View Full Version : If We Win Wednesday...
Maximum Optimal
22 Jun 2009, 10:34 PM
Not to jinx the team, but if it beats Spain, would it be the greatest US victory in modern times?
LBS8844
22 Jun 2009, 10:40 PM
Yep. What then would a win v Brazil mean? Start the seed threads up again. :rolleyes:
ty webb
22 Jun 2009, 10:43 PM
Yes.
Maximum Optimal
22 Jun 2009, 10:44 PM
Yep. What then would a win v Brazil mean?
That would be the second greatest victory. But it ain't happening. I think we have a chance against Spain. Maybe 25%. I would put our chances against Brazil at under 10%.
A-Zilis
22 Jun 2009, 10:45 PM
The world cup is astronomically more important than the confed cup, so the Portugal and Mexico games from 2002 would still rank ahead for me. I doubt we'll beat Spain, but it would still be nice to stop their 15 game winning streak and prevent them from achieving a record 36 game unbeaten streak.
KALM
22 Jun 2009, 10:51 PM
I think so, but as a reference - Modern era victories against top 10 teams in competitive matches:
vs. Portugal 2002 (World Cup)
vs. Germany 1999 (Confederations Cup)
vs. Brazil 1998 (Gold Cup)
vs. Argentina 1995 (Copa America)
vs. England 1993 (US Cup).
flyerhawk
22 Jun 2009, 10:52 PM
The world cup is astronomically more important than the confed cup, so the Portugal and Mexico games from 2002 would still rank ahead for me. I doubt we'll beat Spain, but it would still be nice to stop their 15 game winning streak and prevent them from achieving a record 36 game unbeaten streak.
While I agree that the WC is far bigger than the Confed Cup, I think getting to the Confed Cup final by advancing over Italy and beating Spain would really vault world opinion of US soccer pretty high.
As great as 2002 was, a lot of people discounted our performance because we beat Mexico whom we often beat. Had we beaten Germany, that would be a different story.
One hurdle for this club is getting the world and the team to truly believe they belong among the top teams. With that kind of confidence comes better play.
BoondockTodd
22 Jun 2009, 10:55 PM
OMG most definitely, I dont believe in superstition so I dont care about jinxing the team. But I love talking about the what if's. It may even rival the 1950 result in which our Yanks stuck it to the Brits, which is with out a doubt the greatest win in the history of US Soccer.
TrueCrew
22 Jun 2009, 11:00 PM
No.
It isn't the World Cup. So I'll still take that one, even though it wasn't the knockout round.
autogolazzo
22 Jun 2009, 11:04 PM
While I agree that the WC is far bigger than the Confed Cup, I think getting to the Confed Cup final by advancing over Italy and beating Spain would really vault world opinion of US soccer pretty high.
As great as 2002 was, a lot of people discounted our performance because we beat Mexico whom we often beat. Had we beaten Germany, that would be a different story.
One hurdle for this club is getting the world and the team to truly believe they belong among the top teams. With that kind of confidence comes better play.
Look. We got clocked by Italy and Brazil and were lucky to advance. The World knows when it sees a team that has gotten lucky (can you say "6-goal turnaround?").
The World sees us for what we are: lucky.
I also think that the rest of the non-Italian world is happy to see them be eliminated.
LBS8844
22 Jun 2009, 11:05 PM
Spain is the top team in the world, and have been playing like it for awhile. Brazil is obviously right up there too. Spain brought their A team minus Iniesta; they want to win the tournament. The competition for the USA hasn't been stiffer in some time.
flyerhawk
22 Jun 2009, 11:16 PM
Look. We got clocked by Italy and Brazil and were lucky to advance. The World knows when it sees a team that has gotten lucky (can you say "6-goal turnaround?").
The World sees us for what we are: lucky.
I also think that the rest of the non-Italian world is happy to see them be eliminated.
The Italians were lucky in 2006. Yet that doesn't diminish the fact that they are the World Champions.
Regardless of how we got there, NO ONE is going to care about how we got here if we beat Spain. It would shock the world.
Had we only won by 2 and Egypt advanced, would they have been considered lucky?
It's not like we advanced because of a coin flip. And it's not like this team has been blessed with good fortune over the years, Gold Cup game against Canada notwithstanding.
Heist
22 Jun 2009, 11:17 PM
The world cup is astronomically more important than the confed cup, so the Portugal and Mexico games from 2002 would still rank ahead for me. I doubt we'll beat Spain, but it would still be nice to stop their 15 game winning streak and prevent them from achieving a record 36 game unbeaten streak.
Spain is MUCH better than either of those teams were though... and although its not as big a tournament its a semifinal game. Stopping a 15 game winning streak is pretty big too.
Heist
22 Jun 2009, 11:18 PM
The competition for the USA hasn't been stiffer in some time.
That's what she said!
flyerhawk
22 Jun 2009, 11:19 PM
Spain is the top team in the world, and have been playing like it for awhile. Brazil is obviously right up there too. Spain brought their A team minus Iniesta; they want to win the tournament. The competition for the USA hasn't been stiffer in some time.
Exactly. This is the No 1. team in the world, currently on the longest winning streak in International history, and they are the European champions.
Beating them would be the greatest performance in our team's history, at least of the last 50 years. Bigger than Portugal, bigger than Mexico, bigger than Colombia. Beating them would validate the USA team as a legitimate squad to be reckoned with.
Not that I think this is going to happen.
Brother Badgerjohn
22 Jun 2009, 11:28 PM
Look. We got clocked by Italy and Brazil and were lucky to advance. The World knows when it sees a team that has gotten lucky (can you say "6-goal turnaround?").
The World sees us for what we are: lucky.
I also think that the rest of the non-Italian world is happy to see them be eliminated.
A 1-0 win from an own goal is luck.
When two simultaneous games end with a 3-0 results, luck is actually only a small part of it. You had two teams underplaying and two teams doing just about everything right.
Luck may account for one goal or one save. It doesn't make six goals.
LBS8844
22 Jun 2009, 11:30 PM
That's what she said!
Caught that one, eh? Nice! :cool:
dark knight
22 Jun 2009, 11:33 PM
Not to jinx the team, but if it beats Spain, would it be the greatest US victory in modern times?
No.
It isn't the World Cup. So I'll still take that one, even though it wasn't the knockout round.
Ditto - not even close. These are glorified friendlies.
flyerhawk
22 Jun 2009, 11:37 PM
Ditto - not even close. These are glorified friendlies.
Then why was the American soccer world apoplectic after the first two matches?
dark knight
22 Jun 2009, 11:44 PM
Then why was the American soccer world apoplectic after the first two matches?
The American Soccer World isn't "World Class"? :p