2010 World Cup Thread

[sethuel1]

After listening to soccer analysts more in the past three weeks than ever before in my life, I kind of feel bad about how much crap I give baseball analysts.

The pbp and color guys for this tournament are light-years better than almost any baseball pbp and color guys

[wolf stansson]

I take it you guys want Slovenia expelled from the tournament for being smaller than New Jersey and having about the same number of inhabitants as New Mexico.

Dude, I've driven through New Mexico many times. Taos and Santa Fe are beautiful, but they aren't forming any formidable sports teams any time soon. That place is 99% waste land. I know population doesn't matter, but it's very impressive.

[Mark Priors Calves]

After listening to soccer analysts more in the past three weeks than ever before in my life, I kind of feel bad about how much crap I give baseball analysts.

The pbp and color guys for this tournament are light-years better than almost any baseball pbp and color guys

No question. The studio analysis is meh though.

[jersey cubs fan]

After listening to soccer analysts more in the past three weeks than ever before in my life, I kind of feel bad about how much crap I give baseball analysts.

The pbp and color guys for this tournament are light-years better than almost any baseball pbp and color guys

No question. The studio analysis is meh though.

 

I was referring to the studio guys.

[Derwood]

Holland through.....go Chile!

[Guest]

Slovakia had a couple great chances when they were down 1-0 but couldn't capitalize and you must do that if you're Slovakia and you want to beat a team like Holland.

 

Also, a couple interesting notes from the knockout stage so far.

 

-We've seen at least three goals in all five games (though the U.S.-Ghana obviously needed extra time).

 

-There have been no shutouts so far as every team has scored, with the loser getting exactly one goal in all five matches.

[shnsajax]

Gulati disappointed with exit, I wonder if thats a sign of whats to come for Bradley. I really have no clue what to expect from him they way the Klinnsman negotiation's broke down 4 years ago.

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5335896/ce/us/us-soccer-president-sunil-gulati-says-team-failed-expectations?cc=5901&ver=us

[Mark Priors Calves]

Gulati disappointed with exit, I wonder if thats a sign of whats to come for Bradley. I really have no clue what to expect from him they way the Klinnsman negotiation's broke down 4 years ago.

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5335896/ce/us/us-soccer-president-sunil-gulati-says-team-failed-expectations?cc=5901&ver=us

 

Is Guus Hiddink available to be hired away from Turkey? I'm not the largest Bradley supporter but I am leery of going through another coaching search by USSF.

[reggiemiller rules]

After listening to soccer analysts more in the past three weeks than ever before in my life, I kind of feel bad about how much crap I give baseball analysts.

The pbp and color guys for this tournament are light-years better than almost any baseball pbp and color guys

No question. The studio analysis is meh though.

 

I was referring to the studio guys.

 

To be fair though English is the 2nd language of most of the studio guys other then the Americans. Same cant be said for baseball analysts.

[Soul]

fifa addressing the officiating problem - no replay in stadiums now

 

Doesn't baseball do that already? I remember going to a Giants game a couple years ago and seeing a close play at first and I think the Giants fan I was with said they did something there. Not sure if it's done throughout baseball though.

 

Most teams won't show a visitor team friendly replay on the jumbo.

 

They spend all this time talking about how they shouldn't show replays to the crowd when the real problem is they don't have a system of review to get the call right.

[Guest]

I don't think the comfort of the fans in attendance is too much a price to pay to ensure that some of the idiots that play soccer(read: Mexico) don't mob the referee's assistant. I said it when it happened, but they deserve for that goal to count for that display.

[chuckywang]

After listening to soccer analysts more in the past three weeks than ever before in my life, I kind of feel bad about how much crap I give baseball analysts.

The pbp and color guys for this tournament are light-years better than almost any baseball pbp and color guys

 

British announcers in general are so much better than American announcers. If you listen to the comments, to the painterly turns of a phrase, to every subtle word they use that describe the essence and impact of the moment, you become more and more amazed each day by the British announcers.

