***OFFICIAL*** 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP thread

[Ugmo]

Agreed. Didn't the US get invited to the Copa America a few years back? Back in the 90's I think.

Thing is, to lose the US or Mexico from the CONCACAF Confederation would be a disaster for them. They are the only 2 teams that carry any weight worldwide and to lose them would not only weaken the quality, but also any voting rights within FIFA. I also think FIFA wants balance between the Confederations so they would probably block any moves. But why can't the Copa America include all North, central and south American teams? Have qualification like for the Euros. I don't see why that couldn't work.

Copa America is the same as Euro championships. I think your confusing qualifying with the Continental Cup. We were in the '07 Copa America after winning the Gold Cup so we went with nothing but 3rd stringers and got smoked

We were in Copa America the first time in I think 1995 and we did great - third place finish if I remember correctly (although maybe I don't). Yeah, the last time was 2007, and the problem is that the Euro clubs aren't mandated to release their players for national team competition if they aren't from a country represented in the federation in question... in other words since the U.S. was a CONCACAF country competing in a CONMEBOL tournament we pretty much had to send our third-stringers (since we also didn't want to disrupt MLS by taking away its best players for several weeks).

Someone had a great suggestion on another forum: we need to bribe the corrupt CONCACAF president Jack Warner to push back the Gold Cup a year to 2012 so you'd have

Copa America in 2011
Gold Cup in 2012
Confederations Cup in 2013 provided we win the Gold Cup
World Cup in 2014

And try to send the best team to each competition. That would be great for our national team.

[Rageman]

Gotta love the Italians

[Xytras]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

Yep, that's why you win every World Baseball Classic (4th is your best place), and every FIBA World Championship (3 titles in 56 years!).

[MickeyG]

LOL, and I love seeing the Yanks lose their shit.

I must have touched a nerve with your response here. If you seriously think CONCACAF is tougher than UEFA then heaven help you. The US is pretty much guaranteed to qualify every time.

Show me where I said that. I just find it funny how you claim how tough it is to qualify from Europe when you rarely play a heavyweight in Euro or World Cup qualifying. All your FA needs to do is ensure your top players for two . . . MAYBE four matches every two years and you qualify as long as you don't stink up the joint like you did in the '92/'93 qualifiers for USA '94.

True story.

OK, so you say you didn't say that you thought UEFA was easier, and by the same token I didn't say UEFA was tough, I said it was harder than CONCACAF. So it seems we are pretty much in the same place there.

I will say this though, the lesser teams in Europe are more of a test than Cuba and Canada etc. Surely you agree with that.

[MickeyG]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

I had to come back and address this. I think the US would definitely be better if it took soccer more seriously. But I also think your view is a little simplistic.

If soccer was equal to the NFL etc., in resources etc., you wouldn't get all the athletes choosing soccer. Many would still prefer the others because they like them better and because they are better at them. Just because you are good at one sport doesn't make you good at another. Could Shaq chase Lionel Messi around for long on a soccer field?

Now if your scenario allows you to remove the other sports altogether, then you'd have to do that for other countries too. England has a population 6 times less than the US. Soccer has to compete with cricket and both codes of rugby as major sports. Australia has a population of 22 million and soccer is well behind cricket and both codes of rugby in importance. While we are at it, why not replace cricket with soccer in countries like India and Pakistan. And lets make the Chinese with their 1 billion population and American debt more interested too.

[bane]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

I had to come back and address this. I think the US would definitely be better if it took soccer more seriously. But I also think your view is a little simplistic.

If soccer was equal to the NFL etc., in resources etc., you wouldn't get all the athletes choosing soccer. Many would still prefer the others because they like them better and because they are better at them. Just because you are good at one sport doesn't make you good at another. Could Shaq chase Lionel Messi around for long on a soccer field?

Now if your scenario allows you to remove the other sports altogether, then you'd have to do that for other countries too. England has a population 6 times less than the US. Soccer has to compete with cricket and both codes of rugby as major sports. Australia has a population of 22 million and soccer is well behind cricket and both codes of rugby in importance. While we are at it, why not replace cricket with soccer in countries like India and Pakistan. And lets make the Chinese with their 1 billion population and American debt more interested too.

I'd say it's pretty undeniable that the US would be a much bigger player in the World Cup if soccer were as big as say, football, here. It's difficult to quantify, but you could look at the medal totals in the olympics as an example of what a more even playing field might look like. Millions of kids play soccer in the US, when they're 10. The elite athletes among them usually move on to another sport with more of a future by the time they're in high school. The big jock on campus is never a soccer player here. The same can't be said for most of the rest of the world. That's just the way it is.

