Brazil's offense is a total constrast of what their poor defense. Did you see how many amateur mistakes they made? So far Italy has impressed me the most, but I don't know if it was a weak Ecuador. Croatia just looked OLD.

After watching the England/Sweden game it was clear that England is not the same team wo Beckham. The brits seemed to tire early in the second half and could not sustain possesion or worthy attacks. Later, the brits seemed to get a second wind but still was not effective. Several really bad mistakes could have cost them the tie and they, it seemed to me were lucky to get that.

Croatia looked completely out of gas by the end of the 1st half and against a weakened Mexico squad were lucky to escape with a one goal loss. Italy. it seemed, must have felt sorry for Ecuador. After their 2 goal outburst, they seemed to relax, play a little defense and avoid injuring anybody, good sound sense.

I didn't see the whole S.Korea/Poland match, just the highlights. I was correct in my assumption in that the S.Koreans just out-hustles the Polish, who looked sluggish.

This victory by S.K brings some interesting strategies. Do the Koreans play a defensive game against the US and go for the draw, knowing they will need possibly 5 points to advance. They could play for ties against the US and Portugal and get to the next round. Playing for a tie against the US would allow them to reserve strength for a effort to draw against Portugal.

The Koreans used to play a pack defense, hard to penetrates but susceptible to counter. Since Hiddink took over he has given them much more offensive capability, but are still error prone and subject to counters.They are less predictable, but playing a defensive strategy against the US, may backfire, as the US is way superior in the air and could take advantage of set pieces and long balls out of the back. If Korea decides to go on the attack and doesn't get a result, they would then almost certainly have to defeat Portugal to advance, A win, of course over the US, would send them into the 2nd round regardless of a Portugal result. I think the way they play the US will hinge upon how the US does against the Portugese tonite. Either way the Korean have done a lot to put uncertainty in the Group.

I believe Nigeria will beat England and Sweden, and I base this assumption on their fitness levels, which are way above England's

Once the Ticos figured out China, it had an easier time and could have/should have scores more often.
The Chinese were a big unknown. Portugal defeated them 2-0 about a week ago. This is good news for the US, as the Costa Ricans had an easy time with a team Portugal at times struggled with. While no pushovers China looks to be a weak opponenant.

I look foward to the game tonight to see which US team shows up. I have a feeling that Arena will not play Reyna unless really necessary, but will play a tighter defense, sacrificing the defensive midfeild from going foward to much, and to defend against the Portugese counters. The US cannot afford a out-of-shape or underform player, that must defend as well as attack, So I would be surprised (but not much) to see Mathis start against the Portugese. I do see him coming on at the half or possibly later.

I took off work today, slept late, and will now stay up till 4:00am today.

OG

Before anyone forgets
USA 1 - Portugal 0.

Too bad Donovan's pinball shot was called an own goal. Makes Agoos' monumental fuck up appear to be in the same realm. The Portuguese seemed to be a whole lot more skilled and explosive than our guys (again, as always to my layman's eye), but I doubt anyone in the world has a problem with WINNING UGLY!!! USA BABY!!! GAWD it'd be sweet to be able to say that again in say 2weeks!

USA USA USA

The Americans played a great first half, playing to their strength, speed kills. Portuguese could not handle Beasley nor Donovan. Weak points were Mastroeni and Agoos. Agoos what an sob, can't jump which lead to Portugal first goal, can't pass which lead to turnovers in middle of field, whacks a golden free kick from 20 yards when a right footer should have taken it with goalie on wrong side of net, finally perfect own goal.
O'Brien played a great game in midfield, McBride gave Couto trouble the whole game. Hejduk was a workhorse, Sanneh played smart. Pope played well in the air.
Shame on Portugal, it's a tough road for them but they peaked 2 years too early. Game should not have been close, USA much better team despite loopholes here and there. With Reyna and Mathis, decent team, I liked their team speed and game, hiding their weaknesses.
When Portugal could not muscle the Americans, game was very much in doubt from the start, no cakewalk over yanks.
Poland is worse than Portugal, can the Americans do it? Why not they match well against Koreans.

Ireland saved their skin with a last min goal. If Cameroun can beat Germany, teutons will be out.

Russia looked so slow vs awful Tunisia. Japan can do it.

Regarding Agoos -- I thought he was the USA man of the match. But you're right, Athos, he can't jump. The OG was ... well ... one o' those thangs. But otherwise, he and Friedel were the two-man defense. Mastroeni was a bit weak in midfield, showing that he's not Reyna, although Stewart and O'Brien held up DAMN well. We won because (a) we came out of the gate hustling, unlike them (many great teams have weak starts at tournaments abroad; we're lucky to have played 'em first) (b) they couldn't handle our dribbly-dribbly little wimps who annoy the Hell out of me (deMeasley and Lands End) (c) their finishing sucked. Our defense has holes. I see Korea beating us unless we change something BIG.

