World Cup

[jllanclos]

We'll guarantee ourselves a spot in the next round if we win Sunday against Portugal and if Germany beats Ghana. I'm hoping this scenario plays out so the game against Germany won't make me cause a stroke due to the big "if" factor.

If USA (6) beats Portugal (0) and Germany (4) ties Ghana (1), the U.S. would be mathematically assured of advancing. If we beat Portugal, we advance. Germany won't lose to Ghana.

We need to find a way to keep more possession, though. Ghana dominated all but :45 of this game.

[basinbear]

If USA (6) beats Portugal (0) and Germany (4) ties Ghana (1), the U.S. would be mathematically assured of advancing. If we beat Portugal, we advance. Germany won't lose to Ghana.

We need to find a way to keep more possession, though. Ghana dominated all but :45 of this game.

passing was poor and we gave up possession far too easily

[NickatNite]

If USA (6) beats Portugal (0) and Germany (4) ties Ghana (1), the U.S. would be mathematically assured of advancing. If we beat Portugal, we advance. Germany won't lose to Ghana.

We need to find a way to keep more possession, though. Ghana dominated all but :45 of this game.

Agreed, but that's the beauty of sport. Cajuns won a game this year 2-0 and had one hit....a bunt!! Plus, how many times have we seen a team lead the entire game(any sport) only to lose at last second!? SCOREBOARD BABY! It's the only thing that matters!! USA USA USA!!!!!!!

[CajunRebel]

Love my country, but Germany looked very good today. Will be a major upset for USA to win or even tie.

They got the big lead before Portugal went down a man on a straight red (dumb ___!).

For us, a victory over Germany means not losing by more than 3 goals.

[raginsaints]

For us, a victory over Germany means not losing by more than 3 goals.

I disagree. I think we can hold Germany. I follow Germany very closely (heritage) and I think we do certain things that can frustrate them. We're in very good shape, we're athletic -- we just need to make sure we're focused. Thomas Müller can create a goal out of nothing.

I think people are kind of panicking too much about possession against Ghana. Holding possession really isn't all that big of a deal if nothing comes from it. Ghana had a lot of shots but they weren't great shots and we capitalized on our opportunities.

[cajunhawk]

We have a +5 aggregate goal differential on Portugal...we can lose to them (not by much)...and hope Germany pants Ghana to destroy their aggregate goal differential...then have Ghana turn around and squeak by Portugal and have Germany coast through against us by only scoring one or two. It's possible we lose the rest of the way and still escape the group of death. Amazing. 'Merica.

[cajunhawk]

I disagree. I think we can hold Germany. I follow Germany very closely (heritage) and I think we do certain things that can frustrate them. We're in very good shape, we're athletic -- we just need to make sure we're focused. Thomas Müller can create a goal out of nothing.

I think people are kind of panicking too much about possession against Ghana. Holding possession really isn't all that big of a deal if nothing comes from it. Ghana had a lot of shots but they weren't great shots and we capitalized on our opportunities.

Germany will go through us like a hot knife through butter. They have one of the better rosters filled to the brim with International experience at the highest level. Let's be honest...the US team has one of the weakest skill sets in the tournament. It's painfully obvious to anyone who has been watching soccer for an extended period of time. We don't have the caliber of athlete that Germany and Portugal possess...and the athletes we do have do not possess adequate International experience or even Club level experience.

The US defense was getting spread out and exposed last night...if it wasn't for Tim Howard and Jon Brooks head...we would be at 1 point and staring at a daunting task...or worse. Also...we will need a better game from Michael Bradley. He routinely missed pass after pass. Losing Jozy Altidore hurts badly...especially without Landon Donovan.

Thankfully...we lucked out against Ghana...Portugal seems to be in France 2010 mode...and Germany might play their 8th string against us when they have the group locked up.

[cajunhawk]

Dempsey is one tough guy. If you think soccer is only for kids, take a closer look at the World Cup. Running up and down an American Football sized field would make most NFL players have a stroke in about 20 minutes. Why don't they make fake fouls a penalty? That would end all the phantom blows.

