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World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

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Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Craig P. said:
UPL's is by far the most negative review I've read of Donovan's performance.
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If that's the case, then they must have been glowing indeed.

Most have been almost uniformly complimentary, and figure that to the extent there were hiccups, it was due to only having a handful of practice sessions with his teammates to figure out where one another will be on the pitch and what sorts of runs they'll make.
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Most of the negatives I saw in his play could certainly be explained by the long layoff and short training interval. I was not aware of either of these factors - to be honest I haven't been following Donovan's move to Everton and it was pure chance that I caught the game at all. Overall I agree with Malts18's assessment of his play. Great corners, some nice passes, not a standout but he clearly belonged on the pitch and was overall a positive contributor to Everton's result.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Going to Birmingham City - Nottingham Forest game tonight. I would have got to a few more games if there wasn't so many cancellations during the trip:mad:
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

The final list for the USA WC Bid is out. The 18 cities are Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Indy, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, San Diego, LA, Denver, Seattle.


Cities eliminated were: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Oakland, Orlando, St. Louis and San Francisco
Shocked by the lack of Midwest cities. Indy and Kansas City only.
Also no Bay Area city.
 
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Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Rolevio said:
The final list for the USA WC Bid is out. The 18 cities are Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Indy, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, San Diego, LA, Denver, Seattle.


Cities eliminated were: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Oakland, Orlando, St. Louis and San Francisco
Shocked by the lack of Midwest cities. Indy and Kansas City only.
Also no Bay Area city.
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They knocked out the Bay Area and Chicago in favor of Phoenix, Kansas City, Indy, and Nashville? Call me an arrogant homer who loves his big cities but this is idiotic. Why would you exclude the "capital" of the midwest and one of the most internationally recognized, temperate locations in this country? I maybe rooting for Australia and take our chances with 2026 after this travesty. Sweet jesus.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Rolevio said:
The final list for the USA WC Bid is out. The 18 cities are Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Indy, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, San Diego, LA, Denver, Seattle.


Cities eliminated were: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Oakland, Orlando, St. Louis and San Francisco
Shocked by the lack of Midwest cities. Indy and Kansas City only.
Also no Bay Area city.
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Hmm.

I'm surprised by the inclusion of Baltimore in addition to DC, but M&T is a nice venue so I guess it's not that odd.

Not terribly surprised by the inclusion of two Florida cities, nor which ones they are, but after looking into it, Miami's situation is odd: Dolphins Stadium is old and crappy, and not even that big, and Marlins Ballpark will be new but too small, but you can't leave Miami out, I guess.

Arrowhead Stadium is old, but being renovated, and in any case I think you have to leave in KC as a tribute to Lamar Hunt, who's one of the patron saints of soccer in the USA.

The Wikipedia lists LA Coliseum and the Rose Bowl as the stadia for LA, both of which are very old (I didn't realize this but both date back to the 1920s). Theoretically they're a placeholder for a new stadium but how long will it take to get a team to LA, and thus get ground broken there?

As Rolevio said, surprised to see Chicago left out, especially with Soldier field recently having been renovated. Regarding the Bay Area, are there any concrete (no pun intended) plans for building someplace new? I mean, yeah, you could go with Candlestick, but you'd figure they'd prefer something newer.
BoomGoestheDynamite said:
They knocked out the Bay Area and Chicago in favor of Phoenix, Kansas City, Indy, and Nashville? Call me an arrogant homer who loves his big cities but this is idiotic.
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Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country by population in the city itself, 13th-largest by metropolitan area population. Chicago and the Bay Area are larger, but it's not like they put it in Toledo. I'm just saying.
 
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Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

jmh said:
Hmm.

As Rolevio said, surprised to see Chicago left out, especially with Soldier field recently having been renovated. Regarding the Bay Area, are there any concrete (no pun intended) plans for building someplace new? I mean, yeah, you could go with Candlestick, but you'd figure they'd prefer something newer.Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country by population in the city itself, 13th-largest by metropolitan area population. Chicago and the Bay Area are larger, but it's not like they put it in Toledo. I'm just saying.
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The rationale for including Phoenix isn't so much the size of the city, but its international reputation and oppressive June heat. Beautiful, air conditioned stadium, but God didn't mean for man to inhabit that part of the globe and anyone whose been to Phoenix between May and September can attest to that. It just seems like a terrible choice based on how little atmosphere the city of Phoenix has generally (sprawl and the aforementioned need to stay indoors)

Its also bizarre that if they excluded the Bay due to the lack of a WC ready stadium right now, why they'd include that steaming dung heap Jack Robbie/Qualcomm in a far smaller, less recognized metropolitan area, although the beach is nice.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Wow. Shocked to not see Chicago on there. Apparently, Sunil Gulati is attributing it to the Chicago folks not wanting to meet FIFA's criteria, citing fatigue from the failed Olympic bid, but still - wow. That's a huge omission, in my mind.

A bid from any country that's missing one of it's three biggest cities is a big negative. I can understand Olympic fatigue to some extent, but you also can't just leave out a city that was on the cusp of hosting the entire Olympics from hosting a handful of WC matches.

I could say the same thing about the Bay Area, but at least there's an explanation there (with the lack of a suitable stadium).

For the other cuts, not surprised to see the fixed domes in Detroit and St. Louis get axed, but of course I thought that made sense assuming Chicago was going to be representing the Midwest, too. So, yeah.

I still can't see both Baltimore and DC hosting (and really can't see Charm City eclipsing the Nation's Capital w/ 20,000 extra seats) despite both making the initial cut.