Now that every team has played once ...

Now that every team has played once, here's where I think things will go.
Group Play
A! A1 Senegal A2 France A going home Denmark, Uruguay previously A1 France A2 Denmark
I'm impressed with Senegal, not only because they GOT the upset but also because they look like they can CONTINUE to get upsets. They're the most consistently structured of the African nations. I had picked Cameroon as Africa's biggie this year, but I'm changing my mind. And can France get it together at all, or is it an early exit?
B1 Spain B2 Paraguay B going home Slovenia, South Africa no change
C! C1 Brazil C2 Turkey C going home China, Costa Rica previously C1 Turkey C2 Brazil
Maybe Costa Rica can pull an upset, but Turkey looked too good to fall to anything less than the best, at least for the first 80 minutes. Then Turkey and the referee both lost their games.
D! D1 USA D2 Portugal D going home Poland, USA previously D1 Portugal D2 Korea
After upsetting the group's de facto seed, we have a points and a scheduling advantage over the other potential second-placers.
E1 Cameroon E2 Germany E going home Ireland, Saudi Arabia no change
F1 Argentina F2 Nigeria F going home England, Sweden no change
G! G1 Italy G2 Mexico G going home Croatia, Ecuador previously G1 Italy G2 Croatia
I'm surprised Mexico came through at all, although I heard several announcers on different networks say they felt the result was representative of the match despite the fact that it came from a penalty. I disagree. I felt the penalty was a fair call, but what I saw in all the other minutes of the game, were two teams floundering, and not the Mexican dominance that so many pundits declared. Still, Mexico have now got the crucial win over the other second-place contendor.
H1 Belgium H2 Japan H going home Russia, Tunisia no change
Round of 16
1 E1 B2 Cameroon over Paraguay no change
2 B1 E2 Spain over Germany no change
3 G1 D2 Italy over Portugal previously Italy over Korea
4 D1 G2 USA over Mexico previously Portugal over Croatia
5 A1 F2 Senegal over Nigeria previously France over Nigeria
6 F1 A2 Argentina over France previously Argentina over Denmark
7 C1 H2 Brazil over Japan previously Turkey over Japan
8 H1 C2 Belgium over Turkey previously Brazil over Belgium
Quarterfinals
A w1 w3 Italy over Cameroon no change
B w2 w4 Spain over USA previously Portugal over Spain
C w5 w7 Brazil over Senegal previously France over Turkey
D w6 w8 Argentina over Belgium previously Argentina over Brazil
Semifinals
AB Italy over Spain previously Italy over Portugal
CD Argentina over Brazil previously France over Argentina
Finals
Third Brazil over Portugal previously Argentina over Portugal
Championship Italy over Argentina previously Italy over France


On a less specific note, I can see Brazil, Italy, and Argentina doing quite well against anyone, and I look forward to any clash among those titans. Too bad there isn't a fourth for a neater pairing. I can also see Senegal and Turkey doing well against almost anyone except those three. It's one of the most wide-open tournaments in years. I'm delighted to see that the Saudis and the Tunisians have royally fucked up FIFA's developing-markets obsession; but it doubtless won't stop their obsession with soccer-ignorant poor nations where the lower classes can be directed towards an exploitable future. It harms El Salvador and other poorer Latin nations the most -- already soccer-mad, and therefore left behind by the very organization that most ought to serve them. So, I'm a cynic. So what?

whoops ...

Third Brazil over Spain previously Argentina over Portugal

If Donovan and Beasley keep playing the way they played in the tournament, I think they're heading for Clubs in Europe after. They showcased pure talents. And the good thing is that both of them are only 20 yrs old so they still have at least two more WC in them. When Reyna comes back, he would do a much better job of controlling the pace of the game, and provide both of those guys with better feeds.

I thought FIFA's Player of the Year Figo was spending to much time showcase his tremendous personal skills during the game. And by the time he decided to attack, he always misconnected with Pauleta. Portugal came out thinking it was gonna be an easy game and the "fridge is close and the jellows are jiggling" until they encountered the USA fast and furious early attacks. They never recovered.

