Posted on 06/17/2014 5:36:33 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
After an extraordinary start, the World Cup saw its first day of truly mediocre soccer on Monday. It is no coincidence that Monday also saw the debut of the U.S. men's team.
Don't get me wrong. The U.S.'s 2-1 victory over Ghana was about as dramatic as they come, a fitting chapter in what has turned out to be an improbable rivalry stretching over three World Cups. Clint Dempsey scored a fine goal in the first minute, before powering through a broken nose to complete the game. John Brooks came off the bench to score the winning header just moments before the final whistle, lifting the spirit of a team that had been battered like a punching bag for a solid 80 minutes.
But good soccer this was not. The U.S. played about as badly as you could play while still winning. And yet it is impossible to escape the overwhelming sense in the American media today that Team USA's victory over Ghana was somehow a triumph.
Every World Cup we are treated to a slew of stories about how this time the U.S. team will be different, which is to say a step above its usual uninspired play. Driving the hype this time around is the U.S.'s coach, the German Jurgen Klinsmann, a gifted former player famous for his blistering speed, his ultra-competitiveness, and his penchant for soaring when he could merely dive.
Klinsmann promised a more attacking kind of football. As Matthew Futterman wrote in one of the many profiles of Klinsmann in the run-up to the tournament: "Mr. Klinsmann taught the U.S. players to see the field differently — to impose themselves on opposing defenses, and for defenders to push high into the middle of the field and even to join the attack." As Klinsmann himself said, "You want to play an open game. You want to put your stamp on the game."
Sounds good, right? And so it was with some curiosity that I tuned in last night for my quadrennial viewing of the United States team — only to find the same dull, flabby soccer that has defined America's playing style for decades.
For most of the game, the U.S. was seemingly incapable of stringing together more than three passes at a time. Michael Bradley, supposedly the linchpin of the midfield, gave the ball away every other touch. It's bad enough that the U.S.'s sole striker is Jozy Altidore, who scored all of one goal last season for his club Sunderland, but he pulled up with a hamstring injury early in the game, leaving the U.S. with literally zero offensive options.
Then there's the defense, which was as adept at keeping its shape as a Jenga tower, falling apart at the slightest offensive push by the Ghanians. John Brooks may have turned out to be a hero, but the Ghanians appeared to be running at him as if he were the weakest link in an already fragile defensive chain. More shockingly, the Black Stars won the vast majority of 50-50 balls, easily out-muscling and out-hustling an American team that should at least be as fit as its opponents.
But all these glaring flaws were largely glossed over in the glow of victory. The U.S. defense was an "impenetrable force field," according to The New York Times. USA Today praised the team's "depth" and "workmanlike defense." CBS hailed Team USA for "bossing a match when it mattered most," and for "finding a way to be economical and resourceful and cunning and alert when all is on the line against an elite opponent."
Oh, please. This is shameless propaganda. It all fits the same pattern: ridiculous overpraise that is in no way connected to the reality on the pitch, fueling outsized expectations that cannot possibly be met. Klinsmann may want to institute a regime of lively, attacking soccer, but that seems like a pure fantasy when you take into account the players on his squad.
Now, of course, the national press is bound to overstate the national team's achievements. This happens everywhere. It is World Cup mania, after all. But in case there was any doubt about the truth of the matter, it is this: the American team is not very good.
Oh, and do you know where God mentions baseball first in the Bible?
So you believe everything Obama tells you? Ha! You believe Obama. Obviously he would lie about playing any sort of American game in order to try to pass as one of us.
Obama is obviously a soccer player. You can see it in everything he does.
Oh, and do you know where God mentions baseball first in the Bible?
Isa_22:18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.
See? The Rabbis in their tradition say it was a fast ball. Admit it, ye soccer people! Soccer is of the devil! Repent! Repent!
If there are any Americans here who have friends or loved ones lost in the sin of soccer, feel free to PM and I can get you in contact with my organization, "True Americans Against Soccer," and we can send an exorcist to your house. Here is an excerpt from a testimonial I received in the mail recently:
"My husband began watching soccer in 2012... as time passed, he became more and more unstable... eventually, I caught him cross dressing... Your ministers prayed over my husband until the devils of soccer fled his body, and now he is even better than ever! He watches football, no longer suffers impotence, and no longer has any interest in wearing women's clothing."
You too can be freed! ESCAPE THE SIN OF SOCCER!
I really don’t begrudge soccer fans their due but how can you love a sport that has it’s length of contest controlled secretly by one man?
We also saw him miss twenty free throws in a row, I know, I know.....it was like the moon landing, faked in Arizona.....or something.....
Oh, and you fail Bible literacy. First words in the scripture, Genesis 1:1. In the big inning........
*Missing the mark* Fail!
Anything can be faked. Even the news reportage of him playing basketball can easily be put together by Hollywood CGI technology. Now you admitted yourself that he wasn't very good at basketball, even by his own (false) claim. That proves that he did not play basketball that much and, therefore, must have been playing... SOCCER, because only soccer fails to utilize the arms very much, therefore leading to atrophy.
We also saw him miss twenty free throws in a row, I know, I know.....it was like the moon landing, faked in Arizona.....or something.....
But what did you actually see? Even Saddam had a body double who looked JUST LIKE HIM. And as for the moon landing, don't get me started unless you can seriously explain the fact that the American flag was FLUTTERING IN WIND! Is there WIND on the moon?
Oh, and you fail Bible literacy. First words in the scripture, Genesis 1:1. In the big inning........
I knew I was missing something, but you proved my point! God hates soccer!
It’s not a secret, except to those who don’t follow the sport.
but Germany will tear us to pieces.
Germany is going to tear most teams in to pieces from what I can tell.
Did ya ever notice how all(?) sports just use ONE ball!? Clearly they are ALL an endeavor to emasculate men. NEVER two balls. And they all make the men wear the SAME uniform. Just one more way THEY are breaking down the INDIVIDUAL.
I blame refrigeration. As soon as we started refrigerating beer, our women got uppity.
Could be all that extra time they have now. Instead of walking the mile down to the creek to go get the cold beer they just have to go to the fridge when we want one!
Soccer is as big as baseball in the under 18 crowd.
And look, a cat lover to boot.
Football is not much of a sport. The linemen are overweight and almost everyone is on HGH. Most of the game consists of people standing around waiting for the TV ads to be finished.
Baseball has a problem in that I don’t get the impression that parents want their kids to play it anymore. And I’ve seen my share of T-Ball games . . . in my opinion, something is missing.
“Whenever they got the ball they tossed sandwiches onto the sidelines.
The Ghana dudes all ran over there to get them.”
I’m still laughing at that one!
most Texans believe to be a Commie plot.
The majority of under 18 Texans are Mexican heritage, sorry, and they like soccer too.
Demography is destiny.
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