Re: World Cup Fever
 

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I can guarantee that 90% of soccer "mums" don't even know where the World Cup is held, and probably not even know what year it is.

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Too much Wisteria Lane???

Re: World Cup Fever
 

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and according to Betfair, they have the 13th best chance to win. that is some laughingstock.


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Yep...
13th best chance and Rank #8 in the World...

Bwahahahahahahahahaha


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and as everybody in this thread has already proven, of course the US will have a tougher time this year. being in Europe gives the European teams a big edge, just as Asian teams got a bit boost in 2002. this doesn't prove anything.


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Proves that you Yanks rank yourself better than what you are really worth.

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I don't understand either of your points. I'm done with you.

Re: World Cup Fever
 

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I don't understand either of your points. I'm done with you.

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Of course you don't...

Here's an example why you guys are the laughing stock - Outside the USA!

From The Age - Melbourne

Re: World Cup Fever
 

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I don't understand either of your points. I'm done with you.

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Of course you don't...

Here's an example why you guys are the laughing stock - Outside the USA!

From The Age - Melbourne

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We also suck at rugby. And cricket.

Re: World Cup Fever
 

the us is better than what the vast majority of the world gives them credit for, but they are not as good as #8 in the world

as for how the US did in 98, well thats pretty meaningless. thats 8 years ago, and you can't draw too much from it anyway. france and argentina both lost in the group stage in 2002...

Re: World Cup Fever
 

And although France had the best player in the world in '98 (as they do today) HFA went a LONG way.

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Ahhh Brazil have the best player in the world, Ronaldihnio

Re: World Cup Fever
 

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The US is highly unlikely to be seeded, whereas Mexico will probably get seeded due to their lofty FIFA ranking.

Hopefully the US can avoid Brazil or Germany in their pool. Mexico or the underachieving Spaniards wouldn't be a bad draw.

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The US cannot draw Mexico as they are from the same region

Re: World Cup Fever
 

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The US is highly unlikely to be seeded, whereas Mexico will probably get seeded due to their lofty FIFA ranking.



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Actually Mexico (7th) is ranked only one spot higher than USA (8th).
No bias here to you Yanks, but this is clearly a misnomer.

The seedings for the WC Final Groups was calculated on a far more complicated and elaborate system which took in account previous WC Final performances and Mexico edged out USA on the count that USA failed miserably in the 1998 WC.

Arena was just recently quoted as saying Australia & Trinidad & Tobago will be a laughing stock at this coming WC. He has a lot of balls saying this coz outside the US the Yanks are the laughing stock in this sport!

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Australia had to beat the 5th best team in South America and two time WC winner to take there place we wont be a laughing stock

Re: World Cup Fever
 

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Do I have to remind you how badly the US performed in the 1998 WC?

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no, b/c you seem intent on mentioning this useless fact in every post.

instead:

1) how about you tell me why this matters to the current US team

2) why don't you tell me why you are ignoring the last World Cup, where we reached the quarterfinals and outplayed eventual finalist Germany.

3)Tell me why you think 1998 is more important than 2002.

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98 is not more important than 02 and guess what FIFA recognised this point.

The points allocation for seedings was based 50/50 on Rankings and performances in 98 and 02. In the latter the point assigned to 98 comprised 33% or the score and 02 making up 66%.

THE POINT is that the USA's poor performance in 98 cost them a seeding as they scored 43 points total with Italy scoring 44 taking a seed.

Case closed

Re: World Cup Fever
 

it makes sense that 98 factors into seeding but its ridiculous to use that as any indicator of how good usa is now. nearly all of the personell are changed for the better. the coach (arenas) is far better. and the americans now play a style that takes advantage of their strengthes which are athletism, stamina and hustle. also, unlike many teams, usa is very organized and lacks massive egos which allow them to work together welll. in these categories they are far superior to much of the world.

what the usa clearly lacks is technical skill in one on one situations. beasley is the only player i have seen that can consistently beat his defender. also, they are poor at tactical speed so their ball movement is slow and their attacks are straightforward lacking creativity. the us is able to overcome this with speed and strength against weaker teams but will rely on a large amount of luck against the great teams.