Posted on 06/26/2014 7:23:27 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
Can two defensively suspect teams settle on a needed draw? If Team USA and Germany simply equal each others goal tallies, both sides will go through to the knockout rounds. In most cases, it would be expected that the two sides should line up in highly defensive formations and show little adventure, committing only the minimum number of men to any attack. If both sides play defensively, the draw will come regardless of any conspiracy.
The problem is, neither side is built to play the sort of boring, unadventurous soccer such a fixture requires. American fans are well aware of the struggles of Team USA to secure a back line, and Jurgen Klinsmann has settled on a system which uses two deep-lying and mostly defensive midfielders in Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman to protect that back four.
Similarly, Germany is not the Germany of soccer legend, solid and hard-working and just good enough on set pieces to score one more goal than its opponent. Instead, under Jogi Loew Germany has been transformed into one of the most innovative and exciting attacking teams in the world. Playing a 4-3-3 without any true forward, the German system arguably includes either two or three false nines. As Mario Götze, Mesut Özil or Thomas Mueller drops out of the forward position and drags a defender out of position with him, one of the others or a midfielder like Sami Khedira will see the space that opens up and make a run toward the danger zone. These runs have produced many big chances already in the tournament, and the Germans have averaged three goals per match.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Get Bradley off the field. Has he made one good play in this entire tournament
Correct. We need Portugal to score a goal now.
Come on CR7!
Brian McBride is one of my favorite all-time American players, he’d do well in situations like this, a good person probably as well. Okay, 16 minutes and added time left.
Poor JJ, God-Speed.
Portugal just scored
I think he heard you. CR7 just scored. USA is much safer now.
Thank you, Jesus.
Portugal almost scored again. They need two goals to oust the US or if the US concedes another.
You know Christian Ronaldo (Ronaldo is actually his middle name) was named after Ronald Reagan, right? Fact.
This soccer thing is Euro-socialists shoving foreign sports down our throats- we are a third world kleptocracy if this keeps up.
The U.S. defender pulled an "Obama cringe" attempting to block the German score ... a bit more of a sell-out would've been nice.
No one is forcing you to watch it or post on this thread.
Looking good for the USA due to point differential tiebreaker over Portugal. (Thanks to Germany for that first game v. Portugal!)
so we’re in????....even after losing?
We lost.
But with Portugal’s win, Team USA advances to the Round Of 16.
Yes, we’re in!
Germany won the Group G title.
We’re getting better and its a respectable loss.
Completely underwhelming but we are through. Wish I felt better about how the team played today.
Ronaldo scored the goal that protected the USA.
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