World Cup - Spoilers (Page 35)

There was an awful lot of space and pressure on the right, that was too open.

Far too much time on the ball given to the Germans for the start of that half, hope the US come out hard and pressure more in the second.

I think the US are lucky to be sat even after the first half.

And we're in! Any new Ronaldo fans here? lol. Seriously, his winner made the last 10-15 minutes a lot more comfortable to watch.

USA!

Quote from BBC site - " Cristiano Ronaldo missed six golden opportunities" - :-)

Again - he is NOT the best player in the world....

USA rode their luck but survive and advance!

 Cristiano Ronaldo missed six golden opportunities

The US looked incredibly pedestrian today. They should feel very fortunate this wasn't game 1 or 2 of the tournament, as it would likely have finished 3 or 4-0.

I actually fancy their chances against Belgium/Algeria (by far the weakest group in the tournament).
After that, it's looking like Argentina, and the end of the road.

This is what we did in 2002.  Won the first, drew the second, lost the third and had to hope for the best.  That was our best WC to date.  I'll take it..  

There was no do or die urgency for either GER or USA to win that game.  I expected a LOT of midfield play and that is exactly what happened.  I'm not saying the were intentionally playing for a draw, but they were not going to take too many risks, IMO.  I won't say this is an example of how the USA typically plays.

Before the tournament, I predicted/wanted exactly what happened for the US.  A Ghana win, Portugal draw, and Germany loss with a little help.  I figured GER would sweep so that was a bit of surprise when they drew against Ghana.  Portugal did exactly what I hoped/thought.  Loss to GER, draw to the USA, and beat Ghana.  Actually, called this group exactly right except for the GER/GHA draw.

That was a good call on your part.  I was hoping for a win and 2 draws but hey, we made it through.  

And now the real tournament begins.  One and done and it gets harder and harder.  Belgium is going to be tough.  Very tough.  They had their way with us in a friendly.  Hopefully that gave JK enough insight to help us get ready for them.  That being said, I don't know if there is anything more we can do.  They will be a very hard team to get by.  Their back line is only slightly suspect but their attack has me worried after what Germany did to us yesterday.

Outside of "The Cannibal" incident, this has been quite the WC so far.  

HA!  Welp, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to essentially claim the timing of the WC is convenient for Obama "Just a bit too convenient".

BWWWWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  What a maroon.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-panelist-obama-world-cup-distraction 

And while the overnight ratings (6.3) were the 3rd highest ever on ESPN, the Streaming was 1.7 million, beating the SuperBowl.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2014/06/27/tv-ratings-for-u-s-vs-germany-world-cup-game-on-espn-third-highest-ever/

But but but .......its boring.....i can hear them now!!...It's getting to the point that there are no more excuses or rational arguments for the non-believers!

I honestly think that they are becoming the shrinking vocal minority.  And even the vocal part is shrinking.  The game is catching on.  I honestly think it will never dethrone the top 3 but it is definitely shooting for #4 against hockey.  

The other thing that cracks me up is the statement "quit shoving it down my throat".  HA!  Nobody is forcing you to watch it.

Either way, I'm glad it continues to gain in popularity.  I have so many more choices of how and where to watch.  I can have reasonable and fun conversations with folks about the games including here on BT.  The troglodytes are shrinking, thankfully. 

OK, let's play round of 16 predictions!

BRA vs CHI - 2-1 BRA win

COL vs URU - 1-1 URU win on penalties

FRA vs NIG - 1-0 FRA win

GER vs ALG 3-0 GER win

NED vs MEX 3-1 NED win

CRC vs GRE 2-0 CRC win

ARG vs SUI 3-1 ARG win

BEL vs USA 2-1 USA!!!!!  I'm really not convinced on this one, but, it's worth all the positive vibes from anywhere :-)

While I think Brasil will win I'm hoping Chile does.  Would love to see them go deep.

Bra v CHI - 2-1 CHI

COL v URU - 2-0 COL (no Suarez will kill them, look at their Costa Rica match)

FRA v NIG - 3-0 FRA

GER v ALG -2-0 GER

NED v MEX - 2-1 NED

CRC v GRE - 3-0 CRC

ARG v SUI - 4-0 ARG

BEL v USA - 3-2 BEL (as much as I would love to see us through, I really don't know.  Would love to see yours instead.)

Yep, the troglodytes are having to shrink into the woodwork about now or look like d-bags. And the viewership numbers are very impressive. Saw an article that the 25 million viewers number for the Portugal game is quite a bit higher than any single game of the last two NBA finals and World Series--more like 15 million. I know it's a bit apples-and-oranges because it's a series and not an event like the WC, but the excitement level is definitely very high.

Ann Coulter had a weird attack on soccer too. I never knew that soccer was the sport of liberals. I honestly can't tell if this is satire or if she's serious.

 http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2014-06-25.html

Or it is just desperate to attempt to keep herself somewhat relevant no matter what she says.  That is being debated in other columns that I've seen.

ETA: http://www.sbnation.com/2014/6/27/5844602/world-cup-grumps-ann-coulter-dan-shaughnessy 

Wow, there were some great games this weekend. Brazil was again unimpressive, and were lucky to advance. If that shot off the woodwork goes in, they're out. I think that Columbia will beat them.

I was very impressed with James Rodriguez. This is the first time I've seen him play. A young superstar for sure. I guess there's talk of him going to Arsenal, so maybe we'd get a chance to see more of him.

I was heart broken for Mexico. Was rooting them because I wanted CONCACAF represented well. I hated to see the game decided on a controversial penalty, and was fully expecting OT.

Didn't get to see much of the last game, but was glad to see Costa Rica go through.

Robben is a diving sack of stront ( thank you google translate)

He does it ever game and I cannot believe people still say it was a penalty or condone his diving...

Yet another good player with dubious morals...sensing a theme here!

Was watching one of the after game discussions, the commentator "people have to accept that this is part of the game now"

WTH? No, no we don't! FIFA have to clamp down on cheating, this is another clear form of cheating, if FIFA don't stamp it out the game degrades.

I can see why the penalty was given, speed of the play, referee has little chance, to be honest, of getting the call. But after the fact, FIFA should come down hard on this type of cheating, to drive it out of the game.

I despise this kind of thing in the game, I coach, and if I see my players diving, they are off.  no tolerance for it in the youth game, (copying players like Robben).

Onto the matches of the day.  SUI is playing ARG tight.  0-0 at the half.  Although I think it is only a matter of time before they let one in.

The match this afternoon has me as nervous as a cat in a dog pound.  Good lord I want them to win this one.  I just don't honestly think it will happen.  Then again, that's why they play the game.

Anyone see this article?  First US ref to make it to the Knockout stages.

http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/blog/post/1925004/referee-mark-geiger-contributes-to-us-soccer-history 

And just like that, DiMaria redeems himself for a tepid performance.

Wow.  Thrilling last 5 minutes.

Shaquiri almost got as lucky as Robben.  

I think Klinsman changed to 4-5-1 at half - giving up too much space and possession now....just a matter of time....Midfield looks confused, lots of space to play in behind them....and no outlet when in possession  - NOT  a good call to change the formation