The Soccer Thread (Version 13) — Winter World Cup Edition

Can confirm.

 

Canada has absolutely dominated this match but is losing. Soccer is unforgiving.

Of course they should have at least one more PK.

 

Again, real “I thought the guys ran a great race here at the Idaho State High School Athletic Association Division II championships” vibes.

 

Ohio State-Michigan is the biggest rivalry in sports? Fuck right the fuck off with your minor league football, Fox.

 

What's the most contemptuous rivalry in world football? Brazil-Argentina?

 

That’s near the top. Netherlands-Germany is spicy and of course England-Argentina

 

@Regan MacNeil ’s angry letter to the editor because it took him, in fact, 17 minutes to save up to 15 percent with Geico….

 

If you have to be absolute top division to have a famous rivalry, someone should tell Rangers-Celtic.

 

It rarely means much internationally but Scotland-England has to be in the mix too.

 

Coming from a soccer novice - do most teams play cautiously in their first WC games? I was a bit surprised about the non-use of Reyna by the US, unless its just something for people to write about. It's the WC, once every four years, everything is timed for this, and the US coach seems uncertain how healthy Reyna is? Only going to use him if desperate? Shoot, I can't imagine anyone being "day to day" once the WC kicks off or doing load management.

And am I wrong in this assessment - if the US doesn't make Group of 16 it was a bad WC. If they win a game in the G16 its a great WC. Is that pretty much it?

 

I'd say it kind of depends on the opponent. I fully believe Berhalter got outcoached on Monday, but I think his thinking re: Reyna/Morris was I think based on a belief that a winner late in that game was going to be a smash-and-grab affair, about physical grit instead of technical class and he wanted an F-150 (Morris) instead of a Ferrari (Reyna) out there. There could also be a side of wanting to spring him (and his skills) on England when he was 100% fresh and without a hell of a lot of recent tape, but we're all probably overthinking it a bit.

Edit: To answer your second question, not making it out of the group would be kind of bad but there are different levels of it. For example, they went 0-for-3 in 1998 and lost a politically sensitive game to Iran. That was very bad. In 2006, they went 0-2-1 with the draw coming against the eventual champions (in a game that finished 10 v. 9). That was less bad. If the US were to go 1-1-1 and say, go out on goal difference, I'd say Berhalter's probably gone (if he was planning on staying anyway, most don't) but I don't think that's any great indictment. IMHO, the US isn't good enough to expect this every time out, and this team is probably not ready. I think you could argue that their shortcomings are partially a byproduct of not making 2018. Pulisic alone probably would have been the better for it.

 

Also - how has the officiating been? I gather FIFA tries very hard to give the host county a win in the opener with opponent selection and officiating.Also wonder if the Saudi win was ref-aided.