World Cup chatter thread.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I didn't see the first half, but I saw the the second half and without question Brazil was given on goal by the refs and Croatia was denied a goal they deserved.  That ref was clearly in Brazil's pocket. 

[Phishfan]

The penalty kick was a terrible call. I think the Croatians need to blame their goalie as much as the ref though. He should have stopped all three of Brazil's goals.

[Phishfan]

Spain was completely dominated by Holland. It looks like Spain has seen their better days and has no chance of repeating.

[Tenshot13]

'Merica...fuck ya!!!

[Sunstroke]

'Merica...fuck ya!!!

While I can translate redneck just fine, surely you can see where "fuck ya!" could be taken differently than "fuck yeah!"

[Tenshot13]

While I can translate redneck just fine, surely you can see where "fuck ya!" could be taken differently than "fuck yeah!"

The United States of America...fuck yes.

[Phishfan]

That was a scary game. I'm so excited that we got three points but we played on our heels way too much. I'm also concerned about Altidore's injury as there is no word on how serious it is.

I really do not think the team prepared for the conditions well at all as I saw several players that appeared to be cramping. They held camp at Stanford and I would think anyone with any knowledge of climate would know that is not a great way to simulate Brazil. Hopefully this is a learning lesson and the team will be better hydrated for the game against Portugal.

[CF DolFan]

We will obviously see but I wouldn't surprise me to see Altidore back playing again. 

Nice to see our local boy, Zusi, come in and contribute. 4 Florida boys on this roster. Very cool!!

[Pappy13]

That was a scary game. I'm so excited that we got three points but we played on our heels way too much. I'm also concerned about Altidore's injury as there is no word on how serious it is.

I really do not think the team prepared for the conditions well at all as I saw several players that appeared to be cramping. They held camp at Stanford and I would think anyone with any knowledge of climate would know that is not a great way to simulate Brazil. Hopefully this is a learning lesson and the team will be better hydrated for the game against Portugal.

If you think that game was scary I suggest you don't watch the next two as they could be horrific. The US knew that they would be on their heels all game against Ghana who have a very strong offensive team, what they lack is defensive cohesion which was clearly seen in the first minute of the game. No way that Dempsey should have been that wide open 30 seconds into the game, but that's Ghana. The rest of the match was pretty much what I expected. Ghana with a lot of possession and chances and the US trying to counter when they can. The biggest surprise of the match for me was how poorly Michael Bradley played, the US will need for him to play MUCH better the next 2 to have any chance whatsoever.

As far as the injuries, I didn't see cramps I saw hammy's which is a little bit different. I think that had a lot more to do with players trying to keep up with the speedy Ghana team then not being used to the conditions or not being hydrated. Besides as has been made clear by the recent LeBron James controversy, cramps can happen to anyone and are not necessarily indicative of poor conditioning, lack of fluids or anything else, it just happens sometimes when exherting yourself.

And there should be a lot of concern for both Altidore and Dempsey. If neither can play the next match (I think Dempsey will), then the US is in big trouble and Klinsmann is going to take more heat for not bringing Donovan along. Donovan would have been a much better substitute for Altidore then Johannsson proved to be as he looked lost the whole game. What all of you non soccer fans need to realize is that Klinsmann was NOT trying to psych out his team by saying they had no chance at winning the world cup, they don't. He knows it. His team knows it. They will be very fortunate to make it past the group stage. I fully expected the US to lose all 3 matches. They pulled a rabbit out of a hat this first one, I doubt they will be so lucky the next two, but that's why you play the games.

[Fau Teixeira]

if the US ties against portugal they've pretty much guaranteed to make it out of the group stage .. portugal is carrying a heavy goal differential  negative around now.

[Phishfan]

As far as the injuries, I didn't see cramps I saw hammy's which is a little bit different. I think that had a lot more to do with players trying to keep up with the speedy Ghana team then not being used to the conditions or not being hydrated. Besides as has been made clear by the recent LeBron James controversy, cramps can happen to anyone and are not necessarily indicative of poor conditioning, lack of fluids or anything else, it just happens sometimes when exherting yourself.

There was a combination of both. Geoff Cameron was shown on the TV getting on the ground and stretching during a break in the action (it was still a wide shot so you had to be looking at that portion of the screen). Also the announcers made comment that US players were taking every chance to get fluids they could. I really don't think they were prepared at all. The team had no legs underneath them. That is why there were so many bad passes and we could not maintain any possession time, which forced us to play more defensively than I think anyone wanted for a longer period of time. There was a very long stretch where I could not count three or more passes put together successfully. Bradley looked completely gassed to me which was the cause of his poor play. Bradley could have had a back post goal on a corner kick I feel but his legs wouldn't allow him to make a run that got him another five feet to the ball.

[Fau Teixeira]

they had the training camp in pasadena .. that was a mistake .. they should have had camp in miami .. gotten used to the brazilian weather

[Pappy13]

if the US ties against portugal they've pretty much guaranteed to make it out of the group stage .. portugal is carrying a heavy goal differential  negative around now.

That's a huge if especially if Altidore and/or Dempsey don't play. Don't let the score against Germany fool you, Portugal is much better then the US. Now the US has caught a couple breaks that Portugal isn't at full strength, but again if Altidore and/or Dempsey don't play then the US isn't 100% either. They still have a LONG way to go before they can even think about getting past the group stage. That negative goal differential is very likely to get pretty big for the US as well.

[Pappy13]

The team had no legs underneath them. That is why there were so many bad passes and we could not maintain any possession time, which forced us to play more defensively than I think anyone wanted for a longer period of time. There was a very long stretch where I could not count three or more passes put together successfully. Bradley looked completely gassed to me which was the cause of his poor play. Bradley could have had a back post goal on a corner kick I feel but his legs wouldn't allow him to make a run that got him another five feet to the ball.

And what makes you think that wasn't directly due to the US team chasing around Ghana all night? This wasn't a warmup match or a game against CONCACAF. I pretty much expected the match to go the way it did except for the early US goal. The US were very fortunate that they got that Dempsey goal to start the match so that they didn't have to try to keep up the pace with the Ghana and could afford to sit back and play defensively most of the night. If that would have happened it would have looked even worse. Fact is the US caught a break and capitalized on it. Now the question is will it be enough to get out of group play.

[Pappy13]

they had the training camp in pasadena .. that was a mistake .. they should have had camp in miami .. gotten used to the brazilian weather

Maybe they should have trained against Ghana. Make no mistake, although they aren't ranked that high it's because their defense is so bad, not because they aren't a dangerous offensive team. Ghana was going to give the US' defense trouble, they knew that going into the game, the question was whether or not that poor defense would give up an easy goal and as it turned out it did.