Posted on 06/16/2014 7:36:42 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Great win for the old U.S. of A. !!
Folks have to realize that we weren’t really all that competitive in the past - even if we lost 0-2 or 0-3...other teams just got their goals and rested. To beat a pretty good Ghana team and “maybe” have a chance against Portugal (don’t bet the farm on that) is pretty cool.
USA has finally figured out how to be competitive in soccer - did you see our team? If they had put our guys in the uniforms of Cuba I wouldn’t have noticed anything...swarthy young men with a German coach...that’s how you do it. Nothing against our suburban boys - but you gotta do what you gotta do to win. The “Son’s of the Mayflower” aren’t what we put out there in Basketball either :^)
Football will never be as popular as other sports but its developed a sizable following here, especially among young people.
People just felt elated we won. It’ll never be taken away from us even if Team USA doesn’t make it to the final.
Some of the photos you posted were watermarked Getty, and AP. Sorry, but them’s the rules.
Ok. They didn’t make that clear on there - its hard to see watermarks. I assumed they all were BBC property.
I’ll follow the rules.
I don’t think as a team sport, the MLS is ever going to compete with the NFL, or MLB.
But more and more, Americans are following the Top-Flight European Leagues. And also support of the National Team is becoming more typical of support of the National teams around the world. Americans have bought the most WC tickets of any country outside of Brazil...actually this has been the case for the last few WCs.
What’s missing is that household name, that American “Messi” or “Ronaldo”. The one who can inspire young kids the pursue playing the game at the highest levels.
I think that’s the true.
That said, the MLS will remain profitable because it has found a way to bring football in line with American tastes without compromising the classic game.
There’s a lot of new talent. We’re not the best in the world to be sure but we’re getting there.
And where “world series” only include american teams!!
“We shouldn’t have beaten Ghana given the possession differential, the defense was incredible and Howard was the MVP.”
I’m glad the US won, but I agree with you, Ghana dominated the game and had oodles more scoring opportunities.
One thing the MLS needs is rivalries...They are the bread and butter of club soccer. I’m talking a less violent version of Celtic-Rangers. Perhaps the new New York club will develop a good Derby with Red Bull.
Even in the old NASL days, the Strikers-Rowdies were the Yankees-Red Sox of professional soccer.
Well, North American teams.
They squandered all of them due to a very aggressive US defense and some meticulous US goal-tending.
They could have played far better than they did. They still got beaten fair and square.
Ghana is a damn good team. But the US did a good job of battening down the hatches and not allowing passes to go into the box, save for the Ghana goal.
Canada doesn’t count as a foreign team. I remember my first trip to Canada (British Columbia), as far as I was concerned it was just another state - same fast food places, similar stores, same ambiance, the only difference the people were slightly more polite, and they had flower baskets hanging all over the place.
I come from an area where they’ve been playing soccer instead of football as the fall high-school sport for at least sixty years. Here are the two biggest problems with professional soccer that we don’t see at the high school level that leave me cold: “flopping” and other fakery on the field, and playing for two hours to a 0-0 tie, then deciding the game on 5 penalty shots.
I would also like to note that hockey and soccer are basically the same game, but hockey does not have these problems. Indeed, I’d say make it more like hockey: when you call a penalty on a guy, put him in a penalty box for five minutes or whatever. Two penalties, two guys in the box.
The one change I would make is instead of PKs, keep the game going but with unlimited substitutions, so players don’t get worn out.
Note that hockey games are now decided by penalty shots. (Never understood why we needed to legislate draw results out of the game).
Football games are now decided by an extra period in the playoffs and if that’s still tied, by a team kickoff shootout.
As far as NFL football is a cool game (and it is), the fact that the league cannot decide how to end a game points to a deficiency. I stopped following the “extra time” NFL rules when the announcers couldn’t explain what they are.
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