Agreed! With the exception of one or two total blowouts, most of the matches have been tight affairs. I like that the gap between the superpowers and the smaller fish in the pond is getting smaller.
Yuki
1 Like
This sport is definitely growing in the US tho. Last world cup many people were not interested and it was not getting that much attention, but so many of my friends for example are so into it now and want to play the FIFA games so Iâm sure by next world cup they will be more than prepared.
Really all I recall of the last world cup was âoh boy, heâs pretending to fall down againâ jokes. Havenât been paying much attention but it seems to have become less saturated this time around.
From an outside-USA perspective, I have to say that almost everyone that Iâve spoken to about this World Cup has been nothing but impressed with how well the USA played this year. For a country that doesnât have all that big of a football following, your team this year was fantastic.
Considering that some of the biggest contenders from last year (and even last years winners) were knocked out so early, it was no mean feat to get as far as you did. You should all be very proud of your team, they represented you brilliantly.
England on the other hand⌠oh my. facepalms
1 Like
Itâs nice to hear an outside-USA perspective on the matter. Thanks for the compliments UK and Australia.
How can you cheer for two teams in the same league?
Also, people donât choose theyâd sports with earning potential in mind, everyone would play the sport with the highest if that were the case.
Where is it written that youâre only allowed to cheer for one team? Arsenal are my team in the EPL but Iâll always cheer on Liverpool as well.
Yuki
Iâm not saying itâs rule, but what happens when they play?
Well, when Arsenal and Liverpool play, I support Arsenal. I suppose cheering for a draw is also an option XD
Yuki
You can like a team but you can also like a team MORE. Like in this world cup I like Portugal and Brazil and if they were to face off I would choose my ultimate favorite which is Brazil. Others may like them evenly so they may just watch the game with a win win outcome. Itâs simple logistics.
FIFA rankings have 0 meaning. We were 4th going into 2006, and we were clearly not the 4th best team in the world. Switzerland is ranked 6th this year. While they were a good team, they had an easy qualifying group and the ranking is agreed to be quite optimistic.
Like others have said, the USâ quality of play is better than it was in 2010. We may not be a dominant force yet, but sometime in the future I can see it happening.
Itâs actually quite common. Those two teams only play each other twice a year. When that happens, I usually just enjoy the game, usually rooting for Everton slightly more (theyâre the underdogs).
+1
England definitely had a rough time of it. Was kind of a bummer. But at least they never got trashed like Spain did against the Netherlands.
As for the question of whether the USA is getting better and will be contenders the BBC has a story:
As for the English teamâs inevitable bowout: what other country (+ Ireland) has its national team broken up into four separate teams? (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Irish Republic)
I think it is time that the UK puts a team that represents Great Britain. No more Wales, Scotland, NI, IR; just GB. Such a team might be good for Britain in more than just sport. Just think what such a team would have done in the past. Heck; just getting Bales on the team would be worth it.
Sadly, too many paychecks would be put in jeapordy to make this a reality any time soon.
You got to be kidding. What defender could mark Lebron on corner-kicks or free-kicks? His size, strength and mobility would make him potentilly the best striker on the planet. Good luck marking up on a 6â7", 280lb forward that has the speed of sprinter and the strength of wrester. Remeber Van Nistlerooy?
Richard Sherman is the highest paid defensive back in the NFL. NFL Defensive backs (the guys that cover recievers) are widely considered the best pure athletes in the NFL - perhaps the world. They are the fastest, most agile and strongest players they can find. Most have physiques that are perfectly suited to soccer too (5â6"-6â; 180-220lbs).
OK, doesnât mean he has any coordination with his feat. All strikers are insanely fast runners and strength isnt that big of deal considering soccer is non contact. Basketball has more in common with keeper than striker.
Youâd be surprised how much strength helps in those aerial contests.
Yuki
I think the premise was based on what these athletes could do if they had grown up playing soccer. That Ronaldo does not know how to play baseball did not preclude him from swatting a few balls at NY Yankees practice last year ( Hitting a baseball is really hard. That he was so good at it was impresive to many Americans).
What makes you think Soccer is non-contact? I am a soccer player/referee. There is a myth that soccer is a non-contact sport. This is false. Watch any professional soccer game and you will see plenty of contact. It is the manner of the contact that may, or may not constitute a foul.
From Fifa Laws of the game:
A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any
of the following seven offences in a manner considered by the referee to be
careless, reckless or using excessive force:
⢠kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
⢠trips or attempts to trip an opponent
⢠jumps at an opponent
⢠charges an opponent
⢠strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
⢠pushes an opponent
⢠tackles an opponent
Notice the bolded text (my edit, not fifaâs). This is the source of MUCH confusion about the rules of soccer. Notice that kicking an opponent is NOT an automatic foul call. It is only a foul if I believe that it was done with undue force or disregard for the players safety. Clearly this standard will be different between a girls U-12 match and an NCAA Div 1 Menâs match. This is why there is so much dis-agreement over the call or non-call. Many spectators see contact that was called a foul during their sonâs recreational game and wonder why the Fifa World-Cup referee is not making the same call during the France/Nigeria game. The calls are different becasue the standards are different. I expect that a world-class soccer player can play through a bit more contact than I would expect from a 12 year old girl. The 12 year old girl is also not getting pais $1,000,000+ to play the game either. In the same light, I would expect that a World-Class womens player could play through the same kind of physical play so there will be the same kind of contact at the Top womenâs level also.
Obviously there is some, but not to the extent that being âstrong like a wrestlerâ is necessary especially since pushing is a foul, getting kicked in the shins during a tackle or being jockeyed are not the kind of things that make a full (should have added this in my other post) contact sport.
Well now I can forget about soccer for another 4 years now.
Edit: redundant now