Posted on 06/18/2006 6:15:23 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
A heroic defensive display by nine-man USA held Italy to a 1-1 draw in Kaiserslauten in their Group E clash on Saturday.
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One of the Czech's best players didn't play - he's a 6'8" striker named Koller. As I recall he got hurt playing vs USA (hamstring?).
So the Italians are in for a fight. How does the US match up against Ghana?
That's just a scratch.
There was a guy playing hockey last night for Carolina with a BROKEN NECK.
" Is Ghana that good? Or did the Czechs have a let down after beating the US?"
Both, IMO. Ghana, along with the Ivory Coast, are the best of the African teams. Ghana seem to lack a top quality striker. Actually, if Didier Drogba happened to be Ghanian, they would be a very serious team.
Looked like it hurt to me. I know head wounds bleed, but getting an elbow to the face like that just can't be good for you.
yeah and how long did he roll on the ground?
like I said, that's just a scratch to Erik Cole's broken neck that he was skating around with last night in Edmonton.
If you watched the game, and saw the skill and athleticism required, you wouldn't say "pathetic draw." That said, everyone has their own taste in sports. For my part I consider baseball boring. Any sport that could have a hog like Babe Ruth (who smoked) as their best player, can't be extreme.
I'm not familiar with the teams fielded by these folks. Elo was a mathatician who created a rating system for chess, but it transfers to any game with three possible outcomes. The soccer ratings it produces seem pretty accurate to me.
There are some problems of course. Chess players do play more games than soccer teams. In the chess world one gets a "provisional" rating until he has played 16 rated games. National Soccer teams have players coming and going all the time, and 16 games which is a beginning in chess is sometimes more than a lifetime in international soccer.
ML/NJ
McBride didn't roll on the ground at all as I recall. That was for the Italians who thought they were at an Olympic diving match, not a soccer game. The one thing about soccer that drives me crazy is that plenty of teams specialize in acting. I mean Oscar level stuff. Touch them when the ref is looking and they fall down screaming in pain. Bah humbug.
It was a good result! I'm proud of team USA. They really bounced back from a defeat on Monday handed to them by the Czechs. Had they lost, they would be out of the tournament.
" I'm not familiar with the teams fielded by these folks"
To be fair, I'm not sure I even know where any of them are ;)
Basically though, any rankings system will always be debateable, obviously. The one you posted was interesting, I'm sitting here now with my girlfriend picking out bits that we agree and disgree with. Croatia and Japan not really gripping us at the moment!
lol. gotta love Hank Hill. Propane and Propane accessories.
I wouldn't call it gripping either, but the PK save was nice.
ML/NJ
Don't know about that. They did show a graphic saying that no team had ever scored in a World Cup with only 9 men.
The first red card was arguably legit. The other two were bogus. Too many people seem to forget that soccer is a contact sport.
It may seem quaint but personal attacks like that are considered rude here. Learn the rules of this private property site where you are a guest and then post responses.
"They did show a graphic saying that no team had ever scored in a World Cup with only 9 men."
Cameroon beat Argentina (World Champions at the time) in the opening match in 1990. They definately finished with 9 men, but they may have scored when they still had 10.
Yep. The Italians had the same problem. Couldn't figure out that the USA was going to give them competition. Too bad;>) This pool is really interesting. Czechs beat USA, USA ties Italy, Italy beats Ghana, Ghana beats Czechs. Crazy really. Free for all. I am sure Arena will take the Ghanians seriously. I just hope that our team can recover physically in the 5 days between games. We're down two good guys as are the Ghanians.
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