soccer soccer soccer

[bukie]

Remember when Argentina inexplicably lost their opener to Saudi Arabia after they had 4 goals called for offsides?

[Soul]

that's a game you talk about for the rest of your life

It’s a game that might earn a few new fans here. Wowza

[stitchface]

Imagine being from one of these countries.

 

 

trying to . . . . oh wait.

 

 

:) :) :)

[stitchface]

 

 

thanks for posting this. I was listening to the american idiots and missed this.

[Derwood]

It's sad that if/when the US ever wins the World Cup that the collective reaction will be 5% of the excitement of literally any other country.

[stitchface]

It's sad that if/when the US ever wins the World Cup that the collective reaction will be 5% of the excitement of literally any other country.

 

 

most people in Argentina don't have a lot else to celebrate

[bukie]

It's sad that if/when the US ever wins the World Cup that the collective reaction will be 5% of the excitement of literally any other country.

I don't think this is true, and a large portion of the US is heavily invested in the World Cup while the US is in it, and that portion only grows the deeper the team gets. It just hasn't been there for about 20 years since the US hasn't gotten past the round of 16.

 

Hell, for the round of 16 game this cycle, we were at a bowling alley, and every TV had the Netherlands-US game on, and there were over 100 people there watching it.

[NOLA]

https://twitter.com/wutangkids/status/1604546775163043842?s=46&t=MNyhynHtKlub5Ae92b99aA

[stitchface]

It's sad that if/when the US ever wins the World Cup that the collective reaction will be 5% of the excitement of literally any other country.

I don't think this is true, and a large portion of the US is heavily invested in the World Cup while the US is in it, and that portion only grows the deeper the team gets. It just hasn't been there for about 20 years since the US hasn't gotten past the round of 16.

 

Hell, for the round of 16 game this cycle, we were at a bowling alley, and every TV had the Netherlands-US game on, and there were over 100 people there watching it.

 

It will also be in the summer when there are fewer competing sports.

[CubinNY]

As I was watch the one and very likely only soccer game I will see for the next four years I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Irrelevant Dude]

As I was watch the one and very likely only soccer game I will see for the next four years I was thinking the same thing.

 

I'm not a soccer fan at all, but I was on the edge of my seat from the second half on despite not having any particular rooting interest. That game was an absolute joy to watch. The chances of me watching soccer again before the next World Cup are close to zero, and there's no guarantee I'll even watch any of the World Cup next time around, but I will definitely remember this game.

[imb]

As I was watch the one and very likely only soccer game I will see for the next four years I was thinking the same thing.

 

I'm not a soccer fan at all, but I was on the edge of my seat from the second half on despite not having any particular rooting interest. That game was an absolute joy to watch. The chances of me watching soccer again before the next World Cup are close to zero, and there's no guarantee I'll even watch any of the World Cup next time around, but I will definitely remember this game.

 

brother NOW is the time to get into it! Club soccer is outrageously fun. The pregame shows are great and are so low key compared to american pregames that last 4 hours and have 25 hosts. If you pick a premier league side to support the games are all over by the early afternoon at the latest and they all just take two hours. You'll never go back. Plus the World Cup is coming to the US in 26, so you get 3 1/2 years to get locked in before you can watch prime Mbappe set every record possible.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Yeah I checked in for the Bears pre-game and a half hour later I was like, ok I think I get it. That was absolutely exhilarating. I have to believe they captured some new fans with that game.

[UK]

As I was watch the one and very likely only soccer game I will see for the next four years I was thinking the same thing.

 

I'm not a soccer fan at all, but I was on the edge of my seat from the second half on despite not having any particular rooting interest. That game was an absolute joy to watch. The chances of me watching soccer again before the next World Cup are close to zero, and there's no guarantee I'll even watch any of the World Cup next time around, but I will definitely remember this game.

 

brother NOW is the time to get into it! Club soccer is outrageously fun. The pregame shows are great and are so low key compared to american pregames that last 4 hours and have 25 hosts. If you pick a premier league side to support the games are all over by the early afternoon at the latest and they all just take two hours. You'll never go back. Plus the World Cup is coming to the US in 26, so you get 3 1/2 years to get locked in before you can watch prime Mbappe set every record possible.

 

Very true, I think the EPL is probably the best to follow for those who are looking into soccer for the 1st time. I started watching around the 94 WC and also got season tix to the Chicago Fire in their inaugural season as well as friendlies in Chicago. I started following Everton when Joe Max Moore joined the Blues.

 

If you're not bothered by a Yankees/Dodgers WS every year, I would suggest the Scottish Premiership because the greatest rivalry in any sport is Rangers/Celtics, IMO.