Figo is old news, he is done and will lose his job at Real Madrid next year. Let him dribble all day long by himself so yanks can regroup. Only good portuguese was Rui Costa but he got no help. I was tremnedously surprised by USA team strategy. Bruce Arena is THE MAN as far as I know. I applauded when I saw both youngsters on the pitch. Plus O'Brien looked like a star in there.
Beasley has tremendous talent, needs to bulk up a little bit. He never was stopped the whole f. game.
Donovan played a great game for the first time, understood the level of competition so stopped his non sense and sticked to great playing touch.
The whole world is shocked as USA dominated Portugal. It was no luck, too much speed and determination from yankees.

book_guy
I think Denmark and France go through.
Brazil has the easiest group. Let me parlay vs China and Saudis.
Germany group will be decided by saudis for goal diff.
I think South Korea and USA go through. Poland should have sent Slavic ladies.
England and Argentina go through. Only African team which is any good is Cameroun, rest is way overrated.
I agree there is a lack of good teams so anything goes. So far Argentina and Italy look strong but too early to call. I like Brazil, too much fire power. Let Denilson play and they might be unstoppable.

I just checked for the first time the USA draw as I never thought they'd come out.
Group D plays group G in the round of 16 so let the USA finish first to possibly play Mexico, or finish second and play probably Italy.
The USA matches well against Korea so anything can happen. Koreans showed impressive speed but finishing not as good as Americans.
Poland is too slow to do anything. The winner of Korea-USA comes through for sure. Korea has better goal diff.

Figo finished? Say it ain't so. He sure did look like shit today, though. Most of Portugal didn't get the concept that they would have to work differently. Bad coaching, for not coming out of the locker room with a different plan. Their dribbling and direct passing was ineffective against our midfield's speed. I had thought Arena was coaching via perversion -- all these sweet little wimpy boys. But now I realize it wasn't boy-fetish, it was speed, he was seeking. (LOL ... just kidding. Using the sex inuendo metaphorically only. Now, if we were talking Sacchi -- former Italy coach -- THEN I'd be serious about the boy-fetish.)

I was impressed with Donovan, Sanneh, Beasley. I have regularly derided them for lacking soccer brains, but I was very impressed with their performances today. Sanneh USED to always give the ball to whichever American had the most defenders around him, but he didn't today. Beasley and Donovan USED to dribble at masses of opponents exactly when an obvious pass to an open teammate had presented itself, but they didn't today. Wha' hoppen? Not complaining. ">

McBride is almost Michael-Jordan-esque in the air. Near to unstoppable, he floats with the greatest of ease, the blackeyed young man on the flying trapeze. Would love to see him against the Italian defense to measure up. He had a hand in all three US goals. O'Brien as well was excellent today, full marks. With Reyna back, we'll look good, I'm excited.

The two teams traded own-goals (although Agoos' strike was much ... umm ... dumber) so it's a 2-1 reult. But the POR goal was nothing but dumb luck. The deflection / clearance rifled STRAIGHT to a striker's best foot. So, I don't count POR as having created ANYTHING. So much for my predictions -- at one point I had them winning the Cup, the Whole Cup, and Nothing But The Cup.

Nevertheless, I think Portugal has had its wake-up call, now, the proverbial sleeping tiger. We nipped 'em when they were still asleep, but now Korea and Poland will have to play 'em when they're angry. Luck of the draw in our favor.

Other topics.

Korean finishing, yes it has been bad lately, in friendlies and at Gold Cup -- except against Poland. They finished like the Germans against Poland (which might not be saying much ...). Frankly, I think they'll be just as good as USA in our next match. The result could go either way.

Consequently, the USA-KOR game is essentially the decider. Nevertheless, as USA plays weaker 3rd opponent (POL) while KOR plays stronger 3rd opponent (POR), we are in catbird seat. Wahoo.

Germany group will be decided by GER-CMR game, and then goal-diff. Which means CMR and IRL must run the scores up against Saudis. I pity KSA as their dreams dissolve of BMWs and villas on the Red Sea ...

I still pick Nigeria over England. Not because Nigeria's in any way a "good" team from Africa -- just because England sucks. I think ENG gets: draw vs SWE; loss vs ARG; and vs NIG no matter, probably loss or draw. While NIG gets: loss vs ARG; win vs SWE; win or draw vs ENG. Thus F1 ARG, F2 NIG, because of the SWE result.

There are, BTW, a few other mistakes in my revised predictions (above). Example, I say "D1 USA" and "D going home USA." I meant that to be "D1 USA D2 Portugal D going home Korea, Poland." I can understand the thought that Korea will advance, but remember they have already seen their weakest opponent, while we and Portugal have not. It all hangs on the USA-KOR game.

The amazing thing is Americans defied logic by not pushing their lateral defneders. Hejduk never ventured on offense and was excellent defensively, never getting beat 1 on 1.
Sanneh ventured twice on offense, first time for the perfect cross, i bet in practice he can't it that one 9 out of 10. Then end of the game, right move he went to corner flag to kill last Lusitanian hope.
Even Cobi Jones whom I hate sticked to simple and safe.
Now if Agoos could jump 1 foot off the ground...

