The Soccer Thread

[USSoccer]

Current "23"

 

-Howard/Guzan/Hannehman

 

-Boca/Spector/Bornstein/'Dolo/Demerit/Gooch/Marshall

 

-Donovan/Dempsey/Bradley/Clark/Feilhaber/Torres/Holden/Beckerman

 

-Altidore/Ching/Findley/Casey/Cunningham

 

Just left out/alternates:

 

Kljestian

Rogers

Edu

Adu

Pearce

Beasley (god no)

EJ

Cooper

Hejduk

Conrad

Castillo

Gonzalez

Rolfe

McCarthy

Goodison

 

I can see Edu replacing Beckerman if he finds his form, Sacha for Torres and Adu being a wild card if he finally gets some burn. Rogers, I think, isn't good enough for the World Cup. Pearce should be there, but Bradley hates him and he isn't playing anywhere. Gonzalez and McCarthy are two to watch.

 

Our strikers really suck. I really wish Chuck D hadn't gone to get his drink on.

[wolf stansson]

Pearce should be there, but Bradley hates him and he isn't playing anywhere. \

FC Dallas.

 

I think Beckerman is better than Clark. Clark's both a liability and inconsistent. Jones definitely better, Edu maybe better (but who knows when they'll be in form) and Benny moves Bradley back to defend, so depending on who we're playing, you could put Beckerman in behind Bradley or Benny above him.

 

 

 

--Cherundolo-------Spec--------Boca---------Bornstein--

------------------------Beckerman--------------------------

--Deuce---------------Bradley-------------------Donovan-

--------------Altidore------------Findley------------------

[Guest]

Liverpool won in the Champions League today but so did Fiorentina so Liverpool won't advance.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Liverpool won in the Champions League today but so did Fiorentina so Liverpool won't advance.

hehehehehehe

[Mark Priors Calves]

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=339524

 

The Fire are not bring back their coach, Dennis Hamlett.

[wolf stansson]

http://www.noshortcorners.com/2009/11/deuce-deuce-deuce-is-on-fiiiyooor.html

Clintastic with two today. Makes it 5 goals in his last 5 EPL matches. Clip in the link.

 

First one was some ass defending. Second one was a strong, strong turn.

[reggiemiller rules]

Well with Liverpool out of the Champions League, I am rooting for Bordeaux to win it all. They are playing really well right now and Gorcuff is insanely good.

[USSoccer]

http://www.noshortcorners.com/2009/11/deuce-deuce-deuce-is-on-fiiiyooor.html

Clintastic with two today. Makes it 5 goals in his last 5 EPL matches. Clip in the link.

 

First one was some ass defending. Second one was a strong, strong turn.

 

I really wish we had Hogdson going into next summer. That guy made one or two buys and turned a relegation bound team into a Europa league side in a year, and really has developed Clint.

[USSoccer]

Jimmy Bullard, who I don't particularly like, had an awesome celebration after his PK yesterday.

[shnsajax]

Blatter did, though, suggest that the use of two extra officials behind the goal - currently being trialled in the Europa League - could be introduced in time for the World Cup.

 

"It's possible we will make additional officials for the World Cup but we have to see if it is feasible or realistic. Something has to be done in terms of match control.''

 

If Wednesday's meeting gives this the green light for any rule change, it will have to go the International FA Board's annual meeting in March for final approval.

 

"How can it happen that all over the world, through tv cameras, we have seen through a cheating handball that a pass was given for a goal?'' said Blatter.

 

"Everyone is asking what is and what isn't fair play. The highest crime in football is touching the ball with the hands.''

[USSoccer]

Chuck D thinks he can be back by the Cup...

[SouthSideRyan]

Sorry to interrupt since I don't have a damn clue about anything, but what do you guys make of the Ireland situation?

[bukie]

Sorry to interrupt since I don't have a damn clue about anything, but what do you guys make of the Ireland situation?

It was a terrible, obvious no-call that directly led to the winning goal. Barring the correct call, it directly affected the outcome of a game, and should have resulted in a replay. Unfortunately, due to the timing of everything (2 week turnaround to pool selection), it was just unfeasible, and simply sucks for Ireland and Portugal, since France is going to get a seed unless FIFA specifically tailors their seed selection process to avoid it.

[USSoccer]

Sorry to interrupt since I don't have a damn clue about anything, but what do you guys make of the Ireland situation?

