verreauxi
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Posts posted by verreauxi
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The US keep saying they were in the group of death. The Netherlands-Chili-Spain-Australia and also Italy-Uruguay-England-Costa Rica are more deserving of that title to me!
Yeah, I agree, the US group was very tough, but for me it was Italy, Uruguay, England, and CR; every team in that group should have been scared shitless seeing their draw, and congrats to the Ticos for winning it handily.
US epitaph, from American soccer writer Elliott Almond:
"It survived the Group of Death and had a chance, albeit slim, to advance to the quarterfinals. But here’s the bottom line:
Gritty as they were … as well coached as they were … the fightin’ Klinsmanns were outplayed by a substantial margin by Ghana, Germany and Belgium (for 90+ minutes).
The USMNT simply wasn’t good enough in the midfield. Whether that’s because Michael Bradley played poorly, or because Michael Bradley was playing out of position and played poorly, or because there is only one world class player on the roster — Howard — it doesn’t really matter.
What matters now is finding answers in the midfield before the summer of 2018."
I fully agree with this assessment. The continual inability to obtain and sustain possession outside of the Portugal game was a real killer.
Fully concur. We have grit and tenacity and fitness. And I love it to death, with tears in my eyes and the whole bit. But we don't have a midfield. And even though I'm broken by the loss--damn that game was entertaining. And I'm impressed by Yedlin, his tank was filled with high-octane-nothing-to-lose fuel. Howard has to be US's player of the tournament, trailed by Jones.
But hats off to Belgium. I hope they develop more cohesion their next game, they are gonna need it. I'm rooting for them.
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They needed a fire sale. Nothing was working at White Hart Lane for them. Too bad Dembele wasn't in the mix. I like him. But of these for sale only the Icelander--who seemed the only one with ideas for many of their games--would be on my list.
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I think they should have retroactive penalties, using replays. If a player fakes an injury by emitting childish histrionics while holding a body part that replays show wasn't touched, then the fucker should be banned or fined. Get a jury to decide. Of course the Uruguayans will claim human rights abuses...
And the game will be around in 50 years, and perhaps if India gets its act together and their tiny football association can get 0.00003% the budget that they give to cricket, then maybe we'll see a rising tiger. There's only a billion of them after all. India used to be good and qualified for the 1950 world cup but they decided not to attend when they learned they had to wear shoes in the tournament. (I think I read that in The Economist).
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Bloody unlucky Algeria. Great game to watch.
France v Germany will be a humdinger. It will be the perfect clash of styles and I think France will have that little bit more quality in the final third to expose Germany where Algeria couldn't. I would be benching Giroud mind.
Two top goalies who are fearless and have no problem running 20 yards out of the box to shut down a play.
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Everyone has a 2nd team in the WC. Who is (or was) your second team, the guys you root for when your not supporting your first team? And why?
USA is my first team
Mexico is my second due to having lived there for about 4 years as a kid.
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Ha, yep, I got a throng of Thai bookies and a goon-squad of Albanian muscle. I just have to pick which teams will prevail...And it will be so.
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Shame to see him go but I can't imagine he'll get much playing time on their 1st squad.
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Love the kit and love the socks. Good stuff all around in my opinion.
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Bloody typical, the two late goals tonight make my 2-1 prediction right so I have a glance at Verreauxi's predictions and he's gone for the same
.Tomorrow you can get your chance as I--silly in retrospect--predicted USA over Belgium. I'm not so sure anymore about that unless Kompany is not playing. (obviously, I'm rooting for USA no matter what)
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It is time for all Uruguayans to shut the fuck up. "human rights abuse" blah blah blah. Go fuck off: your star player has biten other players 3 times.
- Sibdane, Romey 1878 and Matt
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James Rodriguez also playing out of his mind (obviously).
Navas is great.
I'd like to kick Robben in the ballbag.
Duarte off for CR. That's a huge blow. He's one of their greats.
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You may want to come up with different scores for Colombia-Uruguay, because you currently have Uruguay losing a goal in the second half.
Probably too late but I meant it to be 2-1 Colombia as in Colombia (1)2 Uruguay (1)1
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Going out on a limb, just for kicks, with successes predicted for all CONCACAF teams.
Brazil (0)2 Chile (0)1
Colombia (1)2 Uruguay (1)0
Netherlands (0)1 Mexico (1)2
Costa Rica (1)2 Greece (0)0
France (1)3 Nigeria (1)1
Germany (1)2 Algeria (1)1
Argentina (1)3 Switzerland (0)0
Belgium (1)1 USA (0)2
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A few questions for the American members of our happy little forum
What got you into Football?
What American sports do you enjoy?
Will football (soccer) finally become a major thing in USA after the exploits of this world cup, in your own opinion?
Which are the most popular EPL teams in USA (Or Canada for that matter)?
And finally I want to make a statement. I just can not get along with American sports, not that I haven't tried. But they always leave me a little 'cold'. This is not a criticism, just that it is why I am asking the questions. Baseball ... I have played it and that is ok, but watching it .... No I can't. Basketball ... absolutely hate it. Grid Iron is ok with a beer or five inside me when there is nothing else to watch .... apart from all the rest breaks, which has me falling asleep. Ice Hockey? No not my cup of tea either. and as for Lacrosse ... never ever seen it.
Basically I think it all comes down to a mind set, and what you are used to. So my admiration for those of you who have taken the mantle of supporting our team despite being raised on a diet of Grits, Clam Chowder and Baseball.
