US v. Belgium - Let's do this

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:48 pm

I guess I'll have to drink a delicious Trappist quad in honour of the victors.

Post by **brian** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:53 pm

If you're trying to buy a jersey to last the next 12 years or so you could probably do a lot worse than a Julian Green jersey. He might just be the world class finisher this country has always lacked. Him and Aron up top in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 for the next 10 years kinda gives me a boner.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:55 pm

He wont be wearing that number for much longer

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:07 pm

and we got an audible fuck out of Jurgen, that may be the most important development tonight

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:39 pm

aw yeah

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:42 pm

That set piece at the end was a stroke of genius. Made the Germans' one yesterday look like the stooges.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:55 pm

yes I looked up when the Gold Cup starts

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:59 pm

Fuck.

I knew that ginger fuck was going to fuck us right in the fuck. Fuck.

mister d wrote:Has anyone copyrighted Wondolousy yet?

I was thinking of being a bit more generous and going with Wond'oh. Finishin' is hard.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:17 pm

rass wrote:Fuck.

I knew that ginger fuck was going to fuck us right in the fuck. Fuck.

Did you steal this from Frank Booth's twitter feed?

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:27 pm

First the loss, and now Carwash is whipping pop culture references past me. Blue Velvet?

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:49 pm

I'll fuck anything that moves…as long as it ain't a ginger!

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:51 pm

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:54 pm

Fuckity fuck. But I'm damn proud of how they took it to the Walloons after going down 2.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:56 pm

If grief could burn out
Like a sunken coal,
The heart would rest quiet,
The unrent soul
Be still as a veil;
But I have watched all night

The fire grow silent,
The grey ash soft:
And I stir the stubborn flint
The flames have left,
And grief stirs, and the deft
Heart lies impotent.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:59 pm

Boy, I love that movie.

There's a candy-colored clown they call The Sandman; Tiptoes to my room every night
(That should've been Mo Rivera's entry music, at least once.)

("Why are there people like Frank?")

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Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:48 pm

Hey, my sympathies to you fans of the USNMT. Other than the Germans, no other team scraps like them.

In a way, you have to envy the Uruguayans for not losing in heartbreaking fashion.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 10:13 pm

Steve of phpBB wrote:Fuckity fuck. But I'm damn proud of how they took it to the Walloons after going down 2.

Don't forget the Flemish, too.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 5:29 am

Pausing a second to note that Green goal...jeebus.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 6:04 am

howard wrote:Boy, I love that movie.

There's a candy-colored clown they call The Sandman; Tiptoes to my room every night
(That should've been Mo Rivera's entry music, at least once.)

("Why are there people like Frank?")

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At least one Howard got cheered up after the game.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 6:32 am

Super glad Klinsmann brought the kids to Brazil, feel as good about the future of the team as I have in awhile.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:21 am

Yedlin can play for my team anyday. That kid could be really special...he crosses as well as any US player I can recall and he's just 21. I could see him making a move to a European squad in January. Right backs who can fly and cross the ball aren't easy to find.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:03 am

Also, if I'm Klinsmann, I find the best technique coach out there and I offer him a lot of money. The US needs better first touch. We can run with you all day, and I was pleased with our physicality, but we gave away a lot of chances by not controlling the ball well enough.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:10 am

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:27 am

AB_skin_test wrote:Also, if I'm Klinsmann, I find the best technique coach out there and I offer him a lot of money. The US needs better first touch. We can run with you all day, and I was pleased with our physicality, but we gave away a lot of chances by not controlling the ball well enough.

I am hoping the first touch mantra bleeds to all levels of US soccer. I have been wrapped up in a good Club program with my son the last three years, and, developmentally, getting the kids to understand and value the first touch is a massive challenge. The transition from kids wanting to dribble through an entire team and have the glory of scoring to learning how to properly control the ball and build an attack is a very difficult one.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:49 am

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:51 am

The whole "We didn't quit" narrative makes me crazy. Is there actually an expectation that they would quit?

Post by **Sabo** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:55 am

Jerloma wrote:The whole "We didn't quit" narrative makes me crazy. Is there actually an expectation that they would quit?

It's not uncommon for other nations' teams to quit. France's team in 2010 leaps to mind.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:56 am

That's usually what the US has more than other teams. They play hard all the time, have good athletes. Just don't have the technical expertise just yet.

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:04 am

Jerloma wrote:The whole "We didn't quit" narrative makes me crazy. Is there actually an expectation that they would quit?

