The Soccer Thread or something like that?

[sancho]

Why did Mexico ever go away from the Aztec shield?

Here are the historical unis of all 32 teams:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2014/may/30/-sp-world-cup-kits

[Applejack]

This thread is now a personal journal for my World Cup thoughts.

The US looked great against Nigeria on Sat. Michael Bradley was as good as I've ever seen him.

I'll co-blog with you.

I haven't focused on the World Cup yet, but it starts on Thursday! Let's get this started!

The U.S. did look good on Saturday, but I think they are toast - killer group + not much firepower on the squad = early exit.

I really wish I were there.

[Applejack]

Oh, man. We all do. Brazil? How cool would that be?

I will be disappointed if a Latin American team (read: Brazil or Argentina) does not win the cup. How can you not root for Messi to have a huge tournament and cement his name with Diego and Pele among the all time greats? How can you not root for Neymar to explode at home?

Sorry, I, like any good Brazilian missionary, hate Argentina. I'll happily root for Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, or Equador, but not those long-haired, beef-raising, cowboys.

[Applejack]

I know. Mi hermanito went to Argentina and hates Brazil - and Portuguese, and Samba, and Rodizios - with a passion. For him, Iguassu falls is 100% Argentine.

I went to Peru. We have not played in a WC since 1982. I just root against Europe. Stupid tall Europeans.

Does Peru have a rival? My friend went to Bolivia and will never root for Chile because "they stole our mar."

[Applejack]

Does Germany's recent injury spell give the USA some hope in the GROUP OF DEATH? I doubt it, but it sure would be nice to advance to the sweet soccer sixteen.

[Applejack]

One of my favorite responses to the group of death was from Dan Wetzel, who basically said "So, US soccer fans are up in arms because their team will play only 3 games instead of 4 in Brazil?"

Germany will advance, with or without Reus. Portugal struggled to qualify, but they have all the pieces to be good. So who knows what to expect? Ronaldo could have a field day against the weak US defense. I don't know a thing about Ghana, but the US has struggled against the physicality of the good African teams.

Good news for US - Portugal and Ghana are just as nervous about advancing as we are.

here's my recipe for the USA advancing:

1. Germany dominates Ghana (10-0) and Portugal (8-0), so by the time game three comes up, they are already advanced.
2. We get two ties: Ghana and Portugal.
3a. Then, we either advance on goals if Ghana and Portugal tie and we lose to or tie Germany.
OR
3b. We beat Germany 1-0 because they are resting all of their players.

Could happen!

[Applejack]

Soccer changes I would make:

1) Move back penalty kicks. I feel like this is a major weakness in the sport. Scoring chances of low probability are turned into almost sure things when there is a penalty in the box. Experiment until you find the sweet spot where a PK is only 80% likely.


Why don't they do PKs at the spot of the foul? Then, if you got fouled just inside the box near the corner, you take a low probability shot from there. Also, whoever gets fouled should be forced to take the shot.

[DanielLaRusso]

I can't believe there are still people getting away with calling Group G the group of death...Group D, my friends.

[Applejack]

I can't believe there are still people getting away with calling Group G the group of death...Group D, my friends.

True. Poor Costa Rica.

[Viking]

We are pretty excited about the Copa here. I'm heading to both US v Portugal and US v Germany. I have two tix to the final in Maracanã as well and a few of my analysts have tickets to the oitavas e semis…so maybe they'll feel charitable and invite the boss (doubtful!).

It's starting to feel like a Copa here. I think the seleção is over-rated and Neymar is an unproven talent internationally, but unlike Messi, he plays well with the national team.

My favorite player for the canarinho is Fred…unsung hero who tends to come through in the clutch (embora que eu não goste do tri).

My guess is Holland gives Brasil fits in the oitavas and Chile is the dark horse da Copa…no idea who wins but I sure want the US to kick Cristiano Ronaldo's pansy ass.

