Posted on 06/10/2006 5:54:26 AM PDT by soccer_maniac
One of the most fancied teams in Germany, England will open their FIFA World Cup™ campaign against Group B rivals Paraguay today -- LIVE NOW on ABC: England v Paraguay
You have be the best to reach the top. They used to say Americans were poor cyclists and the Europeans were the best. Then a guy named Greg Lemond came along in Zurich in 1983 and proved them wrong. He stunned the people who said it was fluke by winning three Tour De France tournaments. Oh yeah, we'll have that after the World Cup's over. Only this time Lance Armstrong will not be in the running. Back to football: I think some day we'll get there. I don't buy this myth Americans are slobs at whatever they do. We have the talent and its just a matter of before, as the old saying would have it, the cream rises to the top.
Thanks for the ping!
Watched yesterday's Germany match and it was a good opener. I wanted to see Poland do better, but that's the breaks.
Observations from the England-Paraguay match:
The officiating looked favorable towards Paraguay. Maybe it was just me.
Did David Beckham get credit for the "own" goal? I didn't have enough caffeine yet, but he sure shouldn't have gotten that credit. Maybe it was the annoyance of having to listen to Dave O'Brien commentating.
Peter Crouch--"Drama King Of The Match" Nominee!
Sweden SHOULD beat T&T by about 3-0. We shall see what happens though.
Thanks for the explanation.
I was kind of hoping that the Ticos would beat Germany yesterday and weren't headed home today instead.
Oh please -- we EASILY qualified. We won our group and were WAY ahead of the fourth-placed team, who by-the-way also qualified in the end. We haven't missed qualifying since 1986.
It will be a miracle if they make it to the second round. Hey I'd like a 1980 on grass but I'm not holding my breath.
You think the difference in quality between Tean USA and the other teams in the group is similar to 1980 vs. the Soviets? You are joking, right?
We outplayed Germany in the quarterfinals in 2002. That's not my opinion but Franz Beckenbauer's. No, we're not favored to win the Cup or even advance out of the froup, but to claim it would be a "miracle" if we did is just ignorant.
Sheeezzz..
You don't sound very American.
Off course you guys have a great chance.
The Czechs should be worrying about you guys!!
Lucky to be in Germany? Pfoy!!
GO USA!
Good post.
Agreed.
It's finally time for the rest of the world to start worrying about team USA.
On one hand, I'd love to see Sweden win. Not sure how Andreas Isakkson's injury will affect the Swedes. On the other hand, I'm in the mood to see an upset! Hehe!
BTW.
I would say that the USA is a better team than Greece, the reigning Euro champs. The Greeks are not even in the Cup this time around.
I dont think he did.
Actually, the rest of the world will respect the American team before Americans do. That seems to be the way of it around here these days.
USA is Fifa ranked 5 but probably about 12-15 in reality. Part of the thing that confuses Europeans is that it's not all about the "best players", but the best team. US plays great team ball, which compensates for their lack of flair. Ask Portugal in 2002, which "on paper" had more skill but were overplayed by the US.
Good! I can properly inform the hubby he was W-R-O-N-G! Hehe!
So? No rooting for the Swedes in your household today?? I guess if I want an upset, I need to root against them. (I'm working myself up for this...Hehe!)
Our players are fairly good but not great. The major advantages of Team USA are the large number of matches we play, sense of mission and consistent coaching (Bruce Arena is the Dean of all WC coaches).
How many USA players would start for England?
I think that Team USA needs a world class striker or preferably two who would also be media magnets so that the sport really breaks through here.
I think USA have a fair chance of qualifying from their group. It's surprising that so many Americans support other countries' teams ahead of their own. I think that's because they can watch Premiership, La Liga and Serie A games on television but the American games don't get much coverage.
It has been credited as an own goal to Gamarra.
I'm saying it would be great if it was like 1980. Something like that comes along once in a lifetime. Who knows. I do have fond memories of the "Miracle On Ice" when we beat the feared Red Hockey Machine. And we all know how the rest of the storyline in 1980 turned out. We could use some good news. :)
No rooting for Sweden.
I like Denmark, but unfortunately, like Norway, they did not qualify.
Sweden??? Pfoy!!
I'd rather root for Iran.
Almost ;-)
I watched that Portugal-US match again yesterday. It seemed that after John O'Brien scored the first goal...Portugal was never truly the same. The mentality (at least from TV appearance) for Team Portugal was this game wasn't going to be a "walk in the park", but a game they weren't going to have any issues with. If Senegal hadn't beaten France, that game would've been the big upset in the last World Cup for group play.
That game really was disappointing. England was lucky to win after an early own goal, they didn’t make the impression to achieve a lot on their own today. Their play was typically boring Eriksson-style, not a lot to see of their former offensive spirit. Paraguay on the other hand hardly made the impression that they want to win a point.
Yesterday we saw Germany without Ballack - Today England without Lampard and Gerrard.
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