Soccerpost

[Maroon Eagle]

Euro 2020 group qualifying rounds just ended.

Wales defeated Hungary to claim the last automatic spot remaining.

Automatic qualifiers are England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Ukraine, Russia, Croatia, Poland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Austria, Finland, and Wales.

Next step, playoff rounds to be drawn Friday.

One team to advance from each League Path:

A: Iceland (and three others to be drawn)
B: Bosnia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
C: Scotland, Norway, Serbia & one to be drawn
D: Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus

In the pot to be drawn to paths A or C on Friday: Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary, & Romania.

CONCACAF Nations League group play ends tonight.

If the US defeats Cuba, they advance to the semifinals as the 3-seed and likely to face Honduras unless Mexico loses to Bermuda, which means it'll be the 2-seed USMNT versus Mexico.

Costa Rica is the 4-seed.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I really enjoy soccer and even I’m wondering how you have time to keep up!

 

[ll Martain ll]

Let us all know when USSF decides to take men’s soccer seriously again.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I don’t have time— I just pay attention to the recaps.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I’d like to know that too... I was in Columbus when Mexico beat the USMNT three years ago.

I’ve compared USMNT to MSU football several times in the past— little did I know how accurate I’d be especially when it comes to amount of heartburn-inducing frustration...

 

[patdog]

Watched the first half of USA-Cuba, and I think Madison Central boys could take Cuba. They'd probably beat the girls though. Seriously, that game was pathetic. You have to feel sorry for Cuba. Their players still defect every time they play on the road, they have no money or infrastructure (had to play "home" games in the Cayman Islands on a field that is worse than many high schools in Mississippi play on).

 

[Maroon Eagle]

In all seriousness if I had the time to keep up with soccer, my fantasy premier league teams would be doing a lot better.

I pay a lot more attention to music— I love a great concert and there have been a few this year that I’ve really enjoyed.

 

[rem101]

I don't think they practice. Just grab 11 guys that coudn't cut it on the baseball field and tell them to run around and kick the ball.

 

[rem101]

What sucks about the UEFA/EURO, is most games are on mid-day. I get to catch a few every now and then when I work from home, but it's tough.

I do enjoy premier league on Saturday/Sunday mornings though. Usually catch the morning games before football starts.

 

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

That group D is gross

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

That group D is gross

no Alabama, no Tennessee, no florida. how did Georgia punch their ticket?**

 

[L4Dawg]

International soccer sucks. All it is good for is getting club players hurt.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Yeah. D is UEFA’s designed equivalent of the Big Dance 16-seed. I think the only country in that D path that has made it to the European Championships was Latvia back in 2004.

Kosovo & North Macedonia both finished third in their Euro groups and I kind of like Kosovo to ultimately qualify out of D but they have to win on the road twice.

 

[patdog]

Yeah. They're giving all the bottom-feeders one chance to make the big tournament. Pretty stupid. The top 4 teams in the playoffs are going to get a really easy road to Euro 2020.

 

[patdog]

It really does. Need to cut the International breaks in half, CONCACAF needs to cut the Gold Cup back to every 4 years (really needs to just be combined with the Copa because South America doesn't have enough teams and CONCACAF doesn't have enough quality), and FIFA needs to pick either the League of Nations OR the qualifiers to be the path to the World Cup and eliminate the other one. Having this many International games is ********.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

The three C path national teams that will be drawn in A with Iceland is where the big chance is— Iceland is going to be favored especially since they’re on course to host the semifinals and finals but the other teams have a decent chance to advance.

I’m rooting for an Irish derby in the B finals.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Cutting out competitions like the Gold Cup isn’t going to happen. National teams are increasingly going to more competitions because they affect ranking points much more than friendlies.

 

[The Situation]

Is there anyone that can give me cliffs notes of how soccer works? I have a kid that plays, so I'm just trying to figure it out. All I know is MLS, which I assume is our pro league that drafts kids out of college? EPL I guess is England's? Do other countries have one? And beyond that, what tournaments are these where all the countries play each other?

 

[patdog]

Yeah. It'll never happen. But it should. You've got players playing 70+ matches per year with virtually no breaks. If I were a top pro soccer player, I really think I would just tell my national team thanks, but no thanks, I'd rather save my body for the team that's paying the big money.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Most countries have soccer leagues. England has several soccer leagues with the EPL on top of their league pyramid.

CONCACAF is the soccer region that the US is in (think equivalent to Conference USA football).

UEFA is England's region (equal to SEC football).

The tournaments going on right now...