[Bidokan]

Popularity does not equal quality, if that was the case Mexico would have already won a world cup by now.

[tripsgirl]

Thank god that greasy punk ass bitch Crissy Ro is out of it!!!

[MickeyG]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

I had to come back and address this. I think the US would definitely be better if it took soccer more seriously. But I also think your view is a little simplistic.

If soccer was equal to the NFL etc., in resources etc., you wouldn't get all the athletes choosing soccer. Many would still prefer the others because they like them better and because they are better at them. Just because you are good at one sport doesn't make you good at another. Could Shaq chase Lionel Messi around for long on a soccer field?

Now if your scenario allows you to remove the other sports altogether, then you'd have to do that for other countries too. England has a population 6 times less than the US. Soccer has to compete with cricket and both codes of rugby as major sports. Australia has a population of 22 million and soccer is well behind cricket and both codes of rugby in importance. While we are at it, why not replace cricket with soccer in countries like India and Pakistan. And lets make the Chinese with their 1 billion population and American debt more interested too.

I'd say it's pretty undeniable that the US would be a much bigger player in the World Cup if soccer were as big as say, football, here. It's difficult to quantify, but you could look at the medal totals in the olympics as an example of what a more even playing field might look like. Millions of kids play soccer in the US, when they're 10. The elite athletes among them usually move on to another sport with more of a future by the time they're in high school. The big jock on campus is never a soccer player here. The same can't be said for most of the rest of the world. That's just the way it is.

To be honest, we never had jocks in our school. I think that's mainly an American thing.

I really do wonder about what you're saying though. I mean, I wonder how many good US soccer playing kids just give up sports altogether rather than picking another sport? I just don't see that many NFL lineman having ever played soccer. Could Tom Brady play? How many soccer players are over 200 pounds in weight? How many really tall players are there? Peter Crouch is 6 foot 7, really tall dudes (I'm thinking 75% of basketball players) are pretty poor with their feet. Baseball, like cricket is a different animal. Sure you can be good at both but there's just a different feel to the games. I just wonder how many are lost rather than switch.

[Ugmo]

I will say this though, the lesser teams in Europe are more of a test than Cuba and Canada etc. Surely you agree with that.

I don't know that I'd agree with that. Lesser teams like Moldova and Liechtenstein and Malta? The U.S. would beat up on those teams just like it beats up on Cuba. The other thing is that some of those Caribbean and Central American teams are tough to beat on the road because of the gamesmanship. Guatemala schedules its games in the middle of the jungle, like a five-hour bus ride from the airport! And then they don't cut the grass for three weeks before the game! Places like El Salvador and Costa Rica, they schedule a parade at 3 in the morning on game day outside of the hotel where the visitors are playing. And then of course the games at Azteca, conveniently scheduled for when the heat and smog are at their peak (not to mention the altitude).

I think the only thing comparable in UEFA qualifying is Turkey sometimes. They really make sure they have an intimidating homefield advantage.

[SLASH1976]

Spain was pretty good tonight, I expected more from Portugal but still a fun game to watch.
Still this has been a crappy tournament so far, a lot less exciting then former world cups. They really should cut down on the amount of teams participating. A lot of the teams come on to the pitch not to win but to make it impossible for the other team to play. It's pretty boring actually.

Is Beckham gonna be the new coach for England ? They said it here on the news. Don't know if that's such a good idea. U can count formal big players being a good coach on one hand as far as I know.

[Bidokan]

Actually I'm happy with the WC results, other than a few fuck ups from the referees, you really have seen the teams for what they are.

[MickeyG]

I will say this though, the lesser teams in Europe are more of a test than Cuba and Canada etc. Surely you agree with that.

I don't know that I'd agree with that. Lesser teams like Moldova and Liechtenstein and Malta? The U.S. would beat up on those teams just like it beats up on Cuba. The other thing is that some of those Caribbean and Central American teams are tough to beat on the road because of the gamesmanship. Guatemala schedules its games in the middle of the jungle, like a five-hour bus ride from the airport! And then they don't cut the grass for three weeks before the game! Places like El Salvador and Costa Rica, they schedule a parade at 3 in the morning on game day outside of the hotel where the visitors are playing. And then of course the games at Azteca, conveniently scheduled for when the heat and smog are at their peak (not to mention the altitude).

