World Cup has started!!

I've been watching on the Univision Deportivo app. Doesn't require a cable subscription.

OneBadHuskerFan wrote:Epic win for the USA.  What a match!

USA!!     USA!!    USA!!    Good game and hard fought win but it cost us. (Although sometimes we are our own worst enemy.)

Netherlands just beat Australia 3-2. Good game but Australia is now out. Next is Chile vs Spain (the defending WC Champs). Spain looked so bad against NED that Chile could win and Spain would be out thus letting NED and Chile advance to the next round in that group.

And now Spain is down 2-0 at halftime of the game against Chile.  Spain is gonna have to take some PED's at halftime if they want to get this one back.  It's nice to have a boss that lets me sit here and stream the game from ESPN.   

OneBadHuskerFan wrote:And now Spain is down 2-0 at halftime of the game against Chile.  Spain is gonna have to take some PED's at halftime if they want to get this one back.  It's nice to have a boss that lets me sit here and stream the game from ESPN.   

Ha! Same here. It's my last 2 weeks on the job, before moving to a new company - perfect time for World Cup games.

I was telling someone else earlier, if ALL soccer games were this high-scoring and interesting it'd be a lot more popular in the US.

AtrumX wrote:

OneBadHuskerFan wrote:And now Spain is down 2-0 at halftime of the game against Chile.  Spain is gonna have to take some PED's at halftime if they want to get this one back.  It's nice to have a boss that lets me sit here and stream the game from ESPN.   

Ha! Same here. It's my last 2 weeks on the job, before moving to a new company - perfect time for World Cup games.

I was telling someone else earlier, if ALL soccer games were this high-scoring and interesting it'd be a lot more popular in the US.

Yeah, I'll be honest I've never been a real soccer fan (as can be seen by previous posts) but I've been glued to the screen this time around.  I'm not sure what it is but it seems that every game has been enjoyable to watch and I don't find myself getting bored straight away like I would have in the past.

Adiós Spain!

And now England is basically out unless they get lucky.  I though they were good at soccer over there!

Wow Rooney finally scored. He could have won it for them a few times.

Aaaand now England is gone.  Saw something that said it's the first time they've been eliminated in the group round since 1958.  Crazy.

Costa Rica... crazy. That's like LA making a team and sending it to the World Cup. lol

There is still a slim hope for England but it would take a ton of goals scored for Italy and England in their next games.

S7 Coolhand wrote:There is still a slim hope for England but it would take a ton of goals scored for Italy and England in their next games.

They are completely out according to this...

World Cup 2014: England crash out after Costa Rica surprise Italy

Wow, that sucked.   

Yep, the Costa Rica win sealed it for them.

I can't stand it when teams go in to panic 'just clear the ball mode' at the end of the game. Thankfully we're good with a win, oooor a tie most likely gets us through as well.

PS: My wife has never been super 'in' to soccer and was like "Let's just go, nothing can happen in 40 seconds" ... We can all safely blame her for the US tie.

AtrumX wrote:I can't stand it when teams go in to panic 'just clear the ball mode' at the end of the game. Thankfully we're good with a win, oooor a tie most likely gets us through as well.

PS: My wife has never been super 'in' to soccer and was like "Let's just go, nothing can happen in 40 seconds" ... We can all safely blame her for the US tie.

Yeah, I've never been a fan of "playing not to lose" instead of playing to win.  I still can't believe that happened.  Literally the last kick of the match changed the ability of the US to rest some players and take a breather to having to show up against Germany.  Still have a great chance to get to the round of 16 but playing Germany isn't really the way I'd want to do it.  Anything can happen.

I just knew it was coming when they shoved Gonzalez back there as a fifth.  He blows and so does that tactic. The other two subs were excellent moves.

Ciao Italy!

USA lost 1-0 to Germany but makes it to the round of 16 thanks to Portugal beating Ghana 2-1.  USA cutting it a bit close there.

We almost had the equalizer at the end there! Have to thank Ronaldo for solidifying our qualification with Portugals 2nd goal.

Next up is probably Belgium. Should be an exciting game!

Belgium is good and we're just hanging on by the skin of our teeth.
If something doesn't happen in the US camp and get more shots on goal we're doomed. Know why we lost? Germany was constantly attacking. It's also why they've scored more points than anyone in group G thus far.

I'll use another sport for the analogy-- basketball: if you pass, pass, pass and never shoot you simply can't win.

Having Altidore back would be a big help for our midfield.

I've been pretty unimpressed by our defense so far. Their positioning has been fine, but they're definitely not all on the same page. There are times when they do act somewhat like a real team and you see the US move the ball around well, they just have difficulty transitioning into attack patterns that are at all diverse. If we do manage to best Belgium I imagine other teams will have better responses for our long balls up the side.

Other than that, we need a mid moving up the far side for our crosses. No idea how many times we could have had great opportunities with better movement.

Still, none of our opponents have been easy. If we can become more consistent early/late game, move the ball through pressure better, and don't make ridiculous defensive passing mistakes - we can do well.

I am impressed by our close loss to the best team in the world. There defense shows some signs of weakness, but their kids and forwards are unmatched. I was happy with this result.

S7 Coolhand wrote:I am impressed by our close loss to the best team in the world. There defense shows some signs of weakness, but their kids and forwards are unmatched. I was happy with this result.

Being the soccer novice I am I have to say I was pretty impressed overall in their group stage games.  They clearly outplayed Ghana and Portugal and held their own against Germany.  We are a pretty heavy underdog against Belgium (4.7/1) so it'll be interesting to see how we come out against them.

Apparently you're warming up to futbol played on the pitch instead of a field.
Good!

Now if they could just completely cancel Hockey season...