World Cup 2014

[MARS]

Hey, did you see Germany wipe the floor with Portugal? Sure wish Nuno were here right now.

[VirtualWeasel]

I was kinda surprised (also overjoyed) that Portugal wasn't even really giving them a good opposition.

[Velvet LeChance]

Oh, Pepe..

[scribbane]

Our opener is in a few hours versus Ghana and you bet your ass we are looking for revenge.

I can't say I'm optimistic, Ghana has kicked our ass for a long time now.

This is true, but a man's gotta hope.

While I was predicting a German win today, I really think we needed a tie. Before the Ger-Por match, I was expecting Germany to win out, Portugal to lose one, win 2 and leave us and Ghana at the bottom of the group. Now however, if we can beat Ghana, we stand a chance. Beating Portugal would cement it, but I really think our most realistic shot is a draw with the Germans. It's still early to tell, but with the outcome of the Portugal game, and Pepe benched, and two players likely out for injuries, a win against Portugal is not as far fetched as it may have seemed. Still, best not to get ahead of ourselves. Our boys need to put Portugal out of their minds right now, and focus on Ghana.

[Velvet LeChance]

Robbie Savage is commentating the US match on BBC <3.

And go Ghana. They deserve something after last time - I might have been rooting Uruguay then too, but I still felt for them.

EDIT: 31 seconds: Ghana: 0; US: 1. :c

[scribbane]

USA WINS!!!!!

Holy [&@%!]. I need some time to recover.

Edit: Alright, now I've had some recuperation time, this was a big win. Portugal is sitting pretty well behind with a -4 goal differential. If we can at least draw on Sunday, netting us that point, I think we should advance, assuming Portugal beats Ghana with a minimal score. We need to play a hell of a lot better than we did today however.

Bradley needs to be far more involved than he was (not sure why he was playing so defensively considering his role as an attacking mid) and we need to hold onto the ball for more than 2 seconds. The number of times they booted it downfield or out of play was unbelievable and unacceptable. The defense was just getting hammered because there was no ball movement up the field, and every time Ghana counterattacked, it made it to the back line. The loss of Altidore for this tournament (assuming; he's got a strained hamstring which is not good news) is a pretty big blow, and Johannsson needs to step up much more than he did today. We'll hope that Bessler is not out for good, but Brooks filled his shoes pretty well I thought. I hope Bedoya isn't done as well, but I would have preferred Zusi start anyway. Not sure why injuries seemed so rampant for our boys today, aside from Dempsey's understandable bloody nose at the foot of a would be Ghanaian ninja. I'm just thankful we have the monster that is Howard back in goal.

On a fun personal note, this is how my friend and I watched the game today:

Hidden:

That flag most definitely was an important factor in the win.

[leroybrown]

Last night I was trying to find a high elf to harvest his/her blood when my phone started blowing up with "Go USA!!" texts. Everyone was watching it at the pub last night but ya know I was busy. Gotta prioritize and whatnot.

[Blackhawk Vegal]

It's amazing, so far I have listen to every game on the internet radio, (drive most of the day, so only way to.) they have all been sounding pretty good, never Hearn of so many sub's scoring goals.

I know one thing, the game diffently sounds better with a foreign voice then American voice, keeps me more interested in the game.

[scribbane]

Well I was hoping for a loss for Mexico yesterday, but it was not to be. I'm also thoroughly impressed with Australia. Sure they may have lost their first game, but they played hard and had nothing to be ashamed of and now they are not tied with the Netherlands. And actually they just won a PK as I'm typing.......and they are now up 2-1. What a game, and really, what a tournament!

Edit: And a very quick response by Van Persie. God I love this sport.

[Daemos Avetorii]

Netherlands beat Australia, just.

[Velvet LeChance]

Adios Spana.

[scribbane]

And with that Australia is out as well. Spain was rather disappointing, gotta be said. Cameroon and Croatia next and one of them could be done as well.

[AKB]

I voted for my own country (USA!), but I'm just glad everyone seems to be having fun with this. I tend to only follow major sporting events, so it's nice to see the team you barely pay any mind to doing alright.

[Dirty Spaceman]

Cameroon and Croatia next and one of them could be done as well.

And with a 4-0 loss, Cameroon est fini. Mario Mandzukic's two goals make you wonder how Croatia would've done against Brazil if he hadn't been suspended for that game. I suspect they at least would have tied.

