2014 World Cup

I'm worried Portugal is so far at sea on goal differential that they'll fold up against Ghana, which will score enough to edge the USMNT in the tiebreaker.

 

Agreed -- I think there is a decent chance that Ghana is up 3 by halftime. I wonder if they start with Ronaldo on the bench -- he obviously isn't 100% and 3 matches in a week can't be great from him. If they are in the game, he can come in during the second half.

 

Helluva start in Nigeria-Argentina.

 

It's a bit scary to see a guy hit full in the chest and go down like that.

 

This Messi guy isn't bad.

 

I'm not much on GOAT conversations because it's impossible to fairly compare the way sports are played and evolve over generations, but I certainly believe if you have the conversation, Messi has a place at the table.

 

The cream always rises to the top. Cool closeup of that kick. The action he was able to get on ball
was amazing. It was like a golf fade shot.

 

The ball was on a bounce, which adds to the skill level.

Compare that one to the sitter Bradley had the other day, booted right to the lone defender.

Edit - I was talking about his first goal today, not his second.

 

The one Jones buried for the U.S. on Sunday was about as good as that. But Messi does that ALL the time.

 

this is a good match

 

Kiss on the Pitch

I don't get the outrage about the painful kiss of biting. Suarez didn't take out career ending knee ligaments. Just a kiss. A Show of respect. A love tap. Maybe this guy escaped from a Netflix 'Walking Dead' set, but he is probably not lethal. Some kiss feet, some kiss ears. This guy gets heated up and kisses shoulders. Sportswise, I do not get the outrage. Yes maybe a red card penalty but burning him at the soccer stake is absolutely excessive. Deal is that no flop has been perfected vs the bite and that's why the guy has to go. Fast forward to 2018 and more 'Walkers' get into the act, then the bite-flop will have been perfected and fans can do their proper outrage cheers. Just don't look closely at the guy sitting next to you in the deteriorating stands.

 

Another problem with going to five-team groups?

Can't play the final group-play games at the same time.

You can with four-team groups (two games at a time, like the current setup) and with six teams (three games at a time) but five-team and seven-team groups take that out