ChiefsPlanet - Other Sports *** Official USA vs Belgium World Cup Game Thread ***

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*** Official USA vs Belgium World Cup Game Thread *** (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=284720)

Quote:

Originally Posted by srvy (Post 10727997)

You must be from the there are no winner's or loser's lil Johnny era.

As Patton said America loves a winner hates a loser. That record ain't gonna cut it son.

That's just narrow thinking. Would a 13-seed celebrate making the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament? What about the Royals making the ALCS? KU/mizzou football making a BCS game.

Level of pride in accomplishments is judged based on the history of the team.

Now, if you want to say this is akin to the Braves/Bills losing in the championship a few times in a row (because we've made the knockout stage 3 straight WC's, now its time for the next step), then that's fine, but saying "win it all or piss on it" is stupid. This isn't the NFL where advantages are given to the worst teams in the interest of parody.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby Lee (Post 10728033)

Great job picking 3 teams that not only didn't make the knockout stage but had miserable, nearly Cameroonian showings in the group stage.

LOL! Talk about a team that fell off. They used to be the best African team by a mile and so fun to watch. Now they are a distant 4th in Africa and are just terrible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clyde Frog (Post 10728110)

LOL! Talk about a team that fell off. They used to be the best African team by a mile and so fun to watch. Now they are a distant 4th in Africa and are just terrible.

Don't know if you already knew

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/sp...-cup-team.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by sedated (Post 10728090)

If you look at our run the way the rest of the world would, you have a team that was awful as recently as 15 or so years ago, that was put in the so-called group of death and somehow survived it and advanced to the group stage. That's a good showing. Not amazing, but good.

We placed ourselves in the lower part of the top half of the top 32 teams in the world. This is pretty close to what our ranking was before the tournament began, anyway. And if you look at the teams that are still in, it would have been nice to beat Belgium but it would have taken a miracle to beat Argentina. I'm not sure that the tournament was unfair to us, we went out where we probably should, even if we had a winnable match.

This cup was a pretty good barometer of where we really are, which is #10-#15.

Argentina is going down hard against Belgium. Di Maria made Bradley look like Özil in their last game. >50 losses of possession in regulation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cochise (Post 10728131)

If you look at our run the way the rest of the world would

Saw a few European news headlines to the effect of "United States Embracing Soccer", with videos of the watch parties. Seemed to me that their opinion was, "nice of you to finally join the F-ing party".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby Lee (Post 10728033)

Great job picking 3 teams that not only didn't make the knockout stage but had miserable, nearly Cameroonian showings in the group stage.

Well the was the point. All are previous World Cup champs who have the right to bitch and moan about a failed tournament. They are talking rebuilding and starting over. We have not been champs yet and our trajectory remains up. No need for all the hair pulling and derision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by memyselfI (Post 10728197)

I guess I'm not getting your precise point. By 'not at the stage' do you mean solely in terms of history, or the present stage or development? The former is a no brainer, of course previous champs and teams with as much invested as Spain, Italy and England have a pedigree of past accomplishments we can't begin to measure up to. But they aren't giving out any awards for the past in international soccer. Right now, we're a better organization than Spain, Italy, and particularly England. MoF, I'd submit that England is presently the kind of 'we win 8 of 10 against them' organizations that we are for Germany and The Dutch.

http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/s...in-a-world-cup

Quote:

No matter how strong a team he can field, though, Klinsmann conceded that the U.S. squad must continue to improve if it is to compete toe-to-toe with the world's truly elite teams.

"When you go out [of the World Cup] in the round of 16, clearly it gives you the message that you have a lot of work still ahead of you," he said.

Part of that work involves improving the mentality of the American player, according to the coach.

"There's still a sense," he said, "of having too much respect."

Jurgen Klinsmann noted that his U.S. team often gives too much respect to its opponents.

Klinsmann contended that the only time the U.S. feels comfortable pressing the attack is when the team is losing. When the U.S. is even or ahead, the tendency is to sit back and play more conservatively.

