The Official World Cup Thread

[Balsa]

Wow. So even if all the stars align correctly, we still have to face Brazil.

 

Great.

[Jon]

Wow.

 

France should be up 2-1, though.

[Jon]

Wow. Zidane gets a bogus yellow and is out for the next game.

[wolf stansson]

I never thought I'd say this, but I almost feel bad for France.

 

 

 

Almost.

 

That was a goal.

[sethuel1]

Lalas on Ronaldo: "That's the last time I'm sticking up for that...bloated waste of space."

What is the story behind Ronaldo's lack of endurance?

 

Candy bars.

[sweetpeteman]

I never thought I'd say this, but I almost feel bad for France.

 

 

 

Almost.

 

That was a goal.

 

 

The more times France gets screwed over, the more happy I am.

[wolf stansson]

Lalas on Ronaldo: "That's the last time I'm sticking up for that...bloated waste of space."

What is the story behind Ronaldo's lack of endurance?

 

Candy bars.

I'm guessing he also has a penchant for the beer.

[Marco4]

He's a massive fiend for McDonald's, I believe. If it wasn't 1am I'd check it out further, but I know there's been references made to his fondness for Ronaldo McDonaldo's products for a long while now.

[Butterscup1679666578]

I've always been very "meh" towards soccer, but I'm really getting into the World Cup. (Go Germany!)

[Big Fergie J]

Lalas on Ronaldo: "That's the last time I'm sticking up for that...bloated waste of space."

 

I'm thinking that Lalas should just shut his cake hole.

 

The real story of the game was Substitute Fred. Gotta love how the BBC announcers refer to him as not Fred but Substitute Fred.

[AI]

Maybe I'm not as familiar with the US formations and lineup as I profess to be, but wouldn't O'Brien slide in admirably to Mastroeni's spot in the lineup?

 

theoretically, probably. but i dont think anyone outside of the camp is really sure if hes 100% yet. he hasnt played 90 minutes in almost forever, and against a fast, physical team like ghana, fitness will be key. and really, it comes down to the fact that pablo was one of the best players on the field last night before he got himself sent off- we could have used that performance vs ghana matching up against appiah and essien.

 

I'd not be shocked to see O'Brien in for Mastro, but I'd prefer to see Reyna play in Masro's spot, Landon play in the attacking midfield spot and Eddie Johnson start up front.

 

Keep in mind we have to win the game, and if possible, win by multiple goals. That means we need our goalscorers on the field, and our best offensive lineup possible.

 

This is a late response, but I agree and don't know why I didn't think of that at the time. I agree with you and lowest that a formation with Donovan in the attacking mid and Reyna withdrawn was actually the lineup I was hoping for in the previous two games, with EJ up front with McBride. I think we are going to see a goal scoring barage by the US team against Ghana. Losing Mastro hurts a bit, but I think losing Pope just might be to our advantage.

[sethuel1]

I think some people will be shocked at how much better Brazil is with Robinho up front instead of Ronaldo. But not by account of how poor Ronaldo has been but by how good Robinho is.

[soccer10k]

Scenarios for Advancing:

 

Current Goal Differential:

 

ITA +2

CZR +1

GHA E

USA -3

 

USA must beat GHA to advance.

 

-If ITA beats CZR and USA beats GHA, ITA and USA advance.

 

-If ITA and CZR tie, USA must beat GHA by 5 since CZR owns head to head tiebreaker with USA.

 

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

So basically the 2 best scenarios for the US are a win and a CZR loss, or a win and a CZR blowout win. So we control our destiny, but only in theory.

 

Another example of how the ref screwed us yesterday. We were going to win that game, and he made it all but impossible to do so.

 

What is the order of tiebreakers? I thought that the first tie breaker was always head to head which would mean that if Italy and the Czech Republic tie, then the US could beat Ghana 583-0 and still not advance because the US lost to the Czechs?

[soccer10k]

Maybe I'm not as familiar with the US formations and lineup as I profess to be, but wouldn't O'Brien slide in admirably to Mastroeni's spot in the lineup?

 

theoretically, probably. but i dont think anyone outside of the camp is really sure if hes 100% yet. he hasnt played 90 minutes in almost forever, and against a fast, physical team like ghana, fitness will be key. and really, it comes down to the fact that pablo was one of the best players on the field last night before he got himself sent off- we could have used that performance vs ghana matching up against appiah and essien.

 

I'd not be shocked to see O'Brien in for Mastro, but I'd prefer to see Reyna play in Masro's spot, Landon play in the attacking midfield spot and Eddie Johnson start up front.

