And that my friends is why I hate American soccer....

[trumad]

Year in---year out--- we suck.

Ghana.... Are you fucking kidding me?

[JTG of the PRB]

1. So... Being one of the top 16 teams in the biggest international soccer tournament in the world...

...means that we suck? Huh, I thought we had done pretty well in order to be counted among the 16 best teams on the planet.

[trumad]

2. Whoopteee fucking doooooo

Wow!!! we came in 16th....

[JTG of the PRB]

3. Considering that soccer is the most popular sport in the world? It's something to be proud of.

Our team played with incredible heart and determination their entire 4 games, and they have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm sorry you feel differently, but we're all entitled to our own opinions.

[trumad]

4. Well I'm guessing we'll all be dead before the US wins a World Championship?

No one remembers 16th place.

[JTG of the PRB]

7. You know what people will remember though? How we fought back every time.

We just ran out of steam in this final game, and that's alright. We came back from deficits to earn points in our first two games, than had a heart-stopping finish to win the final game in the opening round. Anyone who didn't get excited watching this team play, well, I just don;t know what to say.

In any case, soccer won't be relevant in this country for another 3 1/2 years, so you can go back to not paying attention to it. And, hey, if we don't win the next World Cup, well, you can always bitch about that in 2014, too! :)

[KamaAina]

33. It would be "alright" if we had lost like that to,say, Germany or Brazil

but really, an impoverished Third World nation? Twice in a row now?? :wtf:

[JTG of the PRB]

38. That's why sports are fun. You never quite know what's going to happen.

I agree we should have beaten them, but they had the momentum and the home-field advantage (being the only African nation still in the tournament), and sometimes those intangibles are enough to make up for any shortcomings your team has.

Then again, it didn't help that we gave up a goal to them 5 minutes into the game, and then gave up the winning goal 3 minutes into extra time...

[Threedifferentones]

25. Exactly

All these "reasons" why soccer is boring are BS. The rest of the world loves the game, and it's one thing we can't school them in, so we pretend like the game itself is flawed.

[oldironside]

5. Ghana may not be a perfect nation...

... but they worship football. They deserved their win. I posted elsewhere that the USA team has nothing to be ashamed of. They topped their group. They played well in the second round. You do not have a team of superstars, you have a team of journeymen who play for second string sides in England. You should be proud of what they achieved, if only because there is more to sport then just winning.

[trumad]

6. A country with 307 million

can't beat a country with 24 million...

Oh----but we should be proud....

Please---

[oldironside]

8. Err...

... it was 11 against 11.

[KamaAina]

34. Even if you just count immigrants or first-generation Americans

it's still around 60 million, which should give us a bigger pool to draw from.

Not to mention our team should be able to afford MUCH better training facilities than theirs.

[redqueen]

9. "there is more to sport then just winning."

Exactly. We should be proud of our team.

[rockymountaindem]

10. Like what? nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Like improving.

Filling the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run. For people at a lower level, getting fit. For national teams, representing your country and building better relations.

[SpiralHawk]

16. Like What? Get a clue, Dude. Ask THE GREAT SCOREKEEPER.

"When the One Great Scorekeeper comes, he counts not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game."

- Grantland Rice

The USA played the Beautiful Game Beautifully. We can have pride in how we played...and the kids who will be inspired to take the game up and move us more fully into this fabulous World Competition.

[taterguy]

15. Winning isn't everything

It's the only thing

[KamaAina]

37. We went farther in 2002

we've regressed in the last eight years. :(

[rocktivity]

17. DING DING DING! Oldironside, your our grand prize winner!

...(Y)ou have a team of journeymen who play for second string sides in England...

The word that kept running through my mind was "outclassed." This is the very first time I've watched soccer for more than five minutes, and it was crystal clear to me that while the U.S. doesn't suck, they just aren't good enough. It was like watching minor league all-stars playing major league all stars. And once--well, twice again, the U.S. gave up early scores.

:(
rocktivity

[Upton]

18. Really?

The US (16th) is actually ranked higher by FIFA that Ghana (32nd). Your analogy of "minor league all-stars playing major league all stars' just plain doesn't work.

[rocktivity]

28. I saw a stronger team beat a weaker team yesterday

not an "upset."