 

It was a horrible missed call by the AR, who should have been in position to see it, and absolutely highlighted the need for an official behind each goal.

 

A replay was not permissible per the rules of the game, which I get, and bad calls happen all the time (the US, mind you, got hosed in 2002 when Frings handled a ball on the goal line). It sucked for Ireland, who were the better team on the night and deserved at least a shot at penalties.

 

Henry should face a 3 match ban for handling the ball with intent, which is exactly what he did if you watch the replay.

 

FIFA suck for changing the way the Euro qualifiers would be seeded, favoring the larger nations.

[shnsajax]

Sorry to interrupt since I don't have a damn clue about anything, but what do you guys make of the Ireland situation?

 

It was a horrible missed call by the AR, who should have been in position to see it, and absolutely highlighted the need for an official behind each goal.

 

A replay was not permissible per the rules of the game, which I get, and bad calls happen all the time (the US, mind you, got hosed in 2002 when Frings handled a ball on the goal line). It sucked for Ireland, who were the better team on the night and deserved at least a shot at penalties.

 

Henry should face a 3 match ban for handling the ball with intent, which is exactly what he did if you watch the replay.

 

FIFA suck for changing the way the Euro qualifiers would be seeded, favoring the larger nations.

 

Also get the feeling that if it happened against a different country we could have seen a different outcome.

[wolf stansson]

Also get the feeling that if it happened against a different country we could have seen a different outcome.

What do you mean by that? If you're saying another team would have been treated better than Ireland, I disagree. Very few countries would bring as much revenue to the World Cup as Ireland. If there was any real way FIFA could have snuck them in, they would have.

[wolf stansson]

Clint, Drogba, Arshavin, etc at the Bono thing: http://inside.nike.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/58602/red908x510.jpg

[wvcbxl]

Final draw procedure for the World Cup has been announced:

 

Pot 1 : Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and South Africa.

 

Pot 2 : Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Honduras, Mexico, USA and New Zealand

 

Pot 3 : Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay

 

Pot 4 : Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland

 

Worst case scenario for you guys: Brazil, USA, Cameroon, France

Best case scenario: South Africa, USA, Ghana, Slovenia

[CubbieBum]

Final draw procedure for the World Cup has been announced:

 

Pot 1 : Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and South Africa.

 

Pot 2 : Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Honduras, Mexico, USA and New Zealand

 

Pot 3 : Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay

 

Pot 4 : Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland

 

Worst case scenario for you guys: Brazil, USA, Cameroon, France

Best case scenario: South Africa, USA, Ghana, Slovenia

 

I'm gonna guess we get a rematch with Spain and then Ghana and Greece.

[USSoccer]

Final draw procedure for the World Cup has been announced:

 

Pot 1 : Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and South Africa.

 

Pot 2 : Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Honduras, Mexico, USA and New Zealand

 

Pot 3 : Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay

 

Pot 4 : Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland

 

Worst case scenario for you guys: Brazil, USA, Cameroon, France

Best case scenario: South Africa, USA, Ghana, Slovenia

 

I'm stunned they seeded the Oranje.

 

Best case: SA, USA, Paraguay, Slovakia

Worst Case: England, Cote d' Ivory, USA, Portugal

[wvcbxl]

I'm stunned they seeded the Oranje.

 

The alternative was France, which would currently have been a PR disaster?

I think it's a damage control move.

 

That said, I'm quite happy with Oranje being seeded. They'll go nuts again across the northern border here. 8-)

[Mark Priors Calves]

I'm nervously excited for Friday's draw. I'm tivoing the show and I'm hoping to make it home without hearing anything about the draw.

[bukie]

I'm thrilled they seeded the Netherlands, except for the fact that makes one less seeded team I'd want to see the USA matched up with.

[shnsajax]

I'm stunned they seeded the Oranje.

 

The alternative was France, which would currently have been a PR disaster?

I think it's a damage control move.

 

That said, I'm quite happy with Oranje being seeded. They'll go nuts again across the northern border here. 8-)

 

Awesome, I love it.

[bukie]

At least it makes sense now why FIFA decided last week it was going to use the October FIFA rankings for seeding instead of the November rankings. If they had used November, the seeds would have been Spain, Brazil, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Germany and France. England would have been (rightfully) pissed. And they would have had to match CONCACAF with CAF, due to one less seeded CONMEBOL team.

 

EDIT: Also, screw FIFA for not just using the rankings for 2006.