World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

[JF_Gophers]

Welp, despite 3, 3!, saves from their goalkeeper the US U20s lose to Serbia on PKs. A great run ruined by p* poor penalties.

Or no ability score enough in regulation. I can't blame penalties when teams have 120 min to win.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

What I'm really surprised about is that this artificial turf is even legal to use/people decide to use it. Why would you ever want something that makes the playing surface 30-40 degrees hotter than the normal temperature?.... I'm really confused as to why soccer and football let something like this fly.

FIFA went along because it is women and to the senior FIFA management, women don't really count as very important.

The world's best women players filed suit against FIFA and the Canadian soccer federation under Canada's anti-discrimination laws, saying that FIFA would never consider holding a men's World Cup on turt, and if I recall correctly, FIFA's response was along the lines of "well, we can just cancel the whole tournament if you prefer...."

 

[Jimjamesak]

Or no ability score enough in regulation. I can't blame penalties when teams have 120 min to win.

For that I don't blame them too much considering 2 of their best forwards were out injured.

I will say watching the games I don't buy the hype on Gedion Zelalem. My buddy is an Arsenal fan and is always talking about how he's the future for the US team. Watching him in these games he had little ability trying to work around teams with any size in the midfield, he got muscled off way too many times. It was plain to see why he hasn't gotten time at the senior level.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

For that I don't blame them too much considering 2 of their best forwards were out injured.

I will say watching the games I don't buy the hype on Gedion Zelalem. My buddy is an Arsenal fan and is always talking about how he's the future for the US team. Watching him in these games he had little ability trying to work around teams with any size in the midfield, he got muscled off way too many times. It was plain to see why he hasn't gotten time at the senior level.

Don't forget that Allen was suspended too for yellow card accumulation...so thats really down 3 forwards. They had 5 on the roster and Jamieson, Tall and Allen were all out vs Serbia.
Serbia definitely looked like the better side based on who was on the pitch.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Don't forget that Allen was suspended too for yellow card accumulation...so thats really down 3 forwards. They had 5 on the roster and Jamieson, Tall and Jordan were all out vs Serbia.
Serbia definitely looked like the better side based on who was on the pitch.

Forgot about Allen. It's kind of hard to mount any offensive attack with 3 of your best 4 forwards out.

 

[Kepler]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

More on the Person of Interest.

Sepp Blatter is reconsidering his decision to resign as FIFA president, according to a report from the Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

Assuming we win the group tomorrow, and assuming third place standings hold, we would face France in Round 1. So... that would suck.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

So Seattle and Portland play each other in the US Open Cup and Portland wins 3-1 in OT. However the story is the match finished 7 vs 11. Brad Evans got a red for two yellows, Obafemi Martins went out injured after Seattle used all its subs, Michael Azria got a red for an "elbow", and then Clint Dempsey got a red for ripping the refs notebook. Sigi Schmid walked off because he quote "felt like he was going to choke an official and didn't want anymore trouble."

Needless to say, the people in Seattle are unhappy.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Needless to say, the people in Seattle are unhappy.

... at themselves I take it? Just based on your descriptions it seems like at least half (if not all) of the men down can hardly be blamed on anyone besides the Sounders.

 

[Jimjamesak]

... at themselves I take it? Just based on your descriptions it seems like at least half (if not all) of the men down can hardly be blamed on anyone besides the Sounders.

I only saw Evans' second yellow and it was a yellow. Azira's was a joke, it was accidental at best and Urruti flopped like a fish to sell it. Dempsey's was the end result of frustration over Azira's red and Portland's second being maybe sort of offside. I do agree it was their fault, they just imploded really. Seattle has tenuous relationship with referees though, it's one of things I hate about my fellow fans. It's a combination of a ridiculous situation and, well, Portland.

Dempsey's red was hilarious though.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

Assuming we win the group tomorrow, and assuming third place standings hold, we would face France in Round 1. So... that would suck.

Well they did win the group, now the US just needs the group E 3rd place team to qualify for the round of 16 and they will get that team...could be Spain, South Korea or Costa Rica.

Interestly enough, if Costa Rica draws Brazil 1-1 (probably unlikely), Spain/South Korea has a winner and Group F 3rd qualifies...Costa Rica and Sweden would be tied at 0-3-0 with a 0 GD and a 4 GF and require a drawing of lots for the last spot in Round of 16.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

Far more likely result:
Assuming Brazil beats Costa Rica & France beats Mexico, #USWNT will play Colombia-England loser in Round of 16 (or England if they draw).

 

[FreshFish]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

Far more likely result:
Assuming Brazil beats Costa Rica & France beats Mexico, #USWNT will play Colombia-England loser in Round of 16 (or England if they draw).

Then, assuming US progress, winner of China / Cameroon in quarterfinals, then Germany (gulp!) in semi-finals (or France, assuming they win Group F....).

