Posted on 06/05/2014 10:44:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Klinsmann Offers Brutally Honest Assessment Before Team Even Arrives In Brazil
The United States mens soccer team has its work cut out for it at the upcoming World Cup.
The United States is in what has been dubbed this years Group of Death, containing Germany, Portugal and Ghana.
It will be very difficult for the U.S. to get out of Group G, and head coach Jurgen Klinsmann isnt expecting a miracle in Brazil. In fact, hes being brutally honest and realistic about his clubs chances.
We cannot win the World Cup because we are not at that level yet, Klinsmann said, according to the New York Times. For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament. But part of Klinsmanns plan is to have the U.S. competing with the best of the best in the future, leading to sustainable success against the most talented teams in the world.
And while hes tempering expectations, hes looking forward to seeing how his team faces the daunting challenge head.
It is one of the most difficult groups of the whole draw, Klinsmann said back in December, according to Yahoo! Sports. It couldnt get any more difficult or any bigger, but that is what the World Cup is all about. We are looking forward to the challenge and we dont see ourselves as any kind of outsiders. If you want to get into the top 10 or 12 teams in the world you have to beat these guys.
This years squad is very young, which likely explains Klinsmanns controversial decision to leave 32-year-old Landon Donovan off the roster.
USA, which is No. 13 in the latest FIFA world rankings, will open up group play against Ghana on June 16, then take on Portugal on June 22 before squaring off with Germany four days later.
Wilbon is a certified moron.
American weakness is not compelling TV to me. If I liked watching that, I'd be watching Obama's foreign policy speeches...
The Muslim world did not fare well. Two countries on the list where almost everyone is Muslim (Iran and Algeria). Nigeria is about 50% Muslim, Bosnia about 40%, and Ivory Coast 39%. No others where Muslims are above 20% of the population.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
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