I knew US had a chance to win because Reyna was out. Reyna is a cancer and is the most underachieving, soft player I have ever seen. I received a call from a couple of my cousins from Portugal at 5 am and they were pissed. Gomes should play a lot more than he does, he was a catalyst in Eurocup 2000.
In response to an earlier comment, I think that Donovan and Beasley are both already playing or have been signed for Euro teams.

If anybody reads my prior comments, I felt that Portugal's defence was questionable. It was and I was right. Arena knew that too and went with the arial attack speedy wings. The US found the Portugese weakness and exploited it. There were a lot of long balls out of back, and it seemed the US offense was Freidel-to-McBride. The best way to get through an all-star midfield is to go over it if you can, the US could!!.

Book_guy's favorite player: Tony "the tiger" Sanneh held the 75 million dollars man to no shots on goal, proving that even marginal players have good days, and good players have ineffective days.

Still there are a few games left to put him back in book_guys doghaus!

The real Killer for Portugal though, was its long Euro season, which Figo and the portugese coach complained about, forgetting that 6 of the US players had just as long a season.

The US came in more fitter AND more physical, learning their lessons on playing Euro teams, in their games with Germany, Italy and Holland the last two months.

The US will now play a team fitter than they are in Korea. Fortunatly, they are nowhere as skilled as Portugal. Still, the intensity of the game will be high with both teams confident and coming off improbable wins. At stake in this one game is a trip to the next round.

I think that the humidity factor is starting to effect some of the European teams. Those not acclimized and prepared by now will be gone by the second round.

I think it is rather funny that Germany, France, and Portugal all now have "must win" games coming up.

This is shaping up to be a GREAT WC.


OG

Just watched USA-POR again on Telegalamundovisionfutura whatever. The POR defense is LAME on the concept of man-marking. They let people wander MILES from them. It's just such a simple mental concept -- why can't so many star athletes GET it? STAY BETWEEN YOUR OPPONENT AND YOUR GOAL, duh. They couldn't handle McBride in the penalty box, and yeah generally we just bypassed their midfield.

I'm interested to hear about the Reyna-cancer concept. I do see, in a strange way, how he could lower the USA's standard of play, by slowing things down sometimes in the vain hopes of getting some world-class openings in front of him. He's too used to Kevin Phillips (Sunderland) or Lorenzo Amoruso (Rangers) doing the moving off the ball when he's on it. So, in an odd way, he's so good he's bad for us.

But soft? Nah, I don't see "soft" as a valid adjective for Reyna.

Watching France v. Uruguay (0-0 at halftime). A lot friction, France is playing minus Henry who managed to get a red card for doing something only an amateur would do. I won't be surprise if this game ends in a fight.

Jarocho

Looks like France is in dangerous of not advancing. They'll need to pound Denmark to advance.

France needs to win by 2 goals to advance. I am not in shock any more, team is just weak. Excuses...excuses.
Senegal is in unless loses to Uruguay by 2 goals.
Denmark is in unless loses to France by 2 goals.
But expect Zidane to play, if that's going to make a difference.

Blazers,
Beasley plays for Chicago Fire, American new hope.
Donovan is on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, Germany and plays for San Jose Earthquakes, Bayer pays his salary not MLS. BTW Hejduk plays also for Leverkusen but played 0 min the whole season, solely reserve team. There is another American at Leverkusen, the big kid who played in Olympics at center forward from Portland, reserve too.
No Reyna is much better than that Mastroeni dude.

No Germany qualifies with a tie vs Cameroun. Cameroun needs to beat germany to advance unless saudis can find a way to tie Ireland.

Looks like desire and fitness still win games. Some European teams are in LA LA land.

At least I am getting smarter, parlaying against Saudi and Chinese teams...

Ten petulant Frenchmen are still trumped by one hacking Uruguayan. Heh. You're right, Athos, the determination of Group A comes down to 2-goal differences. If France can beat Denmark by 2 or more, if Senegal can stay within 2 of Uruguay, if ... etc.

France did look weak, and thin -- nobody decent to bring in off the bench. I am surprised, but kinda happy -- I was complaining months back about how "lucky" they'd been to sneak all the recent tournaments they've gotten, with no decisive wins all the way to the finals. It's coming home to roost now, nyah nyah. In FRA URU we saw something that's not necessarily representative of the French team, though. Who knows what playing with 10 has to do with playing with 11? And the ref lost a bit of control through the middle of the match. Got pushed around by the URU thugs.