They have guys who play the game straight...who don't take dives. Most of our guys will play the game the way it is meant to be played. Messi does too. Hell the guy ejected in the Germany Portugal game was giving Thomas Mueller an earful for being a ____ing Diva and made contact with his head. He deserved to get tossed...but Mueller deserved a yellow card for being a goddamn panty waist. If you get caught flopping...you should be given a yellow card and a tutu...let's see how much they flop around like they have tetanus when they have to run up and down the pitch in a sparkly tutu.

[sportsfanatic21]

I agree. Anyone who watched that game with an unbiased eye could see that we were outplayed in every facet. BUT, we scored 1 more goal than Ghana did. That's kind of the beauty of the game.

And we SHOULD get pummeled by Portugal and Germany, but all it takes is for their shooters to be a little off, our goal keeper to have a great day, and one of their defenders to slip at the precisely wrong moment (for them) for a humongous upset win. That's a lot of "ifs" though.

Either way, it's still fun to watch and root for our country, and hopefully they show well and sneak into the next round. GEAUX USA!!

[cajunhawk]

I agree. Anyone who watched that game with an unbiased eye could see that we were outplayed in every facet. BUT, we scored 1 more goal than Ghana did. That's kind of the beauty of the game.

And we SHOULD get pummeled by Portugal and Germany, but all it takes is for their shooters to be a little off, our goal keeper to have a great day, and one of their defenders to slip at the precisely wrong moment (for them) for a humongous upset win. That's a lot of "ifs" though.

Either way, it's still fun to watch and root for our country, and hopefully they show well and sneak into the next round. GEAUX USA!!

A draw against Portugal...a team who just got obliterated in the opening game...lost two players to injury in a game they lost 4-0...lost another to a boneheaded red card...and their star player is not 100%...is highly possible. I wonder if we will put 6 defenders on the back line. Call it the play and pray.

[sportsfanatic21]

Ha! That would be interesting. Kinda like playing four corners in basketball. We shall see how Klinsman decides to play it.

It sucks that we lost Altidore.

[raginsaints]

Germany will go through us like a hot knife through butter. They have one of the better rosters filled to the brim with International experience at the highest level. Let's be honest...the US team has one of the weakest skill sets in the tournament. It's painfully obvious to anyone who has been watching soccer for an extended period of time. We don't have the caliber of athlete that Germany and Portugal possess...and the athletes we do have do not possess adequate International experience or even Club level experience.

The US defense was getting spread out and exposed last night...if it wasn't for Tim Howard and Jon Brooks head...we would be at 1 point and staring at a daunting task...or worse. Also...we will need a better game from Michael Bradley. He routinely missed pass after pass. Losing Jozy Altidore hurts badly...especially without Landon Donovan.

Thankfully...we lucked out against Ghana...Portugal seems to be in France 2010 mode...and Germany might play their 8th string against us when they have the group locked up.

Germany's defense is made up of 4 center backs and they play extremely narrow. That means they're vulnerable on the counter attack. Fabian Johnson and Beasley will be key in that game.

Germany is going to play a fluid 3 man attack, where all 3 guys can move in and out. It's a positive for them because it means they can start the attack from many different points on the field and it's hard for our defenders to track who is the False 9 in that situation. That's why I said it comes down to focus.

However, if they're playing 3 guys who like to get the ball in the center, it often leads very large gaps of space out wide. That space is usually filled by wing backs who make runs up the field and act as psuedo wingers but they're playing Benni Howedes and Jerome Boateng, two natural center backs, as outside backs so, while they'll still be out there filling space, they won't be nearly as effective.

So what the U.S. needs to do is immediately get the ball to the wings when we win the balls back, make Mario Götze and Mesut Özil work hard on defense. Hummels hurt himself so he may not play and Germany is already weak centrally in defense, challenge them.

The reason we've been playing with 3 center mids is because we'll need them against Germany. It will be Kyle Beckerman's responsibility to sit a little deeper and pick up whomever is centrally in their attacking triumvirate. If he can try to neutralize the delivery to that man or keep that man from facing our goal, we can shut down a lot of their attacks right away.

Their midfield is interesting. Philipp Lahm was always a right back so he's very good defensively, he's one of the best tacklers the game has ever seen, but he's flanked by Sami Khedira who's known to go rogue occasionally and get out of position and Toni Kroos who's not all that interested with "getting stuck in."

We're going to get our chances on goal, it's going to come down to whether or not we can finish them.




Also, if you think we "lucked out" against Ghana, then you probably aren't that aware of what's happening anyway.