World Cup 2014 - Brazil!

elvistheking44 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Only in America does a guy who gave up the ball in the offensive third get blamed for the loss. Bunch of fucking morons. First 70 minutes of the World Cup he was awful, he played fine tonight. It's cute America blames the guy who gave up the ball at portugals 18 over cameron who let 2!!! 2!!!! Guys get behind him

He's made two crucial turnovers in the first two games, hit an open shot DIRECTLY at the only defender in the goal, he knows to shoot low to the post and he should have put that ball out in the final 30 seconds, my daughter who plays U9 knows this.

He fucked up, but he fucked up in the offensive third. That shit happens. It was bad, no doubt, but you have to be able to rely on your defense to not let ANYONE get behind them with 30 seconds left in the game.

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Only in America does a guy who gave up the ball in the offensive third get blamed for the loss. Bunch of fucking morons. First 70 minutes of the World Cup he was awful, he played fine tonight. It's cute America blames the guy who gave up the ball at portugals 18 over cameron who let 2!!! 2!!!! Guys get behind him

Yep. Ridiculous. Anyone who puts all the blame on Bradley doesn't have a fucking clue.

Yep. There were 4-5 US players back when Bradley turned the ball over with 2 from Portugal and they was able to get behind them. That is unacceptable.

Bradley has not been perfect but he was a lot better yesterday and had some outstanding tackles in the defensive third. Yes, he should have buried that goal but the fact of the matter is the US took a 2-1 lead with 30 seconds left and the defense let that goal happen.

Yep...can't put all the blame on 1 guy. And like you said, unacceptable to let the guy on Portugal get behind the defense...especially at that crucial point in the game.

It hurts, but if you told me before the tournament that we'd have 4 points after 2 games and have a very realistic shot of advancing to the knockout round, I would have definitely taken it. Gotta re-group quickly for Thursday.

Neymar on fire

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Only in America does a guy who gave up the ball in the offensive third get blamed for the loss. Bunch of fucking morons. First 70 minutes of the World Cup he was awful, he played fine tonight. It's cute America blames the guy who gave up the ball at portugals 18 over cameron who let 2!!! 2!!!! Guys get behind him

Yep. Ridiculous. Anyone who puts all the blame on Bradley doesn't have a fucking clue.

Yep. There were 4-5 US players back when Bradley turned the ball over with 2 from Portugal and they was able to get behind them. That is unacceptable.

Bradley has not been perfect but he was a lot better yesterday and had some outstanding tackles in the defensive third. Yes, he should have buried that goal but the fact of the matter is the US took a 2-1 lead with 30 seconds left and the defense let that goal happen.

Yep...can't put all the blame on 1 guy. And like you said, unacceptable to let the guy on Portugal get behind the defense...especially at that crucial point in the game.

It hurts, but if you told me before the tournament that we'd have 4 points after 2 games and have a very realistic shot of advancing to the knockout round, I would have definitely taken it. Gotta re-group quickly for Thursday.

No doubt. 4 points was always the goal 2 games in and that is where they are.

Took Thursday off. I can't deal with work that day.

Good call. Luckily I work from home on Thursdays. Still debating if I should take a half day and go to the bar for the game....not sure if I want to be out in public for this one though...I'm going to be a mess watching this game.

Cliffy6745 said:

pjhawks said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Only in America does a guy who gave up the ball in the offensive third get blamed for the loss. Bunch of fucking morons. First 70 minutes of the World Cup he was awful, he played fine tonight. It's cute America blames the guy who gave up the ball at portugals 18 over cameron who let 2!!! 2!!!! Guys get behind him

Yep. Ridiculous. Anyone who puts all the blame on Bradley doesn't have a fucking clue.

Yep. There were 4-5 US players back when Bradley turned the ball over with 2 from Portugal and they was able to get behind them. That is unacceptable.

Bradley has not been perfect but he was a lot better yesterday and had some outstanding tackles in the defensive third. Yes, he should have buried that goal but the fact of the matter is the US took a 2-1 lead with 30 seconds left and the defense let that goal happen.

admittedly i am not much of a soccer fan but doesn't the guy defending Rinaldo there have to force him to do something instead of just backing off and letting him make an uncontested pass?

no matter who is to blame it was a hell of a play and finish. for the situation it had to be a perfect connection and it was. have to tip your hat them there.

can someone explain to me why goal differential and goals scored is more important than head-to-head result? so if Ghana beats Portugal by 2 or more they could possibly move on ahead of US with the same points even though US beat them head-to-head? that seems a little absurd to me.

Yeah, tough situation. As a defender having Ronaldo pass the ball is probably best case scenario. Everyone had to figure he was going to goal in that situation and you gotta contain him and try to force an outside shot. It was a perfect cross. If you try to force Ronaldo to do something, 9 times out of 10 he is going to do something and beat you. Just sucks that he had such a bad game until that play.

Yeah, just the way it is. Figure how you played over 3 games when all things are equal is a better indicator of your strength than a 1 game result. Can't argue too much considering Ghana was clearly better than the US that first game. I always thought it was a little backwards as well though.

Spot on. And the fact that CR7 did something completely different than he normally does (play the ball early) is what made the play work. If he streams down the side or cuts inside, the defense is ready for that. Great players improvise at critical moments. His defender actually did what you want him to do - get the ball off the foot of the one player that can do you damage around the goal. It's the same as covering MJ - I'll take Kerr hitting a 3 over MJ doing what he does. I'll take my chances. But, the D is structured to prevent those players from doing their thing (and why Lebron takes so much criticism - he helps the D by acquiesing way too easily).