Despite the ref, it's still a major weakness that neither Viera, nor Petit, nor Thuram, nor Desailly, nor anyone else picked it up a notch to lead them on as Field General. I think as individuals, each one of them is too used to being role players on their powerhouse European clubs. That's one thing that the WC can provide that club competition can't -- the chance for a nobody to skyrocket through the ranks. But France doesn't have a nobody.

In SEN DEN we saw the classic African fouling of the Senegalese come out (unlike in their first game) unfortunately, to give up the penalty among other occasions. Will SEN URU be a comparison of red-card-accumulating styles? Oh joy oh rapture, to watch a game in which the referee plays a larger part than any of the 22 players.

Speaking of referees ... has anyone else noticed how atrocious the offsides calls have been for this tournament? Maybe the cameras for the replays are just more accurate or something, but you'd think the linesmen would get the concept at the game's top level. Nooooo ...

In Group E, presuming Ireland perform against the Saudis somewhere between the Germans (8-0) and the Cameroons (1-0), they're guaranteed 2nd. Then, the GER CMR game determines 1st vs. 3rd. CMR must win.

Athos, I think you have underestimated the young African teams. Many of the young players are playing in Europe. The three youngest teams in the Cup are from Africa and they are very quick. If teams like Nigeria would learn to push the ball on counterattacks, you would see Nigeria shocking some teams like Cameroon and Senegal. At the next World Cup, one of the African teams should make a dent and really surprise the world.

I disagree about Reyna. He is a primadonna and does absolutely nothing to improve the U.S. I hope he continues to sit.

Now this is what I call on-topic soccer monger discussion ...

Brazil fans show their support in the bedroom

RIO DE JANEIRO June 6 (AFP) - Die-hard Brazil fans can now show their support when they are scoring between the sheets by using condoms designed in the colours of the national team.

Condom makers Prudence have produced the limited edition yellow and green contraceptives to allow supporters to practise safe sex as the Samba stars bid for a record fifth World cup title.

The mint-scented condom, aimed at 15 to 35-year-olds, follows on from the manufacturer's previous soccer-related gimmick in February - condoms in the colours of all 18 top national clubs.

The condoms are packaged with the club's emblem and 12 per cent of the sales profits goes towards the team's coffers.


Reyna's the best player the US has. Only man who knows how to hold the ball and distribute. Not that distributing is anything the US ever really relies on, but look how pathetic France was without a midfield general ... every great team needs a midfield general. That's why the US can do so well without him, we aren't a great team.

My gameballs go to the two goalkeepers Carini and Barthez. However, both FRA & URU are done!!! Sorry, Athos but I don't see how FRA could win against DEN w/o Henry and Petit, especially Petit. I wish they find a way to play Cisse more, starting him instead of Trezeguet.

Anyone knows how it would effect Senegal after losing Diao? I haven't watched their matches.

I think you get 2 match suspensions for a red card.
Senegal will not lose to uruguay by 2 goals as uruguay has not proven they can dictate the pace of a game so far. They did not try to beat France even 11 on 10.
I am going to root for Brazil real soon.
Anyone buy yellow and green condoms they supposedly are selling in Rio to support the Auriverdes???
French are now dilusional, expecting to blow Denmark. I'll settle for an Ireland win over Saudis to get my money back.

Athos -- yellow and green condoms -- see my post 3 back, full news story.

So I picked Nigeria for the F2, and England to get womped by Argentina. I am finding this World Cup near to impossible to pick. I'm gonna keep my guesses to myself until the Round of 16 comes around.

I see that Italy hopefully anticipates a R16 versus USA. They evidently think we'd be pushovers? I dunno, they're probably right.

book_guy
Don't worry I'll be joining you picking my losers when world cup really starts with round of 16.
Was very surprised how pathetic Argentina looked and talking so much B.S. after match.
Argentina must beat Sweden to move on.
This could be Brazil year...but wide open as no team has shown me anything...too early to call.

Big IF, but if Cameroun-Germany ends in 1-1 and Ireland beats Saudis 1-0. Who will do the coin toss to decide who advances between Cameroun and Ireland?

Who will toss the coin? LOL ... why, Sepp Blatter of course. I have been reading the procedures with that very group in mind, Athos, and I think you are indeed correct in implying that all other tie-breakers would be equal.

Now, what I want to know is who decides which team is second WORST after the Saudis ...

England is a different team with Beckham. Remember he left the game against Sweden in the 73 minute and Sweden tied it shortly after. I think England opened my eyes and exposed many vulnerabilities in Argentina. There were some great saves and near misses for both teams, but England controlled the run of play. I thought the Penalty kick was dicey, but when you play to advance into the box like England did time after time with Owen..Good things will happen.