I got into soccer somewhat by luck, since my mom took me and my two brothers to Mexico when I was 6 years old. It was supposed to be a 3 week vacation in the summer but when we arrived in the little town we were staying (San Miguel de Allende), she fell in love and did some re-arranging of the schedule and we stayed for the whole year. And over the next 9 years, I alternated going back and forth between Mexico and the USA. My first professional sports match was in the mexican professional leagues (PUMAS of UNAM...and still one of my favorite teams). At that time, late 70s/early 80s soccer was on one of its many "resurgences" in the US, and the NASL professional league was in full swing (recall that Pele and Beckenbauer played for the NY Cosmos) and along with this was a huge establishment of youth soccer leagues all over urban/suburban areas. All my friends growing up played soccer in the fall/spring and youth league baseball in the summer and basketball in the winter. Many were multisport athletes (which is perhaps why the USA produces fine goalkeepers). I wasn't. I sucked at American football, baseball, and basketball. I played a little youth hockey but that's Canada's sport and the youth hockey leagues were few and far between and largely restricted to Northern states.
I don't watch too many American sports, but I support any team from Chicago, my home city...I will dutifully watch the superbowl and playoff (American) football but the actual ratio of action to stopped play is abysmal and I get impatient with it. I find baseball very boring but will watch a game or two when and if the Chicago Cubs are doing well.
I actually enjoy watching basketball and this is due to Michael Jordan joining the Chicago Bulls and winning 6 championships. I recall getting a call from my friend back when we were in college. Both of us grew up playing soccer, but he's like "dude, you gotta see this guy Michael Jordan...he's fucking amazing..." and we checked out a game at the Chicago Stadium and I was hooked. So I still watch basketball, largely due to the inertia of Jordan's influence on me. The atheleticism in that sport is ridiculously high. And I will watch any hockey game, as that is also a wicked cool sport.
I don't follow the MLS as much as I should but the big teams are basically the ones with the stars: LA Galaxy and more recently the NY Red Bulls. The best supported teams are Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Sporting KC, with frenzied fans that give me lots of hope for the league.
Soccer is certainly on the up-and-up in the USA, but the country is large enough both spatially and demographically that it will continue to expand but not at the expense of other sports. But we have seen other resurgences (mid-70s/early 80s; then again in the early 90s when we hosted the WC...only for it to wane a bit). I don't see pro soccer replacing pro football or baseball ever, but given the concussion syndrome in pro football, I do see some parents pushing their kids into soccer over american football. But the vast majority of these kids will play soccer + baseball + other sports, in my view. We will never be a unified soccer-crazed nation the way we are with baseball or football (my opinion of course). And in some ways, this will never happen because some folks will always view soccer as "un-American"--that trite shibboleth that is trotted out far too often without a substantive thought behind it.
(Subsequently, my GF is the manager of the USA women's national team in rugby, and according to her, rugby is one of the fastest growing youth sports in the USA...I need to snopes that one).
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And I had even less to go on since the NASL was in its death throes by the time I started playing schoolyard soccer in the mid 80's. Literally the only player I'd ever heard of at the time was Pele. Which was fine if I was running around trying to score, but most of the time I was the one volunteering to play keeper, and I didn't know the names of any pro keepers.
Wasn't there a player called "Kyle Rote Jr." That never rolled off the tongue very well. "i'm Kyle Rote Junior!" (and trips over the ball).
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Three days into round 3, and MikeO retains his lead. Congratulations also to NyarkosLeftToe for obtaining a perfect score in the Bosnia-Iran game and to Nikica for a perfect score in the Honduras-Switzerland game. Of course, extending his lead overall is verreauxi.
I was expecting that France wouldn't roll over and die, but rather build on their amazing offensive momentum. Oh well.
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Didn't have much to go on in the USA in the mid 70's in terms of me being exposed to the international game but I somehow found my way to Mario Kempes through a Mexican soccer magazine that my mom bought me, particularly during his Rosario and Valencia years. In retrospect, not a bad choice for a know-nothing surburbanite from Chicago.
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Chewy Luis and the Blues
[Huffington Post headline] I'm sure there are more to come. And despite the puns, it is still infuriating.
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Seriously he just ran up.... Ball wasn't even near them and bit him on the shoulder. This clueless cunt commentating said he never... He fucking did.... Should be banned for life!!!!
Absolutely!! This guy is a psychopath. He should be banned from professional soccer. I can't think of a good reason to not ban him. And in the USA it seems that this tournament has gathered lots of new fans and now the only thing our (largely brainless) TV/sportscenter folks will be talking about is Suarez, not the amazing games that have been played.
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Many thanks for compiling all this Steve. Here are my scores...
Australia 0(0) Spain 2(1)
Netherlands 3(1) Chile 1(1)
Cameroon 1(0) Brazil 3(1)
Croatia 1(1) Mexico 2(0)
Costa Rica 0(0) England 2(1)
Italy 1(0) Uruguay 2(1)
Greece 0(0) Ivory Coast 2(1)
Japan 1(1) Colombia 2(1)
Bosnia H 1(0) Iran 1(0)
Nigeria 0(0) Argentina 2(1)
Ecuador 0(0) France 4(1)
Honduras 0(0) Switzerland 1(1)
Portugal 1(0) Ghana 1(1)
USA 1(1) Germany 2(1)
Algeria 2(1) Russia 1(1)
S Korea 0(0) Belgium 3(1) -
I'm gonna start asking verreauxi to predict accumulators for me!
You crushed it in the second round Geth. My first round choices built me a nice cushion but I fear my luck is gonna run thin from now on.
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Just watched the Arg-Iran game back and as bad as Argentina were Iran were immense and could have won it. That Gooch lad from Charlton stood out I thought.
Agreed, Reza is really terrific. I've always liked Dejagah and he's been playing well. Gyan on Ghana is also having a great tournament.
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USA National Team
in General Football and Sport Discussion
Posted
I like all these picks but Guzan could still be a possibility, though Sean Johnson is really good. And try out a few youngsters, such as Okoli and Ben Spencer.