"When you concede a goal you have to chase the game, and suddenly we are able to do it," he said, pointing specifically to Tuesday's loss.

"We could have turned that game around the last 15 minutes of extra time, absolutely," Klinsmann said. "We had enough chances to win it 3-2. Why not [attack] earlier? This is a constant discussion we have -- I believe it is a mental thing we have to work on more than it's about talent."

http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/s...finals-average

Quote:

NEW YORK -- An estimated 21.6 million people watched Belgium knock out the United States in the World Cup on U.S. television -- an impressive total for a weekday afternoon that almost certainly undercounts how many people actually saw it.

The Nielsen company said Wednesday that 16.5 million people watched the game on ESPN, with 5.1 million more seeing it on the Spanish-language Univision network. In addition, nearly 1.7 million people watched an online stream of the event, Nielsen said.

...Still, Tuesday's knockout game exceeded the average viewership for the most recent World Series and NBA Finals, events that took place during prime-time when more people were home to watch.

The just-concluded NBA Finals where the San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat averaged 15.5 million viewers, with 18 million watching the final game. Last fall's World Series averaged 14.9 million viewers, with 19.2 million watching the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the last game.

What say you?

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/07/jurg...akness-belgium

Quote:

Forgotten are the 105 minutes that preceded those rousing 15. It was in those first 105 minutes where Belgium laced 38 shots at goalkeeper Tim Howard, getting 27 on goal, along with 19 corner kicks. Despite everything that occurred in those final 15 minutes, Belgium was never in danger of losing to the U.S.

“Here and there, I think it’s a little bit still the mental approach,” Klinsmann said. “We have to learn more and more. I think that we are in that process to take our game to the opponent no matter what their name is. Here and there we wait just a little bit too long to start our game.”

Pay no heed to the fact that Klinsmann decided to play a different lineup for the fourth consecutive match, benching the most reliable central midfielder on his roster this World Cup in favor of a mistake-prone defender playing out of position.

American fans are choosing to be content with the effort of the team’s players, but are failing to acknowledge that the effort put forth by them was betrayed by the tactics – and meddling– of their coach.

Klinsmann has been lauded for his bold moves during the past month. His decision to cut Landon Donovan, his use of the 4-4-2 Diamond formation, his inspired substitution of John Brooks against Ghana, all gambles that Klinsmann deserves credit for taking.

It’s only logical that he receives blame when the gamble fails, such was the case against Belgium.

Klinsmann thought sacrificing Kyle Beckerman’s superior passing and defensive ability in favor of Geoff Cameron’s willingness to attack would create more offense for the U.S.
It didn’t.

When the U.S. was getting battered in midfield during the second half, incapable of keeping possession or finding Clint Dempsey going forward, Klinsmann opted for striker Chris Wondolowski instead of a fresh midfielder like Mix Diskerud, Brad Davis, or Beckerman.

Belgium continued to dominate midfield.

When Belgium coach Marc Wilmots brought on Romelu Lukaku at the start of extra time, Klinsmann did nothing to reinforce the ragged U.S. backline, opting instead to wait things out further.

Lukaku set up Belgium’s first goal within five minutes.

The U.S. game plan was flawed from the outset and Klinsmann was not only incapable of fixing the problems, he exacerbated them at pivotal moments in the match. It wasn’t bad luck, it wasn’t lack of effort, it wasn’t even fatigue that cost the U.S. a spot in the quarterfinals.

The U.S. was outcoached by Belgium, not outclassed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby Lee (Post 10728223)

What say you?

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/07/jurg...akness-belgium

sounds about right, but the good thing is great salesmanship won't fly for long on it's own here anymore--we'll know soon enough.

What I think is lost in the excoriation of the offense AND the criminal devaluing of the Belgian defense, is how often our ineffectual regulation offense was with 6 players far forward. The BBC feed showed numerous instances of Belgium on the counter with 6 USMNT players trailing the play clear back in the offensive half.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy (Post 10727183)

Please tell me more about your soccer knowledge.

Jusus ****ing Christ you're being a ****.... What a dick!!!!