Uruguay vs. England tomorrow. Whoever loses that game will be at severe risk of elimination. Suarez is expected to return, which could give Uruguay the edge... but this is a World Cup where anything can happen.

[Derp53]

Cameroon and Croatia next and one of them could be done as well.

And with a 4-0 loss, Cameroon est fini. Mario Mandzukic's two goals make you wonder how Croatia would've done against Brazil if he hadn't been suspended for that game. I suspect they at least would have tied.

Uruguay vs. England tomorrow. Whoever loses that game will be at severe risk of elimination. Suarez is expected to return, which could give Uruguay the edge... but this is a World Cup where anything can happen.

At least that will be a better match than Spain's knockout, plus USA v. Germany is coming up, chances are much higher for the Germans but anything is possible.

[Velvet LeChance]

The Chile vs Spain match was great.

Just because nothing fancy happened, doesn't mean that we didn't see one of the best team performances so far.

[Pisik]

Germany is my fav.

Spain was also my second favorite team but...

[Mattbott]

Brazil cos even when they lose they are a joy to watch

[Pisik]

Our colony gonna win!

Go Germany!

[scribbane]

I'm in a bit of shock at the moment. Just stunned. I feel like I should be happy with that result, but we were mere seconds away from the win that it's so disheartening.

[Musicman247]

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but Kim Jong Un just announced that North Korea has won the World Cup.

[scribbane]

Well, statistically speaking, the US has about an 80% chance of advancing at this point. This is based solely on the different potential outcomes. Either a Win or Draw against Germany automatically advances us. If we lose and Portugal ties Ghana, we advance. If we lose and Portugal wins, provided the GD between us and Portugal remains less than 4 (I think), we advance. If we lose and Ghana wins, then we likely go home. Basically 5 main outcomes, 3 of which automatically send us, 1 that has a very strong chance of sending us, considering Ghana is playing very well and Portugal not so much, and the last which will knock us out if the conditions are right. 4/5 outcomes either guarantee or most likely advance us.

That's not to say that we should count on it, but it's a much better scenario than I initially imagined when Germany tied Ghana yesterday (a German win would have still given us a better chance) and certainly a better situation than I thought after our tie tonight. USA took everything we did wrong against Ghana and learned from it, and played their best against Portugal. If we continue with that theme and learn from tonight, then I think we stand a strong chance of a positive outcome against Germany. I'm a little worried about the tendency to give away passes, especially clearances from the back, and this is twice now that in the final seconds of the game Bradley has played a careless ball putting us in danger. Against Ghana it almost resulted in a goal, and tonight Portugal actually got a point from it. Possession was worlds better tonight and we definitely dominated the midfield. I very much liked seeing the trio of Johnson, Dempsey, and Bradley working the ball up top, with that crucial support from Jones and Zusi. Klinsmann's decision to double down at the back was what we needed, and I wouldn't be surprised if we keep that more defensive mindset against Germany. I think I would have rather brought in Brooks at the end there over Gonzalez, but I'm not sure if he would have made much difference. Varela just broke through anyway for that beautiful cross from Ronaldo, and I don't know if that was something a sub would have fixed.

I'm not happy that both of the final games from this group are being played at the same time on Thursday, but I guess it just means I get to stress all at once instead of over the course of the day.

[VirtualWeasel]

I'm in a bit of shock at the moment. Just stunned. I feel like I should be happy with that result, but we were mere seconds away from the win that it's so disheartening.

That was the cheapest [&@%!] goal Portugal could have scored. Sure, it sucks to lose, but they could have at least let someone leave with a victory, instead of just making it a lose-lose.
We had that game and played Portugal's weaknesses pretty damn well, and that comeback in the second half was [&@%!] extraordinary. It's a real goddamn shame they couldn't have just let the victory happen.
Hell, I wouldn't be so bitter if Portugal flat out won, I'd be happy for them. But a tie is just pathetic.

[scribbane]

It seems cheap for us, but Portugal was fighting for survival, as a loss there was an elimination for them. No hate on them for doing everything they could to stay alive, and frankly I'm surprised that it didn't come sooner. Portugal hasn't been playing up to par, but I would have been disappointed in them if they hadn't fought tooth and nail.

[Daemos Avetorii]

Aaaand Netherlands vanquishes Chile! Yay holland yay!