I will be optimistic and say Quarters also. Czech's are injury plagued so we may get a W...Italy Draw or L and then gotta get a W against Ghana. I have a feeling we will play more defensive against these better teams and then just counterattack. We were throwing everybody up against Venezuela and Latvia. Keller is still awesome in goal...Howard too...both have played in the EPL. Having said that...we are officially in "The Group of Death" this time around. Good luck to our boys and will be great to the red, white and blue on the pitch in Germany and Sam's army cheering them on!
VOLTITAN said:
i see a total first round exit..No ifs ands or buts!!!!
And this will make the world cup really really suck for the rest of us who actually enjoy soccer!!!! You can kiss the coverage good bye after we get booted out of the first round!!! (then those assholes at Espn will use that excuse to broadcast more friggin paint ball fucking wars!!!!:missingte :missingte
Great schedule & gametime info http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/eu/fifa/fwc061.pdf
redpimp said:
The ESPN/ESPN2/ABC schedule has long been set and won't change. Every game will be shown, all in HD as long as your provider provides all 3 in HD. The coverage of the WC has never really been bad, with at worst having to watch games in Spanish instead of English, don't know what you were watching in the past 12 years.
Don't much like a lot of the announcers/analysts we get, but really like the team they have at ESPN who has been covering the US squad. Very fair guys who know the game and don't have to sound snooty and British to have credibility.
As for the squad, who knows where they will end up. The key thing in my mind is they can compete with anyone at this level. No that doesn't mean they will win more than their fair share, but it does mean they don't go into games like they did before 2002 hoping for draws and lucky bounces to get them. This team will attack, use its speed, be strong in the air and get some solid goalkeeping. No the side hasn't quite reached the top level, but it really isn't that far away. These guys are a joy to watch for their fearless play, their quick attacks, and the way they do play a generally appealing game. They make your heart stop with poor clearances, lack of possession at times, and a general lack of playmaking unless Reyna is involved. Often the best weapon is just to put the ball into space and hope Beasley or Donovan can beat the defender to it. The next level is to find ways to create pressure off set plays and with a great touch. We aren't really that far away from that.
FWIW, they have enough to beat Italy and the Czechs, but it certainly doesn't mean they will. No matter how you look at it, this group isn't any tougher than the one they played in 2002 and that didn't deter them from a great showing so keep the faith and know an honest effort may get us farther than anyone is thinking.
