Group D: United States, Australia, Paraguay, Türkiye

[Super_horns]

48 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

Get that ref from El Salvador on every game left on the tournament, absolute box office sending Almiron off

 

NUMBER TEN, HE COVER HIS MOUTH — DECISION RED CARD

As per the rules so good on him .

 

Probably won’t get applied here .

[Deeg67]

36 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

This again, unfortunately. 

No one - least of all here - should feel comfortable if we're judging an entire country's population based on the behavior of its most obnoxious asswipes.

[21st Century Fox]

58 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

Get that ref from El Salvador on every game left on the tournament, absolute box office sending Almiron off

 

NUMBER TEN, HE COVER HIS MOUTH — DECISION RED CARD

This has been my World Cup highlight so far. I want that guy permanently mic’ed up giving a stream of consciousness throughout the match.

[Ian Nacho]

Pound for pound Turkey must be the one of the worst countries in the world. Massive country in terms of size and population. Football mad. The last Euros was the only time in my memory where they haven't stunk up the tournament. 

[Deeg67]

2 minutes ago, Ian Nacho said:

Pound for pound Turkey must be the one of the worst countries in the world. Massive country in terms of size and population. Football mad. The last Euros was the only time in my memory where they haven't stunk up the tournament. 

What's truly amazing is they had 72% and 78% possession and eclipsed 30 shots both games, and still couldn't score.

[Ian Nacho]

1 minute ago, Deeg67 said:

What's truly amazing is they had 72% and 78% possession and eclipsed 30 shots both games, and still couldn't score.

International Middlesbrough. 

[Footballwipe]

That game. The jeopardy + 2 emotional teams + emotional ref.

 

Absolute box office. 

[Beliall]

20 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

What's truly amazing is they had 72% and 78% possession and eclipsed 30 shots both games, and still couldn't score.

and they say football manager isnt realisitc

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Deeg67 said:

No one - least of all here - should feel comfortable if we're judging an entire country's population based on the behavior of its most obnoxious asswipes.

I unreservedly agree, but the problem is that in this case, the obnoxious asswipes are in charge and making it the direct or indirect problem of almost every other human being on the surface of this Earth.  

 

Believe me, I've spent time in the US, and some of the people I've met there have been the most genuinely lovely and brilliant people I've had the pleasure of meeting, but rightly or wrongly, in the current climate, blowback and generalisations are going to be made across all areas of international interaction, including sport. 

 

All of this being said, this US team is going to take a big name (possibly Spain in a QF?) to put them in jeopardy, I think. Poch has them playing well.

Edited 2 hours ago by leicsmac

[Kitchandro]

Why are they calling them TurkiyUh, again?

[Deeg67]

2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

I unreservedly agree, but the problem is that in this case, the obnoxious asswipes are in charge and making it the direct or indirect problem of almost every other human being on the surface of this Earth.  

 

Believe me, I've spent time in the US, and some of the people I've met there have been the most genuinely lovely and brilliant people I've had the pleasure of meeting, but rightly or wrongly, in the current climate, blowback and generalisations are going to be made across all areas of international interaction, including sport. 

 

All of this being said, this US team is going to take a big name (possibly Spain in a QF?) to put them in jeopardy, I think. Poch has them playing well.

Do we really want to go there? Liz Truss and BoJo send their regards, never mind that we're talking about a country where Nigel Farage is starting to struggle because he's not racist enough for his core voters. People getting elected by minorities of voters - never mind the population at-large - are not representative of a country as a whole. Sorry, the "I hate Yanks" posts peppering this thread say a lot more about the home country of the people making them than they do the people being targeted.

 

But yes, the rest is football. I've been following the USMNT for decades and believe me, they've never had a squad of this quality playing this way. I've been saying for years (including here) that this was as close to a golden generation as the U.S. has ever had. MLS is now independently ranked in the top 10 leagues in the world, and climbing. Americans under 30 rank soccer behind only basketball, ahead of MLB and the NFL. All the jibes and smarmy put-downs here are well past their expiration date. America is a footballing nation now, and it's only going to escalate.

 

As for this tournament, the first two matches could hardly have gone better. Paraguay is better than they've looked here, and Australia is no pushover. But the test comes when the Americans have to face a squad that's got the ability to take the match to them (which may not come until the quarters, certainly not before the 16s). Poch is a clear step above any coach the USMNT ever has tactically, and he's always been a strong man-manager. Whenever we got to a big tournament we would always park the bus and try and pip a goal on the counter. Poch has a squad full of first-team players in top divisions and he has them playing like a team that expects to create chances and control the game. Anything less than the final 8 would be a disappointment at this point, anything more would still be an upset.