World Cup Thread
- Thread starter StuBlue270_uk
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I think a lot of us got caught up in the spectacle of a World Cup in the USA.
However, not only was this team not that impressive leading up to it, but yesterday they proved they are definitely not ready to be a world power.
Unfortunately, now we also see we can choke in big game situations. Which is exactly what we did. That team did not come close to resembling the team we saw earlier during the tournament. For whatever reason, American athletes did not raise themselves up to the magnitude of the event. To me, that is the saddest part of it all. As much as I despise Mexico, they fought and fought and had chances up until the final blow of the whistle. They left it all on the field against England. I honestly did not see that at all yesterday. Christian Pulisic and his injuries. A goal keeper looking like he is playing in a Lexington youth league. An entire team that looked scared, and actually, unmotivated.
And I don't think we will ever be a world power. We will get a little kick for 6 months or a year because of the excitement of the WC in the USA, but that will be it. We made it as far as we ever have, or ever will. as far as World Cup soccer is concerned.
However, not only was this team not that impressive leading up to it, but yesterday they proved they are definitely not ready to be a world power.
Unfortunately, now we also see we can choke in big game situations. Which is exactly what we did. That team did not come close to resembling the team we saw earlier during the tournament. For whatever reason, American athletes did not raise themselves up to the magnitude of the event. To me, that is the saddest part of it all. As much as I despise Mexico, they fought and fought and had chances up until the final blow of the whistle. They left it all on the field against England. I honestly did not see that at all yesterday. Christian Pulisic and his injuries. A goal keeper looking like he is playing in a Lexington youth league. An entire team that looked scared, and actually, unmotivated.
And I don't think we will ever be a world power. We will get a little kick for 6 months or a year because of the excitement of the WC in the USA, but that will be it. We made it as far as we ever have, or ever will. as far as World Cup soccer is concerned.
Something else tough about this sport, games feel like they are over if a team gets up 2 or more goals. Like this game. I know anything can happen. But even in the NFL or NBA, you have to really get up like 20 or 30 points (respectively) for the games to feel like they are out of reach. And even then, teams in the playoffs erased 20 and 30 pt leads a few times.
Sorta feels like soccer games can spiral out of control way to quickly, where a team scores two quick goals, and then you really can just turn the whole thing off.
Sorta feels like soccer games can spiral out of control way to quickly, where a team scores two quick goals, and then you really can just turn the whole thing off.
I think it could be 3rd or 4th. Golf and hockey are too expensive and too regionally dependent to have the the raw numbers
In our area, we now have like 5 or 6 giant indoor soccer domes, with like 8 fields in each. These places are constantly booked with everything from kids leagues to adults night leagues.
Soccer is pretty big in the northeast. Im surprised we arent better in 2026. 20 years ago, sure. But there's enough kids playing now that we should be much further than where we are. Especially when football and basketball now only take certain physical traits to even be able to make a HS team(football big and strong and basketball being tall). Leaves a lot of 5-foot tall adults/teenagers in this country of 300mil+.
Honestly for college age and above, I think only basketball leagues might have more adults playing. There's no one playing football. There's some baseball/softball leagues, a few hockey leagues.. but soccer might be 2nd in that regards.
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I said the same thing... our team could have fought like Mexico did vs England but they didn't. Played scared all night which is unfathomable to me. I like to watch body language in all sports and ours was not positive last night. We looked like the Washington Generals playing against the Globetrotters. Belgium was the better team, but we shouldn't have gotten clowned the way we did.
I think there are degrees of quality that the average person isn't going to notice. I've become interested because the Premier League is an interesting thing to have on in the background on weekend mornings, and an interesting thing to follow and learn about. But I'm not going to be able to see all the subtleties that make the Premier League so much better than something like the English 2nd division. The players are noticeably faster, but beyond that, other than some obvious star like Erling Haaland, the skills look similar.
I'd compare it to tennis. You can watch the #200 player practice with the #10 player and they'll look similar in terms of how they hit the ball. You won't see the big gap until they play competitively, at which point it will usually be obvious.
Right now, and probably into the future, the US is like a bottom tier Premier League team. They can compete with other bottom tier teams, they might be able to pull an upset over a more middle level team (like Belgium) but generally aren't as good, and they have almost no chance against a top team (France, Spain, Argentina).
Idk man
PGA is on way more then MLS
How do you even watch college soccer?
Uk isn’t even in the sec in soccer?
I see a lot more hs golf coverage than hs soccer although both are “club” sports.
this is a hard one to wrap up. I've carried the Wonderlowski misshit for 14 years. Just dissapointing seeing the lack of possession and aggresiveness.
it was like watching a tournament game where you are down 5 the entire game. awful.
and not sure where we go from here. Pulisic was a dud for the USMNT, the back line was...something.
it was like watching a tournament game where you are down 5 the entire game. awful.
and not sure where we go from here. Pulisic was a dud for the USMNT, the back line was...something.