I think the only thing comparable in UEFA qualifying is Turkey sometimes. They really make sure they have an intimidating homefield advantage.

No, I mean teams like Slovenia. Would Andorra and Liechtenstein beat the Cayman Islands or Aruba? Moldova is interesting as they were in Pot D above Slovenia for qualifying but finished bottom of a weak group.

Some of the pitches and facilities in the Eastern Bloc are not exactly awesome either. I know there isn't the elevation, and certainly not the heat and the games at least are not played in the dead of winter.

[MickeyG]

Spain was pretty good tonight, I expected more from Portugal but still a fun game to watch.
Still this has been a crappy tournament so far, a lot less exciting then former world cups. They really should cut down on the amount of teams participating. A lot of the teams come on to the pitch not to win but to make it impossible for the other team to play. It's pretty boring actually.

Is Beckham gonna be the new coach for England ? They said it here on the news. Don't know if that's such a good idea. U can count formal big players being a good coach on one hand as far as I know.

LOL, no, I doubt Becks would be the new coach. They must have been smoking some of that weed you guys get there in Holland. I doubt the FA will want to pony up the 12 mil it will take to get rid of Capello. They will probably want to see what his thoughts are on the future of the team before deciding. Will he dump the likes of Fat Lampard. What was he thinking bringing Jamie Carthorse? Stuff like that.

[MickeyG]

Actually I'm happy with the WC results, other than a few fuck ups from the referees, you really have seen the teams for what they are.

I dunno, I think Italy played below themselves and 9 times out of 10 would beat New Zealand handily. They just didn't show up. If you look at the French team, their players are better than what they showed.

[Rageman]

Actually I'm happy with the WC results, other than a few fuck ups from the referees, you really have seen the teams for what they are.

I dunno, I think Italy played below themselves and 9 times out of 10 would beat New Zealand handily. They just didn't show up. If you look at the French team, their players are better than what they showed.

How many football leagues do you actually watch Mickey? Not trying to be a smartass . . . serious question.

The reason that I ask is because I've actually watched many of the Kiwis play for years in MLS and the A-league and while I was pleasantly surprised by their result against the Italians, I wasn't shocked. Going into the match, I knew the Italians were in trouble without Pirlo and I knew what type of Captain that Ryan Nelson is(no one played with more pride in the tournament). Simon Elliot is 36 and played his ass off but not above his head(he was more Pirlo-like than any Italian on the pitch). While a bit ugly at times, it was indeed a fascinating match to watch.

Most European footy fans watch/follow one small local team, one top level domestic team, most/all domestic teams in the Champions League or Euro League, National team, Brazil, maybe Real Madrid or Barcelona and nothing else. I discovered football as a 30 year old NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL fan so I never grew up in a football fishbowl with all of the propaganda from the local footy clubs. I like all types of soccer/football. I've been told from many foreigners/ex-pats that the USA is the best place to watch football because there is so much cheap access to so many leagues.

I live in Alaska and sometimes, depending on the season and schedule, starting Friday night from 11:00-1:00 am I can watch the A-league, from Midnight- 4:00 Russian Premier, from 3:30-9:30 English Premier and Championship, 5:ish-9:ish Bundesliga, 9:ish-1:ish pm La Liga, 11:00-1:00 pm English Premier, noon-2:00 pm MLS, 1:-3:00 Brazilian, Argentine or Colombian leagues until . . . 3:00-9:00 pm MLS. I've actually pulled that off once when it was -35 degrees and I wasn't going anywhere. If I still have any juice left I can watch the Mexican league matches I DVR every weekend and fast forward to all of the goals, back up and watch all goals develop from the previous change of possession.

Yes, I love football.

Add in the Italian league that I might watch re-runs of later in the week, re-runs of English Championship and 1st Division, French Ligue 1, Dutch Eredivisie, 4-10 Champions League matches, choice of 2 of 8 early Euro League matches and 2 of 8 late Euro League matches with select matches being rerun on Goltv and USL/PDL(USA lower league football).

Note: Wintertime in Alaska has a lot to do with all of that sitting on the ass watching footy all day and night.

[bane]

To be honest, we never had jocks in our school. I think that's mainly an American thing.

