2010 World Cup

[strawbossisevil]

This group will be a lot of fun if all four teams enter the second game with 1 point. Who do you think has the advantage in that situation?

 

I think it benefits Uruguay and France. As South Africa is probably the weakest team in the group. I think it hurts Mexico the most, as even though they are tied, they have two top 20 teams to contend with in their last two games, while the other two have a game that they should win.

[davemakovec]

I agree that Mexico is probably in the worst shape of the quality teams (France, Uruguay, Mexico). They have no excuses for not getting three points against South Africa, and you can bet that Uruguay and France would be able to put in all those open shots inside the penalty area that Mexico missed. South Africa (not exactly an explosive attacking team) also exposed Mexico's poor back line and shaky goalie, so I would be a little bit worried as a Mexico supporter.

[Buckylovesbeer]

I am not a soccer guy, but like the world cup because of the excitement, the competition, and the scene. Was lovin the Mex-SA game today..... fun game. Did not like it ending in a tie.....that did not sit well with me. Then the later game ends 0-0.....I really did not like that.

 

Heres to hoping that some of the games tomorrow result in some winners!

[strawbossisevil]

I think what we saw today was Mexico and South Africa both having struggling defenses and less technical play, which made for more "fun" football to watch as the ball was flying all over the place.

 

What we saw in the second game was the exact opposite, two teams that are much more highly technical and stronger defensively. Which, while not nearly as exciting, a game like that can be neat to see too, if you like the intricacies of the game.

 

Just watching Forlan create his opportunities was fun, even though he wasn't able to sneak one by the keeper this time.

[Baldkin]

It's not that the second game was that much better played.

 

It's that neither team ever moved forward for almost the entire game. It was slow and plodding with 5 defenders almost never crossing the midfield line for either team. Counter attacks always ended up 1 or 2 vs 5 or 6, so scoring simply wasn't going to happen. I was really disappointed France did not push forward harder when they got the extra man.

 

Argentina looks strong so far this morning.

[TooLiveBrew]

I agree with Strawboss on the France-Uruguay game. I thought it was entertaining from start to finish. Draws are just a part of soccer that I guess many American fans don't like. But, for example, I'd be fine with the US getting 'only' one point today against the UK. I'd much rather have a win, of course. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Uruguay's defense was just awesome to watch, especially once they went down a man. The headed deflection of the Henry free kick summed up the game perfectly for me -- even on a golden opportunity for France, the Uruguayan defense was just too tight to crack. France didn't play poorly by any stretch of the imagination, but both sides failed to capitalize on the good opportunities they did generate. It was a bit odd to see studly players like Forlán & Ribery execute so (relatively) poorly with their shots on goal, but I guess I chalk that up to it being the first game of the world cup. These players haven't played with their new teammates for quite some time aside from practice. On top of that, they're accustomed to an entirely different set of teammates, and in most cases I would assume styles of play, with their club teams. I'd be willing to bet we see a lot of signs of rustiness or lack of cohesion in the early games.

EDIT: I am SO PUMPED for this game. Go USA!

[owbc]

What an embarrassing play by the England goalie. If they lose, he may want to consider not going back to England.

[chrisisoutrunning]

As long as he doesn't end up like Escobar going back to Colombia in 1994...

[TooLiveBrew]

I'll open with the fact that my soccer knowledge is very limited... but did anyone else feel that the Carragher yellow-card tackle of Findley in the 60th minute was incredibly ill-intended? Carragher's head & eyes were looking down the entire approach & slide, his right foot & studs planted firmly into Findley's ankle, and then Carragher swept his left leg across & delivered a swift blow to the backside of Findley's lower leg. Perhaps that's proper tackling form, but when I saw that replay I thought aloud, "he tried to break his ankle"

[sfl2hnq17]

tlb, being a liverpool fan and watching gerrard and carragher play; carra and gerrard both tackle like that. i dont think there was any malice involved.

[TooLiveBrew]

Gerrard was fantastic today for England. His defense was a force of its own in the first half.

[Paulus88]

I think that's Carrager's MO now that he can't really keep up with pace. If it's an American, it might have been a red.

 

I thought it was a good result but the US should really take it like a 1-0 loss. They have so many problems through the central midfield that they can't link up with the strikers unless Donovan and Dempsey pinch in to help out which makes them super narrow. I really don't like Bradley as a box to box central midfielder and am not sure Clark was actually on the field for this game (other than giving up the first goal and losing possession of the ball).

 

Without better possession they'll have troubles scoring against Slovenia and Algeria.

[TooLiveBrew]

I agree that it was clear Carragher couldn't keep pace, Paulus. It really could have been a red card there.

 

The US possession was troubling as well. They were just flat-out sloppy on a lot of instances, and you have to be very sharp to score goals in this tournament. I'm encouraged by the fact that they elevated their play for the most part in the second half... but I'd have loved to have seen them focus more on getting the ball to Altidore when he was matched up with Carragher.

 

Another positive note was that Onyewu looked really good today.

[strawbossisevil]

First, I was not impressed with Michael Bradley today. He was sloppy with the ball and needs to do better. I really question whether he should be starting over Torres.

 

I don't agree that the US should take this as a 1-0 loss though. I think the second half would have been played differently by the US if they were down a goal. It seemed that, with the game tied, we were more content to play defense in the second half and go on counter attacks. That's exactly what worked so well for us versus Spain and Brazil.