As for the blame game - Geoff Cameron was terrible. This game is 100% on him. The lazy clear to start the game. The 6 yo mistake of ball watching and losing his guy to end the game (There is one target guy!!!!! Just get in his way while he's at the top of the box. There are 4 other defenders with their eye on CR7. If they can't get him then great for him. You are back post - you MUST IMPEDED YOUR MARK!!!!!!!! You Dumb Fk!!!!!). Plus a bunch of f ups that Besler had to cover for during the middle of the game. Unfortunately, not sure we have anyone else to play 90 minutes in the middle of the field, so we may continue to see him out there. But, there's no way you can watch that game film and see that even if he avoids one of those 2 huge blunders there is a different result.

EdsonNascimento said:

Cliffy6745 said:

pjhawks said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Only in America does a guy who gave up the ball in the offensive third get blamed for the loss. Bunch of fucking morons. First 70 minutes of the World Cup he was awful, he played fine tonight. It's cute America blames the guy who gave up the ball at portugals 18 over cameron who let 2!!! 2!!!! Guys get behind him

Yep. Ridiculous. Anyone who puts all the blame on Bradley doesn't have a fucking clue.

Yep. There were 4-5 US players back when Bradley turned the ball over with 2 from Portugal and they was able to get behind them. That is unacceptable.

Bradley has not been perfect but he was a lot better yesterday and had some outstanding tackles in the defensive third. Yes, he should have buried that goal but the fact of the matter is the US took a 2-1 lead with 30 seconds left and the defense let that goal happen.

admittedly i am not much of a soccer fan but doesn't the guy defending Rinaldo there have to force him to do something instead of just backing off and letting him make an uncontested pass?

no matter who is to blame it was a hell of a play and finish. for the situation it had to be a perfect connection and it was. have to tip your hat them there.

can someone explain to me why goal differential and goals scored is more important than head-to-head result? so if Ghana beats Portugal by 2 or more they could possibly move on ahead of US with the same points even though US beat them head-to-head? that seems a little absurd to me.

Yeah, tough situation. As a defender having Ronaldo pass the ball is probably best case scenario. Everyone had to figure he was going to goal in that situation and you gotta contain him and try to force an outside shot. It was a perfect cross. If you try to force Ronaldo to do something, 9 times out of 10 he is going to do something and beat you. Just sucks that he had such a bad game until that play.

Yeah, just the way it is. Figure how you played over 3 games when all things are equal is a better indicator of your strength than a 1 game result. Can't argue too much considering Ghana was clearly better than the US that first game. I always thought it was a little backwards as well though.

Spot on. And the fact that CR7 did something completely different than he normally does (play the ball early) is what made the play work. If he streams down the side or cuts inside, the defense is ready for that. Great players improvise at critical moments. His defender actually did what you want him to do - get the ball off the foot of the one player that can do you damage around the goal. It's the same as covering MJ - I'll take Kerr hitting a 3 over MJ doing what he does. I'll take my chances. But, the D is structured to prevent those players from doing their thing (and why Lebron takes so much criticism - he helps the D by acquiesing way too easily).

As for the blame game - Geoff Cameron was terrible. This game is 100% on him. The lazy clear to start the game. The 6 yo mistake of ball watching and losing his guy to end the game (There is one target guy!!!!! Just get in his way while he's at the top of the box. There are 4 other defenders with their eye on CR7. If they can't get him then great for him. You are back post - you MUST IMPEDED YOUR MARK!!!!!!!! You Dumb Fk!!!!!). Plus a bunch of f ups that Besler had to cover for during the middle of the game. Unfortunately, not sure we have anyone else to play 90 minutes in the middle of the field, so we may continue to see him out there. But, there's no way you can watch that game film and see that even if he avoids one of those 2 huge blunders there is a different result.

I could not agree more on all of this. Everyone wants to blame Bradley because he is the big name, but Cameron was bad. Which sucks, because he played well in the first game.

davidtrios said:

There are 7 scenarios where the group of death can lead to a coin toss. with all of this hype and excitement for the US team, can you imagine the dissapointment of not making it to the knock-out tourney on a stupid coin flip??

7? Where'd you read that? If they tie on points with Ghana, there won't be a drawing b/c the 3rd tie breaker is H2H. So, the US can only lose out in a drawing of lots if Portugal wins and they lose. And, then the only way that happens is if they have the same exact goals for and goals against.

So, the US would have to lose 0-3 to Germany and Portugal would have to win 2-0 vs. Ghana (or add equal goals to each side of both games). Seems highly unlikely for that exact combo to happen (e.g. if Portugal wins 3-1, but US loses 0-3, Portugal advances on Goals Scored). Any other outcome and one of the tie breakers comes into play.

The more likely way the US is out is Ghana wins by more than a goal and/or US loses by more than a goal.

And, if I were a betting man, despite all the talk to the contrary the final score of the US-Germany match will be 0-0. Talk of winning the group is stupid - just get through. And for Germany, they don't want to carry any yellows into the round of 16 b/c despite the accumulated cards being wiped out AFTER the round of 16, if you pick up a 2nd in the round of 16, you miss the quarter finals. (Not to mention the advantage of having an easy game fitness wise heading into the round of 16). So, as long as the US doesn't do something stupid and push guys forward, Germany has no incentive to play this game harder than they need to.

Haha, good riddance, Italy. Hate the way they play.
If Suarez really did bite someone again he should be banned and FIFA should mandate that he has his big chompers removed before reinstating him.