I really do wonder about what you're saying though. I mean, I wonder how many good US soccer playing kids just give up sports altogether rather than picking another sport? I just don't see that many NFL lineman having ever played soccer. Could Tom Brady play? How many soccer players are over 200 pounds in weight? How many really tall players are there? Peter Crouch is 6 foot 7, really tall dudes (I'm thinking 75% of basketball players) are pretty poor with their feet. Baseball, like cricket is a different animal. Sure you can be good at both but there's just a different feel to the games. I just wonder how many are lost rather than switch.

That's a good question. One I can't answer. Yes, american football requires a body type unlike that in soccer, as does basketball, baseball is another story. Most baseball players could fit the same physical demographic as your averge soccer dude, but, your point is well taken. Still, I think it's a bit presumumtious to assume that the US couldn't compete on the world stage if soccer was as important here as it is everywhere else. There is almost no interest in the US. Our greatest athletes do not play soccer. The same can not be said for the rest of the world. Bo knew baseball and football. He never even sniffed a soccer field. An athelete of his caliber could have potentially been a Pele if that was the direction he'd chosen. That isn't the way it works in the US.

[Sammi_Curr]

God I love watching the English squirm.

[MickeyG]

How many football leagues do you actually watch Mickey? Not trying to be a smartass . . . serious question.

No where near as much as you do. I watch far less now that I live in the US than I did back home, mainly because I'm busier now and also because my wife controls the TV more!

I'll take your word for it on the New Zealand/Italy matchup. It was a massive shock to me, and most of the world it seemed.

[MickeyG]

To be honest, we never had jocks in our school. I think that's mainly an American thing.

I really do wonder about what you're saying though. I mean, I wonder how many good US soccer playing kids just give up sports altogether rather than picking another sport? I just don't see that many NFL lineman having ever played soccer. Could Tom Brady play? How many soccer players are over 200 pounds in weight? How many really tall players are there? Peter Crouch is 6 foot 7, really tall dudes (I'm thinking 75% of basketball players) are pretty poor with their feet. Baseball, like cricket is a different animal. Sure you can be good at both but there's just a different feel to the games. I just wonder how many are lost rather than switch.

That's a good question. One I can't answer. Yes, american football requires a body type unlike that in soccer, as does basketball, baseball is another story. Most baseball players could fit the same physical demographic as your averge soccer dude, but, your point is well taken. Still, I think it's a bit presumumtious to assume that the US couldn't compete on the world stage if soccer was as important here as it is everywhere else. There is almost no interest in the US. Our greatest athletes do not play soccer. The same can not be said for the rest of the world. Bo knew baseball and football. He never even sniffed a soccer field. An athelete of his caliber could have potentially been a Pele if that was the direction he'd chosen. That isn't the way it works in the US.

No, no, I think the US would definitely be better and could possibly compete, it just depends to what level the interest was and support was like you said.

Rugby players are of a similar makeup to NFL players. Some of the ones that play in England must surely be better athletes than some of Englands soccer players. Soccer is Englands no1 sport so why did those good athletes choose rugby? Wouldn't that be the same if soccer was a big as the NFL in the US? It would still have to compete with the other sports, but what does soccer have to compete with in Brazil.

You say Bo Jackson could have been a Pele, but had never been on a soccer field. Then how do we know he'd have the skills? How good was Jordan in baseball?

[SLASH1976]

Spain was pretty good tonight, I expected more from Portugal but still a fun game to watch.
Still this has been a crappy tournament so far, a lot less exciting then former world cups. They really should cut down on the amount of teams participating. A lot of the teams come on to the pitch not to win but to make it impossible for the other team to play. It's pretty boring actually.

Is Beckham gonna be the new coach for England ? They said it here on the news. Don't know if that's such a good idea. U can count formal big players being a good coach on one hand as far as I know.

LOL, no, I doubt Becks would be the new coach. They must have been smoking some of that weed you guys get there in Holland. I doubt the FA will want to pony up the 12 mil it will take to get rid of Capello. They will probably want to see what his thoughts are on the future of the team before deciding. Will he dump the likes of Fat Lampard. What was he thinking bringing Jamie Carthorse? Stuff like that.

they said they needed two weeks to think it over sounds like they waiting till he resigns himself

[Rageman]

God I love watching the English squirm.

Nice! Me likey.