[Cubswin11]

I'm not a soccer fan at all, but I was on the edge of my seat from the second half on despite not having any particular rooting interest. That game was an absolute joy to watch. The chances of me watching soccer again before the next World Cup are close to zero, and there's no guarantee I'll even watch any of the World Cup next time around, but I will definitely remember this game.

 

brother NOW is the time to get into it! Club soccer is outrageously fun. The pregame shows are great and are so low key compared to american pregames that last 4 hours and have 25 hosts. If you pick a premier league side to support the games are all over by the early afternoon at the latest and they all just take two hours. You'll never go back. Plus the World Cup is coming to the US in 26, so you get 3 1/2 years to get locked in before you can watch prime Mbappe set every record possible.

 

Very true, I think the EPL is probably the best to follow for those who are looking into soccer for the 1st time. I started watching around the 94 WC and also got season tix to the Chicago Fire in their inaugural season as well as friendlies in Chicago. I started following Everton when Joe Max Moore joined the Blues.

 

If you're not bothered by a Yankees/Dodgers WS every year, I would suggest the Scottish Premiership because the greatest rivalry in any sport is Rangers/Celtics, IMO.

Is that baseball or hockey vs basketball?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

brother NOW is the time to get into it! Club soccer is outrageously fun. The pregame shows are great and are so low key compared to american pregames that last 4 hours and have 25 hosts. If you pick a premier league side to support the games are all over by the early afternoon at the latest and they all just take two hours. You'll never go back. Plus the World Cup is coming to the US in 26, so you get 3 1/2 years to get locked in before you can watch prime Mbappe set every record possible.

 

Very true, I think the EPL is probably the best to follow for those who are looking into soccer for the 1st time. I started watching around the 94 WC and also got season tix to the Chicago Fire in their inaugural season as well as friendlies in Chicago. I started following Everton when Joe Max Moore joined the Blues.

 

If you're not bothered by a Yankees/Dodgers WS every year, I would suggest the Scottish Premiership because the greatest rivalry in any sport is Rangers/Celtics, IMO.

Is that baseball or hockey vs basketball?

 

Protestant vs. Catholic

[soccer10k]

 

Very true, I think the EPL is probably the best to follow for those who are looking into soccer for the 1st time. I started watching around the 94 WC and also got season tix to the Chicago Fire in their inaugural season as well as friendlies in Chicago. I started following Everton when Joe Max Moore joined the Blues.

 

If you're not bothered by a Yankees/Dodgers WS every year, I would suggest the Scottish Premiership because the greatest rivalry in any sport is Rangers/Celtics, IMO.

Is that baseball or hockey vs basketball?

 

Protestant vs. Catholic

 

Fans get along great too. Never any issues.

[BigbadB]

None of the high schools around me had soccer when I was going to school. I think they all have them now, but I haven't really looked into it. I have friends that love the World Cup and we have had 4am morning drink fests to watch USA in the World Cup when I lived in California. That's about the extent of my soccer previous to this year. I watched all the USA games and I watched both semifinals and the finals this year. Awesome! Now I wish I got to see Messi play more. That guy is clearly a special player. I've heard his name for years, but this was really my first experience watching him.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's sad that if/when the US ever wins the World Cup that the collective reaction will be 5% of the excitement of literally any other country.

 

That'll mainly be because the world's population will have been reduced to 5% of what it is now by the time that happens.

[Old Style]

I really don’t like soccer at all. A large part of that comes from me not knowing the intricacies of the game so I get bored with it easily. I tried multiple times to watch some of the WC games and didn’t enjoy a lot of it. For whatever reason I turned yesterday’s game on not long after the start. I wasn’t paying close attention but it was on and I found myself getting into it a little. The second goal for Argentina was a thing of beauty. I was about to turn it off with Argentina cruising to a 2-0 win when France got their penalty shot. From there to the end of the game it was one of the most exciting sporting events I’ve seen in a long time. I had to chuckle a little when I kept hearing different announcers/commentators talk about how that was the most exciting game in soccer history because I was thinking to myself how maybe I should watch a little more because it was a lot of fun. But nothing will ever top that game so I should probably go out in a high note.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I really don’t like soccer at all. A large part of that comes from me not knowing the intricacies of the game so I get bored with it easily. I tried multiple times to watch some of the WC games and didn’t enjoy a lot of it. For whatever reason I turned yesterday’s game on not long after the start. I wasn’t paying close attention but it was on and I found myself getting into it a little. The second goal for Argentina was a thing of beauty. I was about to turn it off with Argentina cruising to a 2-0 win when France got their penalty shot. From there to the end of the game it was one of the most exciting sporting events I’ve seen in a long time. I had to chuckle a little when I kept hearing different announcers/commentators talk about how that was the most exciting game in soccer history because I was thinking to myself how maybe I should watch a little more because it was a lot of fun. But nothing will ever top that game so I should probably go out in a high note.