EDIT: Steve Goff notes that the final list isn't due until May 14, so maybe there's time for things to change. I can't imagine this list would go over well at all...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/01/cutdown_for_world_cup_bid.html

/EDIT
 
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Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

No Chicago surprises the hell out of me. Isn't that a bit like Germany having a bid without Munich or England not having anything in Liverpool? It clearly isn't all about the stadia (note San Diego and Miami on the lists).
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

BoomGoestheDynamite said:
They knocked out the Bay Area and Chicago in favor of Phoenix, Kansas City, Indy, and Nashville? Call me an arrogant homer who loves his big cities but this is idiotic. Why would you exclude the "capital" of the midwest and one of the most internationally recognized, temperate locations in this country? I maybe rooting for Australia and take our chances with 2026 after this travesty. Sweet jesus.
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The venue has to be a problem with Chicago. I'm betting they want to avoid situations where they need special dispensation with regard to field dimensions as much as possible, and there's no way to fit a World Cup regulation pitch in at Soldier Field without major construction.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Craig P. said:
The venue has to be a problem with Chicago. I'm betting they want to avoid situations where they need special dispensation with regard to field dimensions as much as possible, and there's no way to fit a World Cup regulation pitch in at Soldier Field without major construction.
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They play full international games there and from what I remember the field wasn't a problem, although there may not be enough of the buffer area FIFA "prefers" for a World Cup game. The Olympic Fatigue statement smells like BS. Hosting a World Cup venue with an already built stadium is effortless next to putting on the summer games.

Not to mention I'm certain The Linc in Philly is too narrow for an international playing field to say nothing of FIFA's recommended additional buffer space.

Ultimately part of the problem maybe FIFA's insistence on selecting a World Cup 12 years out. If it was the typical 6-8 years you might very well have solid plans/construction on new stadiums in San Francisco and Minneapolis to name two venues. And does anyone know why the Cotton Bowl is still on the list or the LA Coliseum for that matter? I cannot see Jerry World or the Rose Bowl/City of Industry losing out to these classic but pretty rundown stadiums.
 
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Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

BoomGoestheDynamite said:
They play full international games there and from what I remember the field wasn't a problem, although there may not be enough of the buffer area FIFA "prefers" for a World Cup game.
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The requirements are looser for full internationals than for WC finals games. FIFA wants a 75 yard field plus the buffer area, and while I could see the buffer area possibly sliding, I don't think they're going to slide on the 75 yard width this time around. The official minimum for a run-of-the-mill international is only something like 71 yards, and there tends to be some wiggle room on that as well.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Craig P. said:
The requirements are looser for full internationals than for WC finals games. FIFA wants a 75 yard field plus the buffer area, and while I could see the buffer area possibly sliding, I don't think they're going to slide on the 75 yard width this time around. The official minimum for a run-of-the-mill international is only something like 71 yards, and there tends to be some wiggle room on that as well.
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Yes, but if that was an absolute game breaker it still wouldn't explain the presence of FedEx and the Linc, which I know are too narrow to fit World Cup regulation fields.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Rolevio said:
The final list for the USA WC Bid is out. The 18 cities are Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Indy, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, San Diego, LA, Denver, Seattle.


Cities eliminated were: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Oakland, Orlando, St. Louis and San Francisco
Shocked by the lack of Midwest cities. Indy and Kansas City only.
Also no Bay Area city.
Click to expand...

Rolevio said:
OK, really more shocked at the absence of Chicago than anything else, but really surprised to see Chicago along with Detroit and St. Louis.
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Yeah, I would have thought Chicago would have been a lock. Detroit and St. Louis were clearly bubble cities here. Probably if I had to pick any city here to cut to get Chicago back in, it probably would be Miami. Even with as close as what Baltimore, DC, Philly, NYC and Boston all are to each other, all of those cities are pretty well connected there in the Northeast, and it would be fairly easy for some serious WC fans to be able to see a game in a different city every day along that corridor.
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

BoomGoestheDynamite said:
Its also bizarre that if they excluded the Bay due to the lack of a WC ready stadium right now, why they'd include that steaming dung heap Jack Robbie/Qualcomm in a far smaller, less recognized metropolitan area, although the beach is nice.
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Purely my opinion, but I bet that way more foreigners could find Miami on a map than "The Bay Area," and probably true even if you asked about San Francisco. How many Europeans long to vacation in Northern California vs. Southern Florida? NoCal needs to get themselves a TV show to spread their image - I'm thinking "Oakland Vice" has a nice ring to it... :)
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

LynahFan said:
Purely my opinion, but I bet that way more foreigners could find Miami on a map than "The Bay Area," and probably true even if you asked about San Francisco. How many Europeans long to vacation in Northern California vs. Southern Florida? NoCal needs to get themselves a TV show to spread their image - I'm thinking "Oakland Vice" has a nice ring to it... :)
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Actually when I said Joe Robbie I think I meant Jack Murphy. Either way my ire was directed at San Diego, not Miami, which I agree is probably more well known :)
 
Re: World Soccer XI: To South Africa, and Beyond!

Chicago is a total shock. I had Chicago as a mortal lock from the moment they announced a bid. That "Olympic fatigue" argument is bogus.

Also somewhat shocked by no Bay Area. I know the stadiums up for consideration were pretty much second tier, but there's an awful lot of time between now and when the WC would be. Was there ever any discussion in San Francisco about the 49ers maybe using the World Cup as leverage to help get a new stadium? Or are they not seriously talking about replacing Candlestick Park (which would be ludicrous)?

I do like the variety of the remaining cities though - especially Indianapolis and Nashville.

I will say this - I'll be surprised if they ultimately go with both San Diego/Phoenix AND Baltimore/Washington. Seems like one of each would be appropriate.
 
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