simples...
i think the major difference is the number of options for
american children...i also think that the creativity by brazilians
and such may come from adverse situations...lack of equipment,
fields, poorly maintained fields etc...most likely make players
that can play in any conditions
of course i also agree with you that a lot of it is passion...americans
grow up watching the super bowl, world series mainly...dreaming of
playing on the big stage...soccer doesn't get any play on national
t.v. except for the world cup and the occasional friendly.
success also breeds success...american women's soccer grew great
interest in the world cup where they beat china. i actually remember
that game being on in bars with everyone talking about the game
which is virtually unheard of in the u.s. although i think soccer has
grown in popularity by leaps and bounds since then.
Did I hear correctly that the USA in ranket in the top 10 in the world? http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statistics/index/0,2548,All-Dec-2005,00.html
#8 according to this article, I know countries in South America where "futball" is all they have and are not even in the top 100 the USA is doing very well. We will just have to wait and see if they can live up to there #8 status.
I agree with everything you said .... but can I name more than 3 players of the Itallian, German, Spanish and the dutch teams? ... you gatta be kidding me right ? ...
like I said .. I know that the US has a goo "TEAM" .. what i mean is, They maynot have individual stars, but the gel very well as a team, and the strides they've taken after the 1990 WC is very impressive.
The US was also one of the teams to play in the first world cup. and they were one of the better performers too.
but somewhere between american football, basketball, and base ball they lost the plot. However they are making up for it now and coming up quite well. the womens team is brilliant ... of course your other
team is also good (sweden?)
I'm sure you agree with me that the FIFA ranking does not mean any shit... just coz one team is ranked higher than the other, it does not mean they are actually better. though it does give a general impression of where the team stands.
peace mate ... gotta go . have to finish this door schedule before noon!!..
merry christmas and happy new year... ( i'm taking a break till jan 3rd)
less than two weeks away!!! i can't wait. hopefully i'll find a job that'll be cool with me showing up after 12 so i can watch the games in the morning!
the US team that exists now, is much different than the goof-ball team that played in '94. The US will come out of its group above Italy and Czech Rep.
i'm pretty excited about the US team this year. they're young, fast, and talented. a lot of teams out there have stars past their prime (france, england, etc.), where the US has their stars at their physical peak (minus reyna). as tough as their group may be, I would say the US squad are serious contenders, or at the least, no joke.
just as for architecture schools, soccer rankings don't mean a thing. it will be brazil vs. the hungriest of the rest of the bunch in the finals.
um...england past their prime?...not that i think they'll win
it, but i don't think i'd describe them as past their prime...if
anything i think the majority of their lineup is very much in
its prime...lampard, ferdinand, cole, rooney if healthy, gerrard
etc. are pretty intimidating as a group. you could argue that
owen and beckham may be a bit old...but they're no jeff agoos
or anything.
also i feel as though france isn't all that old..maybe more young
than anything...besides ziddane who is like our reyna..
i like the u.s. as well..but i worry about our attack..i guess we'll
see what's what when we put our real starting eleven on the field...
if donovan moves up next to mcbride and obrien and reyna
are healthy in the middle...with dempsey and beasly on the outside...
then maybe there'll be less to worry about. (or if eddie johnson
wakes up and shows his true talent.) the u.s. does finally have a
defense...or did before gibbs got hurt. having pope in the middle
isn't the best possible outcome for us. (talk about players past
their prime)
I was not saying as a team they are past their prime. I was speaking more about the stars of the team. The player a country looks to be their national hero like Marodona, Baggio, Zidane, or Beckham. I was speculating that Beckham and Zidane will no longer have the legs at the final minutes of a game when the championship is on the line. I think the US has the advantage of having their marquis player (Donovan) being at the right physical condition to step up and lead the team. I would say the same for Rooney of England, but that's a sad story.
btw, did anyone see dempsey's rap video? pretty funny. I think you can find it on Youtube.
I am lookjing forward to being in Argentina during the world cup, there should be some really great atmosphere in the bars and homes watching the game. I was in Guatemala during the last Copa Mundial and is was fantastic...much better than any sports even experienced here in the states, just watching in a bar during the cup is a whole different experience outside of the US.
what i really like to see is, an african country to pick up a cup or the cup. it is about time africans take home a gift.
i have this strange feeling that brazil is going to be thrashed out early.
Last world cup I was in indonesia, it was a pretty charged athmosphere, and the cup before that I was in Peru, this will be my first cup since i started caring about football in the states. I doubt it's gonna be as much fun as watching it overseas. I just love how wraped up in this other nations get, it simply dominates outside the U.S., like how Senegal declared a national holiday after they beat France in the 02 cup, personally I love the sport and the athmosphere this event generates in places like south america. Maybe if the U.S. wins it all this year (AHEM) my felow countrymen will start paying attention.