[UteBeliever aka Port]

Why did Mexico ever go away from the Aztec shield?

Here are the historical unis of all 32 teams:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2014/may/30/-sp-world-cup-kits

Very disappointed with Spain's all-red uniforms. When I think Spain, I think red shirt and blue shorts.

[San Diego Ute Fan]

I made an ESPN bracket predictor group. !Vamos vamos Argentina, vamos vamos a ganar!

http://games.espn.go.com/world-cup-bracket-predictor/2014/en/

group name: utahby5

password: 3431

Sorry to break it to you, but Brasil will win it all. Argentina had their day of glory in 1978. Not this time.

[Viking]

Sorry to break it to you, but Brasil will win it all. Argentina had their day of glory in 1978. Not this time.

Don't think so.

[Applejack]

I agree. Brazil has not blown me away in the games I've seen. But at home, they are still the clear favorite.

Very jealous that you get to be there.

Nate Silver (http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/its-brazils-world-cup-to-lose/) is giving Brazil a 45% chance of winning the whole thing!

http://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/silver-feature-wcpreview-1.png?w=610&h=877

[chrisrenrut]

I made an ESPN bracket predictor group. !Vamos vamos Argentina, vamos vamos a ganar!

http://games.espn.go.com/world-cup-bracket-predictor/2014/en/

group name: utahby5

password: 3431

Joined. I know jack-spit about soccer, but I enjoy the excitment and passion of the fans, and actually watch some of the more relevant or important matches during the world cup. My picks will be the equivalent of the secratary's bracket during march madness where she picks based on color and mascot.

[DrumNFeather]

I've got a 1 in 6 chance to win the UB5 group...feeling pretty good.

[Applejack]

I've got a 1 in 6 chance to win the UB5 group...feeling pretty good.

Just dropped to 1 in 7. Plus, I've got Bosnia in the final four, so I'm golden.

[DrumNFeather]

My buddy writes for this soccer site: http://the18.com/news

You all may be interested to read some of the previews etc...if that is your bag.

[UBlender]

One more video to get this thing started:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfeVoGgVdI0

Too bad that clip cuts off, there's so much more great stuff to it. "HOLDS IT...HOLDS IT!!!"

[Applejack]

Brasil wins! Cheese bread for everyone!

AJ, should I use a z or an s in Brazil?

tanto faz. (That means "whatevs" is Portuguese).

brazil looked very beatable today. They had better straighten up before Mexico.

[Viking]

tanto faz. (That means "whatevs" is Portuguese).

brazil looked very beatable today. They had better straighten up before Mexico.

Penalty looked almost fraudulent it was so bad.

Neymar is clutch...surprising but good for him

Julio Cesar is a serious weak link that could cost them

[Applejack]

Mexico robbed in first half - repeatedly. Gio should be playing for a hat trick this half.

If I'm Brazil, neither of these squads worries me. And if I'm Croatia, I'm pissed that I didn't get one point for yesterday's game.

[Viking]

Nate Silver (http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/its-brazils-world-cup-to-lose/) is giving Brazil a 45% chance of winning the whole thing!

http://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/silver-feature-wcpreview-1.png?w=610&h=877

At FIFA fanfest in Copacabana. Unbelievable asskicking by holland.

[Viking]

The van persie goal was incredible.


5-1??

Ass whooping

We were w the dutch crowd. Was a blast.
Not sure ive had more beers in my life!

Was so much fun....we wore official orange.

[Viking]

The Van Persie header was one of the best goals I've seen, maybe the best

[DanielLaRusso]

What was that I said about the REAL group of death again?

[Viking]

We are FIFA fanfest in Rio for the US game

Want to know who is here? Thousands of Hispanics. Wearing the american flag.

Want to know who is not here? Any apparent member of the so called Tea Party.

God bless america.

[Applejack]

BOOYWAH! What a result on the pitch! Payback!

