2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

[Shorty V]

I agree 100 percent.

Really?

I don't understand.

Should I think it's pathetic that Team USA, 2 decades after their own counrty organized the FIFA World Cup, rely on a European to coach them and teach them soccer tactics?

 

[Buggster]

Well, it looks like Costa Rica is becoming the Exterminator of European Teams. England, Italy, Greece have all fallen victim to the Ticos, will the Netherlands be next?

- - - Updated - - -

Well, it looks like Costa Rica is becoming the Exterminator of European Teams. England, Italy, Greece have all fallen victim to the Ticos, will the Netherlands be next?

- - - Updated - - -

Well, it looks like Costa Rica is becoming the Exterminator of European Teams. England, Italy, Greece have all fallen victim to the Ticos, will the Netherlands be next?

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Really?

I don't understand.

Should I think it's pathetic that Team USA, 2 decades after their own counrty organized the FIFA World Cup, rely on a European to coach them and teach them soccer tactics?

: :

A couple things. I don't agree with foreign coaches coaching a team, and I did not agree with the firing of Bob Bradley. That said, I think Klinsmann has been very solid. Also, I don't agree with foreigners playing for our team, no matter how much better they might make us.

That's just my opinion though.

We will most likely not beat the Belgians but we can. I'd say it's about 65/35 in favor of Belgium. I look forward to the match tomorrow regardless.

 

[Motor.boater]

We don't even have a quarter of the states active hardly at all in our hockey system and we are still a power in hockey. We could start hockey players from four states and still be a force, behind only Canada, Russia, Sweden. European football is just a matter of time. European football ranks probably fifth - maybe worse - on the hierarchy of American sports and we still are decent. lol
.

Am I reading an excuse, or am I reading a chest-puffing piece?

Emerging doesn't make them a true contender. Belgium was in a much weaker group than the U.S. I won't be surprised if the U.S. is able to beat Belgium without penalty kicks.

They're a dark horse. Without a massive history like other European countries, this makes them an exciting addition to this comp, and future tournaments. USA on the other hand, are just...there.

I also think it's pathetic that European teams like Belgium and Italy rely on non-Europeans for their scoring. Hazard has been much hyped for Belgium but he has not been impressive.

You don't come across well in this post. What are you saying exactly?

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Am I reading an excuse, or am I reading a chest-puffing piece?

Just pointing out a fact. Even in sports that take third or forth precedent in America we can still dominate. Even though it was invented in Europe, the greatest golfers in history have overwhelmingly been American (Nicklaus, Hogan, Snead, Jones, Palmer, Nelson, Hagen, Woods). Soccer in America is likely sixth or seventh, after even golf and maybe even tennis (of which we dominate as well - Samprass, Agassi, Williams').

They're a dark horse. Without a massive history like other European countries, this makes them an exciting addition to this comp, and future tournaments. USA on the other hand, are just...there.

So the European "dark horses" are okay but the arrogant, weak Americans aren't? Got it.

You don't come across well in this post. What are you saying exactly?

BDG is pretty clear in his post.

 

[bobjustbob]

Soccer is just never going to happen here for many reasons. Sure ESPN and Fox and Univision signed long term agreements but let's look at the deal. 34 games each per year with playoffs Other little shit thrown in. It comes down to 45, 30, and 15 million per year respectively. It's an 8 year deal. A very, VERY important deal Univision got was the English language commentary via the SAP button on ALL MLS and USA national broadcast games. There are more reasons too:

1. The schedule starts in March (to compete with college basketball March Madness) followed by NHL and NBA playoffs. This takes us into the baseball season where some Spanish will split to that and nearly all Americans will follow the season.

2. ESPN and Fox will NEVER feature a soccer game on their prime networks over baseball or football when the season comes into the fall even if it is a cup game.

3. Univision will strip so many viewers from the other 2 it will become a ratings loss for both of them. Sure there are more people watching but they aren't watching it on American networks. Just look at what Univision is doing to NBC and the others right now with the FIFA ratings. They are trouncing them.

4. Professional athletes play where they will get paid just like doctors or stock brokers or plumbers. Half of MLS players make less than $50k per year. English Premier League players make more than that in a week. Any wonder why European basketball and hockey players come here? American high school and college athletes have their choices too. I'll name you dozens of football, baseball, basketball players that were better swimmers and track stars. It would be foolish to think that USA could be competitive with Euro or South America nations in soccer just like no other country can compete with USA basketball.

 

[Scancunt42]

I hope Germany or The Netherlands wins this,since the other teams i like are already out (Italy,Bosnia,Croatia) and some of them didn't even qualify (Ukraine,Serbia,Georgia,Czech Republic,Montenegro,Macedonia,Slovenia...)