Orhan ... dont say things like that ... ;) .. I really want them to win ..
maybe coz they represent all that football is about to me.. simply love their style... But all said and done.. they have such a powerfull lineup .. it scares me. history proves that an all stat line up is destined for failure !!
I'd like to see the African doing well too ... and this time they have the players to do it ... but win the world cup ? .. hmmm ...
I just put 20 bucks on oz beating Brazil in the group stages, if it happens I’ll be a zillionaire ;-)
we have Japan first up so that’s going to be tough, won against Greece last week, although they looked far from the team that one the European championship.
But we have the Dutch in a couple of days so that should give us a good idea of how we are travelling.
and if it all goes horribly wrong its only a couple of months till we can snatch the ashes back off the poms.
crouch did a lame dance after a late goal - hence 'robot'
all the papers are going 90 with this 'new craze' - god it's so pathetic here. anything to assuage england's fear of their upcoming beatdown. your mom can do the robot better than this guy
and saw the crouch 'dance'...an interesting player...but i think part
of the problem with the english team i think...seems like more
of an experiment than a good idea...yes he has scored in his last
two national games and his touch looks as though it's improved...
i just don't think the game was made for someone that tall...
he did get fouled quite often in the box though...seems as though
a couple of times he was held down could have been called.
england looked dominate at times and positively average at others...
and the goal of the match belonged to hungary...just a sick shot.
watching england play though it doesn't seem as though they are
all that creative in the run of play...and couldn't score except off
set pieces...(other than the crouch goal)...i guess the team is built
for that it does best... beckham/cole crossing
into the box for crouch to put down balls for their mids/defenders to
run onto
orale mi esmokety! arriba el tri! hopefully they don't disappoint us again... they always seem to play great in the first round, and then fall flat in the next phase.
world cup 06
simples...
i think the major difference is the number of options for
american children...i also think that the creativity by brazilians
and such may come from adverse situations...lack of equipment,
fields, poorly maintained fields etc...most likely make players
that can play in any conditions
of course i also agree with you that a lot of it is passion...americans
grow up watching the super bowl, world series mainly...dreaming of
playing on the big stage...soccer doesn't get any play on national
t.v. except for the world cup and the occasional friendly.
success also breeds success...american women's soccer grew great
interest in the world cup where they beat china. i actually remember
that game being on in bars with everyone talking about the game
which is virtually unheard of in the u.s. although i think soccer has
grown in popularity by leaps and bounds since then.
Did I hear correctly that the USA in ranket in the top 10 in the world?
http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statistics/index/0,2548,All-Dec-2005,00.html
#8 according to this article, I know countries in South America where "futball" is all they have and are not even in the top 100 the USA is doing very well. We will just have to wait and see if they can live up to there #8 status.
Lars,
I agree with everything you said .... but can I name more than 3 players of the Itallian, German, Spanish and the dutch teams? ... you gatta be kidding me right ? ...
like I said .. I know that the US has a goo "TEAM" .. what i mean is, They maynot have individual stars, but the gel very well as a team, and the strides they've taken after the 1990 WC is very impressive.
The US was also one of the teams to play in the first world cup. and they were one of the better performers too.
but somewhere between american football, basketball, and base ball they lost the plot. However they are making up for it now and coming up quite well. the womens team is brilliant ... of course your other
team is also good (sweden?)
I'm sure you agree with me that the FIFA ranking does not mean any shit... just coz one team is ranked higher than the other, it does not mean they are actually better. though it does give a general impression of where the team stands.
peace mate ... gotta go . have to finish this door schedule before noon!!..
merry christmas and happy new year... ( i'm taking a break till jan 3rd)
The rankings don't mean shit, except for Brasil being number and by far the best team in the world. The rest is a load of crap.
i meant 'number one'... need some sleep.
less than two weeks away!!! i can't wait. hopefully i'll find a job that'll be cool with me showing up after 12 so i can watch the games in the morning!
good luck, mine's letting me off the hook for the first 3 wks... only ticket i got was aussies vs croatia, but hey one's better than none.
Is it sick that we are moving to the West Coast early so we can catch the games earlier....
ahahaha, of course it's not sick. it's the world cup! =P
the US team that exists now, is much different than the goof-ball team that played in '94. The US will come out of its group above Italy and Czech Rep.
croatia
For England all you need to know for the moment is the key metatarsal bones on the foot of wonder boy Rooney.
An X ray of the boys head has unearthed another concern...
oh yeah, and not forget the imortal numbers that follow any talk of England and world cups.
1966 - they one it once!
won it!!
I'M ROOTING FOR BRAZIL AND i'M NOT ROOTING FOR THEIR PRESIDENT!
