Can anyone help me out here? Doesn't it seem a little bit ridiculous to anyone that the road to the final includes for the US, the number two team in the world, then most likely the team playing the best currently (Germany)? Was this just the way it was drawn? Was there any order to the way the seeds were pulled into their groups? There is no way the number 1 versus number 2 team should occur in the QUARTERS. Little help someone. By the way, I think we'll rock Norway whenever we play them, Germany is a little different story!
It's the World Cup for goodness sake, not the Mickey Mouse Cup. Of course the games after the group stage will be tough. What were you expecting? A walkover to the final? Norway are a better option for the US than a lot of other potential 1/4 finalists.
Did you see Brazil-Spain in the quarters of the Men's World Cup , or whoever are the number 1 and 2 teams in the world in men's soccer? I don't think so, because there was some thought put into who would meet in the quarters. I agree all the teams in the second round are tough, but only because all the teams that make it through the group stage are playing well, but number 1 versus number 2 should happen in the finals.
According to the rankings Norway should have won Group B . USA should be playing Brazil in the 1/4's. Then, if rankings held true to form, USA wouldn't see Norway till the Gold medal game. If Norway was in Group C, the USA would play them in the semi's. If Norway was in Group D, the USA wouldn't see them until the final game regardless of Norway's finish in group play. Not sure why it wasn't set up that way.
Wrong. We would have faced Norway (or China) in the semis if they finished second in Group D and won their quarterfinal against Germany. Get over it, SOMEONE had to be a top seed in Group B and they ended up slipping to second, thus we play them. Same thing happened in the 96 Olympics when the US finished second in their group behind China and had to play Norway in the semifinals as a result. And you didn't see the top two teams in the men's 2002 WC meeting in the quarterfinals because they were both eliminated in group play!
Making stuff up as we go along, I guess. Let's see. No. 1 vs. No. 2 in World Cup 2002 would have been France vs. Brazil. That was, in fact, a possible quarterfinal matchup. Of course, we were denied that matchup, in the quarterfinals, the semifinals, the finals, or anywhere else, because France finished dead, stinkin' last in their group. But it had less than nothing to do with all that supposed foresight about keeping the top two teams apart until the finals.