2014 FIFA World Cup Thread

[misty_mountainhop]

That was a cool goal.  He snuck swept that in with his back heel. No speed, all guile. Very clever. Do they practice that or is it instinct?

I doubt they'd practice anything like that. It's a product of being very good in general I think.

As for the 3 suggestions above, I'd go with Cahill's block buster. Technically, very, very difficult. Full volley with the ball coming across his body and he manages to hit back against the grain and hit the target. James' volley vs. Uruguay was pretty impressive, especially as he has a quick peek at the keeper while the ball is in the air, on the way to him, before he smacks it in. Van Persie's is still pretty impressive an it's perhaps a bit more 'intelligent' but for sheer skill and impact, I'd have it 3rd out of those 3.

[Abu3baid]

Put "Eddie Grey Leeds versus Burnley 1970" into google for a youtube of the ultimate individual goal. It's much harder to score this type of goal (the second one) than one of those where you run straight on at the defence and always have the potential ally of momentum with you

Yeah, that is a pretty sweet goal indeed.. I think we still see these type of efforts today though.. I agree that the play from the side is a much better measure of skill compared to head on attacks with momentum like you mentioned though!

[iacas]

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2014/06/Andr%C3%A9-Sch%C3%BCrrle-1-1.gif

That one almost makes it look like the green guy deflects it in. It's clear it was all white in the rest, but that one is deceiving.

My favorite goals in league are what I call hockey goals - I stand near the net and someone fires the ball at me (still on or very close to the net) and I just deflect the shot slightly from ten feet out or so. I love those tip-in type plays. They feel cool.

Put "Eddie Grey Leeds versus Burnley 1970" into google for a youtube of the ultimate individual goal. It's much harder to score this type of goal (the second one) than one of those where you run straight on at the defence and always have the potential ally of momentum with you

Or just embed it…

[FarawayFairways]

1970's pitches, fantastic!!!

I'm much less inclined to take such a charitable view of the German goal against Algeria as the rest of you though. I think there was a significant degree of good fortune about it.

In the first case you don't try and nutmeg an opponent with a drag back from 5 yds out in injury time. You leather it!!! or if you're particularly composed, you might try placing it, but you don't try fancy tricks. I think he's over run the cross, tries checking his run, can't quite stop, so leaves a trailing leg out in the hope of turning it in the direction of the goal. That much is instinctive, but you simply can't guarnatee placing the ball through the defenders legs under these circumstances. He wouldn't have had much of a clue other than a proximity awareness just where the defender was, it was 95% instinctive and then the rest you trust to the football gods to smile on you

[nevets88]

Interesting Guardian piece on US soccer and I'm still going through the comments. Learning a lot from them. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/02/usa-world-cup-2014-legacy

[FarawayFairways]

Anyone know what the viewing figures were yet?

[nevets88]

Anyone know what the viewing figures were yet?

Not quite US-Portugal but close. http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2014/07/02/u-s-a-vs-belgium-highest-overnight-tv-rating-ever-on-espn-for-world-cup-match/

[FarawayFairways]

How does 15m - 18m compare with a Monday night game? or a major baseball series? I assume that sort of figure beats the second tier sports like golf or tennis?

Has anyone got any idea what kind of budget the USFA (or whatever the adminsitrative body is called) has available to it for professional development (the national team that it is) not the grassroots

I was midly amused to read that bit in the Guardian incidentally suggesting that Yedlin will be a hero in Seattle. My own suspicion is there's going to be a dozen premier league agents waiting for him the moment he gets through the arrivals lounge!!! He might never see Seattle again!!! Does he plays like that every week?. That he's from Seattle will only encourage the English teams I'd think, as it means he'll handle one of our winters very easily (not always a given for a hot climate import). I'm not actually so sure he's a full back though (possibly a few inches short), and that in the fullness of time he could find himself playing a conventional wingers role, or even as a striker off a target man, but he was very impressive

I do worry a bit though about how the American team will go in this regard.

If they get scattered all over Europe then it becomes horrendous to try and manage as the club and country rows that we're so familiar with start to poison relationships and undermine unity. Different players have to travel half way round the world to meet up and reacquaint themselves, and during that time of course they'll all be coming under different influences. If you aren't careful, you end with all the problems that African teams face

The other problem though is that unless you can strengthen the domestic league you'll struggle to do yourself full justice and end with a team like Scotland!!! All right it won't be that bad, but it might look something like the eastern european leagues. Having said that, there is the possibility of generating a legitimate quality league from within the States. I think the US probably needs to be wary though of attracting in too many retiring Europeans looking for a pay day and a bit of hot weather lifestyle. Some will be a benefit to the youngsters, but I think you need to resist allowing marketing people to pick teams, and if its legal to do so, try and restrict the number of imports

I'd still be interested in buying a Dutch a team if I were the US and using it as a teaching academy that also kept the core of my team together learning and growing up with each other. Another possibility would be for the US to centrally contract players (if they can afford it) and then leasing them out on scholarships to approved bidders

