All times local New Zealand Time Match 9 - USA v Vietnam 13:00, Eden Park (Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau) - July 22 Match 10 - Netherlands v Portugal 19:30, Dunedin Stadium (Dunedin/Ōtepoti) - July 23 Match 23 - USA v Netherlands 13:00, Wellington Regional Stadium (Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-tara)- July 27 Match 24 - Portugal v Vietnam 19:30, Waikato Stadium (Hamilton/Kirikiriroa) - July 27 Match 41 - Portugal v USA 19:00, Eden Park (Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau)- August 1 Match 42 - Vietnam v Netherlands 19:00, Dunedin Stadium (Dunedin/Ōtepoti) - August 1
I will be at the USA vs Vietnam match at Eden Park with my family. On a personal and emotional note, I will also watch the game with my dad, a Vietnam War veteran. He said he will cheer for both teams unconditionally.
For some reason, I had competely missed the historical implications of this match (ok, Vietnam War ended almost 50 years ago, but still...): thank you for reminding me!
So I will remind you of the Dutch-Portuguese War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch–Portuguese_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nuremberg_(2006_FIFA_World_Cup)
The wonderfulness of Europe - not being sarcastic here. I respect history. 50 years in the USA is a longer period of time than 450 years in Europe.
Thankfully, the USA and Vietnam have a very cordial diplomatic relationship. No fuss and no drama since the war ended in 1975. In fact, we have a comprehensive trade agreement with Vietnam. More comprehensive than the European Union, and definitely more comprehensive than the newly liberated UK from the rules and tyranny of the EU laws as them Brexiters said. Anyway, I digress. This group is going to more interesting than you think.
I have a feeling USA is going to struggle during this tournament. I need to find another team or two to root for along the way.
I don’t understand why people compare friendly games and major tournaments like the World Cup and Euro some kind of identical apples.
USA - Vietnam Referee: (MAR) Bouchra Karboubi AR1: (MAR) Fatiha Jermoumi AR2: (MAR) Soukaina Hamdi 4th: (CRO) Ivana Martincic VAR: ??????????
Netherlands - Portugal Referee: (UKR) Kateryna Monzul AR1: (UKR) Maryna Striletska AR2: (POL) Paulina Baranowska 4th: (CAN) Myriam Marcotte VAR: ?????
It is really a shame that the US has a free trade agreement with former enemy Vietnam and none with long time ally and former colony Philippines.
The US likes trade agreements that allow them free access to your market whilst maintaining strong roadblocks on things you want to sell to them. You are probably better off without one.
No, the United States don’t have a FTA with Vietnam, just a bilateral deal. It is not the same. https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements
The Dutch are pissed, and rightly so, because they can't train properly on the pitch they've been provided in whatever NZ town they are in because it's got a big metal plate under the ground in the field. The plate is apparently there for cricket--don't ask me why, something about being needed for pitching. When the Dutch examined the field before the WC, they pointed out the problem to FIFA officials and others, and were promised that the plate would be removed. It hasn't been. We might be on the cusp of recognizing that NZ actually isn't a great place for an event of this magnitude. You need really good fields, facilities and stadiums, and lots of them, and I'm not sure that small NZ quite fits the bill. France was the perfect country for a WC in most ways.
I understand the frustration of not getting what you thought you were promised, but I'm just going to point out that this isn't completely on FIFA or New Zealand. Federations put in their top choices for which base camp (hotel+training facility) that they wanted. Additionally, federations were given stipends from FIFA to make any needed modifications to the training facility and/or hotel. On top of that, some federations (or at least the USA has) have spent six figures on further customizing their base camp. Comparison to a previous WC isn't completely fair since this is the first WWC to have base camps (France didn't have them), and it is an area of equalization since the MWC were already using base camps.