[shnsajax]

Well that was quick, 2-0 Brazil in a span of 4 minutes.

[Derwood]

Holland through.....go Chile!

 

aw hell

[kujay]

After listening to soccer analysts more in the past three weeks than ever before in my life, I kind of feel bad about how much crap I give baseball analysts.

The pbp and color guys for this tournament are light-years better than almost any baseball pbp and color guys

 

British announcers in general are so much better than American announcers. If you listen to the comments, to the painterly turns of a phrase, to every subtle word they use that describe the essence and impact of the moment, you become more and more amazed each day by the British announcers.

 

I totally agree with this. With a lot of it being foreign to me, I hear them say something, then it plays back in my head and I smile a little because they are clever without being smarmy.

[E.J.]

It's fun watching teams like Argentina and Brazil. They're amazing offensively.

[brinoch]

So, the USMNT is going to finish ahead of South Korea, England, Mexico and Slovakia for sure. It looks like Chile will lose to Brazil (Brazil is up 3-0 right now), though the US will finish behind Chile. That leaves two games left in the Round of 16 for tomorrow, Portugal-Spain and Japan-Paraguay. The US cannot finish ahead of Japan or Spain based on points, and Portugal has a 7-0 GD, so we can't finish ahead of them unless Spain is truly the Roja Furia and simply kill the Portuguese team. Unlikely... so that doesn't matter for this calculation. Spain would finish in 9th (again) but they simply replace Portugal ahead of the US. Now, if Japan beats Paraguay by 2-0 or 3-1 (or by any larger differential), US finishes ahead of Paraguay. The worst the US can do is 12th and the best is 11th. So, I'm rooting for Japan tomorrow to get that last boost for a future seeding (yeah, right). Here are the standings 9-16 as they hopefully fall out (Spain over Portugal, 2-1 and Japan over Paraguay, 2-0):

 

9. Chile, 6 points (3 GF, 5 GA)

10. Portugal, 5 points (8 GF, 2 GA)

11. USA, 5 points (5 GF, 5 GA)

12. Paraguay, 5 points (3 GF, 3 GA)

13. England, 5 points (3 GF, 5 GA)

14. Mexico, 4 points (4 GF, 5 GA)

15. Slovakia, 4 points (5 GF, 7 GA)

16. South Korea, 4 points (7 GF, 7 GA)

 

Here's where the wrongly disallowed goal against Slovenia really hurts. With it, we'd have finished in 9th.

[bukie]

So, the USMNT is going to finish ahead of South Korea, England, Mexico and Slovakia for sure. It looks like Chile will lose to Brazil (Brazil is up 3-0 right now), though the US will finish behind Chile. That leaves two games left in the Round of 16 for tomorrow, Portugal-Spain and Japan-Paraguay. The US cannot finish ahead of Japan or Spain based on points, and Portugal has a 7-0 GD, so we can't finish ahead of them unless Spain is truly the Roja Furia and simply kill the Portuguese team. Unlikely... so that doesn't matter for this calculation. Spain would finish in 9th (again) but they simply replace Portugal ahead of the US. Now, if Japan beats Paraguay by 2-0 or 3-1 (or by any larger differential), US finishes ahead of Paraguay. The worst the US can do is 12th and the best is 11th. So, I'm rooting for Japan tomorrow to get that last boost for a future seeding (yeah, right). Here are the standings 9-16 as they hopefully fall out (Spain over Portugal, 2-1 and Japan over Paraguay, 2-0):

 

9. Chile, 6 points (3 GF, 5 GA)

10. Portugal, 5 points (8 GF, 2 GA)

11. USA, 5 points (5 GF, 5 GA)

12. Paraguay, 5 points (3 GF, 3 GA)

13. Mexico, 5 points (4 GF, 5 GA)

14. Slovakia, 5 points (5 GF, 7 GA)

15. England, 5 points (3 GF, 5 GA)

16. South Korea, 4 points (7 GF, 7 GA)

 

Here's where the wrongly disallowed goal against Slovenia really hurts. With it, we'd have finished in 9th.