Here's a new one the Big Soccer crowd nominated


But to be honest, I do think this one is pretty sweet. It's a Nike logo that was around in T-shirt form with different backgrounds for a very short while a few years ago and then vanished. I'm sure you can probably find some online in about 10 seconds . . . I don't shop online so I wouldn't know. I do have to give props to Nike for the subtle use of their swoosh logo instead of the in your face NIKE SOCCER promos/logos they had for a few years

[MickeyG]

Woy Hodgson in at 'Pool. A steady hand on the till. No more public tantrums from Rafa.

[Supersonic]

Some e-mails circling around regarding Gerrard/Terry/England. No doubt the News Of The World will have a field day if it's true:

Cut'n'paste from what I've received.

"courts held a further 2 week gagging order on steven gerrards private life, turns out he got his wifes sister pregnant (not 16 year old) will hit the newspaper in 14 days, the judge held the gagging order to protect FA while they decide on capello, and the future of English footy... John terry and the England boys all know about it and JT had a argument with capello because gerrard got to keep the captains armband, the tension in the camp was down to JT and half the team saying gerrard was a disgrace and the other half of the squad backing gerrard.. The press conference was related to the tension and JT wanted gerrard exposed - they hate each other..."

[SebastianLeeDanzig]

Also if German defender gives the ball to Rooney, it's not offside.

That wasn't a faulty pass or some shit, "not offside" my ass. What are you, a woman?

You with the bleached hair and pink leather jacket aren't the one to talk. It's not offside if the defender interferes and touches the ball during the pass, like he did here. If the ball had gone straight to Rooney from the English player, it would have been offside.

Dead wrong on two accounts. 1. If the defender merely deflects the ball, it's still offside. 2. If the decision benefits Germany, it's still offside.

You clearly don't know shit about football.

[SebastianLeeDanzig]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

Very funny. You seem to forget your top athletes are all niggers. Do you see the African teams being any successful when it comes to soccer, even though it's the #1 sport they grow up with? It clearly takes a lot more than just brute athleticism to be a world class player. For instance, intricate diving and cheating, skills refined in South America, or disciplined strategic leadership in fascist European tradition. You'll never be on par, so keep excelling at your moron sports.

[nycyankee]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

Very funny. You seem to forget your top athletes are all niggers. Do you see the African teams being any successful when it comes to soccer, even though it's the #1 sport they grow up with? It clearly takes a lot more than just brute athleticism to be a world class player. For instance, intricate diving and cheating, skills refined in South America, or disciplined strategic leadership in fascist European tradition. You'll never be on par, so keep excelling at your moron sports.

You pretty much described why that sport will never be big in the U.S. You can keep your pussy sport, America will stick with its more sophisticated sports.

[bane]

The rest of the world should be grateful that the U.S hates soccer. If we loved soccer like the rest of the world, and our athletes chose soccer over every other sport, the U.S would win every world cup. You are lucky that our rejects end up playing soccer.

It all comes down to economics. The day in which our athletes can make 10-15 million a yr playing soccer (in America), will be the day that Brazil stops winning world cups. Of course that day will never come so you guys have nothing to worry about.

Very funny. You seem to forget your top athletes are all niggers. Do you see the African teams being any successful when it comes to soccer, even though it's the #1 sport they grow up with? It clearly takes a lot more than just brute athleticism to be a world class player. For instance, intricate diving and cheating, skills refined in South America, or disciplined strategic leadership in fascist European tradition. You'll never be on par, so keep excelling at your moron sports.

You pretty much described why that sport will never be big in the U.S. You can keep your pussy sport, America will stick with its more sophisticated sports.

I thought it was a well known fact that the Euros stole that act from John Stockton? Granted, they have taken the flop to a whole new level. Magic lysol and all.

[MickeyG]

It's the magic sponge not lysol, Bane.

And the only reason there's so much diving in football is so that the players get as much rest during the game as the NFL.

[MickeyG]

Some e-mails circling around regarding Gerrard/Terry/England. No doubt the News Of The World will have a field day if it's true:

Cut'n'paste from what I've received.

"courts held a further 2 week gagging order on steven gerrards private life, turns out he got his wifes sister pregnant (not 16 year old) will hit the newspaper in 14 days, the judge held the gagging order to protect FA while they decide on capello, and the future of English footy... John terry and the England boys all know about it and JT had a argument with capello because gerrard got to keep the captains armband, the tension in the camp was down to JT and half the team saying gerrard was a disgrace and the other half of the squad backing gerrard.. The press conference was related to the tension and JT wanted gerrard exposed - they hate each other..."

This would rule if it's true. I don't see why a judge would protect the FA though, or could use that as an excuse to gag the press.