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Soccer is just never going to happen here for many reasons. Sure ESPN and Fox and Univision signed long term agreements but let's look at the deal. 34 games each per year with playoffs Other little shit thrown in. It comes down to 45, 30, and 15 million per year respectively. It's an 8 year deal. A very, VERY important deal Univision got was the English language commentary via the SAP button on ALL MLS and USA national broadcast games. There are more reasons too:

1. The schedule starts in March (to compete with college basketball March Madness) followed by NHL and NBA playoffs. This takes us into the baseball season where some Spanish will split to that and nearly all Americans will follow the season.

2. ESPN and Fox will NEVER feature a soccer game on their prime networks over baseball or football when the season comes into the fall even if it is a cup game.

3. Univision will strip so many viewers from the other 2 it will become a ratings loss for both of them. Sure there are more people watching but they aren't watching it on American networks. Just look at what Univision is doing to NBC and the others right now with the FIFA ratings. They are trouncing them.

4. Professional athletes play where they will get paid just like doctors or stock brokers or plumbers. Half of MLS players make less than $50k per year. English Premier League players make more than that in a week. Any wonder why European basketball and hockey players come here? American high school and college athletes have their choices too. I'll name you dozens of football, baseball, basketball players that were better swimmers and track stars. It would be foolish to think that USA could be competitive with Euro or South America nations in soccer just like no other country can compete with USA basketball.

I still think (American) football will die out. And since it's a Fall season sport in America like soccer is, that will change the dynamic in a few decades. Also baseball isn't as popular I think with younger kids today. That leaves basketball at number one, and with all the arrogant assholes in the NBA, that will change the dynamic as well. Also never underestimate the power of strikes (work stoppages).

Give it a few decades and see where it stands.

 

[Shorty V]

A couple things. I don't agree with foreign coaches coaching a team, and I did not agree with the firing of Bob Bradley. That said, I think Klinsmann has been very solid. Also, I don't agree with foreigners playing for our team, no matter how much better they might make us.

That's just my opinion though.
[....]

But those Belgians aren't foreigners, they're immigrants or children/descendants of immigrants.
They all have Belgian passports and are proud to represent their (new) country.

Let's be fair in this: USA owns all its glory to 'foreigners' c.q. immigrants.
Almost all their sports teams and athletes are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

That's why I don't understand your POV.

No hard feelings though. May the best team win.

 

[sean miguel]

Triumph on the World Cup:

 

[BioDefenseGrad]

Pathetic. Ah.

It's just that there are some immigrants living in Europe, with European passports, you know.
(And some of them play good football/soccer.)

Of course such a situation is unimaginable in the U.S. of A.

About the chances of Belgium: I rated them very high before the tournament. This generation is very talented. So far the execution of their game has been unattractive, still they've won all 3 games. I think they can improve and I'm not sure if the same goes for team USA.

But, who knows? No matter in what sports, USA athletes will compete until the very end and never give up.

The U.S. is a country of immigrants, the indigenous people have been all but wiped out. Spain didn't need a host of immigrants to win the last World Cup.
Also, some of these folks have a tenuous link at best to the teams they are playing for. The U.S.A. is a soccer nobody, soccer/football is not even a top 4 sport here. I'll give the U.S. a bit of a pass but it's a disgrace how many non-natives some European teams use. Especially as futbol has been their number one sport for generations.

 

[BioDefenseGrad]

Pathetic. Ah.

It's just that there are some immigrants living in Europe, with European passports, you know.
(And some of them play good football/soccer.)

Of course such a situation is unimaginable in the U.S. of A.

About the chances of Belgium: I rated them very high before the tournament. This generation is very talented. So far the execution of their game has been unattractive, still they've won all 3 games. I think they can improve and I'm not sure if the same goes for team USA.

But, who knows? No matter in what sports, USA athletes will compete until the very end and never give up.

The U.S. is a country of immigrants, the indigenous people have been all but wiped out. Spain didn't need a host of immigrants to win the last World Cup.
Also, some of these folks have a tenuous link at best to the teams they are playing for. The U.S.A. is a soccer nobody, soccer/football is not even a top 4 sport here. I'll give the U.S. a bit of a pass but it's a disgrace how many non-natives some European teams use. Especially as futbol has been their number one sport for generations.

 

[feller469]

Also, I don't agree with foreigners playing for our team, no matter how much better they might make us.