UEFA's going through qualifying for the European Cup which is their major regional championship.

CONCACAF is doing its Nations League which also serves as qualifiers for the Gold Cup which is its major regional championship.

Also going on right now-- Asian Football Confederation's World Cup qualifying which also serves Asian Cup qualifying as well as the Confederation of African Football's qualification rounds for the Africa Cup of Nations.

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

Is there anyone that can give me cliffs notes of how soccer works? I have a kid that plays, so I'm just trying to figure it out. All I know is MLS, which I assume is our pro league that drafts kids out of college? EPL I guess is England's? Do other countries have one? And beyond that, what tournaments are these where all the countries play each other?

EPL or Premier League is England's league. Pretty much the biggest in the world although there are some teams in other European leagues that compare.

Italy, Germany, France, and Spain all have their own leagues.

Premier League actually has a system that the bottom teams drop down a division and the top teams in a lower division come up. It would be like if the bottom 4 teams in the SEC went to the Sunbelt or CUSA and then the top teams in the Sunbelt replaced them. It is supposed to prevent teams from just spending almost no money and being noncompetitive from drawing a check.

You can think of someone spending well under the salary cap and not being competitive. In US sports, those teams like Pirates or the Clippers still get those TV dollars and the owners just pocket more money.

 

[The Situation]

Thanks to both of you. Do teams from the MLS move on to CONCACAF? Is that how it works? Or is the USA team like an All-Star team, with the pro leagues being completely separate?

 

[Maroon Eagle]

The answer to your questions is Yes. We've been talking about all-star teams.

MLS teams have competed in the CONCACAF Champions League.

 

[patdog]

It can get confusing. My favorite team, Liverpool, is playing in 5 different competitions this year (Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, & World Champions League). And that's before you even begin to take into account the national teams their players play for. Just remember there are two completely different types of teams. The club teams, which are like the NFL, MLB, etc. teams in the USA except they play in more than just the one league; and the national teams, which are all-star teams of players from each country. If you ever get interested enough to start watching soccer regularly, you'll pick it up and it'll all make some sense. If you don't, there's probably no amount of explaining it that will really make it clear.

 

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Yeah. D is UEFA’s designed equivalent of the Big Dance 16-seed. I think the only country in that D path that has made it to the European Championships was Latvia back in 2004.

Kosovo & North Macedonia both finished third in their Euro groups and I kind of like Kosovo to ultimately qualify out of D but they have to win on the road twice.

If you're saying the groups are tiered, that makes a lot more sense. I was thinking they were supposed to be equal and that Group D somehow spawned from that. Lol

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Yep. It'll take some time. I started following the EPL in 1994 so a lot of what I know is thanks to 25 years of paying attention.

I was in Europe while the World Cup was going on here in the US (I saw the USMNT play Brazil in a restaurant in Vienna and watched the finals on tv in London).

Later that summer I saw some preseason friendlies at Highbury (Arsenal's old stadium). I was staying within sight of Stamford Bridge so you'd think I'd follow Chelsea but I loved the way Arsenal played against Napoli and Atletico Madrid in those friendlies (Chelsea was also playing) so I started following the Gunners.

I'd like to see a match at Emirates someday...

 

[Maroon Eagle]

They are tiered. The current Tier A is made up of the top 12 European national teams; B, 13 - 24; C, 25 - 39; and D, 40 - 55.

The next tiers for the 2020-21 Nations League will be 1 - 16, 17 - 32, 33 - 48, and 49 - 55.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Andorra qualify for Euro 2024 out of Tier D if the setup remains the same.

I don't know if that'll happen though.

Oh, and Andorra qualifying for the European Cup would be like New Mexico State making the College Football Playoffs.

 

[patdog]

You're way ahead of me. I started watching during that 1994 World Cup, but just watched US mens and womens teams for years. Started watching EPL about 6 years ago when NBCSN started showing the games. I pretty quickly got hooked. I watch a little of Bundesliga now that Fox is showing them, but mostly just EPL & a little Champions League. I'd love to see a match at Anfield. Two friends have been on different trips and I'm a bit envious.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

UEFA 2020 playoff draws were earlier today.

Path A: Iceland v. Romania; Bulgaria v. Hungary
C: Scotland v. Israel; Norway v. Serbia

The contests in Paths B & D were already set: B: Bosnia v. Northern Ireland; Slovakia v. Republic of Ireland. D: Georgia v. Belarus; North Macedonia v. Kosovo.

The draw for the Euro 2020 groups will be on November 30.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

well, i get a lot drunker watching US soccer compared to Liverpool... so there's that.