US National Team and the World Cup
Bob Bradley Under Contract through 2014
by Dave Clark on Aug 30, 2010 8:42 PM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
25 comments
It was announced today that Bradley will remain the US National Team Coach for the foreseeable future. I am likely supposed to write something with a strong opinion on this. I should state one of the following;
Bastards at USSF don't know what they are doing at all. They wasted the opportunity and continued their nepotism.
or
Bradley did so well he didn't deserve to lose his job. His tactical awareness is decent and he took the Nats some place they have never been.
I find it hard to be too passionate right now about this decision. Maybe I'm still too excited over the win, or that I'm looking towards the US Open Cup match-up with Chivas USA in the Semi-Final.
But, one of the main reasons I'm not an extremist on the position is because the problem really hasn't been the coaching. Whether Bradley used a 4-1-3-2, or 4-2-2-2 or whatever wouldn't have been the difference.
The United States of America just doesn't have the talent to be better than a 15-25 best nation. That's the problem, and Bob Bradley can't solve that. American colleges, MLS Academies, the ODP, the lower divisions - that's where the solution is.
That's the future that excites me.
25 comments | 2 recs |
Your unofficial Seattle World Cup viewing guide (updated for Semifinals)
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jul 6, 2010 6:00 AM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
0 comments
Watching the World Cup has been like a part-time job for me, literally up to the point where I actually appreciated the days off.
Hopefully that doesn't sound like I'm burnt out or anything but the reality is that I've spent more time watching soccer in the past few weeks than I have spent watching almost any other one thing in the past year. I also have to admit that I'm feeling a little guilty about having the time to do this...
But we're finally in the homestretch and I, for one, plan on enjoying it. Today, I'm heading out to the Kangaroo & Kiwi to watch the Uruguay-Netherlands match. Don't have a plan for Wednesday, yet, but I definitely don't intend to be doing it at home.
One notable addition to the list of places to watch is the Sounders will be hosting a viewing party for the final at Seattle Center's Fisher Pavilion. Admission is free.
Possible Points Won by Region - Updated
by Dave Clark on Jul 3, 2010 2:12 PM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
19 comments
So I eat a bit of crow. Europe looks likely to win the Cup at this point, but did the region win often enough to justify the representation it has at the World Cup?
Here are the numbers at the end of the Group Stage
| Region | Wins | Draws | Played | % Pts Won |
| CONMEBOL | 8 | 4 | 15 | 0.622 |
| UEFA | 15 | 9 | 39 | 0.462 |
| AFC+NZ | 4 | 5 | 15 | 0.378 |
| CONCACAF | 2 | 4 | 9 | 0.370 |
| CAF | 3 | 4 | 18 | 0.241 |
Going into the knockout rounds in order to keep things even I'm going to count all extra time games as a draw. This still gives teams that advance the opportunity to win more points, but I feel it most fairly represents the quality. Clearly South America deserves another outright slot, which they will get just by nature of hosting the next tournament.
I included New Zealand in with Asia as I feel that the future of Oceania is as a sub-region of Asia with 5 automatic qualifiers and no vote in FIFA matters.
Here it is headed into the Semi Finals
I'll be rooting for Mexico
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 27, 2010 10:24 AM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
56 comments
Hi, I'm an American supporter who will now be rooting for Mexico.
I know that will sound odd to some of you, and that still confuses me.
Granted, Mexico is our biggest rival. In the world of American sports, we don't normally root for the teams we call rivals, no matter the circumstance.
Maybe this is where I differ from some of you, but I see national-team sports as an entirely different animal than other kinds of competition.
From my vantage point, as long as Mexico isn't playing the U.S., they are the side that most deserves our support.
For purely footballing reasons, the U.S. has more to gain from a deep run by El Tri than from any other nation. Mexico is now the sole surviving CONCACAF side and while advancing two of our three World Cup entries into the Round of 16 was a decent accomplishment, failing to get any teams beyond that point would hardly bolster our case for more than our current 3.5 berths.
Really, though, this is not a football issue for me. If I'm being entirely honest, a significant amount of my decision-making process on whom to root for during the World Cup is based on personal feelings about the country and its people.
GameThread: U.S. takes on Ghana
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 26, 2010 8:51 AM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
55 comments
With a win today, the U.S. Men's Soccer Team would advance to the World Cup quarterfinals for just the third time in its history -- and for just the second time since 1930.