Somehow the US needs to get itself involved in a secondary major tournament on the two year cycle as well. The Copa America is the obvious one to try and gatecrash

One of the other things I'd try and do if I were Klinsman is have a word with the fixture people and see about manufacturing the FIFA ranking and trying to get myself seeded. The US are better than Switzerland, and aren't too far removed from Belgium or Colombia as it stands. The CONCACAF mandatory games you have to play are relatively soft and can be used to protect a ranking, but with some clever scheduling you can cherry pick opponents on your terms to boost your ranking and try to obtain a seeding with all the advantages of logistics and opponents that goes with it

[yrew]

Saeed Al Owairan - Saudi Arabia 1994

Dennis Bergkamp - 1998

[FarawayFairways]

After having given this a bit of additional thought (and undertaken a little bit of minor digging into MLS) I do think there are some things America needs to address and which if they get correct will greatly enhance their prospects

Coming to this relatively fresh they have a great chance to survey some of the structural issues that afflict other nations, notably England and the other 'emerging' new power (Africa as a collective entity)

In England the aspirations of the national team are very much a secondary consideration and suboridinated to an all powerful club structure. The demands of the national team(s) are very much seen as a distraction by club managers that they frankly wish would go away and quietly combust. This is largely our own fault. We have created a Frankenstein monster called the Premiership and with the money that's sloshing round, we've also learned this last month (though had suspected it for ages) that there are number of English internationals who don't want to play for England because they're frightened of being subjected to a critical scrutiny and derided by fan and media alike, which they're less likely to encounter amongst tribal morons blindly following their clubs. In any event, the clubs pay the salaries, and that's the most important thing in their eyes

The lessons I would draw from that is the following

America needs to balance the demands of developing a stronger domestic proving ground, with the need to keep the national team on the apex of the focus. In England they're divorced. It's often difficult to keep these in equilibrium and somewhere along the line a natural order evolves, or a conscious decision is taken to give one primacy. In cricket and rugby for instance the national teams are seen as the flag carriers and actually perform a much stronger economic role in generating money that trickles down. Both of Englands rugby and cricket teams have won a world cup or been ranked number 1 during the last 15 years. Our football team has never got close.

If American players are sent into Europe, and most worryingly of all, England, they'll fall under this regime. Don't do it. Send them to the technical leagues of Holland, France, Spain or Germany (keep them away from Italy too). The African nations are beset with governance issues on top of other things, but many of their better players have fallen under the Premiership curse and trying to keep a team toegther with a globally dispora of personnel is a nightmare to manage

Ideally try and send players on scholarship leases that enable you to manage their workloads and availability. In cricket we call it central contracting, and its possible here because the money is earned on the international apex. In other words, they're contracted and paid by the national board. The English FA couldn't do this for footballers because it simply hasn't got the money to compete with the Premiership clubs. If the American footballing authorities can do though, they'd be better advised to centrally contract players and lease them to European teams I reckon.

Doing this would have an additional benefit I believe for a country that can only play one major tournament every 4 years (something that I think will change soon). The MLS season isn't particularly long, nor is it particularly sensibly structured. It needs to be more competitive, and there are clearly some fault lines, but also some quite neat contrived areas of competition enhancement too i quite like such as 'rivalry shields' or whatever they're called. What the current schedule permits though is extended downtime that could be really productively used for national training camps.

The concept of a training camp is much more engrained in the American sporting landscape than it is Europe's. I suspect your players will respond this much more positively than ours who often give the impression of thinking they're above this kind of thing. Looking at the current calender you could get 3 months of training camp into a year (England's would be lucky if they got 10 full days coaching time with the national team in a year). If you centrally contracted, and if a major broadcaster signed up the national team as a partner, you could make the MLS more competitive by playing fewer matches on a promotion and releagtion basis, and then spend the rest of the year developing as a national team, whilst playing high profile friendlies or contrived TV tournaments, cherry picking your opposition

It's no wonder Jurgen is smiling, he can see what he's potentially sitting on

[jamo]

Who are you guys rooting for in the France/Germany game?

[yrew]

I'll never root for France

[Reval14]

Germany of course!!!

[Abu3baid]

I'll never root for France

[quote name="jamo" url="/t/73308/2014-fifa-world-cup-thread/920_10#post_1015298"]Who are you guys rooting for in the France/Germany game?[/quote] I have to go with the German Machine here.. I just can't bring my self to root for the French... Something about them makes it difficult to do! So, go Germany!

[RJH999]

Who are you guys rooting for in the France/Germany game?

I despise both teams but I despise France slightly less, so them I guess.

[Reval14]

YES!!! Germany in the semi-final!!!

[Reval14]

YES!!!

[Chilli Dipper]

Great save by the German goalkeeper. I thought Benzema was sending the match into extra time, for sure.