World Cup!

[axisandalliesplayer]

The World Cup will be starting in the near future and I figured it deserved a thread of it’s own. I know we’re all nerds at heart and love nothing more than to spend an afternoon gaming with a couple friends. But most of us have hobbies outside of A&A and one of mine is Soccer. I don’t usually catch many games and the ones I watch are usually only the USMNT vs any of the club teams in the US or elsewhere. And then I try to catch as many WC matches as possible.

I paid close attention to when the draw was announced and choice words left my mouth rather violently when I saw the group US would have to get through. Germany (#2), Portugal (#4), and Ghana (#37) all join USA (#13) in group G.

Ghana has defeated the USMNT in the last two world cups to send them packing. US will be out for blood in this one. Add to this the fact that three very important points for both teams will be on the line and this should a very hard fought game. In the end I think the US side walk away from this the proud owners of 3 very important points.

Portugal has Ronaldo and it’s as simple as that. Portugal has some pretty decent players, but Ronaldo is their ace card. Things improve from the American perspective if Ronaldo is indeed hurting from an earlier injury. US can compete with Portugal, but they’ll need to be on top of their game and try to limit Ronaldo’s touches. A draw here is realistic IMO, but will be tough to secure.

Germany’s one of the favorites to take home the hardware and are a really tough out for the US team, luckily the US catches the Germans as the last game in group play. Hopefully this means the Germans have already secured a spot to advance and take things easy. US will be lucky to take home a point if the Germans need points in this game.

My best guess is it’ll all come down to goal differential if US hopes to advance. I could see a draw between either Portugal or Germany and the win vs Ghana. Germany should beat Portugal and then I hope Portugal gets a draw vs US or Ghana. As bad as the group is, US caught two small breaks. We drew the easiest team first, which hopefully translates towards 3 points and confidence heading into the final two games. And 2nd, US faces it’s stiffest competition last. Hopefully Germany doesn’t need any more points and takes it easy while playing extensive backups to gain them some experience in the WC.

I’m cautiously optimistic headed into this thing. US doesn’t have the best talent and faces a real tough challenge to get out of the group. I wouldn’t be surprised if US heads home without getting out of the group stage. I’d be disappointed, but not surprised. Either way, I’ll be watching the World Cup and rooting for an upset or two along the way. Thoughts on the USA’s chances? Thoughts on your team?

[John Brown]

@axisandalliesplayer:

The World Cup will be starting in the near future and I figured it deserved a thread of it’s own. I know we’re all nerds at heart and love nothing more than to spend an afternoon gaming with a couple friends. But most of us have hobbies outside of A&A and one of mine is Soccer. I don’t usually catch many games and the ones I watch are usually only the USMNT vs any of the club teams in the US or elsewhere. And then I try to catch as many WC matches as possible.

I paid close attention to when the draw was announced and choice words left my mouth rather violently when I saw the group US would have to get through. Germany (#2), Portugal (#4), and Ghana (#37) all join USA (#13) in group G.

Ghana has defeated the USMNT in the last two world cups to send them packing. US will be out for blood in this one. Add to this the fact that three very important points for both teams will be on the line and this should a very hard fought game. In the end I think the US side walk away from this the proud owners of 3 very important points.

Portugal has Ronaldo and it’s as simple as that. Portugal has some pretty decent players, but Ronaldo is their ace card. Things improve from the American perspective if Ronaldo is indeed hurting from an earlier injury. US can compete with Portugal, but they’ll need to be on top of their game and try to limit Ronaldo’s touches. A draw here is realistic IMO, but will be tough to secure.

Germany’s one of the favorites to take home the hardware and are a really tough out for the US team, luckily the US catches the Germans as the last game in group play. Hopefully this means the Germans have already secured a spot to advance and take things easy. US will be lucky to take home a point if the Germans need points in this game.

My best guess is it’ll all come down to goal differential if US hopes to advance. I could see a draw between either Portugal or Germany and the win vs Ghana. Germany should beat Portugal and then I hope Portugal gets a draw vs US or Ghana. As bad as the group is, US caught two small breaks. We drew the easiest team first, which hopefully translates towards 3 points and confidence heading into the final two games. And 2nd, US faces it’s stiffest competition last. Hopefully Germany doesn’t need any more points and takes it easy while playing extensive backups to gain them some experience in the WC.

I’m cautiously optimistic headed into this thing. US doesn’t have the best talent and faces a real tough challenge to get out of the group. I wouldn’t be surprised if US heads home without getting out of the group stage. I’d be disappointed, but not surprised. Either way, I’ll be watching the World Cup and rooting for an upset or two along the way. Thoughts on the USA’s chances? Thoughts on your team?

Yes, it will be a tall order for our US team, if it survives these teams. I’m like you, hoping for the best, but realize it is going to be tough. :-)

[General Veers]

Not fair the US finished first in CONCACAF but is in a tougher group than Mexico, which had to beat New Zealand in a play-in series. France was also given a cozy group as well. Group C looks like the most boring group by far. I expect Greece to advance on three nil-nil draws.

England is in a tough spot, playing Italy and Uruguay. After choking away the title Liverpool fans could then watch their own star Suarez stick it to their country.

[Witt]

I am afraid it does not look like the USA will get out of the group. I would like nothing better for them to progress at the expense of either Portugal or Germany.
I can’t stand Portugal. I think its players are whiney girls.

I am Italian and am sad Prandelli(my football team’s ex manager) has decided to leave Rossi at home. He would have been a beacon of good behaviour and sportsmanship in an otherwise team of cheats and miscreants. We are in a tough group and I hate it when the English, where I live, tell me we will qualify and beat England. It makes me nervous!
We have to qualify after the embarrassment of our early exit in 2010 as reigning Champions.