Standing in their way is a Ghana team that now represents Africa's last hope for a deep run. So far, African nations have enjoyed little home-continent advantage with the six teams collecting just 14 points and none of them accumulating more than four during the group stage.
That Ghana has advanced this far can hardly be considered a shocker -- the Black Stars also made the knockout stage in 2006 -- but missing their captain and best player Michael Essien certainly makes this at least a mild surprise. So far, they've been doing just enough to get by.
Both of Ghana's goals have come from the penalty spot via Asamoah Gyan. Facing an Australia team that was playing with 10 men for much of the match, they only managed a tie. If not for the Socceroos' falling apart against Germany in the group's first game, Ghana's loss in the final group match could have proven fatal.
Nkufo & Switzerland vs CONCACAF Minnow in Honduras
by Dave Clark on Jun 25, 2010 11:09 AM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
16 comments
Quite simply a thread to enjoy Blaise Nkufo v Honduras, a team with a few MLS players.
All teams are alive, though Honduras is barely so. Switerland can't win the group but stands a good chance to go through if they win.
Consider this an open thread
Groups E and F: Quick Review
by CarlosT on Jun 25, 2010 12:31 AM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
7 comments
I've been trying to write these as previews before the last group stage matches, but obviously I didn't make it for this one. So, here's a quick wrap-up of how these groups shook out.
Your unofficial Seattle World Cup viewing guide (updated for knockout stage)
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 24, 2010 4:09 PM PDT
in US National Team and the World Cup
8 comments
I don't know about you, but the last couple weeks has been exhilarating, as well as exhausting. I've been getting up around 7 a.m. most days (which I'm sure many of you consider embarrassingly late) and have spent almost every morning and early afternoon watching World Cup. Truth be told, I'm actually a little relieved that we are now beyond the 4:30 a.m. stage of games and will soon be able to focus on just two games a day pretty soon.
Of course, this is where the tournament just starts to get interesting. As such, I've tried to update this viewing guide to reflect the new realities.
Most notably, I'm now declaring Fremont the Center of the World Cup Viewing Universe (as opposed to its already established monicker of Center of the Universe...). With ECS bringing its U.S.-Ghana viewing party to the 'hood at Nectar, and the George & Dragon already drawing crowds that have reportedly pushed 500 people, I think we can safely say there are few two-block areas in America where more people will be glued to the game.
From personal experience, I can tell you that if you are planning to go to either the George & Dragon or Nectar, I'd get there early. I got to G&D for the U.S.-England match at 6 a.m. and barely got inside. I was there at 6:45 for the U.S.-Slovenia game and didn't get inside until halftime. I got there at 6:15 for the U.S.-Algeria match (which, as you remember was on a Wednesday for god's sake) and barely made it inside for that one, too. For all three matches, the beer garden (which supposedly fits about 250 people) was filled up by game time.
The atmosphere there is pretty awesome, but you definitely have to be prepared to stand in line, stand during the game and eat standing up, as well as do everything else during your time there without much hope for a seat.
Assuming there's going to be considerable overflow, I've added a few Fremont places to the list (and it should be noted that nowhere I've listed is charging a cover).
For what it's worth, I've also checked out Azzurri (pretty small, but lively crowd) and popped my head into LTD (awesome selection of hi-def big screens, but really not a footy bar) during World Cup matches. I haven't personally checked out any of the other Fremont bars during World Cup matches, but it seems like most of them have been showing the games. I can tell you that The Ballroom has recently redone its patio and seems like it would be a decent place to catch the game if the other places are too packed.
Outside of Fremont, probably my favorite place to catch a game so far was the Kangaroo & Kiwi. We were there for the Australia-Germany match, and despite the lopsided score, we had a great time. Very lively crowd and they pour one of the best Bloody Mary's I've ever had (they even muddle the lime!).
The Ballard Loft was kinda dead on the days I was there (Italy-Paraguay and Mexico-France), but they have a great patio with a hi-def TV that even has sound. Azteca Mexican restaurant in Southcenter was kinda dead when we were there (Argentina-Greece), but they are giving away vuvuzelas and have supposedly drawn solid crowds for U.S. and Mexico matches.
Feel free to share your World Cup viewing experiences here.
And just to make your viewing experience all the better, here's where you can download the World Cup Team Reference Cards. We're going to try to update them for the knockout rounds, but no promises.
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