WORLD CUP SOCCER QUARTERFINALS, USA v. Mexico [USA 2, Mexico 0, First Ever USA Round 2 Win]]

June 16-17, 2002

[Ted]

Great picture of the upside-down sombrero, reminded me of the battle of San Jacinto... (where Texas won their independence from Mexico).

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

What a great win, great team effort, great heart. We have the horses to upset Gemany, but they do have better individual talent across their team. However, it's a team sport, and you never know... for now, let's just enjoy this stunning performance by a great group of Americans on foreign soil, where it seems almost everybody has rooted against them.

Friedel es el HOMBRE!!!!

P.S. - now if my Longhorns can whip up on Stanford tonight in the CWS it'll be an even better day! Who could root for a team with a stupid tree for a mascot anyway? Gimme a break...

[texlok]

How many underdogs get to the final four or the elite eight? In the end, it's the same old big schools (sort of like the World Cup *g*).

Very true, but still fun to watch. I'm pretty sure the US will get trounced by Germany, but I will still root for them, and for Senegal and a few of the others. It'll be fun to watch (I tape it and then watch it in the morning when I wake up).

[LenS]

No (and yes, I do know that there are no commercial interruptions). There's a clock that the TV viewers and fans in the stadium can see. It doesn't stop until the end of the half or overtime period. The officials add time for all the injuries and other delays. So several minutes are usually added on to the end of each half. But they don't stop the clock that we see. That's why the game clock on TV keeps on rolling even when play is stopped.

In fact, it's only recently that the officials began telling everyone the amount of "extra time". So an official could basically end a game when he wanted. A silly system that lends itself to abuse and confusion. At least now, teams and fans know that "extra" time will last two or three minutes.

[capitan_refugio]

I am hoping for a repeat, like the ice hockey team vs USSR!

But do you remember this report from this past March 28:

From USA TODAY

"ROSTOCK, Germany — There's something to be said when much of your team comes up to the armpits of your opponent.

A much larger and more physical German team handily beat the U.S. national team 4-2 Wednesday night in an international exhibition.

"We were outmuscled," U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "When you're a little bit smaller, you need to compete a little bit more, and we let them push us around a little too much."

U.S. coach Bruce Arena said, "(They) beat us in every phase of the game. But really the most dominating factor was their physical qualities, and they won an awful lot of battles on the field."

Okay, changing a few players can make a world of difference (such as adding a goalkeeprer who played on the UK 1st Division team). Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[xp38]

We may not have big-name players, but we play well as a collective.

Are you saying the US soccer team is like the Borg? :)

[baseballfanjm]

Thanks for filling me in. You're right, very confusing.