2013-14 Soccer Thread

[TooLiveBrew]

No one's following World Cup? Huge loss for Spain. Not totally unexpected but the manner of defeat was shocking for a team of that caliber. Diego Costa couldn't have had a worse start.

Oh I'm following it. The Dutch win yesterday was shocking to say the least... felt like it easily could've been more than 5-1.

 

Colombia-Greece has been intense so far.

[WV Brew]

Costa Rica destroys Uruguay in the 2nd half. Now for the North American trifecta on Monday?

[TooLiveBrew]

Uruguay will also be without their first-choice RB in the next match (England).

 

England played well enough to win, but Italy didn't exactly deserve to lose.

 

Aurier put in a couple of great balls for Ivory Coast's two goals, & Bony's header on the first goal was spectacular.

[jjkoestler]

How does the US stack up against the rest of the world? Are they good?

[ReverendBrewmeister]

Great finish to the Switzerland/Ecuador match. Looked more like how an NHL playoff game ends in OT.

[TooLiveBrew]

How does the US stack up against the rest of the world? Are they good?

They're a pretty mediocre side, but overall have really transformed nicely under Klinsmann's tutelage. If everything breaks in their favor, I could see them advancing past the group stage, but IMO that's a pretty long shot. Germany are probably the best side in the World Cup, and Portugal are pretty tough as well (with the best or second-best player in the world).

 

If we don't win tonight, advancing is going to be a huge huge ask.

[RobDeer 45]

Really enjoying my first viewing of the World Cup since I started following the game more (2 years ago). I've always watched a little of the World Cup, but it feels bigger to me now. Good stuff.

[trwi7]

Germany blowing out Portugal is the best thing that could've happened to USA imo.

[TooLiveBrew]

Germany blowing out Portugal is the best thing that could've happened to USA imo.

Plus we won't face Pepe (though you could argue we'd prefer to have him in the lineup, to possibly get sent off...), & (sadly) Coentrão

[Funketown]

Now, US just need to beat Ghana to be in great position. Unfortunately, that isn't easy.

[jjkoestler]

Looks like I picked a good first game to watch from start to finish. That was a lot of fun.

 

Is good sportsmanship typical in soccer games? There was a lot of helping guys on the other team or making sure they weren't hurt. Is that a way to make sure you don't get a penalty?

[davego]

I'm only a casual fan (like hockey in the Olympics); that was fun!

[TooLiveBrew]

Looks like I picked a good first game to watch from start to finish. That was a lot of fun.

 

Is good sportsmanship typical in soccer games? There was a lot of helping guys on the other team or making sure they weren't hurt. Is that a way to make sure you don't get a penalty?

Fairly typical, yes. It doesn't really have an impact on whether or not you're called for a foul, though.

 

What a great header from Brooks! What a finish!

[trwi7]

Man, after Ghana scored I was just hoping we could hold on and get a point. On to the Amazon.

[RobDeer 45]

That was such an intense game to watch. Way too many shots on goal in the second half. When Ghana scored I felt deflated. Right before we scored our 2nd I said, we need a miracle here! Bam! We got it!! So awesome.

 

Seems like we will be without Jozy as that seems to be pretty bad. How bad is that going to hurt us?

[TooLiveBrew]

That remains to be seen, but there isn't another forward on the team that offers the physical hold-up play that Jozy does -- he's a classic center forward in that respect. I have to guess Klinsmann's attacking tactics will have to be adjusted to compensate.

[Baldkin]

They don't really have a big body like Jozy to take his spot. They will move to more of a 4-4-2 instead of a 4-5-1 and have the two forwards alternating runs and attacks on the wings up top with Bradley being the top of the diamond of the midfielders.

 

They've always (imo) looked better with that formation anyway, as there is much more active spacing and ball movement (and ball control, which they totally lacked yesterday)

[thebruce44]

They don't really have a big body like Jozy to take his spot. They will move to more of a 4-4-2 instead of a 4-5-1 and have the two forwards alternating runs and attacks on the wings up top with Bradley being the top of the diamond of the midfielders.

 

They've always (imo) looked better with that formation anyway, as there is much more active spacing and ball movement (and ball control, which they totally lacked yesterday)

 

For that to work Bradley is going to have to play up to his potential. I'm not sure what happened yesterday, maybe it was a match up problem, but he didn't look very good.

[trwi7]

Coentrao is out for the rest of the World Cup. Two big losses in the back for Portugal with Pepe out.

[FVBrewerFan]

Wow, fun mtach to watch vs Ghana, but I don't see the U.S. getting very far. Watching other matches made me notice just how awful the U.S. was at controlling the ball. I know they were playing to hold the 1-0 lead, but that's no reason to give up the ball as easily and often as they did.

[trwi7]

Altidore was out, which hurt because he can keep the ball and give the defense and midfielders a break. Bradley played one of the worst games I've ever seen him play. Dempsey couldn't really do anything after he broke his nose and Ghana plays an attacking style. It's not a surprise that they had trouble keeping the ball taking into account all of those things.

 

For the most part there wasn't much of a threat for Ghana. The goal obviously and then the free header in the box around 55(?) minutes in. So yeah, they had a lot of possession but they couldn't really do much with it.

[TooLiveBrew]

Altidore was out, which hurt because he can keep the ball and give the defense and midfielders a break. Bradley played one of the worst games I've ever seen him play. Dempsey couldn't really do anything after he broke his nose and Ghana plays an attacking style. It's not a surprise that they had trouble keeping the ball taking into account all of those things.

 

For the most part there wasn't much of a threat for Ghana. The goal obviously and then the free header in the box around 55(?) minutes in. So yeah, they had a lot of possession but they couldn't really do much with it.

In addition to all that you listed, the team as a whole were also simply awful in executing basic possession & passing. That was startling to me -- I don't remember them looking so sloppy in qualifiers. Ghana pressed, sure, but there were just waaaay too many giveaways & misplaced passes. I fully expect that to be back up to par in the next match.

 

And on Bradley -- I'm not a big fan. I think he's pretty badly overrated by US fans. He's not bad, I just don't think he's particularly impressive.

[Funketown]

Bradley really struggled to move/possess the ball against Ghana; my father was watching the game with me (this was the first full soccer game he'd ever watched) and even asked me what was going on with him. Johansson didn't really make himself known; I don't know what his game is but he has been quite successful for AZ. They can't play like that against Portugal and expect to advance to the round of 16.

 

Chile-Spain should be interesting; Spain likely need three points out of that game to advance given the goal differential situation (though they could always pummel Australia). I'll be pretty surprised if the Dutch have any trouble today.

[trwi7]

Wow, Spain is done!

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, Spain is done!

Shocking. I can't think of anyone I talked to or read that saw this coming. Hard to understand.