Dana's World Cup Viewing?

[Titanxman04]

Let's face it folks, soccer is not exactly the most popular sport on this board. I know it. You know it. We all know it. So, lets not get into the debate on whether or not soccer is worth our time, and lets focus on (in my humble opinion) the greatest sporting event every four years (that's right, suck it, Olympics).

Anywho, I'm trying to contact BJ here. On June 12th, the United States takes on England to open up the World Cup. What a day that could be if we had a big old USA gathering at Dana's to root for our home team! What's the interest in this? BJ, would you be down for hosting such an event? Our last gathering was a blast, and it was good to meet those who showed up. Figured this would be as good a summer event for all of us to gather once again.

[drudy23]

Soccer is not worth our time.

[DC Muskie]

Soccer is not worth our time.

Neither is Elder football.

[drudy23]

Neither is Elder football.

Do I start threads on Elder football?

[DC Muskie]

Do I start threads on Elder football?

Does it matter?

[ballyhoohoo]

While soccer is not everyone's cup of tea, there is no reason why those interested can not have a thread to dicuss the world cup. It is in the out on the mall thread. If soccer is not your bag, then do not read a thread with "World Cup" in the title

[94GRAD]

I'm in! I'll figure something out when I find out what time the game starts.

[drudy23]

I'd rather watch Elder football than soccer...that's for damn sure.

I would guess most Americans would agree...and they likely don't even know who Elder is.

[94GRAD]

I'd rather watch Elder football than soccer...that's for damn sure.

I would guess most Americans would agree...and they likely don't even know who Elder is.

I disagree. If you gave Americans a choice between watching the World Cup and High School football, the World Cup would dominate.

[ballyhoohoo]

I disagree. If you gave Americans a choice between watching the World Cup and High School football, the World Cup would dominate.

I would rather watch the world cup ove rhigh school football, unless it is my alma mater, which I have had a cousin playing continuouly for since i graduated.

[Snipe]

I will probably be watching the game with my boys. It would be more exciting to watch it in an environment with other fans.

The World Cup is a lot of fun when we play well. It would be great to beat the English.

[drudy23]

If you gave them the choice of watching HS football and the World Cup, they'd choose the World Cup.

If you gave them the choice of watching ELDER football and the World Cup, they'd choose Elder football.

We're a cut above.

[XU05and07]

I'm in! I'll figure something out when I find out what time the game starts.

US-England game is at 2:30 ET (PM)

[DC Muskie]

I'd rather watch Elder football than soccer...that's for damn sure.

I would guess most Americans would agree...and they likely don't even know who Elder is.

You really need to move from the west side of Cincinnati drudy. There's an entire world out here that you are missing.

Notice I didn't say the world is missing you.

As for the match, does anyone else think Wayne Rooney is going to score about 400 goals on us?

[XU05and07]

You really need to move from the west side of Cincinnati drudy. There's an entire world out here that you are missing.

Notice I didn't say the world is missing you.

As for the match, does anyone else think Wayne Rooney is going to score about 400 goals on us?

I think Wayne Rooney gets a yellow in the first 15 minutes of the game and plays very cautiously after that.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I'd rather watch Elder football than soccer...that's for damn sure.

I would guess most Americans would agree...and they likely don't even know who Elder is.

I'd rather watch the Elder fans who are watching the Elder game than either soccer or high school football. Man they are an interesting bunch.

[D-West & PO-Z]

By the way I heard Landon Donavan on Mike and Mike today. They asked him what he would consider a success. His answer wasnt really direct. He said there are a group of about 7 teams who if they play well they can win. Then he said there is another group of teams (which he put the US in) that can get out of their group and would have to play extremely well and they might have a shot. Then another group that basically has no shot.

[DC Muskie]

I hope Mexico is in the group that has no shot.

[GuyFawkes38]

I just can't get into the Premier League or the UEFA championship (the entire structure and flow to the soccer season confuses me).

But the World Cup is pretty awesome. I'm excited.

[BBC 08]

I'll be at Bonnaroo for this game and plan to trip balls while watching it. Go USA!

[XU05and07]

I'll be at Bonnaroo for this game and plan to cup balls while watching it. Go USA!

fixed

[golfitup]

By the way I heard Landon Donavan on Mike and Mike today. They asked him what he would consider a success. His answer wasnt really direct. He said there are a group of about 7 teams who if they play well they can win. Then he said there is another group of teams (which he put the US in) that can get out of their group and would have to play extremely well and they might have a shot. Then another group that basically has no shot.

The goal of this team is get out of the group. After that, it's all gravy.

