Landon. It's about the handful of players who play the same position(s) as Landon being better.

3 goalies and 8 defensemen is already 11 guys who were gonna be on regardless. You throw in defensive-minded midfielders and guys like Altidore, Dempsey, Bradley, and Wondolowski (who I think definitely earned a spot on the team) and you're up to 17-18ish players.

So, it's really about Landon being better than those last 6 or so guys that made the roster. Not all 23, Bruce.

yeah, that's an insanely stupid thing for him to have said. If a player leaves a gap, he leaves a gap. Simple.