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Brasil 2014

Let's face it: US team is not ready yet to compete with leading football (YES-IT IS FOOTBALL in all other countries) teams.
Jurgen Klinsmann did a great job, but he works with players he has in MLS and let's face it: it is far cry from La Liga or BPL.
Nevertheless what I like the most about US team is a character - fight until the end.
Unfortunately the end came earlier than we all wanted, but it was predictable.
And nothing to be ashamed of....
 
It was a valiant effort by the US and especially Howard. Holy cow, that man was amazing today. Belgium just played their game and they were able to out pace the US at the end. Younger team, more organized attack.


If the US had played the first 90 minutes the way they played the last 5 of additional time, the score would have been drastically different and likely with the advantage on the US side.

Jones needed more opportunities sent his way. Many occasions in the 2nd half and extra period where he was alone in a corner or 1 on 1 with a slower/smaller defender. Whenever the double coverage would go to Dempsey or Bradley, Jones was open and in position.

Still a lot more of this great sport to watch!
 
The biggest prblem was pocession. US team was loosing ball in the middle way way too easy. Howard was great today, but he can't win the game. And with all due respect to Dempsey and Jones - they lack the technical skills of a great strikers (Messi, Ronaldo and such). And look at young kids: DeAndre Yedlin and Julian Green - that's the future...
If only....
 
gladiator335 said:
The biggest prblem was pocession. US team was loosing ball in the middle way way too easy. Howard was great today, but he can't win the game. And with all due respect to Dempsey and Jones - they lack the technical skills of a great strikers (Messi, Ronaldo and such). And look at young kids: DeAndre Yedlin and Julian Green - that's the future...
If only....
Click to expand...

Indeed. Yedlin and Green definitely brought a spark, though not nearly as big a spark as Belgium's Romelu Lukaku. What a beast!
 
I agree. I posted this on Facebook, but we need three things to get to the final

1) A stronger US farm league/feeder league through your soccer.

2) More US players in international leagues


3) More international players in MLS
 
The thing that holds US soccer back is is too many kids grow up thinking US Football is a a more worthwhile endevor. One of the best kids on my son's club team is leaving to try high school football. He's a very gifted athlete and scores frequently, sets up other players with great passes and even can drop back and play defense and excel at that too. I've never seen him outrun. Ever.

I'm sure he'll have fun and do well until the fact that he'll never be taller than 5'10" and 165 catches up to him. I hope he is spared the knee injuries and concussions too. I'd love to see him on the pitch again.

I think as US kids start to see soccer as a way to make a very lucrative living playing a great sport more and more will peruse it more seriously. It's also a great way to get a top notch education. Although Klinsmann even said that one thing that US players do use soccer as a way to go to college instead of coming up through an academy system like in Europe. He feels this also keeps US players from reaching the elite level of players in Europe and Latin America.

I know that the soccer program and the level of play I grew up around is vastly inferior to what's available for my kids and my high school even regularly won state championships. At this rate of improvement we should be winning the World Cup in 8-12 years.

What a great sport.

USA! USA! USA!

Eric
 
62sunbeam said:
The thing that holds US soccer back is is too many kids grow up thinking US Football is a a more worthwhile endevor. One of the best kids on my son's club team is leaving to try high school football. He's a very gifted athlete and scores frequently, sets up other players with great passes and even can drop back and play defense and excel at that too. I've never seen him outrun. Ever.

I'm sure he'll have fun and do well until the fact that he'll never be taller than 5'10" and 165 catches up to him. I hope he is spared the knee injuries and concussions too. I'd love to see him on the pitch again.

I think as US kids start to see soccer as a way to make a very lucrative living playing a great sport more and more will peruse it more seriously. It's also a great way to get a top notch education. Although Klinsmann even said that one thing that US players do use soccer as a way to go to college instead of coming up through an academy system like in Europe. He feels this also keeps US players from reaching the elite level of players in Europe and Latin America.

I know that the soccer program and the level of play I grew up around is vastly inferior to what's available for my kids and my high school even regularly won state championships. At this rate of improvement we should be winning the World Cup in 8-12 years.