 

Keep in mind we have to win the game, and if possible, win by multiple goals. That means we need our goalscorers on the field, and our best offensive lineup possible.

 

Agreed. We need to have an attack minded team out there on the field.

[sethuel1]

Scenarios for Advancing:

 

Current Goal Differential:

 

ITA +2

CZR +1

GHA E

USA -3

 

USA must beat GHA to advance.

 

-If ITA beats CZR and USA beats GHA, ITA and USA advance.

 

-If ITA and CZR tie, USA must beat GHA by 5 since CZR owns head to head tiebreaker with USA.

 

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

So basically the 2 best scenarios for the US are a win and a CZR loss, or a win and a CZR blowout win. So we control our destiny, but only in theory.

 

Another example of how the ref screwed us yesterday. We were going to win that game, and he made it all but impossible to do so.

 

What is the order of tiebreakers? I thought that the first tie breaker was always head to head which would mean that if Italy and the Czech Republic tie, then the US could beat Ghana 583-0 and still not advance because the US lost to the Czechs?

 

That was me that said the first tiebreaker was head-to-head, but it looks like I was wrong. there apparently is no head-to-head tiebreaker.

[soccer10k]

Scenarios for Advancing:

 

Current Goal Differential:

 

ITA +2

CZR +1

GHA E

USA -3

 

USA must beat GHA to advance.

 

-If ITA beats CZR and USA beats GHA, ITA and USA advance.

 

-If ITA and CZR tie, USA must beat GHA by 5 since CZR owns head to head tiebreaker with USA.

 

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

So basically the 2 best scenarios for the US are a win and a CZR loss, or a win and a CZR blowout win. So we control our destiny, but only in theory.

 

Another example of how the ref screwed us yesterday. We were going to win that game, and he made it all but impossible to do so.

 

What is the order of tiebreakers? I thought that the first tie breaker was always head to head which would mean that if Italy and the Czech Republic tie, then the US could beat Ghana 583-0 and still not advance because the US lost to the Czechs?

 

That was me that said the first tiebreaker was head-to-head, but it looks like I was wrong. there apparently is no head-to-head tiebreaker.

 

I thought head to head was the first tiebreaker as well and I think that it should be. If two teams end up tied and Team A beat Team B, what better way is there to judge which team is better than head to head?

[Outshined_One]

Guess what kids, those red and yellow cards have all been warranted!

 

Link

 

What a joke. These guys are spineless morons.

[SouthSideRyan]

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

I know it's not likely, but what if the Czechs win by more than 2? Wouldn't we have to win by less than 4 goals then?

[bukie]

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

I know it's not likely, but what if the Czechs win by more than 2? Wouldn't we have to win by less than 4 goals then?

 

If the Czechs win by 2, the US would need to win by at least 3 and have scored more goals than Italy (so if it was 2-0, the US would need to win 3-0 to advance).

 

Of course, the US is automatically through if they win 5-0.

[brinoch]

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

I know it's not likely, but what if the Czechs win by more than 2? Wouldn't we have to win by less than 4 goals then?

 

If the Czechs win by 2, the US would need to win by at least 3 and have scored more goals than Italy (so if it was 2-0, the US would need to win 3-0 to advance).

 

Of course, the US is automatically through if they win 5-0.

 

All right then. Need to win 5-0. :)

[USSoccer]

-If CZR beats ITA, USA must beat GHA by at least 4, depending on margin of victory of CZR v ITA. For example, if CZR win 2-0, a 4 goal win v GHA puts the US up 1 on GD. If they beat them 1-0, 4 goals ties them on GD, head to head is even, and the US advance on goals scored with 5 to ITA 3.

 

I know it's not likely, but what if the Czechs win by more than 2? Wouldn't we have to win by less than 4 goals then?

 

If the CZR win and the US win, then the combined margin of victory for both teams must be at least 5.

 

Considering Ghana can go through with a win, they're not just going to roll over and die like if we were playing Togo. We really need ITA to win that game.

[Banedon]

Well I finally watch some of the World Cup yesterday...I caught the second half of Japan vs Croatia. That wasn't such a good half of soccer, I gotta say... :P

[Big Fergie J]

Ha....Ukraine is NOT weak !

[soccer10k]

Ukraine's second game is looking a bit different than their first game.

 

Good shot but it hit the crossbar.

[soccer10k]

Guess what kids, those red and yellow cards have all been warranted!

 

Link

 

What a joke. These guys are spineless morons.

 

FIFA : Referees :: Dusty Baker : Crappy Cubs Players