Spain and Brazil are the favorites. Argentina, Italy, Germany, France, England and Holland definitely could win it. After that, maybe some one like Serbia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, or Ghana could make a deep run. Keep in mind only 7 countries have ever won the tournament. Spain and Holland are the two best soccer countries that have not won it.

If Mexico had any kind of height I could see them making a run, but they just could not deal with England's superior physical play on set plays today, so they'll prolly do what they always do and go out in the 2nd round. I hate Mexico.

[BBC 08]

fixed

You know me so well.

[PM Thor]

I'm still blown away that they are playing this thing in South Africa, which is a very violent country. When the Chic visited before, she saw the guy driving the car in front of them dragged out of his car and beaten, and had someone else try to get into their vehicle, too. I am (sadly) waiting to hear about soccer fans being assaulted and attacked.

What a horrible choice for venues. Jburg and Capetown, among others? Holy crap the criminals are going to have a field day.

I HATE dayton.

[GuyFawkes38]

Bottom line: South Africa is a crappy country.

No doubt South Africa was picked out of sheer idealism.

I know some people get upset when events are managed by people who only have profit in mind, but this is what you get when an event is managed by officials with the opposite philosophy.

[nuts4xu]

I am not a fan of soccer, and even less of a fan of watching soccer on TV. But I have come around a little, and plan to watch some of the world cup.

I plan to work out a drinking game where you have to drink every time a guy says "pitch" and have to chug a beer every time one of the players is carried off the field only to run back on the "pitch" 5 minutes later. It will be epic.

The action in the world cup is entertaining, and my drinking game will still pale in comparison to how much the Euros drink while watching across the pond.

[sash19]

I am not a fan of soccer, and even less of a fan of watching soccer on TV. But I have come around a little, and plan to watch some of the world cup.

I plan to work out a drinking game where you have to drink every time a guy says "pitch" and have to chug a beer every time one of the players is carried off the field only to run back on the "pitch" 5 minutes later. It will be epic.

The action in the world cup is entertaining, and my drinking game will still pale in comparison to how much the Euros drink while watching across the pond.

I played soccer my whole life and at a very high level. I must say though that I have always hated watching it on tv. The commentators and the camera angles make it tough. To watch soccer, you need to be able to see the whole field, not just the ball. Watching just the ball is like watching 5 year old plays soccer.

I must say though, I am liking the plan that Nuts has for watching. I may have to meet up with him to watch the games!

[Titanxman04]

I am not a fan of soccer, and even less of a fan of watching soccer on TV. But I have come around a little, and plan to watch some of the world cup.

I plan to work out a drinking game where you have to drink every time a guy says "pitch" and have to chug a beer every time one of the players is carried off the field only to run back on the "pitch" 5 minutes later. It will be epic.

The action in the world cup is entertaining, and my drinking game will still pale in comparison to how much the Euros drink while watching across the pond.

Sounds like a wonderful idea. BJ, make it happen.

I feel like soccer in just a regular season club match, can be a little boring. I still find it enjoyable and I still will turn it on though. But the World Cup is just a different animal. I cannot wait for June 11th. My productivity level will take a severe drop once this thing gets kicked off.

[DC Muskie]

We are going to lose to England by 45 goals.

We.

Are.

Awful.

[powerofX]

We are going to lose to England by 45 goals.

We.

Are.

Awful.

True. But even so, we still may make it through...and lose to Brazil by 50!

http://cdn.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/the-sun-world-cup-2010.jpg

[DoubleD86]

We are going to lose to England by 45 goals.

We.

Are.

Awful.

I absolutely disagree. I think people will be surprised at the quality of our squad. I think we at least tie England, and I would not be surprised with a victory. The only players on England that worry me are Rooney and Gerrard.

If we do not make it out of the group, it is an embarrassment. The goal should be to win one game in the elimination round. If (when) we get out of pool play, we either play Germany or whoever comes in second in Germany's group. That means one of Australia, Serbia, or Ghana. In my opinion we should beat any of those teams, and with Ballack out for the WC we could be Germany as well. A successful WC for me is getting out of pool play then getting one win. Anything else is gravy. Getting out of pool play and losing will be disappointing to me. Not getting out of pool play would be flat out embarrassing.

Edit: If we do beat England, it may be the most fun I will ever have watching/listening/reading the reactions.

[Emp]

I am not an expert, but an afficianado, and after last night, I can tell you (first team or not) that we have a gaping problem in the center of the defense. Giving up four to a non-qualifier at home is nothing short of a disgrace.

We can score at the highest level now, but I fear we cannot defend.

