2014 World Cup

I get what you're saying, but he had cover. The defender has to stop the service from coming in. And Ronaldo hadn't beaten anyone 1-on-1 all night.

 

We can't count on that. I think Germany will be very content with a tie as it will win them the group, but they are super dangerous and the surest way for them to advance is to win. Remember, they have a +4 GD, so even a 1 goal loss almost certainly gets them through.

If Portugal beats Ghana, Germany almost certainly gets through because they are +8 to Portugal right now on GD.

Remember 2002 -- in the final matches of the group, we were getting blown out by Poland and all Portugal and South Korea had to do was keep the score even and both would advance. Yet South Korea stayed agressive in the final minutes, scored to go ahead near the end and eliminated Portugal.

 

I'll end the threadjack by noting that's about right. He hit a smooth 6 onto the green yesterday from about 190. Back to soccer talk.

 

Sepp Blatter is David Stern by orders of magnitude.

The Germans and Austria pulled a deal in 1982 and nothing happened.

Depending on updates from the other group match (ie a two-goal lead by Portugal), they may not even have to dog it. But Germany will gladly agree to.

 

I'm guessing every advancing in the tournament is hoping the US advances over Portugal.

The best thing is that Ghana hasn't been eliminated, so its match against Portugal means something to both teams and the chances of a blowout are somewhat lower.

 

Portugal has an absolute mountain to climb. Ghana is the real threat.

 

Overnight 9.1 rating for last night's match.

 

The way I see it, both Portugal and Ghana had their shot against both teams and failed to win. So whatever the U.S. and Germany decide to do is up to them.

The FIFA reaction may be to eliminate draws for group play for 2018, but so be it. That'll just make the American audience happier.

 

Interesting given a time slot of 6pm in the East. Kind of blows MLB's argument
out of water that World Series needs to be in Prime time for ratings. Same for NBC
and The Olympics.

From the shots around USA of group watching it seemed like a lot
of kids watching. At prime time they would have been in bed.

 

I really agree with this. Growing up, it seemed like the World Series and NBA Finals were on early enough where we could watch them. Even NBA Finals games on Sunday started at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

 

It was a Sunday night.

 

Meaning?