Re: The Elephant in the Room Nah; he just doesn't realize that if the US fail to make a World Cup it derails soccer tremendously in this nation.
Re: The Elephant in the Room If the U.S. fails to make the World Cup we'll be outdrawn by El Salvador fans at home next cycle...oh wait.
Re: The Elephant in the Room No man it was 90-10 US fans, we were just all wearing blue as well so you might have mistaken some Americans as actually being El Salvador supporters.
Re: The Elephant in the Room Just to state the obvious, the top 4 teams are already decided. T&T and El Salvador are out of consideration. Now it's just a competition to see who wins the group and who gets to play COMNEBOL #5. Likely outcomes: El Salvador v Costa Rica => draw Trinidad and Tobago v USA => USA wins Mexico v Honduras => Mexico wins Honduras v USA => Honduras wins Mexico v El Salvador => Mexico wins Costa Rica v Trinidad and Tobago => Costa Rica wins El Salvador v Honduras => draw Trinidad and Tobago v Mexico => draw USA v Costa Rica => USA wins USA 13 pts + 6 = 19 pts (ahead on GD) Mexico 12 pts + 7 = 19 pts Honduras 13 pts + 4 = 17 pts Costa Rica 12 pts + 4 = 16 pts => plays Argentina
Re: The Elephant in the Room Argentina isnt going to be 5th place lol the USA isnt going to be 4th place lol stupuid worry warts
Re: The Elephant in the Room this has nothing to do with weather... it has EVERYTHING to do with ticket allocation. No way this match goes anywhere but Columbus if USSF wants us to avoid being outdrawn.
Re: The Elephant in the Room While showing that the US is in position to win the Hex, MarioKempes' analysis shows just how close this could be for the US. Even with a win at T&T tomorrow, if followed by a loss at Honduras, the US could very easily be sitting on 16 points and playing Costa Rica in the final game in what is effectively a 1st place/4th place game! Edge to the home team of course, but certainly nothing guaranteed. The big question looking at these projections is who is going to slip up and not grab "predicted" points. There is not much room for error as this is very tight.
Re: The Elephant in the Room Can't see an already eliminated T&T drawing Mexico... so they win the group, but other than that, I'm with you.
Re: The Elephant in the Room It goes without saying that these matches are unusually difficult to predict. The home team in the hex has enjoyed a 15-3-2 record. Although T and T's size and athletic ability has proven to be an absolute nightmare for the Mexicans in the past, T and T by your accounts will have been eliminated by the final match. I think Mexico is going to beat them and win the hex. I also have to say, I do not believe Argentina will be the team waiting in the playoff match. If they beat Peru at home (almost assuredly will happen) they will qualify. Venezuela and Columbia appear to have the easiest route to 5th place. The Connebol finish and effort at the 5th place playoff spot might be even more of a crapshoot than our own. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/southamerica/matches/index.html
Re: The Elephant in the Room hello - did you not notice the sarcasm? ..... If we get to the point of having to compete via playoff - then we have some serious problems .... on the other hand - I was in Columbus way back when (was it 2001 spring?) Mexico froze their arses off in a Feb WCQ ... separate from the game and the competition - it was hilarious to see the TriColores play there. It seriously got into their minds. if they play a game in Anchorage in the late fall there will not be many South American fans there either. Nor would there be that many South American fans in Green Bay (do they even know where it is?) ... So how do I translate the term "cheesehead" into Spanish? but seriously let's not be too serious here ... I was joking about this.
Re: The Elephant in the Room Good thing that won't be a problem for USMNT tonight, with so many here predicting a resounding win as a foregone conclusion. T&T really should have difficulty in our third; we should be able to solve their defense over 90 minutes. I want to be saying you told me so after the match. We desperately need the first goal tonight.
Re: The Elephant in the Room exactly what we need to do is to win at T&T tonight and see what happens with the rest - take it one game at a time .... the equation works - win at home and draw on the road .... we just need to take care of business .. if we cannot put together a good game plan and win at T&T at this point - then what does that say about our squad and their chances in South Africa. we just need 3 points tonight and not worry about the rest for now.
Re: The Elephant in the Room Assuming Ecuador has extreme difficulty and loses in the lofts of La Paz this afternoon and Uruguay holds serve in Montevideo defeating Colombia, Uruguay will be sitting in CONMEBOL 5th on 21 pts after MD16, with Argentina in 4th on something between 22 and 25 pts (Ecuador and Colombia would be sitting on 20 pts each, with Ecuador presumably maintaining the GD over Colombia).
Re: The Elephant in the Room Whelp...Ecuador navigated the altitude in La Paz just fine winning 3-1, and for the moment sits in 4th place with 23 pts.
Re: The Elephant in the Room Here's a stream for Paraguay v Argentina. If any have any better streams, please post. http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/supersp0909
Re: The Elephant in the Room Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill He went out tiger hunting with his elephant and gun In case of accidents he always took his mom He's the all American bullet-headed Saxon mother's son All the children sing Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Deep in the jungle where the mighty tiger lies Bill and his elephants were taken by surprise So Captain Marval zapped him right between the eyes All the children sing Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill The children asked him if to kill was not a sin "Not when he looked so fierce" his mommy butted in If looks could kill it would have been us instead of him All the children sing Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill Hey Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill
Re: The Elephant in the Room Anger Management classes available for cheap at the local junior college!