2006 World Cup

[SECTION 11]

Horribly overrated. They are way to full of themselves.
Unbelievable. Thank God it wasn't Mexico.

 

[BACH]

this group draw has a bit tricky

1. best team in group 1
2. europe team in group 2
3. south american and asia in group 3
4. african and north american in group 4

each group draw one team to form group a-h

so you can see that europe team is a great advantage

You missed my point.

Italy has to be the group favorite by default and should qualify to the next round. That leaves one spot for Ghana, the Czech Republic and the US. If Italy does it job, the US had to get a win over the Czech Republic to advance to the next round.

 

[Shane]

Has anyone ever siad that soccer sucks?

 

[Zeno]

Has anyone ever siad that soccer sucks?

Yeah mostly its unathletic xenophobes....

 

[CaptTurbo]

After watching ghana and italy I can boldly predict 0 wins for us.

Ghana looked very good. Kingston did very well.

 

[azsouthendzone]

Has anyone ever siad that soccer sucks?

This coming from the candle man.

 

[Renz]

After watching ghana and italy I can boldly predict 0 wins for us.

Ghana looked very good. Kingston did very well.

Ghana looked dangerous in attack, but I thought they were poor at the back. Kingston was caught out of position a few times and wasn't punished for it.

 

[wembley88]

You'll beat Ghana but you're unlucky to get both Italy and Czech republic in your group. The Czechs are sensational just now - I've £5 on them each way @ 33-1. Italy are, well, Italy.

Good luck and hey, enjoy just being there!

Best occasion in the world and it only comes round every 4 years.

 

[wembley88]

They are ranked #2... However, I really do believe the US has talent, experience, and character to beat anyone... except for the Brazillians - they play "beautiful".

I'll have some of what you're drinking.

 

[S_Nash]

Tim Cahill

+

Guus Hiddink

=

AUSSIE MIRACLE!


BRING ON BRAZIL!!!!!!

 

[BigDavis75]

1) Put Clint Dempsey and Johnson on the field. Seriosuly, if Dempsey doesn't play next game I'm going to punch Arenas in the head. Dempsey has done nothing but produce of late and McBride was the worst player on the field.

2) Switch up the D, Pope had a good game and Lewis had a decent game but that was it. I would like to see Bocanegra and possibly my boy Albright

3) Donovan is a middy, not a forward. That match removed any doubt I may have had.

4) Time to start O'Brien, he is one of our best, if not our best, when healthy. Sub him out near the end if he is tired, but play him.

5) Beasley is a LMF, that is his spot. He is successsful there, why move him? Seriously, it baffles me.

6) If Keller is a world class keeper, he needs to start playing like one. How many saves did he have, two?


Here is my lineup for next game (as they would face the opponent's goal):

Forward: McBride (ugh, is there anyone else? Ching???) EJ

Middies: Beasley O'Brien Reyna Dempsey

Defense: Lewis Pope Onyewu Bocanegra

Keeper: Keller


Cherundelo is good but the Italians have son giant forwards.

 

[BigDavis75]

On a separate note, we are going to win the world cup in 2026. Cool, huh.

1990: Suck
1994: 2nd Round
1998: Suck
2002: Quarters

~OK, here's how its going to go, its a pattern of course.~

2006: Suck
2010: Semis
2014: Suck
2018: World Cup Final (Loser)
2022: Suck
2026: World Cup Final (Winner)

At least we have that to look forward to!

 

[English on tour]

On a separate note, we are going to win the world cup in 2026. Cool, huh.

1990: Suck
1994: 2nd Round
1998: Suck
2002: Quarters

~OK, here's how its going to go, its a pattern of course.~

2006: Suck
2010: Semis
2014: Suck
2018: World Cup Final (Loser)
2022: Suck
2026: World Cup Final (Winner)

At least we have that to look forward to!

i like your style

 

[English on tour]

England was extremely lucky and looked bad. Argentina got lucky also.. sweden sucked.

England looked poor - but we are far better than that game would indicate!

i am not worrying....yet!

 

[CaptTurbo]

Question,

I have never really followed the Gold Cup but I plan to start. My question is how does Brazil not win this every year? Do they not play their stars?

 

[Ollie]

Because the Gold Cup is a CONCACAF championship (North America, Central America and Caraibes) and Brazil played it only once or twice as guests, sending their under 23 squad.

 

[Zeno]

Question,

I have never really followed the Gold Cup but I plan to start. My question is how does Brazil not win this every year? Do they not play their stars?

The Gold Cup is for CONCACAF nations and a couple of nations outside of the Federation who are invited. Brazil's equivelant to the Gold Cup is the Copa America--for South American teams.

I wish they could change the Copa America to include North America as well and get rid of the Gold Cup--make it like the European Championships--no guest invites. It would give the US an opportunity to play better competition from South America and that experience would only help when we play in future World Cups.

 

[Zeno]

Here is my lineup for next game (as they would face the opponent's goal):

Forward: McBride (ugh, is there anyone else? Ching???) EJ

Middies: Beasley O'Brien Reyna Dempsey

Defense: Lewis Pope Onyewu Bocanegra

Keeper: Keller


Cherundelo is good but the Italians have son giant forwards.

