if you think soccer is for "pussies" and "fags" the door is that way. i know there are a few people who follow soccer and specifically the us national team. but there hasn't been any talk about the draw? it's either people stopped caring or no thinks there is nothing worth talking about?
this thread is for world cup talk. i'm going to write about the us national team specifically, mainly because i've been following them since 1993. started going to matches in 1997 (us vs mexico, april 22nd in foxboro). and yet every time a cup comes around, the anticipation builds. the team, for a brief moment has hope of doing the best it's ever going to do. does anyone follow the team? if you do or don't here's a brief look back to help you familiarize yourself with the nats.
US world cup history off the top of my head:
pre-1990: pretty much the us was one of the first handful of teams that were a part of the first several world cups. we did poorly and nobody cared. the only memorial moment was in the 1950 world cup where we beat england 1-0. they made a shitty movie about 4 years ago starring the asshat from home improvement that played soccer. the movie failed and hardly anyone took notice, aside from the nerds. it's called "A moment of Glory" nope that's not it, i just checked, it was actually called "Game of their lives". anyone want to watch it for me and tell me what it's about?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354595/anyways after the 50's or 60's the us nats went into the shitter. even with a pro league around in the 70's and early 80's (NASL) we couldn't produce enough talent to qualify. it was pathetic for about 40 years. then the us qualified in 1990.
1990: the only thing i personally remember about this world cup is the final. a friend of the family bought the game on pay per view and had a party. he was argentinian but rooted for italy, who was the host country and finalist that cup. i hate the Italians and on that day they lost in the shoot out to west germany.
the us entered that cup with a historic win on the road in trinidad. paul caligiuri scored and led the team to an exciting 1-0 defeat. let me say i use the term exciting very very loosely. in that previous sentence. it was a team made up of college players and goons. the only thing i know about this tournament, i read in john harkes' biography "Captain for Life" (i have a signed copy if anyone is interested). the nats pretty much got their ass' handed to them although they tied italy (the host, remember i just mentioned it) 1-0.
1994: i remember the us playing brazil in the quaterfinals. i watched it at my friends house. i ate apple chips, watched the game and my friends smoke a fat blunt. we lost on that day on sooo many levels.
the united states hosted the tournament that year. with all the football stadiums here we easily broke attendance records. playing in places like the rose bowl, pontiac super dome, meadlowlands and the big sombrero to name a few.
we played the Swiss in detroit. i almost went because it was the closest game, however i was 13 and we did just visit mission veijo the previous winter on a family vacation. the game was tied, wynalda hit a crazy beckham style freekick. i had the game on tape for years but lost it about 5 years ago.
the next game the us lost to romania, i think, not sure if we played them or columbia. who was touted as being favorites in the cup but lost to the us 2-1. not sure who scored but i know the second us goal was an own goal. the player who scored on his own country was later killed many months later back in his native country columbia.
we advanced and played brazil (who went on to beat italy for the cup) and lost 1-0. the following year the us was supposed to start a pro league but dropped the ball. so in 1996 MLS started.
side note: i'm one of those people who tapes games, largely due to not being able to watch them live but also to re-watch it later. i've done this for awhile and over the years stopped taping over games and instead started collecting these tapes. some of the good ones are gone, in those are thankfully but regrettably the 1998 world cup for the us, my first two matches ever (us vs Mexico and US vs El Salvador nov 17th 1997 at foxboro), a few rochester rhinos championship games (one with a pitch invasion after the 2002 defeat of the minnesota thunder) and a 2002 world cup qualifier at rfk against honduras were i hit the field with a large smoke bomb during play, yep i was one of "those" assholes. this winter i have re-watched many of these games getting myself pumped for the 2010 world cup in South Africa. how the times have changed. from commentators like Rick Davis to even shittier color commentators like Marcelo Balboa. my only salvation for enduring the wraith of Balboa over these years, is my tape of the US open cup in columbis ohio in 1999. where the rochester rhinos defeated his own colorado rapids 2-0. miller and allnut with the goals. i almost went to that game but watched it in a busted fredonia dorm room.
wow i totally got side tracked. so over these years the us has gotten better. i mean we do have a league now. a league that is gaining respect. we just recently had the best qualifying run and went second in the confederations cup beating spain and going up 2 goals against brazil only to bomb. does this us team have a chance? here's the groups.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/standings/index.htmlpredictions:
group a: wow what a crazy group. host nation in south africa will advanced. they won't be first but get in second. france looks like the favorite. they are worthless without zizou. i just watched on my tapes france's run in 2006. watching someone like zindane play especially in his final ever games can bring a tear to the eye. the man is a not a master nor artist, he is a king among men. he is a pure, natural leader. if this was 1165 CE zindane would have more land than alexander the great...so we have mexico and uruguay. uruguay just barely beat a good costa rican team. mexico is mexico and always advances. there you go.
group b: it's not 2004 and no one likes your dump of american diners, greeks. goodbye. argentina? most talented team on the planet but they have to deal with not only maradona's ego, but his coke raged habits. good luck messi. nigeria and south korea to advance? sure sounds reasonable.
group c: so here we are. The US (skywalker), England (the emperor), Slovenia (Han Solo, i mean they are bad ass and look cool) and Algeria (jar jar binks).
how will the US do?
will let's look at the past history.
