Article on American soccer versus the 'Old World'

LOL, Ghana ("the Brazil of Africa")! In their dreams!

 

Best quote from the article: "We're happy to have Heidi Klum controlling our balls."

 

And as I pointed out to you on another thread, none in the last 20 years. Might as well call them the Uruguay of Africa.

What the hell is up with your obsession with Ghana? Are you of Ghanaian origin?

 

American fans, perhaps with the overconfidence that comes from growing up in a land of such plenty, are already predicting victory over Italy and easy passage to the second round. Comparing the talent of the two sides, one American poster gushed, "Talent-wise I think [Landon] Donovan is as good [Francesco] Totti." For the uninitiated: Landon Donovan, a star of the U.S. team, tried to make it in Europe, but flopped badly and was sent home. He now plays in the MLS for the Los Angeles Galaxy; Totti can play anywhere.

That has got to be the best line in there

 

Ghana have been dubbed the "Brazil of Africa", not because of their success, but their playing style. They play a beautiful, passing-oriented, "brazil-like" game in a region known for strong, direct teams.

It's the same reason that Japan was dubbed the "Brazil of Asia" some time back...

 

.... and the same reason why USA will be dubbed 'pushover of group E" in this tournament

 

Maybe I'm just a stupid (American) newbie, but can you explain the complex logic that connects my post and your statement?

 

I challenge you to quote one sane American fan who has claimed easy passage or a guaranteed victory over Italy.

I said "sane."

Actually, Donovan missed his mommy and chose to go home. Totti can play anywhere, until he throws a hissy fit, then he can play in the corner by himself during his timeout.

He could, but it would require a puppet show, a straight jacket, and a eleven tubes of KY.

 

Just a bit of frustration on my part that I had to go into namecalling like some of the US peeps on here did to my compratiots.. no logic whatsoever... just a bit of banter

 

Just quoting from this article ... my english is not that good

 

Fair enough. And a little banter back:

There are a lot of American idiots on this board.
There are European idiots on this board.
Let's not add to the list, ok?

As a long-time American soccer fan, I have NO delusions of grandeur regarding the MNT. They are a thousand times better than the eurosnobs give credit for and a thosand times worse than the neanderthal cheerleaders here "think". Personally, I think surviving the group and losing to Brazil in the round of 16 is a reasonable goal for the US: Play hard, don't have a let-down match, earn respect in Europe.

To put it simply: This is a vicious, vicious group (without a doubt the real group of death) in which any of the 4 teams have a legitimate shot at finishing in the top 2. Having read a thousand posts and not a reasonable argument to the contrary, I have to conclude that anyone who thinks otherwise is just talking trash.

 

Damn if I wasn't so full of hope for this year team I had to actually agree to that, but don't tell anybody....

 

Predictions are one thing, guarantees and easy passage are another. I mean, heaven forbid some US fans believe that their team could knock off a better team, right?

 

What's wrong, Dave? Ghana is obviously in our group, as is Italy. We all should be interested in Ghana. I think Ghana plays the best soccer in Africa, but have been unlucky not to advance to the WC. Well they finally have made it, and are no pushovers. They do play a lot like Brazil, and could definitely be the darkhorse of the group. They are, in fact, nicknamed "the Brazil of Africa".

I work with 2 people from Ghana, but I've known about Ghana for a long time, as I've been an admirer of their team for the past decade. They've had a lot of success at the youth level, and this is starting to translate more to the senior level. That's something I hope the US will emulate.

 

This line in the article is factually incorrect:

"For the uninitiated: Landon Donovan, a star of the U.S. team, tried to make it in Europe, but flopped badly and was sent home. He now plays in the MLS for the Los Angeles Galaxy; Totti can play anywhere."

Donovan didn't flop badly. In fact, he didn't flop at all. He basically didn't want to play in Germany, preferring the warmer and more familiar climate of California. I think he would have starred at Leverkusen eventually, but wasn't motivated to fight for his place.

I'm afraid I have to dismiss the writer as an amateur journalist with dubious knowledge of American soccer.

 

landon donovan left Europe because he couldnt adapt to the game....the mommy excuse was good..but everyone knos the truth. He cant play tactical football..only practical thats why he is where is..and not somewhere else.

 

I seem to recall the theme of the thread being more or less, 'faith and hope with no rational or evidenciary-based explanation for the US winning the group,' this theme that apOOonu seemed to proffer was quite a bit different than, "we'll win the group because Italy, the Czech's and Ghana will be stomped underfoot like "narcs at a biker rally unable to hang with a US team that is vastly their superior," theme the writer of the article itself, and some posters in this thread seem to believe is the mentality of US fans. Take a look at threads started a week ago today, perhaps the first one was entitled, "We're screwed," my exact thoughts as I watched a tape of the draw when I got home from work. That a poster saw fit to inject some positivity into a forum drenched in a morose gloom is a good thing, not a bad thing, and the fact that apOOonu made an effort to explain that his faith, and renewed belief that we could win wasn't based on some sort of expository analysis with the evidence stacked in piles to the left and right of the thread reader was emphasized again and again, that readers here, and a mediot would deliberately misconstrue what was said isn't really that much of a surprise I guess.

 

Pretty much yea. The reason some American fans might seem rabid is because of the first reply to that thread. That kind of crap is getting old, and while the US team hasn't proven themselves 100%, they deserve far more respect than they get.