One writer calls it a "dream", I think it is more like a nightmare. We're gonna get crushed and my phone is already being bombarded by snickering Scouse.

Who cares? BlackJack Mulligan is fighting Scrap Iron George Gadaski on AWA Classics.

How is it a nightmare to have only Algeria and Slovenia to beat to get out of the group stage? This is almost the best draw the U.S. could have hoped for.

Great draw for the United States. We landed with the weakest (non-freebie) seed England and teams ranked 28th and 33rd in the world. With some effort we could get out of our bracket this time.

Look how easy defending champ Italy's bracket is! Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia. New Zealand, currently ranked 77 in the world...

I feel sorry for the host nation South Africa in Group A. They have little hope to make it our of their group of Mexico, Uruguay, and France. Their departure could put a bit of a damper on the festivites, but hopefully there will be at least one African team who makes it deep.

I was in Germany 2006 and one of the things that kept it really fun was Germany made it all the way to the semifinals. It was a unique time in Germany, with Germans (particularly young ones) showing the first major displays of German nationalism since the Third Reich, and thankfully in a friendly context.

One writer calls it a "dream", I think it is more like a nightmare.

Uh yeah well the top two teams of four advance, hopefully that's England and the USA. (According to rankings that's how it would go today.) Hence it's a good draw for us.

I wonder which is less likely. South Africa making it out of their bracket, or North Korea doing the same.

Who cares? BlackJack Mulligan is fighting Scrap Iron George Gadaski on AWA Classics.

#2 | POSTED BY WISGOD AT 2009-12-04 04:17 PM | REPLY | FLAG

HAHA hooray for mullets!

My gf and i were watching AWA classics when we were in a hick bar in North Carolina last week. Absolutely hilarious!

We'll kill them in football. Those Limeys don't...oh, soccer? Who cares.

The nightmare I was speaking of is the game not the group, but the group isn't that great either. Algeria is no slouch. The slovacs beat Russia, the Checs, Poland, and N Ireland to get to the finals! England will beat us like a djembe, however, if we get a good 50/50 ball between Stevie G and Bradley the drumming will be a small price to pay. Those two should turn midfield into a proper war zone.

As for our FIFA rank, it means shit. If we had to qualify through Africa, Europe, or S America, Demps would be watching the show from Texas. If we had to beat anyone other than Canada or Panama for our rank it would be in the triple digits.

This is almost the best draw the U.S. could have hoped for.

I'd trade places with any team in A,F, or H.

You'd rather play Mexico, Uruguay and France than Group C?

English soccer has gone downhill ever since they stopped playing the game with a human head. If the US beats them they will be completely disgraced.

Meh. It's probably a push as far as making it to the quarters. Uruguay got a points bump when they beat Argentina -which could be described as when Maradona beat Argentina. France is old and not playing very well, and the US will spar with the Mexicans in a parking lot. That game is always a pick-'em, forget the FIFA rank.

It's the African teams I'm scared of. They have the hardest time getting in; the teams that making it
out of the gruel are hard and proven.

Do you honestly believe the US would ever be in the WC if we had to qualify in any group other than CONCACAF?

Questions like that represent the inferiority complex about U.S. soccer I'd like to see the team and its fans get rid of. We are good enough that we should be one of the countries that goes into these tournaments thinking we can win it -- however slim that possibility may be. Instead, we go in thinking that getting out of the group stage is the best to hope for.

Would we ever qualify in other groups? Without a doubt. We've made the last five World Cups. We have more players with international club experience now than ever, and a world class keeper.

The U.S. is a consistently good soccer country. Not great yet, but I'm proud of where we are at this point and I think we will advance with England.

I think we will advance with England.

You think America has finally got wot it takes to beat up Algeria AND Slovenia?

Dreamer!

:>P

/Actually, yer prolly right but Spud couldn't resist.
//Sad really, Canada luffs soccer more than the US but we largely suck at it on the world level.

Be Well.

You think America has finally got wot it takes to beat up Algeria AND Slovenia?

I don't think it will be easy, but I like this draw a lot better than seeing Portugal or France land in our group.

I don't think it will be easy, but I like this draw a lot better than seeing Portugal or France land in our group.

Gotta agree there.

Also on the whole Italy vs New Zealand thing.

S'rsly? Is Vegas even putting a line out on that one?

2010 promises to be an interesting year in sport fer ole Spud.

First the 2010 Olympic come to town and afterwords the global version of the Superbowl.

Woo Hoo!

Speaking of Woo Hoo!... Rumours in Vancity are currently rife that Obama is gonna drop by and visit during the 2010 Olympics.

Without a doubt.
No doubts? OK.

We've added one outfield player to the ranks of first tier teams since the last time we had this conversation four years ago. So now there are two. Howard is decent, but not even the best American keeper. Friedel is "world-class", Howard, not so much.

The schedule sets up for a third match decider against Algeria (assuming we can manage 1 point in two games). A team that has won three 'knock-out" matches already just to get in. Egypt is the most recent of the vanquished -- the current African Cup holder.