[DoubleD86]

While I agree. Keep in mind we played without around 8 of our starters. We ad 2nd stringers in and then at half replaced 4 or so of them with 3rd stringers. Also, Onyewu was playing in his first international match since his injury. He will absolutely be better (and one goal was directly is fault and his rustiness/apprehension). Another goal was also a poor play by Guzan, our 2nd string goalie. It was very hard to get a read on the team from yesterday's game because of the lack of our starters/key players.

Saturday's match against Turkey will be a much better indicator. Also, I think we got some good looks at some of the back-ups. Guys like Goodson, Holden and Gomez impressed me yesterday.

[XULucho27]

I played soccer my whole life and at a very high level. I must say though that I have always hated watching it on tv. The commentators and the camera angles make it tough. To watch soccer, you need to be able to see the whole field, not just the ball. Watching just the ball is like watching 5 year old plays soccer.

I must say though, I am liking the plan that Nuts has for watching. I may have to meet up with him to watch the games!

I agree with you in part. While I can't stand the commentators during the World Cup, (in Spanish or English) I don't think the game loses that much on T.V. Yes, some of the angles that you or I as players naturally look for are hard to discern on a television however,the wider shot of HDTV remedies a substantial portion of the problem of not being able to see the whole field. But yes, there are times when you miss players beginning spectacular runs because the camera is focused on the ball and not the field.

I'm VERY excited for this year's WC. Although I'm optimistic that my team (Argentina) can do damage, I do not trust our coke-head manager. He will be our downfall. As for the U.S.A., I think they can escape the group stage but I don't think they have a 2002-esque Quarterfinal run in them. It should be a blast though. I am rooting for the US to put a hurting on the Brits!

[golfitup]

This game just proved what we already knew. We just have such little depth. Put it this way. Who on our team would make the English squad? Tim Howard for sure. Landon maybe, Hahnaman maybe and.........that's about it. Seriously. A draw would be a great result and if we lose try to keep it to just one goal because goal difference can be huge in group play.

[DC Muskie]

Double you are either incredibly optimistic or incredibly naive.

We have no depth. None. Gooch is not magically going to be a top performer in two weeks. Our defense is atrocious.

The thing to remember is, we don't produce players that play in top flight club tournaments, i.e. the Champions league.

I mean Rooney should worry you. Right now he tearing people up. And defense is our biggest weakness. And our best player on that side just came back and looked terrible.

My hope is we advance. That would be great.

But I will say this, I hope I'm wrong.

[DoubleD86]

Call me optimistic or naive. Onyewu was the only main defender that was playing against Czech. I personally like the group of Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector. With the 4 back line you have a starting line up of Bocanegra, DeMerit, Onyewu, and Spector/Cherundolo. That leaves one of those two and Goodson both as backups, both I like.

I just don't see these guys as terrible like you do. Especially when you add in guys like Edu or Clark who are holding, defensive minded Middies. That with the fact that Bradley is a defensive coach so I expect us to be a more reserved, defend and counter ideology I just don't think our defense will struggle as much. All that and add in Howard who I think is a top level GK in the world (probably somewhere around 8th in the world, IMO).

You are more than welcome to disagree (and no that doesn't make you a bad fan or un-American) and you do bring up very good points. I may be too optimistic/naive, but I think these guys are underrated. Our squad has 13 players who play in England, Spain, Germany, or Italy (including Donovan). These guys, while not on the Champions League teams necessarily, still play against and with those level players.

I'll put my neck on the line, I predict a win over England. Feel free to ridicule me but I don't buy that Rooney is 100% and I was unimpressed by their squad against Mexico in London. I think it will likely be a 1 goal win, with a good possibility of a second leading goal put in late on a counter when they get desperate.

[DoubleD86]

Gooch is not magically going to be a top performer in two weeks.

Also, I think (perhaps just hope) that Onyewu's problems against Czech were more mental about his knee not physical. It is not uncommon to be tentative and not want to make some moves after an injury. If he is in fact going to be a problem with his knee, then that is a huge hit against our defense. I just feel like Bradley wouldn't have taken him if he thought physically he wasn't ready. Heck, there are rumors that is why Ching didn't make the squad.

[DC Muskie]

Things that I think we have going for us:

The Cup is not in Europe.

We are young and naive like we were in 2002.

We have a top flight keeper who happens to play for a club that never plays in CL.

However:
We don't develop defenders in this country. They are converted forwards who weren't very good. I mean Gooch is the only one in the last 15 years. It doesn't matter if it's mental or physical, Gooch hasn't played in a long time and he isn't going to snap into top flight mode and stop Big Bird from scoring off headers. Not that he probably could if he was healthy anyway, but do you see us replacing him with anybody else? Bradley knows that a 65% Gooch is better than anyone else we got in the stable. I mean how much did Gooch play for AC Milan when he was healthy? See what I mean?