1998: played germany first and llost handly. played an easy target Iran and lost 2-1. got plug pulled by yugoslavia (well fuck them, clinton bombed them two years later, he did attend soccer games in dc).
2002: beat cup we ever played in. beat upcomers portugal. tied the hosts south korea and were humiliated but poland 3-1. we advanced thanks to the koreans and beat mexico in the next round 2-0. greatest nats victory ever. then we lost to the germans. yet again the germans have our number.
2006: everyone gets all hyped up for the lastest nats team, only to realize that claudio reyna is your center midfielder. ick. we lose our first game to the Czechs (so eastern europe isn't exactly an easy region). tie italy (they went on to win the cup, the only good thing about that final is that Zindane became infamous for the head butt. I stand proudly with his decision). finally we play ghana. i game we "should" have won, that is to say that you should win if you don't respect african football. people. respect african football. especially west african footballers. there is a reason Grover Cleveland High School went second in the state.
2010: ?
well we usually play well against big name european opponents. so we should upset or tie england. i say we will win. though charlie davis won't be back, we still have donovanm who has to prove himself still and dempsey. rooney is a goon and will red card out on bocanegro. boca will be starting over spector. will gooch be back? i hope because i'm depending on him achoring the back alongside demerit (a kid from green bay who thinks he plays for the packers, tough tackling all the way). we lose to slovenia, because han solo rules and our record against the eastern europeans is well, like the record the washington generals have on the harlem globetrotters. alergia. did anyone watch the us game against egypt in the confederations cup this past summer? well if you missed it you can watch it again June 23rd at 4pm.
we advance, so does england, i mean slovenia is cool and all but the emperor can build a death star in under four years. you don't fuck with a man like that.
how far do we go? depends. if donovan turns into the rambo like figure we see glimpses of, we can go into the semi's. if rambo decides to build that bagoda and not fight the russian's, then we exit on a loss to algeria. ewww. i don't even like typing that.
group d: ghana and germany. soccer roos? yep. australia calls themselves the soccer roos. you can't respect that, ever. they'll get a win, but they still have to deal with the fact that they're great grandparents are rapists. and serbia plays into it's stereotype of a decaying country full of rubble that is way too into the musical genre "turbo-folk". turbo folk alone warrants them to lose every game by 30 goals.
group e: i love japan's style. they fly at you for 90 minutes. running endlessly up and down the pitch. they give it their all, 120%, 100% of the time. and they lose every game. cameroon and the dutch advance. denmark? nah. aside from argentina this is the weakest seeded team. games are going to be fun to watch with the different styles of play. most exciting games will come from this group.
group f: new zealand. you were embarrassed at the confederations cup by spain. i mean you did let in 5 goals in 20 minutes and you were that tournament because you are the best of the oceanic teams. you will see the same fate twice. you are terrible. as much as i like "flight of the conchords" and the all blacks rugby team, you are neither. paraguay or slovakia? does anyone care? one's eastern european so i hope their chances are slighted so we don't have to face them down the line.
group g: the real group of death? well i mean North korea is in it? ok so they lose every game by 10 goals, teaches kim jung li to point missiles at us. does ronaldo defeat the brazilians? does ivory coast have that much of a chance? brazil goes through because they are fucking brazil. ronaldo does his best one man army approach to soccer anbeats the ivory coast. portugal will lose like man u lost to barca in last years uefa cup. later on, perhaps semis.
finally group h: the spanish speaking teams + the swiss. the swiss don't speak spanish so they are out. honduras were the darling surprises of concacaf this year. chile is strange country that is leaking down the side of south america. sure pisco is a powerful drink and tom weber is the only person outside your country rooting for you, but your time is up. concacaf will earn respect. spain and honduras go through.
who will win?
not sure
too early too many variables.
off hand i want to say brazil, they are due for their "we win every other cup" motto. italy are bastards and always seem to bore their opppnent enough to make it to the finals. england and germany bomb. netherlands runs their course. south africa does well but chokes. is spain ready? well they are cursed in world cups so...no. this is a team sport, so one man armies won't win, so long portugal. who is left? the african teams? they get far maybe even final, but i see brazil with kaka running the land.
if you have read all of this...thank you.
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