The Soccer Thread

[bukie]

Pretty nice last couple of years for English teams in the CL. Last year England had three of the four semifinalists and this year they have four quarterfinalists. Should be interesting when the bracket gets released on Friday for the quarters and semis to see which English teams get matched up (since the odds of none of them facing each other in the quarters is extremely small.

 

12% chance there are 2 sets of English matchups, 12% chance that they are all matched up against the other 4 squads, 75% chance that there's one matchup of Brits, and two other matchups involving Brits.

[USSoccer]

I would take Gerrard off now if I was Benitez, the last thing they need is Gerrard to get another yellow and miss the next game.

 

Gerrard will already miss the 1st leg of the QF. He was booked in the 47th minute.

[Guest]

Pretty nice last couple of years for English teams in the CL. Last year England had three of the four semifinalists and this year they have four quarterfinalists. Should be interesting when the bracket gets released on Friday for the quarters and semis to see which English teams get matched up (since the odds of none of them facing each other in the quarters is extremely small.

 

12% chance there are 2 sets of English matchups, 12% chance that they are all matched up against the other 4 squads, 75% chance that there's one matchup of Brits, and two other matchups involving Brits.

 

Is it really that large? I would have thought it would be smaller than that.

[USSoccer]

I know it was touched on a little, but the decision to carry Dax McCarthy over Benny Feilhaber is a bloody awful one. Unless Derby told USSF that Benny was going to see some serious time over the next couple weeks, there's no excuse for him not to be on that roster. His form probably sucks because Derby hasn't played him in 12423534253 months.

 

The other decision that was stupid as far as Olympic qualifying was leaving Arturo Alvarez off in favor of flippin' Eddie Gaven (who on his best day is a really poor man's Bobby Convey), and having Chad Barrett on the roster at all.

 

I also find it curious that the USSF would put a guy like Noawk, who hated Adu, in charge of the U23's where they knew he'd be responsible for a portion of his development. If Freddy ends up on the wing instead of the center of the pitch I'm going to plotz.

[bukie]

Pretty nice last couple of years for English teams in the CL. Last year England had three of the four semifinalists and this year they have four quarterfinalists. Should be interesting when the bracket gets released on Friday for the quarters and semis to see which English teams get matched up (since the odds of none of them facing each other in the quarters is extremely small.

 

12% chance there are 2 sets of English matchups, 12% chance that they are all matched up against the other 4 squads, 75% chance that there's one matchup of Brits, and two other matchups involving Brits.

 

Is it really that large? I would have thought it would be smaller than that.

 

Yeah, there's about a 1/8 chance of both 2 sets of 2 or 4 separate matchups. Mostly because it doesn't matter what order the matchups occur, just that the 4 english squads are paired up with the 4 other squads.

[reggiemiller rules]

I would take Gerrard off now if I was Benitez, the last thing they need is Gerrard to get another yellow and miss the next game.

 

Gerrard will already miss the 1st leg of the QF. He was booked in the 47th minute.

 

I thought that it reset after group play. If so that was his only one during the knockout stage so he should still be able to play.

[Jon]

Adu missed a potential game winning free kick just outside the box in the 90th minute by only a foot or two. A disappointing 1-1 draw.

[shnsajax]

I would take Gerrard off now if I was Benitez, the last thing they need is Gerrard to get another yellow and miss the next game.

 

Gerrard will already miss the 1st leg of the QF. He was booked in the 47th minute.

 

I thought that it reset after group play. If so that was his only one during the knockout stage so he should still be able to play.

 

Thats what I thought too. Unsure though.

[wolf stansson]

I really like Sacha Kjlestan. Good skill, two-way midfielder. Creative. I like him.

 

This U-23 team has some guys really worth watching like Jozy, Adu, Edu and Kjlestan. It also has some absolute garbage.

[shnsajax]

I really like Sacha Kjlestan. Good skill, two-way midfielder. Creative. I like him.

 

This U-23 team has some guys really worth watching like Jozy, Adu, Edu and Kjlestan. It also has some absolute garbage.

 

1-1 draw with Cuba isn't a great start. Its a point which is fine, but its Cuba. I don't know anything about them, but I don't think I really need to either.

[wolf stansson]

Few more thoughts:

Freddy Adu should be taking every free kick for the US from now until he retires and Chad Barrett may look like Wayne Rooney but he plays like Graham. That dude is a waste.

[USSoccer]

Cuba is horrible. If the U23's had any sense of organization they would have stomped them. It's as if they saw how horrible they were, and tossed all sense of tactical awareness out the window. The 4-5-1 didn't help, either, as Jozy got knocked around and really played poorly overall. Freddy had a great game, and that was about it. He missed a hat trick by a combined 10 inches.

 

This is a very, very dissapointing result.