Now, I'm not sure we can hang with Portugal or Germany, but if we can sneak out one more point, I think we advance.

[Viking]

We are FIFA fanfest in Rio for the US game

Want to know who is here? Thousands of Hispanics. Wearing the american flag.

Want to know who is not here? Any apparent member of the so called Tea Party.

God bless america.

OMG

Greatest game ever. I thot we were done but Brooks comes through...

[DrumNFeather]

What a relief! At 1-1, we were just begging the soccer gods to keep the tie. Brooks!

After almost a round, the top tier includes five teams: Germany, Holland, Italy, Argentina, Brazil.

The second tier teams have an outside chance: England, Belgium, Chile, France.
It's not there now, but his Wikipedia page said he was the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln. :)

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk

[hostile]

It's not there now, but his Wikipedia page said he was the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln. :)

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk

That was funny.

Great goal. great game.

[U-Ute]

That was an incredible game to watch.

That said, I feel this euphoria will be short lived. It seemed to me that the US got a bit of a break. I don't know if they looked past the US or not, but I thought Ghana looked like the more talented team. They were faster and possessed the ball better. The US, and particularly Beckerman, played pretty solid defense, but Ghana blew a few opportunities.

A lot depends on which Portuguese team shows up. Germany may have just kicked the hornet's nest before throwing it in our laps.

As an aside: if any of my kids go on to play soccer competitively, I'll be damned if any of them will get stretchered off for a pulled hamstring.

[U-Ute]

It's not there now, but his Wikipedia page said he was the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln. :)

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk

r/Worldcup delivers

1149

[concerned]

Why did the US, knowing that they were going to Brazil in the summer, not hold their training camp in humid Mississippi or Florida instead of freaking Palo Alto?


Speaking of which, this was a pretty funny article, though a couple of days old now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/sports/worldcup/world-cup-2014-england-and-italy-prepare-to-play-in-manaus.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%5B%22RI%3A5%22%2C%22RI%3A 17%22%5D

[Applejack]

What a game! That 0-0 tie was as exciting as anything else I've seen in sports this year.

Brazil should have had 3-4 goals, but Ochoa was amazing.

La Virgen was smiling down upon Ochoa today.

Neymar is too obsessed with his fancy feet for my tastes. He's got a too much little Jason Williams (the White Chocolate one, not the murderer one) in him.

[Viking]

This was a blast. The dude with the flag in front of the camera at second 31 is me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d04F5z-tNlo

[Viking]

USA v Portugal. 20 years ago, to the date, I was a Mormon missionary in Portugal when we beat Colombia 2-1.

Today, I live in and love Brazil. And my country is playing Portugal tomorrow. We qualify if we win.

We have to win. I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!

[Viking]

Bummer. But I am glad Nani scored. Cabo Verdiano with a great story. Lived in Amadora, where I spent six months of my mission. I wanted to win but this was a fine result

[Viking]

Gonna be tough to advance now. A win vs Germany seems unobtainable. So the two most likely ways to advance are:

1) Tie with Germany. Unlikely but possible.

2) Portugal beats Ghana. With how Ghana is playing, this seems unlikely too.

The most likely outcomes - Germany beats us and Ghana beats Portugal - will likely have us packing for home.

I'm more sanguine. The US is very good. We have a great shot to advance

[Applejack]

Europe's greatest nation - Greece - advances on an extra time penalty kick.

And it's Costa Rica/Greece in the round of 16. One of those two teams is going to be a quarter finalist.

And we're guaranteed to have a South American team in the final four: Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile are all matched together.

[Applejack]

What's with that? If Ecuador manages to get in, they will play Argentina. All the South American teams are matched up. I would much rather see them go against the Euros.

Agreed. It's really nice to see Italy, England, and Spain bite the dust, but we need France and especially Germany to meet an early demise as well.

I can cheer for the Greeks and the Dutch.