I was in Germany and watched personally that debacle that was the Czech match. If we can't score, we will get blown out. We are still not at the stage where we dominate CONCACAF. Until we do that, I will hope and cheer and sing for us to advance.

I don't think England is going to win the Cup, but their offense compared to our defense, I'd be worried.

But like I said before:

The Cup isn't in Europe

We are young and naive

I'll work myself towards your position by the time the match starts. Not now though.

[Denver Muskie]

I'm still blown away that they are playing this thing in South Africa, which is a very violent country. When the Chic visited before, she saw the guy driving the car in front of them dragged out of his car and beaten, and had someone else try to get into their vehicle, too. I am (sadly) waiting to hear about soccer fans being assaulted and attacked.

What a horrible choice for venues. Jburg and Capetown, among others? Holy crap the criminals are going to have a field day.

I HATE dayton.

Wow. I miss a week of XH and a thread on soccer. I am going to the world cup, including the US-England game, and will be sure to report back on my experiences. I am going to be in JoBurg for three days and Capetown for seven. I'm not too worried about my safety, but I'll certainly be cautious about where I go at night.


I played soccer my whole life and at a very high level. I must say though that I have always hated watching it on tv. The commentators and the camera angles make it tough. To watch soccer, you need to be able to see the whole field, not just the ball. Watching just the ball is like watching 5 year old plays soccer.

I must say though, I am liking the plan that Nuts has for watching. I may have to meet up with him to watch the games!

HD makes an amazing difference in being able to see more of the field. The clarity of the picture allows for more appreciation of the skill as well.


This game just proved what we already knew. We just have such little depth. Put it this way. Who on our team would make the English squad? Tim Howard for sure. Landon maybe, Hahnaman maybe and.........that's about it. Seriously. A draw would be a great result and if we lose try to keep it to just one goal because goal difference can be huge in group play.

We have more depth than in the past. Only six of these guys play in north america. All the pressure is going to be on England in the opening game, so the US should be fairly relaxed. Did anyone expect us to beat Spain last year? No, but it happened and a similar upset can happen again.

[DC Muskie]

Anyone surprised by England's choices?

I'm surprised Bent didn't make the squad.

[MuskieMark]

I thought no Walcott is more surprising, and no Rossi with the Italians..although I guess that's what you get for being a douchebag traitor

[Titanxman04]

First off, BUMP!

Second, who's all coming?

I'm bringing at least one buddy. Maybe a couple more. BJ will be there because if he isn't, we'll bust down the doors to Dana's and drink up anyway!

CANNOT WAIT for the World Cup.

[JimmyTwoTimes37]

Predictions???

I think the US will lose to England,
beat Algeria,
and tie Slovenia
But we advance to face Germany

Group A - 1) Uruguay
2) Mexico

Group B - 1) Argentina
2) South Korea

Group C - 1) England
2) US

Group D - 1) Germany
2) Serbia

Group E - 1) Netherlands
2) Cameroon

Group F - 1) Italy
2) Paraguay

Group G - 1) Brazil
2) Portugal

Group H - 1) Spain
2) Chile

Round of 16 #1 - Uruguay vs South Korea - Uruguay
Round of 16 #2 - England vs Serbia - England
Round of 16 #3 - Netherlands vs Paraguay - Netherlands
Round of 16 #4 - Brazil vs Chile - Brazil
Round of 16 #5 - Mexico vs Argentina - Argentina
Round of 16 #6 - US vs Germany - Germany
Round of 16 #7 - Italy vs Cameroon - Italy
Round of 16 #8 - Spain vs Portugal - Spain

Quarterfinal #1 - England vs Uruguay - England
Quarterfinal #2 - Netherlands vs Brazil - Brazil
Quarterfinal #3 - Argentina vs Germany - Argentina
Quarterfinal #4 - Italy vs Spain - Spain

Semifinal #1 - England vs Brazil - Brazil
Semifinal #2 - Argentina vs Spain - Spain

Spain as the champs with the slight upset (We should all form a bracket challenge on ESPN.com).

I am loving this buildup to the World Cup.

Potential sleeper picks I keep hearing about:

1) Ivory Coast (although they took a serious blow with the injury and up in the air status to Drogba)
2) Serbia
3) Chile
4) Paraguay
5) Nigeria

[Titanxman04]

I've gotta think that Spain should win it all. However, Brazil is going to be a threat, as they always are. Italy isn't as strong as what they were four years ago (thank God) and neither is Germany. Argentina has the world's best player, but the rest of their team isn't as strong either. England has a great chance at making a run, but then again, it's all a crap shoot come game time.

[94GRAD]

If you are on facebook, please indicate if you are attending. Thanks.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133041690046045