yes i agree, i think this will be the most important thing which is, to prove the world that we are what we said on the fifa rank.
I disagree saying usa has pressure on them.... of the 32 sides who'll be in germany, aside from togo or trinidad, i think the expectations in the other 29 nations, sans usa, is more prevalent... sure, there's a vocal minority of usa soccer fans, but usa is NOT a soccer crazed nation... no player is gonna risk getting murdered if he yields an own goal which loses a match... I still think the relative pressure of playing italy and the czechs is quite small, basically because MOST of the world doesn't give the usa a feraking chance... too many people are counting their chickens too with ghana... if usa goes into that match needing a win, THEN there's pressure... but the 1st two matches, it's very minimal
Of course I'm more concerned about beating every team put in front of us at the World Cup as opposed to furthering the credibility of US Soceer - that is far from what I think our main goal should be. You could debate on end which is better in the eyes of the 'soccer world' - advance out of a group of minnows or get knocked out in the first stage after valiant performances. There are simply people that will remember that we got to the knockout stage and that is all that will matter (and actually help us get seeded for 2010!!). Losing valiantly to Czech and Italy won't favor us for the 2010 draw much either, and no one besides us will remember how well we played against a good team and yet still lost. Let's win games. As many as possible. If we're going to get knocked out after a well played match against superior competition, let's at least do it in the second round. Thanks.
If you're a pu$$y this draw was bad for you. If your not you see the opportunities. I don't want respect handed to us on a silver plate like a participation medal at some U-9 tournament. I want to wrench it from the clutched dying fist of a once great soccer power and the flavor of Euro 04. I want to spit in the eye of our detractors. I'd rather be a conqueror than a successor. I don't care if we have to face Brazil in the second round, you've got to face them eventually, as long as we make it out of this group I'll be happy. edit: oh and Mexico not making it further than us would be nice.
Just like we were lucky against Portugal...with Donovans goal. Although Jeff Agoos tried his hardest to make sure that was evened up
That wasn't luck, Portugal didn't respect the US. It took Portugal to go down 3 before they realised they could lose that game. The good news is that it gained the US some respect, the bad news is it let every other team know that playing against the US is no longer a day off and we won't catch any teams napping anymore. I personally don't think the US will do much this world cup, I actually thought that before the draw. But we will find out where we stand.
What about the matchups? Who will be our biggest challenge? Italy? Who have fallen in rankings over the last few years? Czech? Who are ranked too high IMHO? Ghana? Who are newbies at the WC?
Other than the unintentionally mysoginist part of that statement, ditto and right on brother. To win the tournament you must beat the best, either in the first round or later rounds.
Exactly. And now I'll ask this question. IF the US does take 2nd place after handily beating Ghana and the currently #2 ranked team in Czech Republic, I hardly think that Brazil will be 'happy' to face us. Could be wrong...but I think if any team has respect for what winning means and does to a player and team alike, it's Brazil.
We have our most physical, most athletic, and most technical team we've ever had. Though we lack depth I like our matchups. Physical size (McBrice, Gooch, Gibbs, Pope, the two German club backs) to match up with Italy and Czechs. Athelticism (Beasley, Donovan, Mastoeni) to match up with Ghana. A gifted mid-field, even better with Reyna and JOB, which is a strength of all these teams. We won't have the depth of Italy or Czech and we probably don't play as rough (a euphemism) as Ghana. We've also improved our overall technical skills, but are probably still inferior to all three of these teams. The other thing the US may have going for it is chemistry. Sometimes all-star teams, which is what all of these are, have a hard time gelling, particulalry if their are inter-squad rivaliaries that carry over from club play. We win the group with a win and two draws, THEN we get a second round cupcake. Fiinish your dinner, then desert.
I think with our draw, a player is going to have an absolutely monumental task and holds a large amount of sway for our advancement potential is Ogoochi Onyewu. I can't remember the last US defender who has the potential to match up so well against European opponents.
And with the exception of Pope the other centerbacks have been playing, and starring, in Europe for most of their careers. I really like our defensive matchups in the middle. The wings are still a problem, part of our depth issues.
When did we earn this respect? When their U-17 team beat us in the Confed. Cup? Look, you're doing yoeman's work in here, and I applaud you for the effort. But let's keep it real.
The respect I mentioned was Brazil's respect for the 'art' of winning. Not the US team. What I mean by that is winning is something that a team gets used to. As a team becomes cohesive there exists this certain intangible mentality that is created. My point was that if Brazil were to face a US squad advancing out of a group with 3 of the top 12 teams (in ranking) when no one would have given us a prayer, they will not be tickled pink. Will they be quaking in their shoes? No. But a winning team knows that anything is possible, no matter who they are.