[U-Ute]

167 people cashed in on bet that Luis Suarez would bite someone at World Cup (http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/luis-suarez-biting-prop-bet-norway)

:clap:

[DrumNFeather]

Noah might be the only person that can get to the game with all the flooding...but the game will be played!

[U-Ute]

US is through the group of death (sorry Italy and England, if you let Costa Rica through, you don't get to claim hardship). I would say we've played about 45 minutes total of good possession soccer so far.

They remind me of the PAC-12 Ute football team: the US plays great defense and has no offense.

I don't know Altador, but the announcers talk highly of him. When is he due back?

[Viking]

onto Salvador! Midfield seats, baby!

http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/26/will-ferrell-crashes-brazil-world-cup-bar-drives-us-fans-wild-and-pledges-to-bite-every-german-luis-suarez-style-4776260/

[Viking]

What an incredible game. The oranje are the first ever to win when trailing in 88 mins...

Brazil has its problems, but it knows how to throw a party! Best time of my life here!

[Applejack]

What a day! Argentina/Swizterland. If you don't want to be a part of the world, Swiss, you shouldn't be a part of the world cup. Go home.

You were cheering for Argentina?!??! How could you? The U.S could have had a Belgium-Switzerland path to the final four. That would have been the snootiest path in the history of the World Cup.

[U-Ute]

Vincent Kompany tweets after the game about Tim Howard:

https://twitter.com/VincentKompany/status/484112080988307456

[Viking]

What a game. I'm just back from Salvador and will post pics.

[Viking]

This world cup has been amazing. The stories I could tell...

[Viking]

Can't wait for Holland x Argentina. The ticos played great but Krul was incredible. If there is a god in heaven, he'll send these insufferable argentines home with a punishing loss against the oranje

ECHTE MANNEN DRAGEN ORANJE

[U-Ute]

Brazil :flamethrower: Germany

[DanielLaRusso]

First place, baby! Down to me (Argentina), Chrisrenrut (Brazil), and Chazsexington (Germany)

and then there were two, my friend.

[U-Ute]

1180

[chrisrenrut]

1180

:rofl:

[DanielLaRusso]

Argentina vs Germany. Good vs Evil. Sancho vs Sexington.

"Evil" is such a strong word. I prefer "good-impaired."

[DanielLaRusso]

52% of respondents to ESPN poll are rooting for Germany. If we needed any more proof of the decline of this nation, we now have it.

I'm getting ingredients together for an empanada celebration on Sunday. Beef empanadas, chorizo and potato, and spinach and cheese. Mmmmm... the taste of victory.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g146/chazsexington/gifs%205/lol_zps109d4a19.gif

[DanielLaRusso]

I made 50 empanadas - split between beef/pepper/egg/olive and chorizo/potato. They were supposed to be my victory pies. Now they will all taste like losing.

Messi's "I'm dead inside" face is all the dinner I need.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g146/chazsexington/iveseensomeshit_zpsbe41cfe8.jpg

[DanielLaRusso]

So, you're a big uniform guy, right? Why in the world would they not have Argentina in their famous abliceleste unis yesterday? It's probably the most iconic national team jersey (maybe tied with Brazil's yellow). Nobody cares about the German uni, so why not have Argentina in their classic and put Germany in black? I think this is the real difference in the game's outcome.

Home team (which was Germany) picks the kit they want to wear, the other team accommodates. Germany's whites (http://static.goal.com/3100/3134.jpg) are certainly iconic (maybe not as much as their greens (http://sin.stb.s-msn.com/i/43/FA954269A755AF2F338937C7A151.jpg), but I digress), but as you say, Argentina's sky blue is a step beyond. HOWEVER, if I'm Germany and I get to pick who is wearing what kit...I definitely want to force the other team to play in anything but their comfortable iconic apparel...especially if it means I get to wear MY iconic kit.

[Mormon Red Death]

Would someone rename this thread "The soccer thread" or something like that?

Done unless you want a funny name for it