The US is not a better team without Reyna, it is a different team. Without Reyna, the US pointed its offense up the flanks and in the air, with long passes from the back line. With Reyna, the US offense AND defense is much more purposeful, holding possesion a lot longer and building the attack. I think this was the offense that Portugal expected, Instead they got long aerials, flicked on to fowards and midfielders making runs, LOTS of counters, with somewhat less possesion. It caught the Portugese flat-footed and the US got THREE goal in thirty minutes. Arena almost inserted Reyna into the lineup against Portugal as a sub in the last 20 minutes to try and control the pace and possesion. He went with JMM instead who is an extremely good worker,to kill time. It worked.

The knock sometimes on Reyna is that he is percieved as soft easily injured and can be knocked around easily. As purely a defensive midfielder, this may be true. But Reyna's role on the US team is and has always been a midfielder who win the midfield possesionn then controls that possesion in the rear and serves the flanking midfielders and fowards. He is very effective at this and this take tremendous pressure of the defense. Without him Arena goes into a different offense scheme, which is retrospect was very effective against the Portugese. When the US got possesion in the rear it was immediatly served long to McBride, or up the flanks. The US spent very little time trying to build possesion up the middle of the field.

Who would have thought that Portugal, France, Argentina and even Germany HAVE to win their next game to stay afloat. All of a sudden there are all sorts of little "groups of death". I love it. I think it will give book_guy a heart attack to try and handicap this WC. I predicted that the Concacaf teams will upset some powerhouses. I don't count Croatia a powerhouse, and I think they (Mexico) can get a result w/Italy. I think CR can beat Turkey and will like to see them against Brazil but they will probabbly be overmatched.

I think the US will really try to WIN their group.
If thing go their way they may face Mexico in the round of 16, which we all know is a very winnable game. From there it's anybody's guess, But most likely the team emerging from that side of the bracket will be Spain or Germany.

But in this crazy WC nothing can be expected.

Korea and US on Monday. Temps will be in the 90's with high humidity. Not good for Euro teams but S and Norte Americanos can hang. Survival of the fittest!!! Arena knew this would be they key game even if they did or didn't get a result against Portugal. He has prepared them well for overall fitness. Korea beat the US 1-0 last year in Seoul. Thet simply outhustled the US and this was not lost on Arena. They barely escaped with a win at the Gold Cup in LA in February. The US team is vastly improved but not to different than the one in LA. We will see if Hiddink has made bigger impovements to the "Red gang"

As Mathis has lagged behind in his 90 minute fitness level. we won't see him start until Poland or unless the the US need some instant offense.

OG

you know, I dont watch soccer that much, only every four years..When the World Cup is on!! Anyway, ITAY GOT SCREWED LAST NIGHT IN THE 2-1 loss to Croatia.... Two of their goals were waived off, one for offside i think, another one for a "phantom foul" called on a striker? (sorry, i dont know all the terms of what the players are called.... } It looks like one of the Croatian goals was scored on a defensive breakdown by Italy's defenders... Oh well, would the Italy -Mexico matchup be a make or break game for the Italians??

Happyboy
You are right, I feel bad for Italians who got robbed. First goal was good, not even close to offside. Tying goal was good too. That lineman was unbelievably incompetent.
Winning goal by Croat was incredible, he miskicked it, ball had different spin and found way into net.
Group is wide open as Italy will beat Mexico now so Mexico must beat Ecuador tonight.
I am not sure if it was the heat the other day but croats looked much better in night game.

I had originally called Croatia to advance; then they faltered against Mexico, so I abandoned them. Now they've returned stunningly against Italy. I agree, however, that the game was more about the refereeing than about the playing. Graham Poll must have drunk too much while watching England upset Argentina.

This cup is indeed impossible to handicap. They must be losing hand over fist at some of the houses not very familiar with soccer. I can just see some Atlantic City guido complaining, "I ain't nevah takin' Woild Cup bets nevah agin."

Brazil continues indefatigable, although their group is easy. Portugal, France, Italy, Argentina have all fallen to an upset, and even Germany is almost in a must-win situation as well. What a wonderful cup ... for a neutral. It must be hell for the paisans.

Regard the worst team, I think the Saudis have to play a match with the Chinese to settle this prestigous title.

While watching China-Costa Rica match, I saw a funny stat, population: Chinese-1.3Bil, Costa Rica-3.4Mil. I betcha with their current communist regime, the best Chinese soccer players wouldn't get a chance to practice not mention to be on the national team.

