Remind me again how North America is dominating the World Cup? You're through to the last 16 and as one of teh best 16 teams in the world, so you should be. I don't see you DOMINATING the World Cup mate. Go easy on the hyperbole there dude.
Last time I checked, Britain wasn't in the competition. But hey, nothing like a total rewrite of history, eh.
Pretty much. Having watched Ghana Germany last night, I'm glad we avoided the Africans. They should have beaten the Germans 3 or 4 one last night. Ozil had a very good chance in the first half but Ghana created chance after chance and couldn't finish. I think they'll have too much for the US. Germany are a good young side who play the ball well and play without fear because of their youth. But England's performance yesterday was one of the best in the tournament. That was a classy performance; spreading the ball round the field, moving the Slovenians around, Johnson and Cole were superb as were Gerrard and Milner, we looked very strong at the back and Rooney just showed glimpses. Essentially we're getting stronger as the tournament proceeds. We also play better against the better teams and our last 2 outings against the Germans have been wins for us; 5-1 and 2-1. It'll be a good game that might go to extra time.
Mate, I know this is an American website but putting the US in the top group ahead of Uruguay is jingoism gone mad. In fact, putting the US in the top group is jingoism gone mad. The facts are that the US was dominated by England and scored when our keeper threw the ball into his own net. Went 2 down to Slovenia only to come back and draw and SQUEAKED past Algeria 2 minutes into injury time. Don't go making reservations for the final just yet.
Boom..... You can make an argument that we should have beaten Algeria by at least three goals yesterday, much like you made the same argument for Ghana beating Germany. We have also had two clearly fair goals taken away....the whole world knows we beat Slovenia 3-2 and you all managed to net just one. I wont put us in the upper tier yet....but the US had played very, very determined ball. Im not saying your selling our team short at all....but I think the US could very well be dangerous from here on out. Having a great keeper can go a long way in knock out rounds....and Howard is one of the best in the world. And our young strikers are getting better and better....
Sure did, but I think alot of people here are starting to realize that we should have beaten France over 90 minutes and that the game should have never gone to Extra Time, where the handball occurred. Plus we should have topped our group considering how bad Italy and Bulgaria currently are. Its our own fault we are not there, if people are honest with themselves. After seeing how bad France did and how poor Italy are, I more pissed off that we didn't overcome both of those teams. A couple of companies over here are doing stuff like that, doing deals for when the French lose, concede a goal or go out of the tournament. They did well from what I heard.
Just got this text; might need to move to the joke thread.... This World Cup is turning out just like World War 2, The French surrendered early, the Americans arrive last minute and we are left to fight the Germans.... Seriously though I'm glad you guys are through, the English press wrote you guys off a little to easy as you were the last team to beat the Spanish and put up a pretty good fight against the Brazilians last summer...
thats rubbish we dominated that game and shouldve never had to put it away in extra time. how can you say england looked so great but we only squeaked by. i watched both games and we were just as if not more dominant against our opponet than u were against yours. im not saying we are going to the final or even that we will beat ghana, but either you didnt watch the game or you have something against the US soccer program and you are severly downgrading this team.
At the beginning of this tournament, would you have said youd be suprised we would win group C? Oh....and we do have the better keeper. No question about that.
Hold on a second Boomer, you give England, who has played very uninspired ball at this point, a 50/50 chance to beat a powerhouse but yet say you would be surprised if an inspired US squad, who has played this Cup so far with guts, tenacity and heart along with impressive skill would beat an non-powerhouse squad. I mean com'on brother, how does that work? What's your line of thinking here?
The truth is that the US had 2 goals stolen from them and completely dominated Algeria. Squeeked by my ***. I saw both games...and it was not even close as to the quality of the wins. England did "enough" to beat Slovenia. The US beat Algeria into the ground.
That is just ridiculous. Well, hopefully you can be a big enough man to admit you were wrong...eventually. How was Altidore's "work rate" in the last two games? Clinging to every hope, huh Alen?
