Less surprising after yesterday's Group A and B results. We need a result today, a draw at lease, or very likely we will be eliminated. Also, we're playing every third day, not every other day, which makes a significant difference (in rest and recovery). And if we play France (or Senegal) next, we will have one more day of rest than they have.
Do I want to look at it, no. Would i like the US to fluke through to a semi-final? yes. And, honestly, I want every element of the 2022 world cup to be a complete mess. I'm disgusted with myself that i'll watch it, just like in 2018. Celebration of human rights abuses needs to stop and I hate that by watching i'm somewhat complicit.
It will not rain a lot by most standards. It will rain a lot for Qatar, which is maybe 3 days total over the course of the tournament. This last December and January it rained twice. The total lack of rain is one of the eerie things about living in that part of the world.
well a less-talented team might play best in an open game.... the bunker in strategy by a lesser team really only works rarely in the end. none of the top teams bunker in despite it being a strategy they all could use...... if the success rate of "playing open" was 0% and the bunker strategy was 5%...then it would be stupid to play open....but playing open does not have 0% success rate - (we don't know what it is b/c we never try it vs good teams) but if the "play open" strategy is > 0%.....I think especially in youth tourneys but in senior games as well - it is the preferable option for a number of reasons. One, you are building a team and legacy that continues for the next generation. bottom line the teams who "play open" are the better teams - if you insist as a country that that is how you will play at all levels...all of the players will adjust and develop towards that style. vice versa for the bunke style...the anti-soccer style.eventually you will get there as a program....you can already see it percolating up to the u20 level...the us is the superior possession team vs almost every opponent they play. two, maybe the gap in talent is not enough to warrant a conservative approach....maybe a conservative approach actually decreases chances of success...you cannot win without scoring...it shrinks the margin of error oftentimes. three scoring is hard. playing open is not the same as surrendering. four you are reinforcing defeatism in your players by adopting a submissive approach...and especially at youth levels that is defeatist. why re-teach inferiority to players who are "blank slates"? teach them the "right way" and it just might stick. 5, it is very hard to always know how games will go before they play out. managers mess up their assessments and lineups all the time...i'd rather go for the positive than the negative miss. i think a reason the "good teams" are good....is b/c they think they are good and strategize without fear....they take up aggressive and proactive strategies...winning approaches....and so they win. just look at the 2 us games so far.... first game 2 dmids - 1 striker : loss next 1 dmid, more attackers - win.... but to his specific point - if qatar knows they need to make up a lot of goals AND win to have ANY chance of advancing...they MUST play open to have any chance... choosing to not be embarrassed but guarantee elimination is hard to justify imo.
I have Prime, I just checked and see no listings for FS2 or the U 20 World Cup at the Amazon website.
I think I'm stuck with SD. Even when I access the XFINITY website on my computer I can't watch in HD because they don't offer it in HD on my XFINITY channels. I don't see how accessing it on the TV with the fire stick would change that. I only have 50 HD channels but not that one.
FWIW, if South Korea at least ties an Argentina team which may not put its best foot forward, and Panama beats Saudi Arabia, the US would need at least a tie to advance. (A tie would definitely be enough, as one of Ecuador, South Korea, or Panama would fail to advance along with the Group C third place team). (EDIT: A loss to Qatar would also put us through if we finished 2nd, because Nigeria lost to Ukraine by at least one more goal than us, depending on total goals scored).
Anyone who wants to watch in HD can sign up for a free trial of YouTubeTV. I have cable, but I use it when I am traveling and the quality always seems good assuming you have access to a solid Internet connection. Seems like they generally stream in HD quality for their channels (1080p at 30fps or 720p at 60fps). They also have apps for all the major streaming media players (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast), smart TVs and Android/IOS. Good luck! https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/
The U.S. team could also get through with a loss to Qatar - although Honduras getting blown out to Norway doesn't help
Assuming Norway wins by 5 (or really by 4), any US loss would put them ahead of us. To go through with a 1 goal loss to Qater would need Panama not to win (but also not to lose by 3 or more) AND Korea to lose (any loss). Or in the alternative, for Nigeria to lose by either 2 more goals than we do or by 1 more goal than we do with us scoring more goals in our game. EDIT: (Welp on Norway.)
Yeah, I'm running the scenarios in my head. A tie means automatic advancement since we'd finish ahead of the 3rd place team in group C or B. Advancement would be up in the air with a loss until tomorrow, but it seems fairly unlikely especially with Norway running up the score.
To be fair, Korea probably SHOULD lose to Argentina. And Panama not beating Saudi Arabia is probably a 50/50 proposition. I'd say our odds of going through with a 1 goal loss are still 25-33% or so.
Maybe but Qatar lost to Ukraine by the same differential we did, and they're kids, and 4 third place teams have to go, so who knows.
I watched part of both Qatar games. They are undisciplined, and have huge holes in their team, and their captain is out. A team that can't exploit that side... well... they should be getting a new coach.
Obvious candidates for rotation ... Playing with a yellow card Mendez Durkin de la Fuente Gloster Anyone who's still carrying a knock. Richards? Anyone else? Anyone who's played two full games Scott Dest Keita Durkin Pomykal