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Germany is out!
Costa Rica grabbed a 2-1 lead in the 64th minute and at that moment was through to the knockout round. But, uncharacteristically the usually tough CR defense disappeared, and they lost 4-2. Japan and Spain advance. CR could have knocked both Germany and Spain out if they had held on and won. It was the toughest group, so CR did well.
Only the US is still alive from CONCACAF.
That's 2 WCs in a row that Germany is out in the group round...
Yep, hard to fathom. Those 4 stars on their unis look very irrelevant these days. What have you done for me lately? Nada, in the case of Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
Match of the day! Should be, I'm predicting, Brazil vs. Cameroon.
Brazil is locked in for the Round of 16, is dealing with an injury to Neymar and surely don't want to lose more starters to injury in what is, to them, a meaningless game. They will certainly go to their bench and start back-ups today. Now, Cameroon is mathematically alive and needs a result to advance. Even without this measure, this would be an entertaining match. Both teams are offensive-minded. Brazil is famous for its emphasis on wide open attacking soccer, and Cameroon's best players are its strikers and attacking midfielders.
Has the makings of a dynamic match. Of course, as I say this, watch it end up 1-0 :icon_roll:.
Yep! 1-0, but it was Cameroon with the winning goal. Snapped a LONG non-losing streak for Brazil (back to 1998) in WC group play. Brazil played a very conservative game, sitting back on defense and counter-attacking. One time, just once, their midfield was slow getting back on defense and Bam! Great goal by the "roonies." Not enough to advance but quite a moment for Cameroon...they beat Brazil in the WC Finals. A rare event.Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
On to the knockout round!
HUGE!!! That sums up the match today for US Soccer.
Cody Gakpo is the real deal, striker, for the Dutch. He is a true world-class striker, of whom there are so few. The US has never had such, ever! And we don't even have a "very good" striker! Can't let Gakpo beat us. I would shadow him. Play a "box (10) and one" like you see in hoops when you try to take out a big scorer. Assign our best, quickest midfielder to Gakpo...where he goes, you go. Of course, there is a danger to that, The Netherlands have other good scorers too.
One thing is certain, our back line has to know where Gakpo is every second. Cannot lose sight of him or he will put one in the back of the net.
We can win this match, but it will take a near-perfect effort and perhaps a little luck too.
At the half... Netherlands 2 US 0
You can put the Dutch's gameplan on a 3 x 5 index card with plenty of room to spare. Nothing fancy, no secret tactics, just awesome, perfect execution.
45 minutes to go...
Netherlands 3 US 1 Final
Defense let us down. Even Anthony Robinson who has been so good, and as a youngster will get better, completely zoned out on that third goal. Left a dangerous goal-scorer unmarked. That is a no-no at U12 Rec soccer! But, the first two goals surrendered were just as bad.
The Dutch used Gakpo as a decoy, especially in the 1st half, moving him out wide hoping to drag our defense out, and it worked to perfection twice.
US had its chances but couldn't finish enough. And nothing more needs to be said about the defense.
Typical Clockwork Orange slice and dice job. If that team can keep playing the way it did today, I wouldn't bet against the Dutch raising the biggest little trophy of them all in 15 days.
Invaluable experience for a young US team.
Having tortured myself watching the post-game analysis and lowlights, it was far worse than first appeared. I initially gave too much credit to the Dutch, and yes, they did accept the gifts they were handed, but it was more a case of stupid, amateurish play by the US than some superb tactics by them.
Tyler Adams came closest to addressing the issue when he said, "We fell asleep at times." But even that admission falls short of the truth. The mental errors were extreme and numerous. Not even a U12 Rec soccer coach would tolerate such "out of touch" defending...I should place that in quotes too: "defending" since it was not actually real defending. Some of the comments from Dutch players, although they were careful not to come across too disrespectful, sheds light on the ease their three goals were scored. They are genuinely surprised by what they saw from our so-called defense.
Why did this happen? Well, on the surface the only explanation appears to be the old "deer in headlights" syndrome due to this young bunch being over-whelmed by the moment. Like, OMG! we are actually playing a knockout round game in THE World Cup Finals!!! And they zoned-out like blathering idiots!
Mbappe of France is the best player in the world, no doubt about it. He is the premiere striker for sure. Wish the US had someone almost as good, yes, even "almost as good" would be a HUGE step up.
In 2018 France was the second youngest team in the WC Finals, yet they won it all. Now in 2022 they are poised to repeat. Brazil is ranked #1, but France will have a lot to say about who takes home the cup.
Back to Mbappe...wow, he can finish! How good is he? He now has 9 WC career goals, matching Messi and passing by Ronaldo, each of whom have played in 5 World Cups.
World Cup Could Grow by 40 Games in 2026 (frontofficesports.com)Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
Quote:
- However, FIFA is considering a shift to 12 groups of four, in which the top two teams from each and eight third-place teams would advance to a 32-team bracket, according to multiple sources.
12 groups of four will be better.
US with a new coach by then would be even better.
Spain goes down in PKs...again
1000 completed passes doesn't equal 1 PK. Much less 3 PKs.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
Yep...the Morocco goalie will never buy another meal in his life.Quote:
Originally Posted by FriscoDawg