Two more thoughts:

1. Both China and Saudi Arabia currently have none of their players play for an international club. In case of the Saudis, they are well financially paid by their national clubs therefore they have no need or motivation to leave their country. I would say Al-Tamyat is an internationally caliber striker. In case of the Chinese, it could be their lack of skills plus government politic.

2. What about making the player who was fouled actually kick the penalty himself since he was the one who would supposedly score the goal?

SB
Only 3.4M ticos/ticas in Costa Rica, is that good enough to take care of our needs for an overseas sex trip?
I thought China played well against Brazil.
But Saudis and China are bad because you know they cannot shoot the puck I mean the ball in the ocean.
Hey I like your rule no 2 as pk is just too easy to convert.
TV ratings went way up when 1/2B Chinese watch their wc opener. Better than 1/2M in USA.

The Chinese "hemmed and hawed" for a long time before they decided on Bora, or I should I say" settled" on Bora, as they were turned down by several WC coaches. Korea, on the other hand, knowing, that they have an automatic berth, had no trouble landing Hiddink almost two years ago.

The preparation shows. Korea went everywhere and anywhere to get a game, and even picked up the full tab + appearance money for foreign teams that played in Korea, but China played mostly teams in Asia or at home. It just isn't the coaching, Korea put some solid money behind the team, China didn't.

Italy got jobbed and the replys showed it, but offside calls are alway scrutinized in slow motion by the armchair quarterbacks whereas the linesman have to make the call instantaneous.

The second "offsides" prior to the end of the game wasn't an offsides call. The linesman called a foul (which he can do, if he is closer to the play than the referee) The Italian and Croatian player were locked in mortal hand-to-hand combat, that the linesman could plainly see.

Mexico/Ecuador tonite. I was planning to head to Nogie for this one but I think I'll go down Thurs night

If Mexico pulls this one off and beats Ecuador, which they are entirely capable of, then Thursdays game will be the one for the money.

Lots of good games tonite...must nap noww ZZZZ


OG

wow golasso...Ticos celebrate, that was an incredible tying goal.
I see some serious handshake coming.
South Africa and Spain will tie 0-0 so Spain wins group and South Africa advances
Costa Rica and Brazil will also tie 0-0 so both advance with Brazil getting the top spot.
I was very impressed by Japan, Nakata is the man, pleasure to watch him play, smooth as silk.
Had that lineman done his job in Italy-Croatia, Mexico would be in by now, now they will play very tough Italian team.
Go USA...

Looking forward to the big USA - KOR matchup. I'm not gonna go out on a limb to make any more predictions, LOL, I've totally blown my credibility already. (I think this Cup has done that to a lot of people.) But I like the looks of the matchup, and for a neutral it'll be a corker. Relative to the "grandes dames" of the Cup, each side has lots of holes for the opponent to capitalize on, but each also promises some incredibly speedy, energetic play as well.

The celebration last night in Nogales after Mexico beat Ecuador was unbelievable. 4am 1000s of cars were still honking their horns. People everywhere yelling and dancing and waving flags. We watched the party for awhile from the window of our suite, then decided we should go out into it. WOW! all of this for a soccer game! If I was a soccer fan, this sure would be the place to watch the game. It was alot of fun.

USA vs. KOR

Haltime @ 12:30am on Monday...

USA 1 - KOR 0

1st Half Highlights:
65,000 rabid Koreans decked out in red... Hwang splits his head open, and has to leave game momentarily to get it sewed up - meanwhile Mohawk Man gets the goal... later, USA Keeper stops PK!... at halftime - virtually the entire USA defense already have Yellows... USA has 3 subs left, KOR has two subs left.

My suggestions at this point... sub out Mohawk Man within 10 minutes - he got the goal, but he's blowing it otherwise. Use remaining defenders without yellows to keep splitting open heads... one goal shut down half the crowd - if we can get one more, we can silence the bastards.

Go USA!

In the 67th minute, its still 1-0 USA. Korea is playing relentless, the USA always seems to be on the defensive.... The refs seem to favor the Koreans in this very physical game... The USA has 15 fouls, Korea 7... The USA goalie is playing an amazing game, he made a PK save and a few others.. This Beasley guy for the USA plays all over the damn field.. Reyna and Pope are doing pretty well too.. Bluelight, yeah, the World Cup is pretty amazing... I would like to see the Italy-Mexico game, but its on Thursday morning....at like 3am i think...

well you play with fire, you are gonna get burned.... Korea on a header, and its 1-1, its seems like the USA has kind of chilled out..Now they need to step it up and get a goal... 1-1 in the 80th minute...

Korea will lose by at least 3 goals to Portugal and USA will at least get a tie with Poland. This leaves Korea out in the cold and the first host nation not to advance. I love it. It's a glorious day.

