I'll wait til fall...
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 other’s 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 ...
Portugal 1-0. Good news for US.
Goal for Portugal. Good. Now Ghana has to score at least 2 goals to have a chance to catch the US.
Is that if the US scores 0?
I’ll take that right now.
Depends. Basically, Ghana has to win and the US has to lose for Ghana to go to the next round. If the US is in a 0-0 draw, the US goes to the next round.
It was a self-goal by Ghana at that.
thanx.
trying to keep up.
Ouch, that hurts Ghana pretty bad. Good for us though.
Ghana goal difference is now 3. And the US has scored more goals.
The US can lose and still go thru on goal difference depending on how bad they lose.
Yeah, Ghana has to pull out of a pretty deep hole now.
We still have to worry about Portugal as well.
Why is Bradley on the field. Can never control the ball
Game almost half-over, even if teams don’t collude for a draw, unless surival is really on the line, a team won’t have the same urgency to score.
USA 0 0 Germany
Yeah, but there is a massive goal differential there. Portugal would have to trounce Ghana and Germany would have to trounce us.
Portugal will have to really open it up on Ghana. They are thinking just that based on the number of crosses being sent into the box.
Half time - 0-0
USA holds off Germany.
I don’t know why and I have never understood the fascination with him. I don’t want to be too harsh on the guy but there is a reason why he hasn’t done a lot over in the leagues in Europe.
I'll wait til fall...
The United States played well in that half.
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