 

That is the downside, going from watching a World Cup final of that magnitude, to like, FC Dallas v. Sporting Kansas City is gonna be a drop off in every conceivable way. Lots of games are baseball-esque in that they're a slow burn. But it does make it easier to have a rooting interest if that helps.

 

If anyone is interested in getting a greater appreciation for it, the way I think is most useful without becoming a soccer obsessive is to think of it as a combination of basketball and football. Like football, when a team has the ball it's a group of 11 players on a large field trying to manipulate defenders to create space and windows to move the ball forward. In soccer the field is so big that this sometimes means moving backwards to create and reach space down the field or on the opposite side. However, unlike football and more like basketball, teams are working on repeatable and fluid patterns more than very specific scripted plays, because possession changes often and you can't line up 11 players perfectly to do super-choreographed moves with regularity. Also like basketball, the most exciting moments come from transition where teams are sprinting into open space.

 

Ultimately, if your main sticking point for enjoying the sport is how much scoreboard achievement there is, even the most entertaining soccer game is going to be an uphill battle and it's probably not for you. But if you can appreciate the stakes, the skill, or at a basic level follow how teams are trying to solve the sport's main puzzle(11 people can't cover the whole field, how do we get our guys the ball in space), then it can be fun to follow.

[Old Style]

It’s not necessarily the lack of scoring. It’s more the lack of scoring opportunities I think. Goalkeepers can go an entire game without having to make a save and it’s not a rare occasion. And I get that there doesn’t have to be a save for there to have been a scoring chance but it seems to my uneducated eyes that rarely in games is there a true chance of a goal happening. That definitely was NOT the case yesterday.

 

And I hate the fact that the World Cup final was decided on penalty kicks. Seems like such an injustice to the teams in my opinion.

[stitchface]

I'm not a soccer fan at all, but I was on the edge of my seat from the second half on despite not having any particular rooting interest. That game was an absolute joy to watch. The chances of me watching soccer again before the next World Cup are close to zero, and there's no guarantee I'll even watch any of the World Cup next time around, but I will definitely remember this game.

 

brother NOW is the time to get into it! Club soccer is outrageously fun. The pregame shows are great and are so low key compared to american pregames that last 4 hours and have 25 hosts. If you pick a premier league side to support the games are all over by the early afternoon at the latest and they all just take two hours. You'll never go back. Plus the World Cup is coming to the US in 26, so you get 3 1/2 years to get locked in before you can watch prime Mbappe set every record possible.

 

Very true, I think the EPL is probably the best to follow for those who are looking into soccer for the 1st time. I started watching around the 94 WC and also got season tix to the Chicago Fire in their inaugural season as well as friendlies in Chicago. I started following Everton when Joe Max Moore joined the Blues.

 

If you're not bothered by a Yankees/Dodgers WS every year, I would suggest the Scottish Premiership because the greatest rivalry in any sport is Rangers/Celtics, IMO.

 

My recommendation would be the Bundesliga. It's much more balanced (aside from Bayern Munich) and the teams attack like crazy. Plus, it's on ESPN and much better coverage than NBC's coverage of premier league (games are instantly on demand so you can start them whenever you want). Games are on early in the US so you can watch over coffee and not spend the whole day.

[stitchface]

It’s not necessarily the lack of scoring. It’s more the lack of scoring opportunities I think. Goalkeepers can go an entire game without having to make a save and it’s not a rare occasion. And I get that there doesn’t have to be a save for there to have been a scoring chance but it seems to my uneducated eyes that rarely in games is there a true chance of a goal happening. That definitely was NOT the case yesterday.

 

And I hate the fact that the World Cup final was decided on penalty kicks. Seems like such an injustice to the teams in my opinion.

 

I think everyone hates the shootout but they can't keep playing forever. My personal view is make it "golden goal" - ie whoever scores first wins (so Argentina wins when Messi score yesterday).

[WrigleyField 22]

It’s not necessarily the lack of scoring. It’s more the lack of scoring opportunities I think. Goalkeepers can go an entire game without having to make a save and it’s not a rare occasion. And I get that there doesn’t have to be a save for there to have been a scoring chance but it seems to my uneducated eyes that rarely in games is there a true chance of a goal happening. That definitely was NOT the case yesterday.

 

And I hate the fact that the World Cup final was decided on penalty kicks. Seems like such an injustice to the teams in my opinion.

 

I think everyone hates the shootout but they can't keep playing forever. My personal view is make it "golden goal" - ie whoever scores first wins (so Argentina wins when Messi score yesterday).

Yea I was admittedly surprised as I looked up thr overtime rules and found out wasn't a golden goal situation. Sounds like they did it for a while before abandoning again. Is there some purist arguement against it?