ajzepp

lol, glad to have you around for the WC, bro! As for Ghana, there's no way they get past Uruguay, so you won't have to hope too hard

I'm just not scared of England. I'm on the Alexi Lalas bandwagon with regard to his position that England has a few nice players but is otherwise very overrated. Rooney isn't a threat at all right now, and their overall team play has been mediocre at best. At least the Germans have had signs of busting out the offense, and that Wunderkind player we have....Ozil, or whatever his name is....might have a breakout match against the English. Besides, we get Klose back and he's much more of an offensive threat than anyone the English have right now. I'm going to call it as a 3-1 victory for the Germans!

Yeah, he didn't get much done given the opportunities that were there prior to today's match. He'll have time to redeem himself, though....he's still just a a kid.

Altidore just wasn't quite himself...he's usually a solid finisher from what I've seen, but he couldn't even make proper contact with the ball half the time. We've definitely made a lot of progress in terms of creating opportunities, but as Meazza pointed out, the defense just isn't ready for prime time.

Perhaps, but we still should have played much better than we did. If we played well and just got beat by a better team (which was going to happen sooner or later anyway), I can live with that. But the team just looked uninspired and sloppy today.

Well, that looked much more like the '06 team than it did the team we've seen play this time around. Very poor ball control, constantly dispossessed, no proper set-ups, etc. I think I'm going to officially coin the presence of "The Curse of Freddy Adu". I think the way we treated that kid in '06 was just not right, and we're paying for it against this damn Ghana team now. I'm sorry, but we should be able to beat them WITH Essien....just not the way I wanted them to go out. Oh well...

Yeah, you're right on about the defense. I think this may be the end of the road....Ghana looks much more prepared and determined today.

Well, I figured it was only a matter of time before Bonehead Bocangegra FUGGED us in the arse. What a dumbass.

Damn right....it's an avg of 2.6 this year up from 1.8 four years ago? That's absolutely HUGE, and it definitely supports the point that the soccer audience is growing steadily in this country. That's almost a 50% rate of growth in only four years! The ESPN/ABC contract is huge....HUGE, I TELL YA!

Darn right, cause if we get even HALF the opportunities against Ghana that we had against Algeria, we'll put up at least two, maybe three goals. There's just no excuse for losing this match tomorrow. I expect them to come out and play tough and move on to the next match. This team is much better than the '06 team, and they need to keep this train chuggin' along!

I was in the corner of Jurgen Klinsmann pretty firmly when we were looking for a coach to replace Mr. Perfect a few years ago, and was really upset that we passed him over. I have to say, Bradley is really showing me a lot this WC, and even before this WC. The guy seems to say the right things, and for whatever reason the players tend to play hard for the guy. Im really glad to see him come out against flopping....it's fuggin asinine how bad it gets. The Kaka example he uses is spot on....one of the most pathetic displays I've ever seen.

HFBD, SD!!!

Exactly. And most fans of the sport will acknowledge that it'll never be on level with the MLB, NBA, etc, because it likely never will and it's obvious. But that doesn't mean it won't remain a very viable, healthy, steadily growing presence here with a fan base that is pretty loyal. With the bigger leagues in this country, you tend to have the best players in the world in those leagues. Obviously the same is not true of soccer and the MLS. The greatest players in the world play for clubs in England, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc. So yeah, it'll never be on par with the bigger leagues in the US, but it doesn't need to be.

I was listening to the Erik Kuselias show on ESPN radio last weekend. He was asking the question if it really mattered whether the US team beat Algeria and advanced, or if they just went home. I just sent him a link to this video so he can maybe answer that question for himself. U-S-A!!!!! U-S-A!!!!! U-S-A!!!!!

Actually I wasn't referring to the youth stats...although I think that the more stars we have on the international scene, the more viable a career in soccer will become for those multi-sport athletes. That being said, what I'm actually referring to are things like I mentioned earlier in the thread. Next time you see either an international friendly played in this country, or even better yet an exhibition between two international club powers or an MLS team vs a top Euro club team, try and get a ticket. The soccer base in this country is starving for world class soccer, and every year when they bring these events to the larger cities in this country, they sell out nearly immediately. I've tried twice to get tickets to go see a euro club exhibition (once with Chelsea, once with AC Milan) here in ATL when they were at the GA dome, and I didn't make it to either. They sell out in NYC, Philly, KC, Chicago, etc, etc. On top of that, the MLS is beginning to really get a foothold, and they have made many very sound decisions on how to continue to generate growth. Loaning out our top players to clubs abroad, encouraging top players nearing retirement to play their last year or two in the MLS, scheduling friendlies for MLS teams vs. top club teams, growing the league at a deliberate pace, establishing the market for new soccer-only stadiums, etc, etc, etc. On top of THAT, the ESPN contract is absolutely huge. Their long-term contract with the English Premier League and their broadcasts of the Champions League, USMNT matches, etc., allows Americans to see the best in the world. All of these factors allow for sustained, steady growth of the US soccer market, and they serve to instill higher levels of passion in those who are already on board. Anything we do in the WC or on the national stage is icing on the cake, IMO

Wow...that gave me goosebumps! What a great moment for team USA!

That's a passionate mofo!

Those that don't care about the sport don't pay attention to its growth anyway. The fact of the matter is that it's significantly more popular in the states now than it was in '94, and there are many indicators of that.

Wow, I can't believe Italy is out. Sorry meazza Thought they were going to come back late in the game, but I guess they just didn't have it this time.

See, where all you guys see is a hot chick and a "prank", I see that Philly PASSION, BABY!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!! GO FLYERS IN 2011!!!!!

John Terry says "hi"

Win or gtfo, baby....just as it should be!

I will be rooting for them, for sure. This is shaping up to be an awesome WC, with many of the major players hitting the round of 16...Argentina is still my pick, with Uruguay being my upset special, and the US now being my dark horse DAMMIT I wish I were unemployed like Pete lmfao

I would never route for my "heritage team" over the US team, but I hope it doesn't come to that

Uruguay in particular is very dangerous. Diego Forlan is a monster, and I don't know that we'd have an answer for him. I don't know much about the S.Koreans, but Serbia would be a pretty tough match up for us, too.