LOL, nice try but no, I am not really a USMNT fan, more of an interested observer. My allegiance when it comes to National team soccer lies elsewhere.
OT: World Cup Open Thread to Entertain Us In the Runup to Bowl Season
- Thread starter NUCat320
- Start date
Several teams lack one. In the past everyone played an old school “9”. You would play a “striker”, you would just go with the best available.
Modern soccer, if you don’t have a great one, you don’t play a traditional “9”. Man City, before Haaland, might have been the best team in the world in the last 5 years, and did not play one.
Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, not playing with a traditional true striker. Having said this, everyone would love to have Lewandowski on their team.
Arguably the US has been better apart from those two plays. Which, to be fair, were kind of moving penalties in terms of how well set the scorers were.
Put Lewandowski in the Spanish team and you’d see a torrent of goals. It matters who you have setting you up.Not in the World Cup
And the piss poor marking in the box. Dest cannot let a player cut through the US penalty box with 2 yards of space.
Those defensive lapses were pretty egregious. The first was a loaf. The second was a nap.
I praised our defense before the game and this is a disaster. This 3rd goal. Ugh
I’ll admit to yelling ‘DIVE’ a few times in the last five minutes. USMNT was good enough, except for the defensive lapses and failures to finish. (Lol. Bad Saturdays. Except for the turnovers…)
It’ll be fun to be in North America in ‘26. I hope we’ll be able to avoid Azteca.
It’ll be fun to be in North America in ‘26. I hope we’ll be able to avoid Azteca.
Mr in game dramatic! You are right, it was like that before the game, it will be so after the game.
But I think the future is brighter than ever. This team is young and I’ve never seen more young talent coming up than I see now.
And not so serious soccer powers have shocked the world. Greece 2004 being the most evident example that comes to mind
I think I agree. It's a young squad and getting better, but we need to find that guy who can put it in the net.
I agree with you regrading the young talent but the mental breakdowns suggest they don’t have the experience and ability for that talent to shine under the pressures of playing against a prime time opponent on the World Cup Stage. It may be a coaching and preparation issue. I was not impressed by Berhalter. .
Ninety percent of the teams all say the same thing about getting a guy to put it in the net.
Pulisic is in his early 20s and has scored in nearly 40% of his national team appearances. He’s a unique talent.
Given that Gio and Ferreira are 20 and 21, and Weah 22, there’s a reasonable expectation they’ll get better. We’ll have goal-scorers in 3 1/2 years.
And now I’ll forget their names for two years, but I love this stuff.
U.S. second youngest team in the WC.With young players come mistakes and the only way you get experience is by playing.We see that scenario in every sport whether in college or pros.Very valuable experience for the U.S.and in 2026 the tournament will be played in North America.This young team has 4 years to get better as a team and individually and with many games on our own turf the U.S. can really be a legitimate threat to compete for the FIFA Trophy.
In 2026 the W.C. will be hosted by three countries.The U.S. Canada and Mexico.First time ever that will occur.And no restrictions on beer sales.GO U.S.A.
And the good thing is the host countries automatically qualify.
You are right but that’s a part of the game, developing and hoping for the best.
Ask any Belgian fan if it’s not frustrating having had a favorite to win it and no trophy to show for it. And they even have the Euros which for the involved teams is just about as important as the WC.
Portugal had the best midfield in the world in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Golden generation. Did not win anything. Until they did, a decade later.
If the best roster always won it Brazil would have 20 world cups anyway. It’s still just one team taking the hardware home.
As a life long fan of the Azzurri, I know the World Club Champions Club is a very select one. For the US, the next step should be regular quarterfinals with a chance at the semifinals. A country our size with the resources we have going 30 plus years since we made a serious push to develop a competitive International caliber soccer program should be further along by now.
Corbi, don't get caught in this common fallacy trap. It's a bad take. Just be happy with each accomplishment, celebrate this group of players, and hope for another good run in 2026. A football rich nation like Italy failed to make it to the World Cup for the second straight cycle. Germany got knocked out in the group stage for the second straight WC. Nothing is guaranteed. China and other largely populated nations should be FIFA giants but are really bad despite their efforts to invest and improve.
Uruguay’s Golden Generation went home yesterday too. They peaked 12 years ago.
It is a uniquely and wonderfully random sport.
Goal was peak Messi. Half chance he made look easy.
Agreed that it’s not an exciting game. But the roos did not have much choice but try to make it a slow affair. Score happened so the 2nd half might be different.
Or it might not. Australia is probably the worst team left.
Agreed that it’s not an exciting game. But the roos did not have much choice but try to make it a slow affair. Score happened so the 2nd half might be different.
Or it might not. Australia is probably the worst team left.
Don’t know how the ambient sound is coming through on Fox. But I find it incredible how, in a fairly boring game, the Argentinians in the stands still sound like they are at the La Bombonera, watching an intense local rivalry.
The quality of this thread has improved markedly, in my view.
The earlier discussion re proposed rules changes (such as abolition of offside, etc.) managed to combine a high degree of ignorance and arrogance.
The earlier discussion re proposed rules changes (such as abolition of offside, etc.) managed to combine a high degree of ignorance and arrogance.
You're right of course. "Grumpy" and "old" are adjectives my wife often uses to describe me. You've spoken with her recently, right? 🥴
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