It is impossiable for the US to NOT make the WC. FIFA and their regional quotas make sure of that. We would need to lose to several island nations (+ Canada)to miss out. We've made it to five in a row, yes. And we've been skinned in four--two of those we didn't even score a single goal.

I'm watching u17 USA v Por right now. Were down 2 nil after 12 minutes. Population-wise, Florida should be able to field 11 kids capable of whipping Portugal.

...oh look. We just subbed in more defenders down 2 goals. Go USA!

Handball. Penalty.
2-1

England and USA should make it out of the group although Slovenia are not quite the pushover they appear. They won against several decent teams to finish second in their Round 1 European qualifying group and then beat Russia in a two legged play-off in Round 2 to make it to the finals.

Population-wise, Florida should be able to field 11 kids capable of whipping Portugal.

If population is all that it took, China and India would be the football powers.

Too bad Bush and Blair won't be in power. Tony would have had the brits take a dive.

Population isn't all it takes. Kids in the US and Portugal share similar livestyles, unlike most of the children in China. I'd guess there are more kids playing organized footie in Florida than Portugal, yet their talent is FAR more developed at every age across the pond. It has always been that way and as long as we make pro soccer play by the same rules as baseball or throwball, it will remain that way.

You say we have more top-shelf pros than ever; I'm not sure that is true but ok. The team that wins the Cup will have 6+ players that start every week for a champions league club. A team like brazil or Spain, all 11 and the subs. Those guys have been playing soccer under contract 300 days a year since they were 10. Cecs Fabregas was starting at The Arsenal when he was 17. Gooch was in the NCAA at 17, he couldn't spend more than 20 hours a week on any soccer related activity.

I think your unreasonable expectations --that there is even a slight chance we can win-- is as damaging to the future of US soccer as you think my/our "inferiority complex" may be.

I think your unreasonable expectations --that there is even a slight chance we can win-- is as damaging to the future of US soccer as you think my/our "inferiority complex" may be.

There are at least 10 nations that go into every World Cup believing they can win it, even though most have either never won or haven't won in decades.

I don't see how it harms the U.S. to join the ranks of these nations. If another country had been to the cup five successive times, do you think its citizens would go into the next one believing it impossible for them to win it? No way.

If you're watching U-17 soccer you probably know the sport better than I do, but I don't see how it damages the future of U.S. soccer to go in to the cup believing we might win it.

"Population isn't all it takes. Kids in the US and Portugal share similar livestyles, unlike most of the children in China. I'd guess there are more kids playing organized footie in Florida than Portugal, yet their talent is FAR more developed at every age across the pond. It has always been that way and as long as we make pro soccer play by the same rules as baseball or throwball, it will remain that way.

#23 | Posted by BluSky"

First off having organized football means nothing. The stars come from ghettos and play pickup football every waking moment. There are no soccer moms. They often don't even go to school. Football for them is instinctual. Think of basketball as being analogous developmentally.

And Portuguese and Americans do not share anything close to a similar lifestyle. Portugal is a relatively poor country and only was accepted into the EU early on because the British had a lot of vacation and retirement homes there.

There are no soccer moms. They often don't even go to school.

That's my point. They aren't in school, they are in an academy by their 10th birthday. At 12, it's too late. Leo Messi was taken from the slums of Argentina to Barcelona at 8. Ronaldo was first sold when he was six!! Ronaldino was a super star, known all over Brazil, playing orginized, televised football at age 11.

Look at the last game we played against Italy. We out played them for 70 min. Bradley put de Rossi in is pocket and completly controlled midfield. Then the Azzuri brought in Josepi Rossi, he scored twice and the match was over. That kid is an American. He was born in jersey and played in a local league. At 13 it was clear he was miles ahead of everyone...and there was nowhere for him to go. So his parents moved him to Italy, put him in a pro academy, and he skins us.

You'd rather play Mexico, Uruguay and France than Group C?

I'd take Mexico any day. We have their number in international competition so long as it's not in Mexico.

I was under the impression this was the reason for the anti-American sentiment between the overprivilged youths in "Y Tu Mama Tambien" but I may have just been projecting.

Spud, I saw your Canadian side lose a Gold Cup match to USA a few years ago. I was impressed that you actually had proper fans with banners and what-not. Unfortunately that didn't make up for what happened on the field.

Blusky is right about development of talent, how the lack thereof in this country stunts our growth and squanders our potential. Freddy Adu wouldn't be Freddy Adu were he born in this country.

It is a bizarre love triangle. US talent goes to Europe to hone their skills, South American talent comes here for the money.

They aren't in school, they are in an academy by their 10th birthday. At 12, it's too late.

Which is eerily parallel to how unsuccessfully we respond to developmentally disabled children. By the time we see problems in Kindergarten, the opportunities for a successful intervention have practically vanished. Not everyone fits in the fat part of the bell curve.

"I'd take Mexico any day. We have their number in international competition so long as it's not in Mexico."

The US plays world cup qualifiers with Mexico in the middle of winter and in Cleveland.