I'm for Brazil too ... and no it's not because they are the best right now ... it's a family thing ... been rooting for them since mexico'86 !!
i'm pretty excited about the US team this year. they're young, fast, and talented. a lot of teams out there have stars past their prime (france, england, etc.), where the US has their stars at their physical peak (minus reyna). as tough as their group may be, I would say the US squad are serious contenders, or at the least, no joke.
just as for architecture schools, soccer rankings don't mean a thing. it will be brazil vs. the hungriest of the rest of the bunch in the finals.
um...england past their prime?...not that i think they'll win
it, but i don't think i'd describe them as past their prime...if
anything i think the majority of their lineup is very much in
its prime...lampard, ferdinand, cole, rooney if healthy, gerrard
etc. are pretty intimidating as a group. you could argue that
owen and beckham may be a bit old...but they're no jeff agoos
or anything.
also i feel as though france isn't all that old..maybe more young
than anything...besides ziddane who is like our reyna..
i like the u.s. as well..but i worry about our attack..i guess we'll
see what's what when we put our real starting eleven on the field...
if donovan moves up next to mcbride and obrien and reyna
are healthy in the middle...with dempsey and beasly on the outside...
then maybe there'll be less to worry about. (or if eddie johnson
wakes up and shows his true talent.) the u.s. does finally have a
defense...or did before gibbs got hurt. having pope in the middle
isn't the best possible outcome for us. (talk about players past
their prime)
I was not saying as a team they are past their prime. I was speaking more about the stars of the team. The player a country looks to be their national hero like Marodona, Baggio, Zidane, or Beckham. I was speculating that Beckham and Zidane will no longer have the legs at the final minutes of a game when the championship is on the line. I think the US has the advantage of having their marquis player (Donovan) being at the right physical condition to step up and lead the team. I would say the same for Rooney of England, but that's a sad story.
btw, did anyone see dempsey's rap video? pretty funny. I think you can find it on Youtube.
I am lookjing forward to being in Argentina during the world cup, there should be some really great atmosphere in the bars and homes watching the game. I was in Guatemala during the last Copa Mundial and is was fantastic...much better than any sports even experienced here in the states, just watching in a bar during the cup is a whole different experience outside of the US.
what i really like to see is, an african country to pick up a cup or the cup. it is about time africans take home a gift.
i have this strange feeling that brazil is going to be thrashed out early.
Cameroon was awesome 3 cups ago...I can't wait for the games to begin.
Last world cup I was in indonesia, it was a pretty charged athmosphere, and the cup before that I was in Peru, this will be my first cup since i started caring about football in the states. I doubt it's gonna be as much fun as watching it overseas. I just love how wraped up in this other nations get, it simply dominates outside the U.S., like how Senegal declared a national holiday after they beat France in the 02 cup, personally I love the sport and the athmosphere this event generates in places like south america. Maybe if the U.S. wins it all this year (AHEM) my felow countrymen will start paying attention.
Orhan ... dont say things like that ... ;) .. I really want them to win ..
maybe coz they represent all that football is about to me.. simply love their style... But all said and done.. they have such a powerfull lineup .. it scares me. history proves that an all stat line up is destined for failure !!
I'd like to see the African doing well too ... and this time they have the players to do it ... but win the world cup ? .. hmmm ...
btw ... yesterday, Germany had to come back from 2-0 to draw the match with Japan at 2-2 ... sounds good for Japan ..
I just put 20 bucks on oz beating Brazil in the group stages, if it happens I’ll be a zillionaire ;-)
we have Japan first up so that’s going to be tough, won against Greece last week, although they looked far from the team that one the European championship.
But we have the Dutch in a couple of days so that should give us a good idea of how we are travelling.
and if it all goes horribly wrong its only a couple of months till we can snatch the ashes back off the poms.
won. not 'one'. bugger
england is going to win..simply because they have a robot on their squad.
^ huh ? .. sorry didnt get that ... whose the Robot ?
crouch did a lame dance after a late goal - hence 'robot'
all the papers are going 90 with this 'new craze' - god it's so pathetic here. anything to assuage england's fear of their upcoming beatdown. your mom can do the robot better than this guy
watched the england game last night...
and saw the crouch 'dance'...an interesting player...but i think part
of the problem with the english team i think...seems like more
of an experiment than a good idea...yes he has scored in his last
two national games and his touch looks as though it's improved...
i just don't think the game was made for someone that tall...
he did get fouled quite often in the box though...seems as though
a couple of times he was held down could have been called.
england looked dominate at times and positively average at others...
and the goal of the match belonged to hungary...just a sick shot.
watching england play though it doesn't seem as though they are
all that creative in the run of play...and couldn't score except off
set pieces...(other than the crouch goal)...i guess the team is built
for that it does best... beckham/cole crossing
into the box for crouch to put down balls for their mids/defenders to
run onto
dominant...not dominate...mm coffee.
[b]por el amor y la patria[b]
orale mi esmokety! arriba el tri! hopefully they don't disappoint us again... they always seem to play great in the first round, and then fall flat in the next phase.
I know ... el tri is always the best team to bow out first. Let's hope that doesn't happen this time around!!!!!
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