Not so much quit, but run out of fight down by 2 after 105 minutes in the fourth game in the humidity and heat.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:07 am

Jerloma wrote:The whole "We didn't quit" narrative makes me crazy. Is there actually an expectation that they would quit?

If you watched the Portugal - Ghana match, you will see two teams that very much quit at different times.

The thing is, a team doesn't usually quit, it's a handful of players that do. But at that level, if ONE guy stops doing his job, especially on defense, the other team sniffs it out and goes right at them. If more than one guy stops working, it's glaringly obvious and the other team will exploit it.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:09 am

It's a least a plausible scenario that they might be down, say, a goal in extra time and lose a little concentration or effort level and let up a 2nd goal that could turn out to be the game winner, right?

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:19 am

Damn. So much to say, I'm sure I'll be back 5 more times. If we had to go out, I'm glad we went fighting to a more talented and classy squad. I thought everyone, except for Zusi, played a great game. Zusi's first touch was atrocious. Bradley was solid, even before that sick assist to Green. Interesting stat that in the Group stage, Bradley ran more than any other player in the cup. Showing him tracking back 60 yards on a dead sprint to break up plays was impressive. I hate to agree with Lalas, but I do think Bradley is better suited playing further back with a Mix Diskerud in front of him. Damn, I wish Nordic Messi saw the field. I know it is because we lost Altidore, but the tactics were far too defensive. We never had enough men forward on the rare forays up front. That would have relieved pressure on the D and forced all of our opponents deeper. Could have used an in form Eddie Johnson, but he had to suck for the last several months.

Amazing team defensive performance. Yedlin needs to get his ass back, though. I love watching him run down the wing and provide dangerous crosses, but he needs to learn that he can't do that every time we get possession. He looked solid when he did defend. He may be better played as a right midfielder. Either way, I am excited about his future upside. I'm scared of US players going to Europe now after seeing Brek Shea and many others with potential getting buried on the bench or left off of the 18. DMB was a superstar, Besler and Gonzalez won me over. Once Brooks learns to read the game better, we are very solid at CB. Sad to think Howard may retire, but we are in very good hands with Guzan and Rimando. Guzan would start for all but a handful of countries.

I thought Cameron had a tremendous game. Solid defensively and showed more flair on the ball than I thought he was capable of. Jones is a damned beast, too bad he is 32 yo. I can't fathom why Jurgen waited so long to bring on Green. He should have brought on Green, Aron or Mix immediately after the goal.

How the hell did Wondo miss those chances? Did the linesman flag offsides on the play in the 85th minute or so? Darke said he did at first. Wondo was on by several yards, so if he put it in and it was called back, I would have gone apeshit. That said, the ref was solid. Except for the 1 minute injury time. He should have let that go another 20 minutes, as it was so damned exciting.

Props to Vertonghen for playing so well after puking at least 2 times. I saw him puking off to the side of the huddle after the 90 ended. Then on the field, they showed an extreme closeup of him puking again. How common is it for players to throw up during a game? I've seen it a couple times in the NFL.

Cheds, love the Philip Larkin quote.

Is it me, or did Green completely miss hit his goal? It came off the outside of his foot with a really weird spin. He couldn't have meant to do that, right?

Sweet free kick play at the end. If Dempsey's first touch wasn't heavy, he probably scores. Jerloma scores that 50 out of 50 times.

I was praying Lukaku didn't get in. I knew he would destroy us. Dude is so fucking strong and fast. Can't blame Besler for bouncing off of him and falling on the first goal.

De Bruyne has to be the best 14 year old player in the world.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:29 am

Why wouldn't this have counted?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:30 am

Rimando is 35. He's done.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:31 am

Because he missed the net, J-Lo. You have to put it in the net for goals to count.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:31 am

Jerloma wrote:Why wouldn't this have counted?

It would have...they didn't call offside, it was for a potential foul on Belgium away from the play. Officials said as much afterwards.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:33 am

This thread needs a trigger warning.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:34 am

The definitive smash and grab. They would have had to recall all dictionaries and reissue new ones because there would now be a new definition of smash and grab.

SportsDoc · Post by **SportsDoc** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:37 am

Very proud of US squad. Had a couple huge opportunities, one to win in reg and one to go PK at the end.

Having said that, without Howard, we would have been fucked puppies, no? 16 saves, many fantastic, especially the kick saves.

And in 2002 we got to QF and lost to eventual Runner-up Germany, so is this team better than that team? If so, why. Trying to grasp the "Big Picture" here as to the future.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:42 am

If both teams play like they did yesterday, Belgium will beat Argentina.