Bocanegra is a natural left footed player and plays better in the central defender role. I wasn't particularly pleased with either of our centerbacks yesterday and if I was making a choice I'd replace Pope due to his age. If you want to replace Cherundolo, Albright would probably be the better choice. Pope will start though no matter what I think

Beasley needs to sit one game. He just seems lost out there maybe he needs a game off to refocus. He is more comfortable on the left but if he is a world class player he should be able to play on either side.

You would sit Donovan? I disagree on Donovan being a better Midfielder. He was a MF yesterday and played horribly. He can at least create his own shots (unlike McBride) and if his responsibility is going forward taking on players and not defending and looking for the square or back pass on every possesion he plays much better.

McBride--where do I start. His prime was 4 years ago, he is a valuable reserve but should not be starting. His strength is in the air and if he isn't getting good service in the air he is completely ineffective--the Czech size obviously had an effect on the game plan none of the US set pieces went in the air--they were all played short making McBride a total non-factor.

Even in a 4-5-1 the US can generate an attack BUT the game plan looked like it was pass it around the midfield, don't take on a player 1 V 1 and hope that a pass will free up a player for a shot. The Czechs figured that out fairly quickly and just clogged up the passing lanes and won possesion quite easily and moved forward quickly getting the US on their heels. It was the game plan and not the lineup that killed any chance of winning. Time to make changes all around.

I've lost some confidence in Arena since we've qualified for the WC, the team hasn't looked much like they care and the attack has been consistently poor in nearly every game leading up to the tournament.

 

[Zeno]

Only way to advance is 2 Wins....

After 1 game....
Czech 3 pts
Italy 3 pts
US 0 pts
Ghana 0 pts

Because with a tie after 2 games(US tie, Czech win)...
Czech 6 pts
Italy 4 pts
US 1 pts
Ghana o pts

The US would have to beat Ghana by 3 goals PLUS hope that the Czechs beat Italy by 3 goals--both are highly unlikely. Likely what would happen is the Czechs and Italians would both play safe and for the draw knowing that 1 point would send both of them through...giving them 7 and 5 points and the US with at most 4.

I hope the US realizes that and will come out attacking from the opening whistle.

 

[Djaughe]

The Gold Cup is for CONCACAF nations and a couple of nations outside of the Federation who are invited. Brazil's equivelant to the Gold Cup is the Copa America--for South American teams.

I wish they could change the Copa America to include North America as well and get rid of the Gold Cup--make it like the European Championships--no guest invites. It would give the US an opportunity to play better competition from South America and that experience would only help when we play in future World Cups.

I actually asked my uncle last night (who lives in Argentina) about the chances of the U.S. getting into the Copa America competition and he said that the U.S. actually participated back in 93 and 95.

He also said the 2007 competition is in Venezuela and that there is one invitee slot available (the other Mexico has).

I'm not sure if the American team would feel comfortable for security reasons...but imagine the experience they will gain playing in an environment like that.

On a side note - I think it would be fun to send our team to Chavez's backyard.

 

[Zeno]

I actually asked my uncle last night (who lives in Argentina) about the chances of the U.S. getting into the Copa America competition and he said that the U.S. actually participated back in 93 and 95.

The US did quite well in the 95 Copa America too(beat Argentina 3-0 in group play), finishing in 4th place....Uruguay won it all.

I still think they could expand to 16 teams and add CONCACAF and it would be that much more interesting.

 

[Zeno]

US Soccer Post Game quotes....


Bruce Arena
On the difficulty of defending the Czech Republic:
“I really think the biggest part of the game was the early goal. For the most part, I thought we defended really well. Give (Tomas) Rosicky credit, that was a great goal in the second goal he scored. The third goal in the second half came a little bit against the run of play but certainly we were opened up to counters at that point in the game. They certainly took advantage of the opportunity.”


Huh? We defended poorly in all thirds of the field.

On whether the team can prepare for an attacker like Jan Koller:
“He’s a real good player. I thought we did a real good job on him except in the early minutes of the game. For the most part, I thought (Oguchi) Onyewu and (Eddie) Pope did a pretty good job on Koller. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury and may miss the rest of the tournament, but I think for the most part we did well. Again, to me, the big play in the game was giving up the early goal.”

Again...Huh? Koller scored early and was open another time but fortunately for us the cross was too high.

Bobby Convey
On the game and what went wrong:
“Our spacing and formation wasn’t good. We didn’t move well off the ball, and defensively we didn’t win a lot of second balls. Any time you go down in the third or fourth minute against a team that can hold the ball that well and move it around it’s going to be difficult.”

Dead on.

Landon Donovan
On if the game plan was to blame:
“We can look back and say whatever we want now. Not enough guys came to play and that’s what mattered.”

On his play:
“I didn’t get the ball enough. When I did get it I made some decent plays, but not enough. I don’t think I had a shot on goal, and playing 45 minutes as a forward that’s my job.”

 

[Djaughe]

60 minutes and only 1 goal from Brazil...their fans must be dying right now....

 

[Djaughe]

lol...just caught this on the ticker:

Robinho comes on for Ronaldo, who looked a shadow of his former self on the Berlin pitch.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

lol...just caught this on the ticker:

Too much sausage and beer for Ronaldo!