 

I expect our team to be more aggressive on attack versus Slovania and Algeria.

 

And as bad as the US was with possession, with a few minutes to go near the end, ABC had the possession showing: England 52% US 48%. Versus England, I'll take that.

 

And with Altidore's attempt near the end there almost sneaking in, I feel really positive about the game. We almost snuck out of there with the win while facing one of the best sides in the world.

[chrisisoutrunning]

The US's possession was even uglier last year during the Confederations Cup. I actually think Bradley didn't play that poorly, Clark on the other hand looked poor to me.

 

I'm debating in my head whether or not Bradley will change the lineup for Slovenia. If anything I think Buddle might start for Findley and Torres for Clark.

 

The entire first half I was ripping on the back line, the more I thought about it, other than the goal, they didn't play that bad. Rooney was non-existant for the first 60-70 minutes of the game.

[TooLiveBrew]

I definitely thought the back line was soft in the first half. England started to pick them apart around the 70-min. mark in the second half, too, but to their credit the US defenders got the stops for the most part. Overall I'm not sure if it was more that the US defenders played well when they needed to, or if they got lucky in England not executing & finishing well. It was definitely good to see the US fare well against one of the stronger sides in the tournament, but England was just not very impressive today imo.

 

 

If anything I think Buddle might start for Findley and Torres for Clark.

 

I don't know anything about personnel matchups regarding Slovenia & Algeria (heck, not even that much about the US), but I would like to see more of Findley. I thought his pure speed was a nice asset on the field today, even if he didn't ultimately wind up generating much for himself. I like the combo of a bigger guy like Altidore & a smaller, speedy guy like Findley. Of course, I'd like even more to make sure we have our best forwards out there, so whoever that is, I'd be happy with it.

Oh, and I agree with Strawboss on Bradley being sloppy with the ball. I don't think he necessarily played poorly, but he was one of several US players that short-circuited attacks by making simple, sloppy misplays on the ball. That was the most frustrating aspect of this match to me -- I felt the US shot itself in the foot time & time again by having sloppy touches on balls that should/could have either started or continued pushes at the UK net.

[TooLiveBrew]

http://i.imgur.com/iErtZ.png

[strawbossisevil]

Cheering for a draw this morning between Slovania and Algeria. We'd have to do very poorly not to advance if that happens. You have to figure that neither Algeria or Slovenia will collect any points from England. Which means we'd get through to the next round even if we played to a draw against both teams. I would be shocked if we didn't win at least one of the two though.

Edit: TLB, that is hilarious!

[Baldkin]

Slovenia wins, making the USA's road quite a bit tougher.

 

My biggest concern for the US was the huge amount of turnovers in the midfield/their end of the field. It just seemed like they are very vulnerable to any sort of pressure on the ball (and England did a great job applying that pressure the whole game). Anytime a US player had the ball, even on their own side of the field, it seemed an English defender was within 5 yards and applying pressure.

[Menotti80]

I dont think it makes it that much tougher...

 

If the US wins Friday, even a tie against Algeria should get them in. (and they may even be able to lose their final game)

 

If they tie on Friday, the US must beat Algeria, hope England beats Slovenia, and either win the goal differential against Slovenia or tie the goal differential and score more total goals. (This sounds far-fetched but it really isn't)

 

If the US loses Friday, they would need England to lose at least once and pray for a tiebreaker win against England, which would be an extreme long shot.

[davemakovec]

Gerrard ... His defense was a force of its own in the first half.

I wanted to address this. The US goal was primarily a major blunder by the GK, but Gerrard got absolutely skinned by Dempsey on the play. He went from being in physical contact with Dempsey to being a good ten yards away at the end of Dempsey's move.

[chrisisoutrunning]

I would have preferred a Slovenia/Algeria draw, but the outcome of that game really didn't matter for the US. In my book, a win over Slovenia and a draw against Algeria would get us through (most likely a draw against Slovenia and a win against Algeria would as well, but I really don't want to go into that last match against Algeria on the outside looking in).

 

Take care of business on Friday and the US should be fine.

[yoshii8]

What a great soccer weekend. So far I'm most impressed by Germany and also thought South Korea looked very good. Argentina looked good, but gave up way too many opportunities to Nigeria and were lucky not to concede a goal.

 

As far as the US-England game, I think we were very lucky to come away w/ a tie, but I'll take it. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ricardo Clark in the starting lineup, he is not a good soccer player, period. Bradley plays much better when the pressure is off of him to be the holding midfielder, they need to put either Dempsey or Torres in that role. I thought Demerit did a good job on Rooney, but overall the US gave them way too much space, and left the back side runner open time after time. The D will need to tighten up.

 

After watching Algeria and Slovenia on Sunday morning, I think we have a good chance of advancing to the final 16. The key will be to stay composed and make them chase, because it seems like both teams play 150 mph.

[JoeHova]

The Japan/Cameroon game was pretty good one. Japan pulled it out 1-0 but Cameroon had some exciting chances down the stretch.

[thebruce44]

The Japan/Cameroon game was pretty good one. Japan pulled it out 1-0 but Cameroon had some exciting chances down the stretch.

 

That shot off the crossbar in the 85th-ish minute was an inch from being the best shot of the tourney so far.