USA v ghana

[SpiffCoug]

Haha! Well, when I want to know about college football, I'll look at your posts. When I want to know about world futbol, I won't.

It doesn't take an expert to know that USA sucks at soccer.

Our country is the #1 Super-Power in the World!
But our soccer team isn't better than 16th internationally. We just got our bags packed by friggin' GHANA! We couldn't beat SLOVENIA. We barely beat ALGERIA by a goal.
Sad.

No point blowing smoke, is all I'm sayin'. That would be like Texas hanging a banner after winning just one game in the NCAA Tournament but get sent home by a team from the sunbelt. For Texas, that should be a disappointment, not something to celebrate.

Sounds an awful lot like OU fans last August. There's no way BYU is beating us! I mean they're friggin BYU. Were #4 in the country.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Mars]

Sounds an awful lot like OU fans last August. There's no way BYU is beating us! I mean they're friggin BYU. Were #4 in the country.

What's your point? That USA will beat Ghana? Our World Cup's already over my friend.

[SpiffCoug]

No, my point was upsets happen. And yes making it to the final 16 IS cause to celebrate. If they only held the NCAA tourney every four years, you better believe Texas would be raising a banner.

So as a fan I must dwell on my disappointments and losses and not my wins and achievements?

[Mars]

So as a fan I must dwell on my disappointments and losses and not my wins and achievements?

No. Maybe I'm shooting fish in a barrell here, but it's sad to expect greatness and then celebrate mediocrity anyway. USA couldn't have been more mediocre this year, and that BLAH will last 4 years afterwards.

[CougarClaw]

FYI. 205 teams entered the qualifications stages for this world cup.
Only 32 actually made it to the World cup.
16 passed their groups.

We celebrate college football top 25 as being an elite achievement. This is AT LEAST in the same ballpark, except that it takes four years to get here, not one.

Also with 300 million, we are but a small blip in the world's population (not as small as Ghana obviously, but TCU has a pretty small fanbase as well and they were able to do quite well last year) so we are fighting not only a culture of soccer, but 7 Billion people focused on developping their best talents to get to this level.

And I can certainly appreciate a top 16 finish.

[Mingjai]

This World Cup has been bittersweet for me. I've been following the USMNT for a while now, such that I can name the strengths and weaknesses of every player on the 23-man roster (and the initial 30-man camp roster). Looking at the roster, this team had the potential make the quarters or even the semis, but it wasn't to be. The poor central defense play and lack of finishing touch did the US in.

This World Cup reinforces to me the idea that the difference between a being a semifinalist and a knocked out in group stage is razor thin. At the World Cup, so many teams pack it in on defense, such that one team can dominate the run of play and still lose (Switzerland over Spain or Slovakia over Germany). It's what teams do on their few good attempts on goal proves to be the difference in getting 3, 1, or 0 points from a match. Ghana were gifted two defensive errors and scored on both. The USA was unable to convert its similar opportunities.

Looking at the 8 quarter-finalists, every one of them has looked mediocre in this tournament. Germany lost to Slovakia. Brazil beat N Korea by 1 goal. Spain lost to the Swiss. Argentina struggled with Nigeria. The Dutch haven't been lighting up the scoreboard. Labeling the USA as mediocre is fair, though perhaps in a World Cup where no single team has stood out as elite, mediocrity leaves the USA in some pretty good company.

[SpiffCoug]

In all honesty, the best soccer played in the world is not during the World Cup. It might generate the most excitement because of the nationalistic pride involved. But if you want to see the best soccer you need to watch the Champions League.

The World Cup features the best nations' players who get together for a few weeks before the tournament and it includes some nations that wouldn't qualify if they were from other regions (here's looking at you New Zealand and North Korea). The Champions League only features the best teams. Teams that are built to win. Teams that play together for months and years on end.

[Mingjai]

In all honesty, the best soccer played in the world is not during the World Cup. It might generate the most excitement because of the nationalistic pride involved. But if you want to see the best soccer you need to watch the Champions League.

The World Cup features the best nations' players who get together for a few weeks before the tournament and it includes some nations that wouldn't qualify if they were from other regions (here's looking at you New Zealand and North Korea). The Champions League only features the best teams. Teams that are built to win. Teams that play together for months and years on end.

Exactly... the Champions League or even the EPL, La Liga, or Serie A produce better soccer because of the continuity of players and strategies. I submit that the Euro Championship and the Copa America are better soccer than the World Cup because teams seem to play a lot more aggressive.