The US was manhandled in this game. I am not sure how you categorize it any other way. They somehow played the whole half without taking a shot other than the free kick where they scored. Every goal Belgium made was a massive breakdown by the US. It looked like a district soccer game in HS where that best team in the district is a contender to win the region and the team they are playing has to beg kids to come out and play so they have enough kids to make a team. The talent level and level of "dog" in the two teams was obvious. I have watched Pulisic numerous times and he has to be the absolute worst star of any team I have ever seen. His performance in 2022 sucked too. Losing is one thing but they way they lost was embarrassing. Blow it up and start over.
So my friends and I were debating this last night. I think you have to separate it between spectator sports and sports you participate in. At least in some part. So while golf might be more watched, its also probably not played as much at the youth/HS/college level.. and mainly due to limitations: golf is far more expensive, golf courses are harder to "get onto" than a soccer field. There are more HS and Collegiate soccer players on teams, than there are golfers on a team.
Its interesting to debate and look into. I'm not overly confident in my outlook on it, just sort of how I see it.
I just don’t get into soccer. I’ve tried to but it just doesn’t resonate with me.
I tired a bit. I think what turned me off the most was our absolute lack of passion and aggression. Really seemed to me they just went out there expecting a loss and got it. Looked uninspired. I don’t know if it’s coaching, or just lack of talent, but it was just nasty. I’ve watched less talented teams in many sports lose but show some fire and serious fortitude. I did not see any of that last night.
It’ll never happen as long as we view it as a second tier sport at the scholastic level.
You know, probably the biggest culprit impairing our men’s soccer development is football. Football is a unique sport, in that no other sport requires SO many players and has SUCH large rosters, and as a result the American football machine acts like a gigantic vacuum sucking up the most athletic boys from a young age. We have kids basically wasting away on CFB sidelines as 2d or 3rd string wide receivers who had the athletic gifts as kids to potentially to develop into world class soccer players …but they never got the chance.
And the athletic boys that don’t play football gravitate toward basketball and baseball …which leaves soccer only the leftovers after the big 3 sports have picked the best athletes clean. We ain’t ever catching up to Europe as long as that remains the case.
I think you are seeing football start to take away from everything in this country. I love football but, like you said, I watch kids who will be role players on a football team quit playing baseball when they could earn scholarships just because the “football machine” is so powerful here.
Ya it’s a really good debate - for instance one of the high school elite teams here are also part of a year round “club” squad which I’m not familiar with the name of but def has the makings of a “travel” squad like baseball and softball have gotten into.
There’s also a lot of these summer soccer camps going.
When I was a kid I could walk into county rec and play for fun locally but after a certain age it gets a lot more elite.
While it’s cheaper to buy a soccer ball as opposed to a set of golf clubs the amount of money the parents have to spend to have them be elite probably isn’t much different.
There's also a financial aspect to it. European pro soccer teams sponsor youth teams starting as young as 6 and provide highly professional coaches and training for 0 cost to the players, plus a lot of Euro countries will spend to build facilities. The idea that a youth player needs to pay something to play soccer is something European countries consider absolutely insane. They draw in all the best athletes, slowly weed them out as they age, and then start paying them as at least semi-professionals at around 15-16.
Some of that problem is based on the wild profiteering that takes place in America with youth sports, but some of it is just financial reality. When Monaco develops Kylian Mbappe, they can sell him for 180 million dollars, and the really elite teams of Europe are worth billions and any star they develop internally helps that grow.
It was a good call; the foul started the fast break that led to the score. Doesn't matter now; Egypt has this one.
It's hard to take this sport seriously. It wreaks of corruption on every level. The globality is very cool, but the sport itself is reminiscent of WWF in how it's scripted. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a back alley system where these refs get paid off.
Well I am not sure VAR is a good thing or a bad thing. Although I believe in technology getting things right, I am pretty sure we have seen instances in this WC where it was not used properly. No clue how that Egypt second goal was disallowed because of a foul a minute earlier.
With that said, Wow Argentina. That's what happens when the best player on your team shows up for 90 minutes, and when it actually looks like the team gives a crap about the final outcome. Never gave up.
Take lessons Pulisic and the rest of the US.
With that said, Wow Argentina. That's what happens when the best player on your team shows up for 90 minutes, and when it actually looks like the team gives a crap about the final outcome. Never gave up.
Take lessons Pulisic and the rest of the US.
Not being an Egypt fan is the only thing consoling me from being a US fan today. I hope Spain waxes Belgium.
The officials in soccer can change the game as much if not more than any other sport. I have watched teams play flawless soccer for the whole game and get beat on one bad call that gives someone a free kick in the box. This is possible in any sport but due to the limited scoring compared to most other sports it seems much more dramatic in soccer.