What a great sport.

USA! USA! USA!

Eric
Click to expand...

Great post Eric. I'm proud our team got to the semis and was watching the game today in my docs waiting room in Little Saigon. Pretty cool to see everyone in the building peeking in. :smoke:
 
And watch the Canadians joining the party in eight years.

Would that be something! ...In the finals; Canada and Argentina.
 
USA - Belgium was one of the most enjoyable games this WC. Howard was - by far - the best player on the pitch, but the team who scores most wins. But if you gotta lose, this is the way to do it: fight untill the end and keep the crowd entertained.
 
the future of soccer will always have one huge problem.....45 minutes without advertising....half-time....45 more minutes without advertising.
 
brian222 said:
the future of soccer will always have one huge problem.....45 minutes without advertising....half-time....45 more minutes without advertising.
Click to expand...

That's the beauty of soccer IMO. It does present a problem with our network TV model. American football is well-suited to the commercialism of American network TV. When you consider that the play clocks burns off nearly 30 seconds for every play and the amount of standing around, instant replays, etc., there's probably at most 20-30 minutes of active sport in 3 - 3.5 hours. That leaves the networks plenty of time to bring out the babes to sell crummy beer in their numerous commercial breaks.
 
Football now and in the future will always have two huge qualities, 45 minutes without advertising...half time...and a second 45 minutes without advertising.

It would be nice to also watch hockey the same way, no crummy advertisements.
 
moinau said:
Football now and in the future will always have two huge qualities, 45 minutes without advertising...half time...and a second 45 minutes without advertising...
Click to expand...

That's (among other things) is a good thing about football.
But at the same time I'm afraid this is (or will be) the main reason football here in US will never get to the next level - no big money.
Look at the best European clubs - they have huge budgets and can buy the best players.
Another thing - in Europe they have european cup which is almost as good as world cup, Champions league, UEFA Europa league and so on. They play high level teams all the time (national champoinships or UEFA).
South America - almost the same. Copa Libertadores and such.
Who do we play? Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football? Mexico - yes, it is good. The rest....Well, there is Costa Rica...and that's about it. No international exerience at all for US players (I mean on a very high level). And it all shows....
I wish US team and MLS all the best, but I'm not so sure we will be able to compete for the gold medals any time soon...

Full disclosure: I would very much like to be proven wrong!:D
 
gladiator335 said:
That's (among other things) is a good thing about football.
But at the same time I'm afraid this is (or will be) the main reason football here in US will never get to the next level - no big money.
Look at the best European clubs - they have huge budgets and can buy the best players.
Another thing - in Europe they have european cup which is almost as good as world cup, Champions league, UEFA Europa league and so on. They play high level teams all the time (national champoinships or UEFA).
South America - almost the same. Copa Libertadores and such.
Who do we play? Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football? Mexico - yes, it is good. The rest....Well, there is Costa Rica...and that's about it. No international exerience at all for US players (I mean on a very high level). And it all shows....
I wish US team and MLS all the best, but I'm not so sure we will be able to compete for the gold medals any time soon...

Full disclosure: I would very much like to be proven wrong!:D
Click to expand...

Well............maybe.

But I go back to the time when Pele and Franz Beckenbauer played for the Cosmos and Soccer was dubbed the next big thing. Did not quite happen but it did not completely die

Since then interest has increased, slowly but steadily. Hey, two straight World Cups where we make the knockout round is pretty damn good for a country that showed little interest before.

There are also other conditions. Without going into detail, one can see something akin to an uncoordinated backlash against the NFL. I hate it, but I can imagine the demise of American Football.

Then there is demographics. There are now a lot of folks here who came from soccer-mad places. That can only help the talent pool.

However, your point about the regional cups is very good and perhaps key. I am really pumped up about soccer now but after the WC is over, I don't know if the MLS can fill the void and it is hard to watch European Leagues as they are not "our guys" the way the local baseball or NFL team is.

Perhaps we should enjoy the rare underdog status that the US has in soccer. One of the few areas where nobody gets angry with us.:D
 
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