2014 World Cup

Socceristas like you will defend any flawed presentation of the sport. I get that.

 

I'm coming halfway, I'm trying to learn the game.
I'm the one making an effort here, man.

 

Is the WC group tiebreaker based solely on goal differential? If the US ties Portugal and loses to Germany and Ghana beats Portugal, wouldn't the US move on because it beat Ghana? Both would be 1-1-1 and Germany would be 2-0-1. You'd think that's how it would work. But I don't know. That said, with Ghana getting the tie today and a win moving the US on no matter what, I think a win tomorrow is the only thing that works at this point.

 

Goal differential and then total goals scored. There's no head-to-head.

 

Yup. Just looked that up. I think that's sort of crazy, but that's how they do it. I knew that tie today wasn't a good thing.

 

I have not seen any of what is described. But the Premier League is the top league in the world, so the bulk of the players in the World Cup play there. But they have mentioned Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, as well. I must be missing your point. Some of the storylines (such as Suarez) might center around England because he plays there and is in the same group as the England team. Other than that, I have seen good features on Balotelli, Ecuador, Messi, Ronaldo and other stars. Suarez is really the only EPL player even doing anything.

 

Agree to disagree.
I will try to watch the next broadcast with an open mind.
Better yet, I will ask my British in-law what she thinks of the production.

 

When the MLS becomes more than a Double-A league on the world stage, then that facet of the broadcasts can get more Americanized. The European leagues are the major leagues when it comes to soccer, that's just a fact. Most of these guys are playing in those leagues. It's no different than an announcer sprinkling in what MLB team or organization someone plays for during the World Baseball Classic, or what NBA team an international player is on during an Olympic basketball game.
In fact, in this case it's even more helpful since a large portion of the audience likely isn't familiar with every single player. I'm not a hardcore soccer fan. I'm barely even a casual fan. But I do get into the World Cup. I don't know Nigeria's goal keeper from Adam, but when I hear he plays for an EPL team -- even if I'm not familiar with the specific team -- it gives him credibility as a solid player instead of just some schmuck from the hinterlands.

 

I didn't see the play. I did, however, hear the British play-by-play announcer rip the referee a new one for totally blowing the call -- with maybe 20 minutes left in the match. There was no replay being shown at the time, so I was totally taken aback by the tirade.

 

I do know that a player coming from Arsenal resonates more with me than a player coming from the Red Bulls. I mean, it's inevitable with the televised bombardment of Premier League on the weekends.

 

I'm really enjoying Roberto on the telecasts. Still sad he's not my boys manager anymore.

 

Excellent point, and like I said, you might end up watching that team if you are really impressed by a player. I started semi-seriously watching the EPL after seeing guys like Drogba, Robben, van Nistelrroy and Thierry Henry in the World Cup.