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Renew Deal]

29. Since when were Everton and Fulham "second string"

Or AC Milan, or PSV, or Rennes, or Rangers. Of course, when you look at the US forwards, they aren't too spectacular.

[Artie Bucco]

30. Doesn't matter what team your on

Particularly when many of them weren't even getting playing time.

[Artie Bucco]

12. The US's main concern for the World Cup should be the back line

Three of their guys are already thirty or more and two or three are already pushing thirty. The new defenders meant to replace them were used as a punching bag my Mexico last summer in a 5-0 win. I am glad to see many bandwagon fans go.


But my team is Mexico vamos.

[two gun sid]

13. American Soccer just lacks creativity...

on the pitch. US players are technically sound but it always looks to me like they are playing by the numbers.

Just my opinion, though.

[rocktivity]

31. "(T)he U.S. has been giving up early goals -- a clear sign of poor preparation

...(a)s far back as the World Cup qualifying campaign...Clark and Findley have been proving their shortcomings, as have other players that (coach Bob) Bradley stubbornly stuck with time and time again.

And so the early goals kept coming, the wrong players kept sneaking into the starting XI, and against Ghana -- a team that only scored off of two penalty kicks in the entirety of the group stage -- it ended.

After the match, Landon Donovan said the U.S. was just "too naive," which can really only be taken as a critique of their unacceptable preparation for a team they were favored to beat."
More

:headbang:
rocktivity

[MadBadger]

14. And that my friends is why Everybody else Hates Americans

[trumad]

19. Really---

I've traveled the world and you're dime store analysis is pure bullshit.

The world hates Americans because most Americans can't stand soccer?

Dumb fucking post.

[Threedifferentones]

26. Americans get a bad rap because we win in most things

And when we can't win, we apparently make up dumb excuses about how the competition in question is flawed. If America had it's most talented athletes in soccer, we'd smoke Ghana. They play football and basketball, so we lose, and it is that simple.

Nobody likes sore winners or losers, and the world cup discussions here are making Americans look like BOTH.

[madinmaryland]

20. What's really fucking stupid is that it is "countries" playing.

Which is why the olympics are just as fucking stupid. Level the playing field and maybe i'll get interested. Until then, .....

[HuckleB]

24. Yeah, because the playing field is level in other arenas.

:rofl:

[Codeine]

32. "Level the playing field"

What does that even mean? Some teams will always have more money and resources than others. There is no level field in any sport.

[TZ]

21. The implicit racism here is disturbing

Is it the fact that it's a poor African country that disturbs you? I already saw a disgusting post elsewhere that called Ghana a pile of junk. African countries LOVE soccor the way basketball is love here. Oh and your stupid stupid argument about population.. How is it then that Cuba and other small carribean islands can regularly beat the US in baseball doesn't mean anything? Geeze. The American centrism around here is so ridiculous.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[trumad]

27. Really---

If it was white Denmark I'd say the same...

Baseball... believe me if we had a national team of our best B-Ball players, we'd win consistently.

BTW: It's American Exceptionalism, not centrism.

[KamaAina]

36. It's the poor more than the African

I can barely stand it when we choke to some of the (even tinier) Central American countries in CONCACAF qualifying, either.

And the choke job at the World Baseball Classic definitely sticks in my craw.

And if you can't be American-centric at the Cup, when can you be? :shrug:

[depakid]

23. Go Ghana!

-------



I hope they win it all!

[KamaAina]

35. Why do you hate America so much?

And for once, I'm not being sarcastic. :grr:

[Iggo]

39. Our best atthletes don't play soccer.

The fact that we made it to the top 16 is fucking phenominal.

Call me again in four years.

[Hav]

40. Wow...

I'm really surprised that a considerable amount of US-Americans saw the US as the clear favorite or believe that it's a disgrace to lose against Ghana. Where's that coming from? It's not as if the US was a big contender to win it all and a big upset happened...
Ghana is a solid team, they have some really talented players. And they can move the ball in a fashion that gives you a hint at their technical skills.
And I also don't know why some people bring being poor as an argument that one should beat them. Being poor and seeing football as the only way to move up is one of the reasons why they are where they are now.

And no, this US team is way better than in 2002, but pretty much all teams are.