Soccer (General)

[Hoek]

My only concern about qualifying is whether Klinsmann realizes how tough the road games are, even against the weak teams. Take them lightly and that could put us behind the 8 ball and make the home games tense affairs.

[thefly]

yeah. germany wins against portugal 1-0. good start for us

[Hoek]

I see USA beat Antigua 3-1. Expected but good there was no shock like there was to the Netherlands today. Losing to Denmark 1-0! Sheesh. And the goalie was at fault for that too.

Meanwhile Argentina beat Brazil 4-3 in a pretty exciting friendly. Anyone comparing Neymar to Messi has to feel ridiculous now. Messi 3, Neymar 0.

[Avery86]

Yeah, I think Neymar is overrated. Some pretty great games so far in Euro 2012.

[BurnTHalO]

I thought the world was ending. I was switching between the French Open and the Spain/Italy match. For reference, I always enjoyed women soccer way more than men's due to the complete diving and crying in the men's matches. But I figured hey, I've heard of these teams, so lets give it a shot. So, imagine my shock to see Italy and Spain players go down at least 6 times and none stay down like they were shot. I then switch back to the French Open to see Nadal losing 8 straight games, and literally whiff a backhand. I mean, didn't even hit the frame. But, we all survived, so I guess it wasn't truly the end of the world.

[Avery86]

Originally Posted by BurnTHalO

I thought the world was ending. I was switching between the French Open and the Spain/Italy match. For reference, I always enjoyed women soccer way more than men's due to the complete diving and crying in the men's matches. But I figured hey, I've heard of these teams, so lets give it a shot. So, imagine my shock to see Italy and Spain players go down at least 6 times and none stay down like they were shot.

The diving problem, from my perspective, is getting better as more and more referees are getting fed up with it and won't call it. Several high profile bad calls for dives are probably making more referees scrutinize everything (Ashley Young comes to mind ...). However, it's a double edged sword as some are legitimate fouls (including possible PK opportunities). Sometimes I almost wish there wasn't instant replay on fouls so my blood pressure could stay down.

[BurnTHalO]

Originally Posted by Avery86

The diving problem, from my perspective, is getting better as more and more referees are getting fed up with it and won't call it. Several high profile bad calls for dives are probably making more referees scrutinize everything (Ashley Young comes to mind ...). However, it's a double edged sword as some are legitimate fouls (including possible PK opportunities). Sometimes I almost wish there wasn't instant replay on fouls so my blood pressure could stay down.

I still say make diving a suspendable offense. Let the refs just call games, but if upon further review it was determined you were diving, suspend the guy a game.

[NoSpin]

That effort by the US men last night was pretty horrendous. Does anyone think that Jermaine Jones is really one of the best eleven American players? Ditch the guy and get Adu back out there.

[Avery86]

Originally Posted by NoSpin

That effort by the US men last night was pretty horrendous. Does anyone think that Jermaine Jones is really one of the best eleven American players? Ditch the guy and get Adu back out there.

Adu isn't the solution.

Ultimately, I'm disappointed Feilhaber isn't in the squad. Or Klejstan. Both could, IMO, at least not give the ball away nearly as much as Jones.

However, keep in mind Klinsmann was running these guys ragged through the three weeks or so. Twice a day training, every day, plus five full matches (three friendlies). That's a ton of work after a long European season for some of the guys. They'll be much fresher in September, save for the MLS guys, but there aren't many of those in the lineup anyway.

[Hoek]

Klinsmann likes Jones because A) he's German B) he's got a nasty streak. I'm not sure I'm convinced about him either.