Morpheus. D@mn Bro. You nailed what I've been feeling since so many of us went "Chicken Little" (the sky is falling-we don't have a chance in hell, blah, blah, blah). Look for your deferred rep, kid: "You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later." Morpheus and some of you others are right. get over the shock of the group. Like Arena said "it is what it is"... I don't give a r@tsass that the haterz are writing us off. Haterz hate. But US fans, c'mon. I'm not tlaking Pollyana type ******. I'm just saying that if you wanna stomp wit da big dogs, then you gotta stomp wit em or get the ***** off the porch. We go forward, understanding the great challenge before us but not going out like little beatches. The results will be what they are. Like Morphe said, we US fans should carry our heads up high. Everybody wants to get to heaven but nobody wants to ****** die. The bar has been raised. Whether or not we step us as a soccernation (are we gonna try to be one or not)--isn't limited to the on the field results--there are also the emotional and mental aspects-especially as it relates to supporters. In US soccer circles, let's try and nurture a "can do" attitude instead of a "expect failure" one... "You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later."
I think the only good thing about this group is that we will likely find out if FIFA's rankings are meaningful, or conversely not worth a 'lick of spit'. If the USA survives this group, the results coupled with a quarterfinals finish in '02 will silence the nay-sayers who contend that US Soccer still has yet to arrive. I think the most important thing is that we play to win. If we come out with a totally defensive posture like that dope Sampson did in '98, Bruce will accomplish little other than sending a negative message to a very talented squad that he doesn't believe they can otherwise win. What's worse is that if you concede an early goal with that kind of gameplan, the whole thing goes out the window and the offense never gets going. BRUCE, send the message to the troops that we CAN take OUR game TO all three of these teams, and win. Not to rehash the past, but how ridiculous was it that Sampson played so many players out of position in 98' in some dumb formation that we had never used before? We were an embarassment to the world in that tournament.
The 2 biggest factors will be our defense and our goalkeeping. Getting out of our group will be an accomplishment. Winning our group will be a great accomplishment. If we finish 2nd and play brazil tough or somehow win would be bigger than the "miracle on ice" in Lake Placid. Currently the Brazilian coach thinks they will be playing Czech republic or Italy. I hope BA is using all these progansticators as bulletin board material. Maybe, it was genius for us not to play Brazil the past couple years. They have no idea how good we have gotten.
[NYRmetros]You're having a laugh mate[/NYRmetros] Brazil hasn't beat the US by more than one goal since 1993 and we've played them 8 times since. Brazil has shown the US more respect than European teams do, they don't try to Samba past us like we're T&T or UAE. They know they're much better but they also know we put up a good honest fight. I smell troll, who's the last poster to get red carded? edit: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6865354&postcount=92 he is having a laugh
They RARELY send their top team to face us, and they routinely beat us. Do they think we suck? Do they laugh at us? No and no. But that's not the question or issue at hand. Would the Brazilians like to play us, Italy or the Czechs in the second round? (hint: no brainer question) Now, between us and Ghana? They'd probably, maybe, like to play Ghana more. [As to your "point" or assertion about this being a sockpuppet: I don't take much on this site very seriously. Especially folks that DO take things seriously. I changed my screen name, BFD. I don't really care much about rep and post count or any of that crap. Former name was from a club team that has long since folded. I moved on...]
Oi vey. You said they wouldn't be "tickled pink" to play the US. I disagree. I used a humorous image to make that point. It's no big deal. Again, overall, I agree that this VERY difficult draw is going to be a great test and measuring stick for us. That's the positive spin you've presented and, quite frankly, is the way we should all be approaching it. That's what Americans do, and why we often prevail in seemingly insurmountable situations. But, "keeping it real" is also something we're known for, and trying to rationalize or put a positive spin on a game against Brazil is, well, a bit of a stretch. That would be, in terms of talent, roughly equivalent of the 1980 Miracle on Ice. That's a 13 or 14 seed knocking off Duke. Yeah, dare to dream, grab the brass ring, climb every mountain... And, believe me, if that's the way the tourney goes, I'll be right there with the group delusion that we can do it... But that is NOT even close to an ideal match-up or something that "I look forward to, in order to measure our progress and plant a flag on the world stage." And certainly don't buy the notion that Brazil would, in any shape or form, be anything but mildly relieved or (at best) ambivalent about the match-up. That's all I'm saying.
That's what I thought. I'll respectfully disagree though. I think that the notion of a team like Brazil feeling any 'relief' or 'ambivalence' about any WORLD CUP opponent with so much at stake is really is a discredit to them.