Pretty cr*ppy setup by FIFA, to have # 1 and # 3 in the world slotted into quarterfinals against each other.

Knockout round bracket:

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/matches/index.html

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

Then, assuming US progress, winner of China / Cameroon in quarterfinals, then Germany (gulp!) in semi-finals (or France, assuming they win Group F....).

Pretty cr*ppy setup by FIFA, to have # 1 and # 3 in the world slotted into quarterfinals against each other.

Knockout round bracket:

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/matches/index.html

No, USA vs Germany would be a semifinal...

I'll take whoever, China/Cameroon, Germany over a path of Brazil, Japan, France to reach the final.

To blame FIFA is silly, at some point group winners have to play. It was crappy that 4 CONMEBOL teams fell in one quarter of the 2014 world cup knockout bracket, but it is what it is...

 

[FreshFish]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

No, USA vs Germany would be a semifinal...

right, unless France wins group F and then France beats Germany in their quarterfinal. Then we'd play France instead of Germany in the semis.

To blame FIFA is silly

not in this case, they explicitly said they cared about TV ratings and fan attendance more than anything else and so they deliberately chose to ignore their own established procedures, which would be to assume that the top-ranked teams win their groups, and then slot the group winners such that the top-ranked teams wouldn't meet until the semi-finals. I can't find the link right now but I read it in a reputable source.

 

[JF_Gophers]

I can't find the link right now but I read it in a reputable source.

FIFA is not a reputable source.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

right, unless France wins group F and then France beats Germany in their quarterfinal. Then we'd play France instead of Germany in the semis.


not in this case, they explicitly said they cared about TV ratings and fan attendance more than anything else and so they deliberately chose to ignore their own established procedures, which would be to assume that the top-ranked teams win their groups, and then slot the group winners such that the top-ranked teams wouldn't meet until the semi-finals. I can't find the link right now but I read it in a reputable source.

Are you talking about this:
"Before the draw, the Organizing Committee placed the seeded teams in the following groups: Germany in Group B, Japan in Group C, United States in Group D, Brazil in Group E, and France in Group F; Canada were already in Group A as the tournament host."

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

I only saw Evans' second yellow and it was a yellow. Azira's was a joke, it was accidental at best and Urruti flopped like a fish to sell it. Dempsey's was the end result of frustration over Azira's red and Portland's second being maybe sort of offside. I do agree it was their fault, they just imploded really. Seattle has tenuous relationship with referees though, it's one of things I hate about my fellow fans. It's a combination of a ridiculous situation and, well, Portland.

Dempsey's red was hilarious though.

So apparently because of what he did he could be suspended for 3 months, including the gold cup, MLS, USOC...that would be awful.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

Are you talking about this:
"Before the draw, the Organizing Committee placed the seeded teams in the following groups: Germany in Group B, Japan in Group C, United States in Group D, Brazil in Group E, and France in Group F; Canada were already in Group A as the tournament host."

that could be the source from which the article I read came from, but basically if you match up the placement of seeded teams with the knockout round bracket, where it was known ahead of time that the Group B and Group F winners would meet in the quarterfinal at the lower-left quadrant, you could tell before the tournament even started that if Germany won Group B as expected and that if France won Group F as expected, then they would meet in the quarters.

In other words, the combination of those pre-determined seeds and the pre-determined bracket layout meant that FIFA knew that they were slotting the # 1 and # 3 ranked teams to meet in the quarterfinals.

Given how the Organizing Committee placed seeded teams in the groups, rather than have the groups drawn at random (Canada + top 5 in one pot, 6 - 11 in another pot, etc.), they could just as easily have set it up to have # 1 v # 8, # 2 v # 7, etc. had they wanted to, and they chose not to do so.

They also have # 1, # 2, and # 3 all on the left side....

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVI: Fun for MLS Fans and Eurosnobs Alike

that could be the source from which the article I read came from, but basically if you match up the placement of seeded teams with the knockout round bracket, where it was known ahead of time that the Group B and Group F winners would meet in the quarterfinal at the lower-left quadrant, you could tell before the tournament even started that if Germany won Group B as expected and that if France won Group F as expected, then they would meet in the quarters.

In other words, the combination of those pre-determined seeds and the pre-determined bracket layout meant that FIFA knew that they were slotting the # 1 and # 3 ranked teams to meet in the quarterfinals.

Given how the Organizing Committee placed seeded teams in the groups, rather than have the groups drawn at random (Canada + top 5 in one pot, 6 - 11 in another pot, etc.), they could just as easily have set it up to have # 1 v # 8, # 2 v # 7, etc. had they wanted to, and they chose not to do so.

They also have # 1, # 2, and # 3 all on the left side....

All I know is the 24 team tournament to 16 team knockout is messy...