Mexico has 4 points...draw v. South Africa, win v. France, loss v. Uruguay. Slovakia also has 4 points...draw v. New Zealand, loss v. Paraguay, win v. Italy. So England is ahead of both.

[brinoch]

Mexico has 4 points...draw v. South Africa, win v. France, loss v. Uruguay. Slovakia also has 4 points...draw v. New Zealand, loss v. Paraguay, win v. Italy. So England is ahead of both.

 

Thanks, Bukie. I'll update it. Have the points right on my sheet, but input them wrong!

[bukie]

As far as World Cup 2014 seeding would go, though, preliminary thoughts:

 

- With Brazil as the host, that essentially allows for one additional team to get a seed than in 2010, which is good news.

- I don't expect the following teams to drop off so much that the USMNT passes them: Spain, Germany, Argentina, Netherlands.

- So, essentially, the USMNT would have to take one of three spots available for them and likely the following teams: England, Italy, France, Greece. Uruguay, Mexico, Portugal, Serbia, Croatia or Russia. They're likely already ahead of Mexico, Greece, Serbia, Croatia and Russia at this point, but a lot can happen in 4 years.

- If FIFA decides to use World Cup 2010 results in the seeding process, then the USMNT would have an advantage over England, Italy, France, Mexico and Serbia on that front.

- The 2011 Gold Cup is very important for the US, to stay ahead of Mexico for potential seeding, and to get an opportunity in the Confederations Cup to play against more elite teams between now and 2014 (since CONCACAF qualifying doesn't really offer a similar opportunity).

[Guest]

Is the Confederations Cup played with enough time to impact seedings?

[bukie]

Is the Confederations Cup played with enough time to impact seedings?

Well, it's being held in June 2013, and if qualification/seeding is anything like this cycle, qualification will go through September at least, and seeding would take place in Nov/Dec 2013, so I would assume those matches would impact seedings.

[brinoch]

Yes, CC would impact seedings as a tournament. It would also help if FIFA changed the rating formula to get rid of the CONCACAF penalties, or at least to minimize them. It's fine to devalue a win against Barbados, but Central American nations at home are tough. Much, much tougher than people give credit for.

[Guest]

Is the Confederations Cup played with enough time to impact seedings?

Well, it's being held in June 2013, and if qualification/seeding is anything like this cycle, qualification will go through September at least, and seeding would take place in Nov/Dec 2013, so I would assume those matches would impact seedings.

 

Can't remember if they use the world rankings or not but we should be getting a boost in the post-Cup rankings also. The 06 Cup is off our record and the 10 Cup is in while, as you said, we did better than Italy (5th), France (9th) and Greece (13th), while Croatia (10th), Russia (11th) and Egypt (12th) didn't even qualify.

 

Making the Confederation's Cup and having a good showing there is a must if we want to have any sort of a shot at a seed. We'd also have to get lucky and have some of those European teams around us either not qualify or have a poor showing if they do.

[brinoch]

Is the Confederations Cup played with enough time to impact seedings?

Well, it's being held in June 2013, and if qualification/seeding is anything like this cycle, qualification will go through September at least, and seeding would take place in Nov/Dec 2013, so I would assume those matches would impact seedings.

 

Can't remember if they use the world rankings or not but we should be getting a boost in the post-Cup rankings also. The 06 Cup is off our record and the 10 Cup is in while, as you said, we did better than Italy (5th), France (9th) and Greece (13th), while Croatia (10th), Russia (11th) and Egypt (12th) didn't even qualify.

 

Making the Confederation's Cup and having a good showing there is a must if we want to have any sort of a shot at a seed. We'd also have to get lucky and have some of those European teams around us either not qualify or have a poor showing if they do.

 

Yep, the rankings for seeding are the same as the World Ranking. FIFA will probably change the ranking system though, so who knows what will actually happen.

 

Frankly, I think that Mexico and the USA should break off from CONCACAF and the Caribbean minnows to form a new Confederation or join another one. The CONCACAF penalty is devastating.