[wolf stansson]

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/f9/260px-PiotrNowak20040718.jpg

[brinoch]

The U-23's dominated the game... except for a critical 15 minute span in the 1st half when Cuba scored. Horrid organization in the back and midfield. What in the hell was Nowak thinking with a 4-5-1? Dude it's Cuba. Of course, this is the same clown who left Feilhaber off the team and didn't play Spector. What a maroon.

[Jon]

Unless you want to be surrounded by a sea of green and red, I wouldn't hang around Soldier Field on June 8. Mexico will be playing Peru.

 

It would be nice to get the national team back here this summer...

[USSoccer]

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/f/f9/260px-PiotrNowak20040718.jpg

 

FAIL

[shnsajax]

Looks like 5 Cubans are missing in the US now after the game.

 

From what I saw Mexico and Canada were tied 1-1, this from Wikipedia, so not sure how accurate it is.

[wvcbxl]

From what I saw Mexico and Canada were tied 1-1, this from Wikipedia, so not sure how accurate it is.

 

It's not listed on my favourite source for (live) scores: livescore.com

[OleMissCub]

Can't sleep so I decide to read the last 3 or 4 pages of this thread....and wow, it's like reading a foreign language where you only know the basic words like "the", "and", "he", or "they". If I was forced at gunpoint to actually contribute something to this thread, I'd be screwed. I truly know nothing about this sport.

 

I need someone to explain something to me...would a team like Arsenal or Manchester U. ever play a team from another country like Real Madrid or FC Bayern Munchen?

[Guest]

Can't sleep so I decide to read the last 3 or 4 pages of this thread....and wow, it's like reading a foreign language where you only know the basic words like "the", "and", "he", or "they". If I was forced at gunpoint to actually contribute something to this thread, I'd be screwed. I truly know nothing about this sport.

 

I need someone to explain something to me...would a team like Arsenal or Manchester U. ever play a team from another country like Real Madrid or FC Bayern Munchen?

 

Yes in the Champions League which takes place every year.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League

 

This pretty much explains the CL if you're curious.

[USSoccer]

Can't sleep so I decide to read the last 3 or 4 pages of this thread....and wow, it's like reading a foreign language where you only know the basic words like "the", "and", "he", or "they". If I was forced at gunpoint to actually contribute something to this thread, I'd be screwed. I truly know nothing about this sport.

 

I need someone to explain something to me...would a team like Arsenal or Manchester U. ever play a team from another country like Real Madrid or FC Bayern Munchen?

 

Yes in the Champions League which takes place every year.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League

 

This pretty much explains the CL if you're curious.

 

http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/index.php?title=UEFA_Champions_League

[bukie]

Can't sleep so I decide to read the last 3 or 4 pages of this thread....and wow, it's like reading a foreign language where you only know the basic words like "the", "and", "he", or "they". If I was forced at gunpoint to actually contribute something to this thread, I'd be screwed. I truly know nothing about this sport.

 

I need someone to explain something to me...would a team like Arsenal or Manchester U. ever play a team from another country like Real Madrid or FC Bayern Munchen?

 

Yes in the Champions League which takes place every year.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League

 

This pretty much explains the CL if you're curious.

 

http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/index.php?title=UEFA_Champions_League

 

Put simply in baseball terms, the Champions League would be like if the world baseball league was a collection of the champion teams from MLB, Japan, the DR, Cuba, Puerto Rico, China, Italy, and any other pro league. All the champions would be pooled together in a league of their own and play each other for a very prestigious world championship league (except Champions League is just Europe, but semantics...). So, the Red Sox would play the Nippon Ham Fighters, and such.

 

Countries with more prestigious leagues will get more teams eligible for the Champions League. England, for example, generally get 4 teams in (I think one year they got 5 because the defending champions didn't make the top 4 of the English Premier League the following year). Spain gets 2 or 3, Italy gets 2 or 3, Germany gets 2 or 3, France gets 2 or 3, and then the smaller countries get just their league champions.

[wolf stansson]

Your domestic league (English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Seria A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue A, etc) would be like your conference (SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, etc) but much more important. The Champions league would be like March Madness where the best teams from all the leagues, with the best leagues getting the most invites, play each other to determine the best European club. The UEFA Cup would be the NIT where the next best teams have their less prestigious tournament.

[MPC]

Your domestic league (English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Seria A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue A, etc) would be like your conference (SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, etc) but much more important. The Champions league would be like March Madness where the best teams from all the leagues, with the best leagues getting the most invites, play each other to determine the best European club. The UEFA Cup would be the NIT where the next best teams have their less prestigious tournament.

the only thing i'd add to this example is the pride and importance that comes from winning your league or in this example, the conference. the champions league is huge but the domestic titles are not to be understated.

[OleMissCub]

Your domestic league (English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Seria A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue A, etc) would be like your conference (SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, etc) but much more important. The Champions league would be like March Madness where the best teams from all the leagues, with the best leagues getting the most invites, play each other to determine the best European club. The UEFA Cup would be the NIT where the next best teams have their less prestigious tournament.

 

That sounds like a pretty fun system. Is there a similar system for teams in the Americas?