2014 World Cup thread

Honestly, I could see the US going 0-2-1 or even 0-3 in this and I think best case would be 1-1-1 and hope

 

No argument at all. And I'm not particularly emotionally tied to the US team.

There's nothing unfair about this draw, but I think it's reasonable to look at this and say the US is going to get its ass handed to it.

 

Beat Ghana, lose to Germany, Portugal is a toss up.

 

Beasley just said he hopes to get a point against Ghana.

So fucked.

 

To show you how perspectives differ, the guy doing the Guardian live blog of the draw regarded the US group as a bad draw for Germany, including the "dangerous" US as one of the reasons.

 

Best case is 1-1-1 I think. Most likely is definitely 0-3.

I could see them maybe surprising Ghana with a win, and I guess they could get lucky and earn a draw against one of the others. But man, that's a brutal group.

Like others have said though, they've had softer groups many times before. Can't really complain.

 

The team you really gotta feel for is Australia. Already the lowest-ranked side in the tournament, and they get Spain and Holland. Not unlike the U.S. and Ghana, Australia and Chile have a really important opening game.

And the reason that could happen? Because Holland played a friendly against Indonesia, and that made Switzerland a seed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25134584

 

So FIFA adopted the BCS system? Excellent!

 

Things we have going for us: Good order of matches. Revenge factor vs. Ghana. Always a chance Ronaldo is not in top form or injured due to extra club commitments. I would like to think Jurgen has a good feel for Germany.

Things against: Travel. Ghana has the USA's number and that may not change. Ronaldo is Ronaldo and he will give us problems. Germans might have extra incentive to beat up on US.

Best case scenario: Revenge win over Ghana, followed by win over a reeling Portugal side after they get destroyed by Germany...then a close loss to the Germans in a meaningless game.

Worst case: We fuck up against Ghana and it's pretty much over.

 

Getting Ghana right off the bat is good for the USA. Regardless of what Klinsmann said, there are going to be a few guys playing next summer that have seen their World Cup dreams dashed by Ghana. African nations rarely have long runs of success. Ghana has been out of group play two straight times, so I can't help but think they don't get out of group play this time.

Obviously, the US will need to beat Ghana. Then if Germany beats Portugal, the pressure will be on Portugal against the US. And let's not forget, Portugal was shutout in three World Cup games in 2010. The only team they scored on was North Korea.

 

Worth noting that (at least) one of Brazil, Spain and Holland won't make the quarterfinals.

 

Terrible draw for us, but Eissien is old and Gyan has fallen off since 2010. Asamoah and Muntari are both good, but so are we. 1 or 3 points isn't out of the question.

Portugal is going to be hard, but we've beaten them before. If Ronaldo blows it against Germany, maybe we can have some momentum.

Germany is impossible unless they take the foot off of the gas.