Posted on 07/11/2004 12:01:52 AM PDT by Central Scrutiniser
I think Greece showed soccer fans what the Detroit Pistons showed basketball fans. A team that plays well together can beat teams with more talent who don't play well together.
Mexico 1 - Argentina 0 (Last night in Peru)
ML/NJ
Having a blatant handball missed in the box followed by the same guy pulling a dangerous play also in the box (bicycle kicking the Argentinian in the face) sure helped Mexico keep that lead... :)
Nice idea, Eric but I don't think that's something the football world will have to worry about unduly.True enough. At the high school and college levels they are prepping for two-a-days now, while the NFL is planning the opening of training camps later this month. >:)
Like others here, I enjoy things like the snit the Mexicans went into when the US team knocked them out of the world cup. And of course if the US actually won the thing it would be amusing, especially since here it would still be a second level sport.
America is the land of innovation. One of the primary examples is how we combined soccer and rugby and created the Greatest Sport on Earth. >:)
-Eric
Good news from the world of real football!
After Germany and Italy's performance at Euro 2004 I'd certainly not automatically rank them above us. And Argentina crashed against Mexico just yesterday.
That said, I thought England got jobbed against Portgual and I suspect you do as well.
Focussing on individual results can be misleading. For instance, Greece won Euro 2004 but they are still ranked fairly low.
Can't disagree with you there. Either should have been a PK, but they were both on the same play. Even 1-1 wouldn't have been a bad result for Mexico.
I thought Mexico had the better of the play until the goal was scored. After that it's harder to tell because they were defending, but even then Mexico had a couple of big chances. (As did Argentina who had more than a couple. They must have had 30 corners!)
ML/NJ
Both of you guys must listen to the BBC and read The Sun!
You would have a more realistic perspective if you actually saw the game.
ML/NJ
Huh? That's like saying we want other countries to take-up basketball.
I strongly dislike baseball, but, to be fair, the name "World Series" was first used as marketing hype for the American baseball championship in 1903, a year in which it would have been rather impractical to invite anyone else to come play (assuming that anybody else in the world had a professional baseball team). They've just stuck with the name ever since.
A USA-vs-Japan-vs-Dominican Republic vs. etc. true world baseball championship would be interesting, but since there's no real demand for it, the game won't ever happen (excepting the Olympics).
The analogy isn't applicable because the American public doesn't usually care very much what goes on in other countries. The European public, on the other hand, is very interested in seeing America adopt European-style culture, European-style health care, European-style handgun laws, European-style athletics, etc.
Well, the reason the U.S. are rated so highly is because of the way rankings are done. You win and you get a certain number of points. Qualifying games etc. give even more points. Now, the U.S. is winning their wc qualifying games against such powerhouses like Grenada, Haiti and Honduras. They can only play the countries given to them in their group but in reality they have hardly any competition making their WC berth almost automatically.
And because they play weak teams they get a lot of points and a great ranking.
I doubt the U.S. could beat England, Czechs, Italy or Cameroon if it counted with their best squads right now. Just don't see it.
Better than England for sure! LOL!
So when Major League Baseball has its World Cup next year, it's because MLB feels that the American public doesn't care? What hogwash. MLB exists to promote baseball. FIFA exists to promote soccer. Heck, the WNBA exists to promote women's basketball. It's business, not some cultural conspiracy. You don't want to watch, fine. But you shouldn't be surprised if you get a polite chuckle when you suggest that all those pee-wees kicking around a ball on weekend afternoons are evidence that Europeans want to take away the "American" way of life.
I just read this response of yours, and I surmise that you don't follow baseball.
The US was lucky to end up tying Poland's second team at home today.
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