5/5 on 2nd round picks so far, and Germany is one of those I'd least expect to lose, but screw it - Go on, Algeria!
Soccer
- Thread starter ZackM
- Start date
^^ Americans are nothing if not great at hyperbole.
But seriously, that's a great damned video.
But seriously, that's a great damned video.
Odds aren't even that bad. USA are 22% to win in regulation, 29% to draw in regulation and 49% to lose in regulation. So USA are slightly better than 50/50 to at least get to extra time.
You know, if we could actually maintain possession in midfield, we wouldn't be helping Belgium look so dangerous.
Oh well.......can't say it hasn't been an encouraging showing by the US. Going to lose some key guys, but Yedlin's, Green's, and Johnson's emergence bode well.
The popularity of the US national team has never been higher. MLS needs to do some major promotion work now, and not just across sports media. Hell, put ads in Popular Mechanic and Home & Garden. American sports fans love to place athletes on a pedestal, so give them some! The league profile is also trending upward. Just need to focus more on the young homegrown talent, rather than the over-the-hill foreigners who are coming in.
Oh, and an expansion team in NC would be nice as well.
Next up is the '15 Gold Cup, the beginning of '18 qualifiers, the '16 Copa America, and hopefully the '17 Confederations Cup. We really have a chance to do some serious damage at either or all of those.
As far as being a fan goes, what sucks about 2018 is kickoff times. If they stay the same for the group stage, it'll be 4am, 7am, and 10am kickoffs on the east coast.
Oh, and an expansion team in NC would be nice as well.
Next up is the '15 Gold Cup, the beginning of '18 qualifiers, the '16 Copa America, and hopefully the '17 Confederations Cup. We really have a chance to do some serious damage at either or all of those.
As far as being a fan goes, what sucks about 2018 is kickoff times. If they stay the same for the group stage, it'll be 4am, 7am, and 10am kickoffs on the east coast.
I'm unsure of how encouraged to be based on this year's showing. On the one hand, they got some good results, and were an easy finish away from beating Belgium to get into the quarters. OTOH, they really probably should have gotten wrecked yesterday if not for Howard being Zeus, and were also sort of dominated statistically in their only win.
The talented young guys coming up are very encouraging, but the talent gap still looked pretty significant to me this year.
(Don't mean to take away from the heart they showed though, which was really inspiring stuff. Talk about leaving it all on the field.)
The talented young guys coming up are very encouraging, but the talent gap still looked pretty significant to me this year.
(Don't mean to take away from the heart they showed though, which was really inspiring stuff. Talk about leaving it all on the field.)
Considering how badly this cycle started out (getting schooled by Mexico in 2011, coaching change, not qualifying for the Olympics or the Confed Cup), things worked out okay. The draw ended up being a blessing because it lowered expectations and gave JK cover to play a less attractive, more results oriented style of ball. Significance of that being that we didn't have a 1998/2006 style setback. I think that on balance, this cycle kinda sucked, but the next cycle has a chance to be a major step forward and so I've moved on already.
Need some of the current 10-16 year old basketball/football-focused sons of financially decent parents to decide to commit themselves to soccer. That doesn't seem unreasonable to expect, with people beginning to understand you will basically cut 20 years off your life if you play in the NFL and hardly anyone makes it to the NBA. Then in 2022, on home soil after the World Cup is taken away from Qatar and given to USA, the golden generation is unveiled. An Allen Iverson with a completely broken jumpshot and a Chris Johnson who is smarter about his long term health will be on the attack. A terrible at basketball 6-8 version of Anthony Davis will be in goal. All those unskilled 6-6 guys who can dunk and do nothing else will be on defense winning every header.