The Official World Cup Thread

[Marco4]

I think of myself as a man, and I wouldn't head-butt someone in the street, no matter what they said; nor would I do it on a football field.

 

This is offset, I guess, by the fact that I'm nowhere near as talented as Zidane or Materazzi and am unlikely to ever get anywhere near a World Cup Final - there must be some brain-frying pressure going on.

[goonys evil twin]

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bruce Arena's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2006. This brings an end to Arena's eight-year run as national team coach.

[USSoccer]

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bruce Arena's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2006. This brings an end to Arena's eight-year run as national team coach.

 

And at the end of 2006, Klinsmann will be just about done with his 6 month break. :D

 

Credit must be given to Arena. He has had a fantastic career at every level of soccer in the US. That said, I welcome the change.

[goonys evil twin]

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bruce Arena's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2006. This brings an end to Arena's eight-year run as national team coach.

 

And at the end of 2006, Klinsmann will be just about done with his 6 month break. :D

 

Credit must be given to Arena. He has had a fantastic career at every level of soccer in the US. That said, I welcome the change.

 

Who or what funds US soccer? Do the MLS owners invest in it? Does a private benefactor provide the resources? Is revenue strictly based on earnings from tickets sold to games and bonues for qualifying for the WC? Are their just a bunch of dirty commies who want to ruin our country by infiltrating our sports world with this depressing sport? :P

[USSoccer]

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bruce Arena's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2006. This brings an end to Arena's eight-year run as national team coach.

 

And at the end of 2006, Klinsmann will be just about done with his 6 month break. :D

 

Credit must be given to Arena. He has had a fantastic career at every level of soccer in the US. That said, I welcome the change.

 

Who or what funds US soccer? Do the MLS owners invest in it? Does a private benefactor provide the resources? Is revenue strictly based on earnings from tickets sold to games and bonues for qualifying for the WC? Are their just a bunch of dirty commies who want to ruin our country by infiltrating our sports world with this depressing sport? :P

 

Ok, Senator Kemp. :P

 

That speech of his on the Senate floor is hilarious to read after all this time.

 

I think the USSF gets the majority of their operating monies from Nike, Adidas and Puma. The rest comes from other sponsorships, and then would come ticket and merchandise sales. I don't think MLS would pay into USSF. I'd bet if anything it was the other way around.

 

And, of course, I'm assuming that you mean US Soccer the entity rather than USSoccer the poster. Unfortunatly, Nike, Adidas and Puma do not fund me. :D

[goonys evil twin]

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bruce Arena's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2006. This brings an end to Arena's eight-year run as national team coach.

 

And at the end of 2006, Klinsmann will be just about done with his 6 month break. :D

 

Credit must be given to Arena. He has had a fantastic career at every level of soccer in the US. That said, I welcome the change.

 

Who or what funds US soccer? Do the MLS owners invest in it? Does a private benefactor provide the resources? Is revenue strictly based on earnings from tickets sold to games and bonues for qualifying for the WC? Are their just a bunch of dirty commies who want to ruin our country by infiltrating our sports world with this depressing sport? :P

 

Ok, Senator Kemp. :P

 

That speech of his on the Senate floor is hilarious to read after all this time.

 

I think the USSF gets the majority of their operating monies from Nike, Adidas and Puma. The rest comes from other sponsorships, and then would come ticket and merchandise sales. I don't think MLS would pay into USSF. I'd bet if anything it was the other way around.

 

And, of course, I'm assuming that you mean US Soccer the entity rather than USSoccer the poster. Unfortunatly, Nike, Adidas and Puma do not fund me. :D

 

Why didn't I think about the Nike/Adidas/Puma sponsors?

[B]

How are they sponsored by all 3? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest for those companies.

[davecubsfan]

How are they sponsored by all 3? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest for those companies.

 

Different products from each of the 3 I'd guess. Shoes from Nike, Futbols from Adidas, and apparel from Puma. That's just a guess.

[ConstableRabbit]

How are they sponsored by all 3? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest for those companies.

