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The Soccer Thread (Part III)

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Inky_Wretch, Jul 1, 2008.

  1. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    I thought it reads a lot like Donovan is just pissed, and throwing a teammate under the bus.

    Donovan has always been outspoken. Sometimes that can be entertaining for members of the news media, and fans. Often times, his words can be interpreted as finger-pointing. This particular interview - calling out a teammate for not pulling his weight - is typical Donovan. It does take a certain amount of "leadership" to say what no one else will say, to be sure.

    Like I said, I expect the book itself to be good. But the excerpt doesn't really get the blood flowing. Galaxy followers and media have been pretty aware of this disaster for a while.
     
  2. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    Becks covers his own steak and leaves others to handle their own?
    No real man would ever do that.
    I've always been a fan, but that's indefensible.
    Last time I was out with my buddies, for game one of the Stanley Cup at a sports bar, we were laughing at the ladies at the next table negotiating every dime they spent. When our check came, the most well-to-do of the group grabbed the check and covered it all. The time before that, I covered the check for my buddy, his wife and two daughters. That's what you do.
     
  3. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    Oh, and for the record, last time I was with Grant -- as we watched a U.S. v. Poland friendly, I bought the beverages & food.
    Can't wait to remind him of that.
     
  4. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    United completes Valencia transfer.
     
  5. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    I think that's a really nice move. Four-year deal according to the BBC, for what may be 16 million pounds.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8127596.stm
     
  6. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Can someone answer this for me about Team USA or USA or whatever the hell the name for the team from the United States is in soccer......

    What are we to make of this Confederations Cup? And should I get excited about our prospects in the World Cup next year?

    I mean, they looked like shit against Brazil and Italy then played great for five halves -- two against Egypt, two against Spain and the first half against Brazil and then looked like shit again in the second half versus Brazil.

    So we basically played five good halves and five bad halves -- or maybe I am way off (that is why I am asking, I'm new to soccer).

    In other words - was this a really good tournament, a mediocre tournament (as the five and five would suggest) or something we won't know until after the World Cup and based on this result, what should we expect in the World Cup?
     
  7. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    zag, I'm still trying to figure it out. I think we're all still sorting it out, and might not have a final answer about the Confed Cup until we see how the USMNT plays in the next World Cup qualifier.
     
  8. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    Zag -- it was a nice step forward for the team. While this wasn't the World Cup, Italy, Brazil and Spain brought nearly all of their best players and played all out to win. There aren't too many tourneys which mean something, mostly just the WC and the continental championships (like Euro 2008). This is probably a slight bit below Euro 2008 for Spain or Italy, but it's more like that then some random tourney where countries send their B squads.

    Our team can often look out of sorts (as can most teams), but when we played well, we looked pretty good. If there was a negative, it was that we really didn't create too many chances. But on the bright side, we did convert those few chances that we had.

    If I had to bet, I'd say we've still got about a 50-50 chances of making it out of the group stages at WC 2010 and about a 1% chance of winning it all
     
  9. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    You mean they haven't qualified yet for the World Cup? Does this mean they could actually not even make the field for the World Cup?
     
  10. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    It was a really good tournament. First off, the US played very well against Italy for about 60 minutes, and 20 of those minutes were played with 10 men. They only really poor soccer they played was in the pool game against Brazil (in which the U.S. fielded its worst lineup) and in the second half of the final against Brazil (when the unavailability of a key player, Michael Bradley, made it difficult for the U.S. to defend as it would have preferred and the team, as a whole, tired).
    Second, the U.S. discovered several players who can deepen its pool of talent.
    The next qualifer is Aug. 12 against Mexico, on the road. That's been almost a guaranteed L in the past. Perhaps the U.S. has discovered something that can make the team more competitive in that game. ::)
    As for qualifying, the U.S. stands second out of six halfway through the process. The top three automatically make it. If the U.S. plays anywhere near the level it reached in South Africa against Egypt, Spain or Brazil, it will qualify easily. But that's the trick.
     
  11. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Speaking of the World Cup, ESPN is going to drop a ton on production costs ...

    http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2009/06/espn-moving-to-south-africa-for-world.html
     
  12. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    WC qualifying is in the final stage for CONCACAF, which is our region. There are 6 teams and each team plays the other both home and away. The top 3 qualify and the 4th placed team has a playoff against a team from South America.

    Right now, all teams are 5 games in and we're in 2nd place. We have our hardest game next (at Mexico). Realistically, if we win our final two home games (against CR and ES) we should qualify.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_-_CONCACAF_Fourth_Round
     
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