Blazers
Korea needs a tie to advance and their high tempo will wreak same trouble than yanks did. I think you may be in for a very tough game. Also look for referee to help home team. Koreans were punishing Americans, yet fouls were all Americans 2 to 1.
Poland is so bad, I expect USA to tie or win and advance.
Now Mexico is in big trouble facing an angry italian team, but great game coming. If Mexico plays its game and try to score 1 goal, they should advance.
I have to agree with you, Reyna was a major disappointment. American forwards never got the ball. O'Brien is a much better player, like in the goal, he made perfect pass.

I'd bench Reyna in favor of Stewart if healthy but knowing Arena, he is going to bench Beasley or Donovan.
On the tying goal, even though I hate Agoos, it was not his fault. Friedel who was outstanding made his only and costly mistake by not coming out and punch the ball. The ball was centered right in the middle so it was his coverage. Very disappointing tie as I never thought Koreans had finishing skills even on pk.

Great games this week:
Tonight France-Denmark followed by Cameroun-Germany
Tomorrow Sweden-Argentina
and on Wed Italy-Mexico

I am ready to parlay Germany vs South Africa and Brazil vs Russia.

Good result for USA, 1-1. At times we looked as though we deserved to lose, and I sympathize with the wonderful Korean support. Much better than the Japanese, I must say. Reminds me of Holland in Euro2000. Orange everywhere, but now it's red.

Unlike "everybody" reported above, only Hejduk and Agoos got yellow cards. Now they and Beasley are on 1 yellow. I felt the ref was marginally calling in favor of the Koreans, but in the long run the 1-1 result isn't misrepresentative of the overall game. Fair 'nuf.

Happyboy (above) was right, Mathis should have been subbed earlier. Mathis has a killer instinct but a low work ethic, and in that game he needed to "back check" (to use a hockey term) more. Arena blew the subbing -- didn't use #3, and didn't use #2 or #1 soon enough or adequately, I felt. Beasley has wonderful legs, is all over the place, but is small (and that may be a liability versus the hard-tackling, brain-dead Poles). Donovan had a poor game. Pope had a great game. Agoos mostly had a great game, but is now developing as the USA's greatest liability.

I used to love Jeff Agoos. He's certainly still the "smartest" defender out there -- best reads of the game, best attitude, most consistently successful. Often he is mopping up, or trying to mop up, after someone else's mistake (generally Sanneh, who, doltish idiot that he is, often stands still watching his man wander off into an open position; duh!), and therefore Agoos is often last before a goal, despite playing well. But in our 2 games in Korea, he's displayed lack of athleticism that suggests he's beyond his best days. He gave up the penalty today (a questionable call, but not unprecedented) and although Friedel saved Agoos' butt then, Jeff went on to give up the goal as well. Nothing about his brain could help him to outhustle and outjump the Korean striker. I'm sad to see his brains be insufficient for his failing brawn. Oh, and that damn own-goal against Portugal ... yeesh.

Portugal finally looks like they've turned on some after-burners. But against Poland, and in the monsoon (yeesh, that reminded me of Hurricane Andrew!), it might not be a representative performance. Can they go hog-wild all over Korea? I don't think so.

Scenarios for the last games in Group D: (a) KOR wins, then D1 KOR, D2 USA; (b) KOR-POR draw, or (c) KOR lose, then USA must lose by less (or draw or win, obviously). In other words, we're in the driver's seat, needing to perform only better than a worst possible Korean performance. A draw versus Poland guarantees advancement no matter what. And even if we lose to them, it's still likely we'll advance, since it's likely Korea will not beat Portugal by more than Poland had beaten us. We currently don't have goal-differential (first tie break) in our favor, but we DO have total goals scored (second tie break). Unless my arithmetic is wrong.

Scenarios for groups A and E (playing tonight)

France must beat Denmark by 2. Otherwise the jig is up! Uruguay is in a similar position in that group. (There are some squeaker situations, in which France can fail at the 2-goal thing, but Uruguay succeed in eliminating Senegal and letting France advance anyway. Those are confusing.) In E, the GER-CMR game is for 1st / 3rd, presuming IRL womp on the Saudis more than Cameroon did (1-0), but less than Germany (8-0). It's a fair presumption, and lets Ireland finish 2nd.

In both groups, nobody has secured a passage to the second round, and the only sure thing is that the Saudis are playing their last game. My my, arithmetic everywhere! This Cup is WIDE open.

FIFA has a good wrap-up of scenarios, linked directly from their World Cup home page http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/en/ under "possible roads through." But they describe them in the most mathematical way possible, so it's hard to understand.

What makes you say Korean supporters are better than the Japanese?