World Cup

[moguy1973]

Howard had a career day and the US needed him to have a game like that or it would have been a blow out. Sooner or later when you stop 16+ shots a few are going to get by you with the defense the US has. The US made it a lot closer than it should have been at the end there. I still think the US has a long way to go to be a soccer power. 1 win and 1 draw in 4 games isn't real good and they are lucky that Portugal wasn't playing the way they should have been or they wouldn't have made it through group play.

[BATCAB27]

we lost that game when the our guy missed the chip shot right at the end of regulation.

[ness]

I've got to say, that was pretty exciting there for a while. I was able to listen to it on the AM radio (just like the old days!) from about 10 minutes before the end of regular time to the end. That 19 year old coming in for the first time and scoring a goal within a couple minutes was really something. Howard had a great game, but it kinda highlights how weak we are. Can't wait for 2018!!

[ollie]

Like I've been saying, our D is weak and it showed today. I really thought we had a chance at this one, but hey we had a good run and the guys shouldn't be down. We held our own against some of the best teams in the world.

[Quillback]

It was fun, and I think we got about as much from this team as we could expect. Sure would be nice to see the US someday field a team that has a legitimate shot at going to the final.

[stlfisher]

Yep, we showed tons of heart, but Belgium was the much better team. We are still a few world cups away from possibly being a contender based on talent, but dang our guys play hard. For the first time in a long time I think the support is there that is the most important thing that will come out of this world cup. More people watched the game yesterday than the NBA finals and the world series. I would have never thought that would happened ever! It is still going to take a couple world cups to develop the talent that we need and the youth programs is where is where it all starts...should be a great ride in the years to come!

[Quillback]

I'm liking the Germany vs France match. You can bet that's a big deal in those 2 nations.

[ollie]

Yea, it's a safe bet to say those nations will give workers the day off!

[ozark trout fisher]

I honestly didn't like soccer, but I really enjoyed watching our team play in the World Cup. It's pretty easy to just dismiss the sport out of hand, because all of the critcisms are basically accurate (long time between scoring, the possibility of a tie, the weird dilemna of the team celebrating after the loss to Germany based on some obscure tiebreaker.) But late in the US/Belgium game, can any honest-to-goodness sports fan say that they were not completely on the edge of their seat? And that was in a game that was scoreless in regulation, the prototypical "boring" soccer game, if you didn't actually bother to watch the thing.

Sucked the way it ended, but after actually forcing myself to pay attention to the games I have to admit my perspective has changed quite a bit.

[ness]

Yeah, I came in with a few minutes of regulation to go. Would I have stuck it out the whole time for a 0-0 tie? I doubt it. It's pretty tame action wise compared to the NFL. But I recognize it's a cultural thing to a large extent, and not really a fair comparison.