I will watch probably half the games, as I have a family(and only one TV) and I work when many of the games are on.
I suppose I am not too bothered who wins if Italy go out, as long as it is not Spain. I hate Del Bosque and our 4-0 loss to them in the European final 2 years ago still grates on me. 
Like you, General Veers, I fear Uruguay.

[axisandalliesplayer]

Experts give US about a 35% chance of advancing, but I’ve taken Moscow on worse odds.  :wink:

It’ll be tough and yea I’m also upset that Mexico got a much more manageable draw despite having to play in to earn their WC berth. Italy, Uruguay, and England’s a tough group as well and I think it’d be fun to watch English fans implode if they fail to advance.

[frimmel]

So is the “Draw” for this event an actual random draw or is it based at all on some sort of rankings? Is there politics involved i.e. intentionally setting the US up to fail?

[axisandalliesplayer]

Teams are placed in one of four pots of 8 teams each. The first pot is the top countries according to the FIFA rankings and the host nation, the 2nd pot is European teams, next is CONCACAF and Asian teams, and last is African teams as well as leftovers from other regions (Europe/S.America). After that one team from each pot is randomly placed in the various groups.

It’s a flawed system and almost invariably ends up with various ‘group of death’ and easy groups. While I do support the idea that they should try to spread out teams to create a more global experience, I think there should be more consideration for how good each team is. The NCAA Tourney does a fairly good job of seeding each team and then placing them according to their perceived strength, location, and potential opponents, etc. But with FIFA the way it is today, this could easily lead to corruption and group fixing. So maybe completely random is the way to go, it might not always be fair but at least it’s impartial.  :roll:

[Witt]

@frimmel:

So is the “Draw” for this event an actual random draw or is it based at all on some sort of rankings? Is there politics involved i.e. intentionally setting the US up to fail?

[axisandalliesplayer]

@wittmann:

@frimmel:

So is the “Draw” for this event an actual random draw or is it based at all on some sort of rankings? Is there politics involved i.e. intentionally setting the US up to fail?

???

[Witt]

Um! What was I going to say? Internet was slow and I could not post. I thought.

It was something along the lines of: I love football, but it is rife with corruption from the top down. See the Qatar fiasco at the moment. Why Qatar for a World Cup?
Blatter should never have got another 4 years as President. He has to go. He is a horrid man and the worse thing in football at the moment.
His comment about those bringing up corruption allegations being racially motivated, is ridiculous. He has always been against technology in football and against video proving right from wrong is another stupid sign he cannot see things need changing for the good of the beautiful game. He is the problem.
Good luck USA!

[Gargantua]

Canada will come out on top.

The most sure way to win, is not to play.

[aequitas-et-veritas]

Spain got robbt tonight! Robin and Robben Hood ,what else to say?? :-D

[John Brown]

@aequitas:

Spain got robbt tonight! Robin and Robben Hood ,what else to say?? :-D

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the game, but heard about the score.

Did you get to watch the game?

I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting that. :-o

[aequitas-et-veritas]

Only saw the goals summarized, but the game was way of a revenge (2010). Spain, who is Spain?? They got kicked.
Chile won as well and I think we will see a little bit more of them!

HUP ORANJE HUP! Looks like they going to Semi finals!

[axisandalliesplayer]

@John:

@aequitas:

Spain got robbt tonight! Robin and Robben Hood ,what else to say?? :-D

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the game, but heard about the score.

Did you get to watch the game?

I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting that. :-o

I don’t think anyone was expecting that. I was hoping and pulling for an Orange win, but I thought it’d be a close game decided by a goal or two. It was tied up at the intermission and then Netherlands started scoring and Spain just packed it in. They folded faster than a house of cards. Several goals were down to the goalie making mistakes, but he didn’t get a lot of help from the Spanish midfield or defense.

[John Brown]

@axisandalliesplayer:

@John:

@aequitas:

Spain got robbt tonight! Robin and Robben Hood ,what else to say?? :-D

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the game, but heard about the score.

Did you get to watch the game?

I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting that. :-o

I don’t think anyone was expecting that. I was hoping and pulling for an Orange win, but I thought it’d be a close game decided by a goal or two. It was tied up at the intermission and then Netherlands started scoring and Spain just packed it in. They folded faster than a house of cards. Several goals were down to the goalie making mistakes, but he didn’t get a lot of help from the Spanish midfield or defense.

I wondered why their were so many goals scored. Thanks for the info.

I wanted to watch it, but had to work. :-)

[axisandalliesplayer]

http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/1878787?&ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_Google_World_Cup_Video

That swan dive header is simply majestic! It’s not in the video, but one of the Spanish defenders kept him on when he got behind his defender. Spain never really got things going in the 2nd and Netherlands had some beautiful passing to set their shots up.

[axisandalliesplayer]

Found a gif of the header where you can see where he was kept on.

http://i.imgur.com/5JS27Ym.gif

[John Brown]

@axisandalliesplayer:

Found a gif of the header where you can see where he was kept on.

http://i.imgur.com/5JS27Ym.gif

Wow, thanks for the clips! I bet the Dutch fans were going nuts on this game. :-D

[Witt]

It was a very satisfying result for me. I can’t stand Spain.
I was working, but  kept getting texts from family. I watched the Chile-
Oz game and the goals from the Holland game. They were all good ones.
I was impressed with Chile too.
Let’s hope they can knock out Spain, who go home early as champions, like Italy did in 2010.