ANYTHING WORLD CUP

[sharkfutbol]

Good thing the US defender ducked.  The ball might have hit him rather than the back of the@#$! net

[BUNA95]

Not looking good down by 2

[sharkfutbol]

Donovan did great.  Doesnt change the fact our defense is not good.  And thank goodness Torres is off the field.  Hope he sees no more action this cup.

[ForeverADog]

What a comeback! We should have won but a certain ref is an idiot! Now let's go Algeria!

[BrenhamFan]

The US defense played horrible.  Midfield and forwards played well though.  Horrible refs both games today....cost the US a win and Germany atleast a draw.  No blaming the ball any more.  It's the officiating that's the problem.

[bullets13]

[quote name="sharkfutbol" post="813564" timestamp="1276873853"]
Donovan did great.  Doesnt change the fact our defense is not good.   And thank goodness Torres is off the field.  Hope he sees no more action this cup.
[/quote]

what did torres do wrong?  he wasn't great, but at least he didn't spend the whole game falling down like ricardo clark does.

[bullets13]

the ref in this game was terrible.  there were several non-calls or fouls against slovenia that went against the US.  on the goal that was disallowed, he missed THREE blatant holds that could've gone for PK's, plus disallowed the goal on a phantom foul against the US.  as bad as they played in the 1st half, the US looked pretty good in the 2nd, and deserved the win they were cheated out of.  Defensively, I don't know what to say.  Against England we did well the last 86 minutes, but today it wasn't good.  Gooch might not be ready to be out there yet.

[bullets13]

oh yeah, and the Findley handball was terrible.  not only did it kill a play where the ball was bouncing around in their goal mouth, it also means he's out for the next game.  this is a shame, because i thought he finally showed he deserves his spot on the field today.

[bullets13]

Algeria has held England to a 0-0 draw through 75 minutes.  This could make for an even more interesting final day of action for Group C if the result holds up.  Regardless of the result of this game, US controls their own destiny.  if they find a way to beat Algeria by 2 goals or more, they're guaranteed to advance.  A draw for Algeria here could actually benefit the US, as when the US/Algeria game rolls around, Algeria is likely to sit back and try to just get a point for pride if they actually have a chance to advance with a win...

[OldSkool97]

The ref's did a top notch job today and should be proud of themselves  :-[  But on a serious note, the US did alot better in the second half and need to do the same nxt wednesday vs algeria. Defensively they dont look sharp and hopefully they will get it figured out by then. Question...Now the United States needs to win and in doing so score more than England does if they are to win also to advance right?

[bojonomore]

Please!  Will the US quit letting up the first goal!  It's getting ridiculous...defense was nonexistent in first half.  Still, they should of won the game 3-2 had it not been for the worst call of the cup.

[ForeverADog]

The US, England, and Slovenia control their own destiny. If they win the advance. But with draws their are several other possible scenarios.

[bullets13]

[quote name="OldSkool97" post="813659" timestamp="1276893330"]
The ref's did a top notch job today and should be proud of themselves   :-[  But on a serious note, the US did alot better in the second half and need to do the same nxt wednesday vs algeria. Defensively they dont look sharp and hopefully they will get it figured out by then. Question...Now the United States needs to win and in doing so score more than England does if they are to win also to advance right?
[/quote]

If the US and England both win, goal differential won't matter.  Right now, US and England are on 2 points, Slovenia is on 4, and Algeria is on 1.  A US and England win means they'd both have 5 points and advance, with Slovenia with 4 and Algeria with 1 being eliminated. 

[bullets13]

So here are the possibilities in which the US can advance:

US and England both win, and both advance.  since they both currently have a goal difference of 0, whoever wins by the most would take the top seed. If they both win by the same amount, whoever has scored the most goals in the cup will take the top seed.  If that doesn't separate it, it would be a random draw.

US and England both tie:  That would give them each 3 points, and Slovenia would win the group with 5.  Since they would have each tied all three games, goal difference would be 0 for both.  It would then go to goals scored, and the US currently holds a 3-1 advantage in that, so England would have to make up two goals to force a random draw (England ties 2-2, US ties 0-0, for example) or make up 3 goals to advance (England ties 3-3, US ties 0-0) which would be pretty unlikely. 

US ties and England loses:  This would put Slovenia on 7 points, US on 3, England on 2, and Algeria on 2.





The England tie today helped the US.  If England had won today, there was a possibility of a 3-way tie at the top at 5 points if the US won their next game, and England had tied.  Now, US is guaranteed to advance with a win, and also has a slim chance of advancing with a tie.



Please feel free to correct me if i got any of this wrong.  I just got a migraine trying to figure it all out in my head.

[ForeverADog]

Great job bullets! I was just to lazy to type all that out lol. But that's why you have 3 times as many posts as me!

[OldSkool97]

Thanks for the input!

[hj_hawk_60]

US should win.. And as long as they win they advance I believe.. Regardless of the Slovenia/England game, a US win would advance them to the knockout round..

IMO after FIFA investigates the game, Finley should be allowed to play.. That "hand ball" yellowcard should not keep him out of this game, because that referee was not prepared for the speed of a world cup game

[OldSkool97]

Ghana goes down 1-0 to Australia then an Australian player gets a red card for a hand ball inside the penalty box and Australia now has 10 players on the field for the second consecutive game. Following the red card Ghana gets a penalty kick and makes it. The game finishes in a 1-1 tie. Ghana should have taken better advantage of being one guy up.

[Guest ECBucFan]

Here is the official advancement scenarios for USMNT:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/wc/7060857.html


But I say FORGET THEM. We simply need to go out Wednesday and KICK A**!!!!  ;D

[DenisGScott]

the ref beyond sucked, soccer needs more than one referee on the field to see and judge calls, the whole "extra time" thing is bull, put 45 mins on the clock, count it down not up, if a player gets hurt or ball goes out of play simply stop the clock not have someone who puts up an arbitrary number, US soccer needs someone like a Mark Cuban who doesnt care about FIFA and will call out the rules or refs, use some instant replay, this is 2010, not 1970, only having 3 substitutions is stupid so if you sub 3 players out and then someone gets hurt  you cant replace them?  Do something similar to team fould in basketball, if a team gets say 5/6 yellow cards it results in a PK, what was it they said on coverage the other day the first 11 games there were 18 total goals scored?  And people wonder why soccer never catched on in the US? 

[bullets13]

Anelka got sent home after cursing out his coach.  France is probably out anyway.

[OldSkool97]

The French director has reportedly resigned as well.

In the games today Paraguay won 2-0 over Slovakia, Italy and New Zealand 1-1 tie, and Brazil beat Ivory Coast 3-1.

[bullets13]

New Zealand, considered by many to be the weakest team in the tournament, managed a tie against #4 Italy today.  This was more of a shocker than Switzerland beating Spain.  They now have 2 points, and can advance with a win over paraguay, which, although not likely, will be a lot easier to do that drawing with Italy.

[RonBurgundy68]

[quote name="OldSkool97" post="813891" timestamp="1277083304"]
The French director has reportedly resigned as well.

In the games today Paraguay won 2-0 over Slovakia, Italy and New Zealand 1-1 tie, and Brazil beat Ivory Coast 3-1.
[/quote]

Brazil is absolutely tearing it up right now...

[OldSkool97]

They sure are! Its going to be a good match to watch when they play Portugal (who beat North Korea 7-0 today) on June 25th.