 

Different products from each of the 3 I'd guess. Shoes from Nike, Futbols from Adidas, and apparel from Puma. That's just a guess.

 

And I would imagine that since one company wouldn't want to make a 100% funding commitment, the co-funding would end up being quite beneficial.

[USSoccer]

How are they sponsored by all 3? Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest for those companies.

 

Different products from each of the 3 I'd guess. Shoes from Nike, Futbols from Adidas, and apparel from Puma. That's just a guess.

 

All 3 have a vested interest in soccer's success in the US. It's the last relatively untapped market for soccer in the world, and if the USMNT has success, they would reap the benefits.

[Jon]

AP[/url]"]ROME -- Juventus was demoted to Serie B for match-fixing by a sports tribunal Friday and stripped of its last two Serie A titles.

 

Lazio and Fiorentina also were demoted to the second division.

 

AC Milan was spared demotion but given a 15-point penalty in the top division and won't play in European tournaments this season. Juventus was given a 30-point penalty, meaning it will have to struggle to climb back to the top league. Lazio received a seven-point penalty, and Fiorentina was penalized 12 points.

................

Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, one of 25 soccer officials who faced charges of match-fixing and disloyalty, was banned from soccer for five years.

 

Franco Carraro, the head of the Italian soccer league and a member of the International Olympic Committee, was banned for 4 1/2 years.

[soccer10k]

Juve is lucky they didn't get sent to Serie C.

 

Wonder what's going to happen with all of the players now. I heard that all the players for the relegated teams could basically become free agents.

[goonys evil twin]

From the BBC site:

 

"Thirteen of Italy's World Cup-winning squad play for the clubs involved, with five at Juventus, who also number Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedved and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their ranks.

 

Many of them are expected to seek transfers to other leading clubs in Italy or Europe to limit the damage to their careers. "

[Soul]

Zidane claims he's a man and couldn't take hearing the trash talk anymore. It's too bad he thought of himself instead of the team. I just don't understand all this "I'm a man" I hear from athletes all time. This is how you prove you're a man?

 

First of all, where are the refs in all of this?

 

Secondly, if someone said those things to me, they'd be lucky to get out of the ICU. That Italian player is trash.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Italian team is trash.

[sweetpeteman]

The Italian team is trash.

 

 

At least its good trash, not like the US team.

[sethuel1]

AP[/url]"]ROME -- Juventus was demoted to Serie B for match-fixing by a sports tribunal Friday and stripped of its last two Serie A titles.

 

Lazio and Fiorentina also were demoted to the second division.

 

AC Milan was spared demotion but given a 15-point penalty in the top division and won't play in European tournaments this season. Juventus was given a 30-point penalty, meaning it will have to struggle to climb back to the top league. Lazio received a seven-point penalty, and Fiorentina was penalized 12 points.

................

Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, one of 25 soccer officials who faced charges of match-fixing and disloyalty, was banned from soccer for five years.

 

Franco Carraro, the head of the Italian soccer league and a member of the International Olympic Committee, was banned for 4 1/2 years.

Awesome.

 

Roma gets to play in the champs league, and has an inside track for the scudetto for next year and probably several more after that, considering their main competition is Inter, and Inter always screws it up.

 

The only bad part is that my favorite games to watch were Roma-Lazio and Roma-Juve. All the bad blood made most of those games great.

[USSoccer]

The Italian team is trash.

 

 

At least its good trash, not like the US team.

 

Say what now? :|

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Italian team is trash.

 

 

At least its good trash, not like the US team.

 

No, it's dirty, dirty trash.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

For those interested, the Fire play FC Dallas at 3 CST followed by the USMNT in a friendly against Sweden at 5. Both games are on ESPN2.

[Balsa]

I assume you mean Saturday? In which case, I'll be watching for sure.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Correct

[soccer10k]

The Italian team is trash.

 

That Italian team are World Cup champs. I don't think anything else matters to them.

[Jon]

It's about time to reclaim the Brimstone Cup.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Italian team is trash.

 

That Italian team are World Cup champs. I don't think anything else matters to them.

 

That seems to be apparent, considering the way they went about doing it.