With all due respect to Boom... His line of thinking is really related to seeing a bunch of Liverpool, Man U, Chelsea and Tottenham jersey's running around for his team and he then sees another team with Real Madrid, Inter, Barcelona jerseys..and completely dismisses a team like the Americans. You can't blame him...we do the same thing with international basketball. The US has not won the gold medal in every Olympic games at Basketball, yet they have had the vastly superior team every time. It is the same thing. if this was about who wears the most historic jersey's and plays for the best clubs...then stop the tournament and hand the Cup to England or Spain. This tournament is about which selection is the best. if the US makes the quarters...again..they deserve respect. PERIOD. I can almost guarantee that if they made the semi-finals...THEY ARE FAVORED TO MAKE THEM....it will be dismissed as a fluke.
I totally understand this line of thinking, but I think there another factor you forgot here and that is I think a very true fear among non-Americans, looking at you Europe really, that the US soccer program is becoming a very legit program and one that might need to be reckon down the road, and because of this I think subconsciously they are too eager too dismiss what we have accomplish and what we can accomplish than too acknowledge it.
BTW, the only thing England can dominate in this world cup is a Best manager's glasses competition (Capello) or a real good case of hemorrhoids from the Eng. media.
Well..at least we are called a "Top 16" nation now consistently..that is progress... But that "Top 10" will be defended till the death by the Euros especially.
Why's it ridiculous? The US have played inspired ball but I'm not sold yet and my opinion is ridiculous? Sorry for not believing in your country. Hey, I have no problem admitting I'm wrong. I never said US wouldn't make it anywhere, did I? They've made it pretty far and about where I expected them to make it. They fight all 90'+ so they will be in games late. Anything can happen. Regarding Altidore, he's gotten better. He definitely has. Hope he can keep it up because he has talent. As for yourself, you can keep trying to turn this into a pissing match.
We are arguing about sports. We have ***** don't we? You said you were not convinced of the squads quality. How anybody can watch that team and not think they are a likely quarterfinal team..well, I don't know. Quarterfinals = Quality. Side note: The US has had as many goals stolen as England scored in the entire group stage. I am sorry..give me the hard working, bust your *** team that gets results, over the the star laden 280 million dollar payroll team that just does enough. What team do you root for Alen? and why?
Case in point.... Slovakia 2 Juventus 0 So Slovakia should allow 3 goals on purpose so everything will be allright in the world?
Yep. We all have our views on each team in this tournament. Alexi Lalas (sp?) said that the US was expected to get out of this group because it was one of the weakest groups they've had in years. I don't think he was off on that statement and due to the lack of quality in the group, in which I felt they had some struggles, I am not convinced of the quality of the US. Forgive me for not being convinced. If they beat Ghana, they will have me convinced. I think Ghana has some quality, they just need to wake up offensively.
Just caught this, after my post went through. I agree the US has had goals taken away from them. They should have won that thriller against Slovenia. To be frank, I don't give a damn about the English soccer team. I like some of their players but that's because of their play in the PL. And I don't root for any team in this World Cup. I'm a fan watching the greatest sport in the world, again my opinion whether it be ridiculous or not.
The struggled for 60 minutes of 90 vs. England. That was expected. Vs. Slovenia they broke down due to mental mistakes and then toyed with them int eh second half. Vs. Algeria, they kicked the crap out of them. it just so happened that they scored the goal at 91'. But it EASILY could have been 4-0 if not 5-0 after watching the match again.
My statement reflected more my poor grasp of geography than stating North America dominating the WC. I was combining North and South America and comparing it to Europe. The best soccer played so far has come from South America while the traditional powerhouses of Europe have come out flat in the first round. With the exception of the Orange, there hasn't been another European team that has displayed championship form in the first round. As for the US and Mexico, they have played decent but not great soccer though with America it has certainly been exciting soccer. Not to say that things cant turn around in the knockout stages. But the first round really belonged to the South Americans. I still like Spain to take it all and feel there first game was a fluke but you cant yet say they impressed
I am a huge fan of many of the players on England's team. I would root for them in the final, if they made it. But the beauty of this game is that it is the quintessential "team" game. Stars don't always win. The better organized and harder working side almost always comes out on top. With the exception of Brazil that just wins when they want to.