Hey Sean PA (World Cup)

[cincygreg]

Enjoying the matches so far?
(watching Italy vs Australia right now)

How do you feel about your chances against Portugal?

Wimbledon on a rain delay right now, imagine that LOL!
Who'd a thunk it ??!?!?!!? Rain at Wimbledon, that never happens. [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 26, 2006 11:45 AM: Message edited by: cincygreg ]</font>

[Lew]

Here's what I don't understand-

our population is roughly 300 million.

On any given Saturday morning in the Lebanon/Mason/West Chester areas, there are roughly 200 million kids playing soccer (along with their prozac-addicted soccer moms who all gather on the sidelines and swap stories about whose life is the roughest, and their insecure dads who never fulfilled their own life's ambitions so they now must live vicariously through their little brats out there on the soccer field, hence the reason they yell f-bombs at the refs every time their kid scrapes a knee, but I digress).

I presume this pattern is repeated throughout the U.S.

Exaggerations aside, let's say 5 million kids play soccer here. You're telling me that we can't, from that large pool, extract 20 or so of the best to compete on the international stage? We probably have more kids playing soccer than the entire population of Ghana.

Lord do we suck.....

[cincygreg]

A lot of it has to do with the attention put on other sports in this country. We like commercials and breaks in the action and we like scoring. Soccer doesnt offer these. (what would we do without halftime and the 7th inning stretch [img]wink.gif[/img] ) Most Americans would rather see a 10-8 baseball game of a 35-30 football game where there is a lot of scoring and plenty of hilights. In soccer you are often lucky to get 2 goals in the same game.

Also, many kids soccer teams are not coached by "proffessional coaches" they are led by moms and dads or people who know the game but probably arent on the same coaching level as some who do that as there only job like in other nations.

We have a pretty high world ranking right now and have beaten or tied many of the worlds best teams. We just didnt do it at this years world cup.

[travelinman]

A quote from a Brit friend of mine

?Soccer is a game played by gentlemen and watch by hooligans, Rugby is a game played by hooligans and watched by gentlemen.?

From the few times I have been in England during an important match, the average British soccer fan makes the Philadelphia Eagles fans look like wimps.

[Sean Pa]

Well were out, god dam penalties again, ah well roll ON 2010, its been fun.
The USA really sucked at this tournament and I would put all the blame on the coaches shoulders, is tactics were unbelievably poor. You have some great players the fitness and desire of the team is superb, but you need a 1st class European or South American coach to get any futher.

[cincygreg]

It's been an interesting tourney so far. I think many (myself included) expected Brazil to go further as well.

Should be a couple fo great semi finals though.

Saw Beck's reliquished his captainship of the National team today. Going to continue to play, but will allow for one of the others to be team captain.

[Lew]

The only thing I like about soccer is the rioting that occurs, and there really hasn't been much of that this time around. I know the Italians have short tempers (I married one) so maybe they'll lose and we can see some footage of taxicabs being flipped and burned or something.

[cincygreg]

Whne they cut to the images in Italy after the match, there seemed to be quite a prty going on.

Take what we do in a city when our team wins a championship and expound that into a nationwid celebration [img]eek.gif[/img]

That's one heck of a shindig!

[Sean Pa]

Italy have been awesome, If there is any justice they will win, The display against Germany was the best team performance I have ever seen.
Shame their home league is in such turmoil.

[cincygreg]

It's Foccacia VS Baguette in the finals!

Should be a great match.