Al Capone;402372 wrote:The most powerful nation in the world loses to a country that has no electric, eats every 3 days , and only wears shoes to soccer games. This is why soccer sucks. Get this shit off my tv.

ccrunner609;403386 wrote:I agree with a few here, who cares who wins. The US will never "get it" with soccer. We cant even beat a 3rd world country at it.

Automatik;403500 wrote:I think the US is definitely moving in the right direction. The key is playing overseas and getting that experience. Solely playing in the MLS doesn't cut it.

I'd like to know the numbers of how many players from '06s roster were playing in Europe.

Non;403495 wrote:They'll be a lot of sleepers if the Dutch are in the finals. haha

Non;403433 wrote:Let's be serious for a moment.

What does the US have to do to take the next step?

Because I think, despite what a lot of you say about the popularity growing, imagine what would've happened had this team made a serious run.

Now you have to wait another four years to see if they can do better. That sucks.

Laley23;403522 wrote:I dont know about 06, but this year only had 4 or 5 I think. ANNNNNND Landon Donovan was one of them, and his success can almost be directly related to his stint at Everton.

Laley23;403535 wrote:It sucks to wait 4 years to watch the final installment. But the journey begins in about a year. Qualifying is about a 2 year process (the middle 2). I cant wait to see who our coach will be, who the young players will be (personally would love to see Kevin Alston make a run, as he was a pretty good friend of mine in college at Indiana).

Clearly the popularity wouldve grown faster with a deep run, but I dont care what anyone tells me, its growing. The facts are out there, you just have to be willing to accept them which is hard for a lot of people. We will be playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and hopefully the Confederations Cup again. Plenty of HUGE matches for the USMNT between World Cups. I also think (hope, maybe is better word) that we start getting mainstream coverage of our stars in Europe. Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Howard, Adu, Edu, etc. That would be a step in the right direction for sure.

Laley23;403535 wrote:It sucks to wait 4 years to watch the final installment. But the journey begins in about a year. Qualifying is about a 2 year process (the middle 2). I cant wait to see who our coach will be, who the young players will be (personally would love to see Kevin Alston make a run, as he was a pretty good friend of mine in college at Indiana).

Clearly the popularity wouldve grown faster with a deep run, but I dont care what anyone tells me, its growing. The facts are out there, you just have to be willing to accept them which is hard for a lot of people. We will be playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and hopefully the Confederations Cup again. Plenty of HUGE matches for the USMNT between World Cups. I also think (hope, maybe is better word) that we start getting mainstream coverage of our stars in Europe. Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Howard, Adu, Edu, etc. That would be a step in the right direction for sure.

hoops23;403541 wrote:Don't we have a match coming up with Brazil in August as well?

Automatik;403536 wrote:According to wiki...18 of the 23 are based in Europe. No way that many in 06.

Laley23;403546 wrote:Yeah, but its a friendly. I was naming the bigger events that are a bit more real and go towards our Fifa rankings.