World Cup (me, freeper and Old man astro with occasional MM kickball reference lol) Thread
- Thread starter weevilcatch
- Start date
Man we played more defense in the 2nd half. I knew when they were spending more time defending a penalty kick was bound to happen.
How dare you leave out my extremely tasteful kickball references. 😂
Thank God the matches have started. I was completely over the rainbow armbands kerfuffle. Can we get one sporting event without politics? USA crapped the bed in the second half but I've got 4 teams I'm pulling for so not a complete disaster....
He got so much wrong after the break. If I ever get to my computer I will cover it
I know Clob likes to hop in every now and again too.
My boy Saka turned out for England yesterday.....I love watching that kid maneuver around the goal....
The smallest country in the World Cup-- Qatar- the host, with 2.9 million people. 0 previous world cup appearances. The only reason they are in is because they are hosting. The only reason they are hosting is because FIFA took bribe money. So Qatar* shouldn't even be there.
2nd smallest country- Wales- 3.1 million people.
1 previous WC appearance 68 years ago.
Largest country-- USA-- 350 million people.
So basically the Largest country in the WC can't even beat the smallest country (that earned a spot).......
Marinate on that.
2nd smallest country- Wales- 3.1 million people.
1 previous WC appearance 68 years ago.
Largest country-- USA-- 350 million people.
So basically the Largest country in the WC can't even beat the smallest country (that earned a spot).......
Marinate on that.
Just a thought. So what is the number of people in USA that care about soccer vs those in Wales? I'd venture to guess it is 3.1 mill vs 3.1 mill. Surely I jest but national passion for any sport drives talent from a young age. Other than rugby, soccer is all Wales has. Their kids are kicking a soccer ball from the time they pop out of the womb. The majority of US kids play soccer as a weekend social activity.
Here is what I see in my small corner of Texas. At age 5 every kid plays soccer in the fall and T ball in the spring. At age 7 half of the best athletes have quit playing soccer and are playing either fall baseball or fall football, and still play spring little league. The ones who continue to play soccer either aren't good at the other sports or their parents run every night taking them to practices/games for every sport and try to cram everything in. The next years are more of the same until a small portion of kids are left playing soccer. Most of the better players chose different sports by the time they are 10 or 12. I live in a small town and there is not many parents who push their kids to play soccer over other sports. Not saying it's right or wrong but this is what is happening in my experience.
Man I would've boycotted this WC! I'm of Mexican descent and let me tell you that all the Mexican fans are going to get wasted in the hotels. No way futbol can be played without cervezas!
If the best athletes in the US started playing soccer at a young age and dedicated themselves to it then I don't have a doubt in my mind we would own the sport. It's just not a big sport here. Kids grow up wanting to play football, basketball, or baseball. Not soccer.
OBJ grew up playing and he wasn’t good enough. Had some ODP interest but wasn’t even on a regional youth national roster. Chad Johnson and Kobe as well. They were better at other sports than soccer.
Pulisic, McKennie, Reyna, Weah, Sargent, Adams, Aaronson, etc are elite athletes. To think otherwise is silly and quite disrespectful.
Furthermore, top end speed and strength are not all that important in soccer. But to be an elite soccer player you need balance, coordination, speed of thought, quickness, endurance. These are world class athletes out there playing this game.
If Lebron played he would be freaking terrible. Maybe a GK. Maybe.
Never said those guys weren't elite athletes. I'm just saying the sport is not big here so a lot of kids don't grow up playing the game.
I look at a sport like basketball as an example. We dominated that sport for years internationally. But over the years the sport grew worldwide and kids starting playing at younger ages around the world. Now you see in International game, those other countries have closed that talent gap significantly with the US.
Es la verdad carnal...!!! Los pinche Arabes....no wonder we fought over 700 years to free the homeland from them.....
Give me Deion, Darrell Green, Chris Johnson, Randy moss, Calvin Johnson, Tyreek Hill, DeSean Jackson, Michael Vick and Bo Jackson-- one dude that can do with his foot what David Beckham could do, and I'll score headers on every corner kick, and every time we take the ball from you, I'll have my Beckham dude deep ball one over the shoulder to my speed guys who will have left your defenders in the dust. (And they won't be offsides)
Look at the balance and body control that guy displayed there. What an athlete!
Absolutely, get those guys rolling and juggling a soccer ball from the age of 3 every day and you'll have some EPL studs. Problem is, kids in the USA don't have enough time to build skills like in other countries. School all day and football/basketball/baseball take front and center from 7th grade onward.
Soccer players are indeed elite athletes, in the same way marathon runners are. They can’t do anything special, but by god they can keep going until they all look like they shit their pants.
I didn't say they were better for it. What I said is this is their sports life whether they have prolonged success or not. The US will make just about any sporting event if there is enough money, branding, advertising, and politics involved. What does a country like Wales bring to the table? Hey man, I think we're on the same page but probably not really comparing the same apples.
Bottomline, tying Wales in a first-round match isn't that much of a big deal. Saudi vs Argentina is a whole different story. Argentinians breath and die for their soccer team.
With all due respect, those guys wouldn’t be worth a **** at soccer. And people that continue to perpetuate this nonsense are ignorant of this game and what’s important. Kick the ball to the fast kid ain’t gonna work in high level soccer clob.
African nations spit out dudes left and right with that kind of athleticism and can’t even get to a QF.
Adama Traore looks like Bo Jackson and he’s just a guy out there. Good player but not elite.
Speed and strength are important of course but not necessary.
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