I was born in England to two Americans. I had dual citizenship. Had I been good enough and had a choice, I could have played for England or the United States. Those "foreigners" are as American as you claim to be. This isn't like Italy trying to field an Olympic baseball team. Those players may not live on American soil, but their claim to citizenship is legit.

 

[BioDefenseGrad]

Really?

I don't understand.

Should I think it's pathetic that Team USA, 2 decades after their own counrty organized the FIFA World Cup, rely on a European to coach them and teach them soccer tactics?

He's not playing, is he? Also, plenty of Americans have noticed that a large share of our team is not home grown U.S. talent. But, like we said already, the U.S. has next to no native population and is a nation of immigrants.

 

[BioDefenseGrad]

I was born in England to two Americans. I had dual citizenship. Had I been good enough and had a choice, I could have played for England or the United States. Those "foreigners" are as American as you claim to be. This isn't like Italy trying to field an Olympic baseball team. Those players may not live on American soil, but their claim to citizenship is legit.

No, they are not. If you're going to claim people who've spent almost none of their life in the U.S. and who live abroad as "just as American" as someone whose ancestors have been here for hundreds of years...then you're trying to reduce nationhood down to nothing.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

But those Belgians aren't foreigners, they're immigrants or children/descendants of immigrants.
They all have Belgian passports and are proud to represent their (new) country.

For the most part foreign is the same thing as immigrant.

Let's be fair in this: USA owns all its glory to 'foreigners' c.q. immigrants.
Almost all their sports teams and athletes are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

That's why I don't understand your POV.

No hard feelings though. May the best team win.

As far as immigration to America is concerned, I don't even recognize it as legitimate in any way anymore nor do I believe it has been for decades - don't even get me started on birthright citizens who really have no right to be here at all. This has been a conundrum since Ron Reagan legalized millions of border jumpers, and any of them or any of their offspring I don't recognize as legitimate Americans. The government says they are, but a large percentage of Americans don't.

Just my opinion, of course. And I won't drag on about it here in this thread in the interest of the thread and respect of the community here. Best of luck tomorrow and I am starting to get psyched for the game already.

 

[Motor.boater]

Just pointing out a fact. Even in sports that take third or forth precedent in America we can still dominate. Even though it was invented in Europe, the greatest golfers in history have overwhelmingly been American (Nicklaus, Hogan, Snead, Jones, Palmer, Nelson, Hagen, Woods). Soccer in America is likely sixth or seventh, after even golf and maybe even tennis (of which we dominate as well - Samprass, Agassi, Williams').

Mate, you do know America only has about 300 million, and Belgium has 11mil? America has up to 7 states with a bigger population than Belgium.

So the European "dark horses" are okay but the arrogant, weak Americans aren't? Got it.

I didn't say "arrogant" or "weak". This collection of young Belgian players coming up is pretty exciting for me, as a neutral. The fact they're from Belgium, a country which doesn't have a massive history of success, also adds to the goodwill towards them. USA on the other hand, seems like a journeyman country, so to speak, in the WC. They get out of the group stage, or they don't, it's not considered a big deal. It's also their presence which has made the concacaf region get a generous amount of WC spots. So they can't fuck up missing out

BDG is pretty clear in his post.

I picked up a slight racial crack. Was this the intient?

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Mate, you do know America only has about 300 million, and Belgium has 11mil? America has up to 7 states with a bigger population than Belgium.

I didn't say "arrogant" or "weak". This collection of young Belgian players coming up is pretty exciting for me, as a neutral. The fact they're from Belgium, a country which doesn't have a massive history of success, also adds to the goodwill towards them. USA on the other hand, seems like a journeyman country, so to speak, in the WC. They get out of the group stage, or they don't, it's not considered a big deal. It's also their presence which has made the concacaf region get a generous amount of WC spots. So they can't fuck up missing out

I picked up a slight racial crack. Was this the intient?

This is racial?:

Originally Posted by BioDefenseGrad View Post
I also think it's pathetic that European teams like Belgium and Italy rely on non-Europeans for their scoring. Hazard has been much hyped for Belgium but he has not been impressive.

Wow, the hypersensitivity (and flat out disingenuous-ness) in the world today just seems to get more and more.

 

[Ace Bandage]

Excruciating loss. Even though Belgium had us out classed all game, I still thought we had a chance to win it at the end. Wasn't to be though. They were certainly the better team.

Howard didn't deserve to be on the losing end tonight. Dude was a fucking beast for 120 minutes. Defense really let him down.

 

[Motor.boater]

This is racial?:

Wow, the hypersensitivity (and flat out disingenuous-ness) in the world today just seems to get more and more.

I did not ask for it to be clarified? Anyway. Team USA have had their fun. They can fuck off now.