There were plenty of Spanish players carrying their club teams. Iniesta was Barcelona's rock and he doesn't look as good as he has in the past, to me at least. Also, no more Puyol.

Anyway, I didn't think they would win, but I sure as hell didn't have them eliminated after their first two matches.

lhslep134;1627597 wrote:I'm assuming because Beats was explicitly mentioned in their contract. Why would Sony pay for a sponsorship and not forbid their biggest rival from free publicity?

If that was the case, why not enforce rule from start of tournament as opposed to a week in? Makes FIFA/Sony look shady in my opinion.

The Netherlands vs Chile game could be interesting. They both are going through but I'm sure they want to avoid playing Brazil. With van Persie out I'm wondering if Chile rests people.

slingshot4ever;1627611 wrote:If that was the case, why not enforce rule from start of tournament as opposed to a week in? Makes FIFA/Sony look shady in my opinion.

My guess? Because Sony probably gave FIFA a week to stop f*cking around and finally enforce it because FIFA was lackadaisical in enforcement,

This is great publicity for beats

Yup, this actually works against Sony because it makes them look like cry babies that can't handle competition....likely because beats has far surpassed them in the headphone industry already

Yeah, saying the Spanish style is going out is wrong, IMO. The style won't go out. The style of countries will never go out. You just need to have the best players in the world to execute it, and Spain had not just a few, but literally like 10 of the top 30 players in the world on their team at once (and in their prime). You don't win 3 major titles in a row like that.

The Spain style will go on, and they will fail, because they don't have a golden generation behind this group at the moment. In 25 years, Spain will be aging this style, and who knows, they may win again?

I didn't hear anyone say the Italian style was going away when they had a down spell for a good number of years, then they moved on from their 2006 WC players and go to the Euro Finals...

Its all cyclical. Spain was absolutely loaded for the last 8 years and were fortunate enough to take advantage without a hiccup. Those players are old, and as evidenced by Barcas decline, are losing some skill. Xavi is arguably a top 3 CM of all time...can't even get off the bench today. You need your players to perform, not the system.

This kind of stuff gives me the chills every single time. Watch this video! AO's and US fans in Brazil marching to the game!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153018570669968

Ytowngirlinfla;1627653 wrote:This kind of stuff gives me the chills every single time.

sweet link

slingshot4ever;1627594 wrote:Then why not stop players from wearing all other brands (Skull Candy, etc.), why just Beats by Dre? It is an attack against a single brand, not all competitors.

Soccer doesn't like black people.

Via US Soccer: Jozy Altidore has strained left hamstring, not available Sunday vs. Portual, but hopefully will be back during World Cup. Matt Besler OK to play.

Ytowngirlinfla;1627740 wrote:Via US Soccer: Jozy Altidore has strained left hamstring, not available Sunday vs. Portual, but hopefully will be back during World Cup. Matt Besler OK to play.

Cool

Called it. I doubt we see Jozy again in the group.

ohiobucks1;1627751 wrote:Called it. I doubt we see Jozy again in the group.

Id be impressed if you said he would play, and did.

You get zero credits for this lol.

I still think we beat Portugal and Germany. My gut feeling is never wrong.

Laley23;1627761 wrote:Id be impressed if you said he would play, and did.

You get zero credits for this lol.

Haha, I think what I wrote came across poorly. I don't get credit for stating the obvious. However, some people on here (and elsewhere) truly believed that he could make it back for Portugal which I was 100% sure would not happen. I've pulled/strain/torn the same muscle multiple times, and there is no way to come back from it in 6 days without constantly injuring it.

ohiobucks1;1627764 wrote:Haha, I think what I wrote came across poorly. I don't get credit for stating the obvious. However, some people on here (and elsewhere) truly believed that he could make it back for Portugal which I was 100% sure would not happen. I've pulled/strain/torn the same muscle multiple times, and there is no way to come back from it in 6 days without constantly injuring it.

Yeah, as soon as it was announced what the injury was I knew it wasnt happening.

I was hoping maybe it was just a tweak when he left mid-game, but once we found out the injury, it was never happening. I dont think I wouldve played him anyway, even if cleared.

So thoughts on our starting 11?

Automatik;1627768 wrote:So thoughts on our starting 11?

IMO, we should run a 4-4-2 with Wondo and AJ up top. However, we're not about to do that.


I expect to see this:


Johnson---Besler---Cameron---Beasley
-------------------------------------
Bedoya-------Beckerman-------------
-----------------------------Jones
-----------Bradley------------------
-----------Dempsey--------------
----------------------AJ----------


Hopefully Zusi replaces Bedoya, at least.

ohiobucks1;1627764 wrote:Haha, I think what I wrote came across poorly. I don't get credit for stating the obvious. However, some people on here (and elsewhere) truly believed that he could make it back for Portugal which I was 100% sure would not happen. I've pulled/strain/torn the same muscle multiple times, and there is no way to come back from it in 6 days without constantly injuring it.

Laley23;1627765 wrote:Yeah, as soon as it was announced what the injury was I knew it wasnt happening.

I was hoping maybe it was just a tweak when he left mid-game, but once we found out the injury, it was never happening. I dont think I wouldve played him anyway, even if cleared.

These. Hamstrings and ankles are the only injuries I can talk about since they're the only ones I've dealt with so yea, like you guys said, once it was a strain no way.

I mean sh*t, even when I tweaked mine, I took a little more than a week off just to make sure it didn't happen again.

ohiobucks1;1627772 wrote:IMO, we should run a 4-4-2 with Wondo and AJ up top. However, we're not about to do that.


I expect to see this:


Johnson---Besler---Cameron---Beasley
-------------------------------------
Bedoya-------Beckerman-------------
-----------------------------Jones
-----------Bradley------------------
-----------Dempsey--------------
----------------------AJ----------


Hopefully Zusi replaces Bedoya, at least.

lol that is EXACTLY what I would like to see. Dempsey playing behind Johannson, hell I wouldn't really mind if Wondo was up front.

I don't give a fuck if we score first, I just want to see a positive offense. Another 89 min of sitting back and I'll lose my mind.

And lol...

Id like to see AJ up top, because I dont think he was put into any kind of situation to succeed vs Ghana. I think he is a better option for us with his ability to finish with a half chance (more so than Wondo), but Wondo has been on a hot strek in the MLS, so I wont complain either way.

The biggest thing I want to see is Zusi in for Bedoya. I loved the defensive ability he brings, but without Jozy, we need more offense, and Zusi is much more skilled in that regard.

So, Id go:

-----------------Howard------------------
------------------------------------------
--Johnson---Besler----Cameron---Beasley--
----------------------Beckerman----------
-----------Jones-------------------------
------------------Bradley-----------------
Zusi--------------------------------------
--------------------------Dempsey-------
-------------------AJ---------------------

Flip flop Jones and Beckerman in terms of what side they are on if Ronaldo is out. That would keep it the same with Jones in front of Beasley more often. But if Ronaldo is in, we need Beckerman shading to that side to help.

Laley23;1627779 wrote:Id like to see AJ up top, because I dont think he was put into any kind of situation to succeed vs Ghana. I think he is a better option for us with his ability to finish with a half chance (more so than Wondo), but Wondo has been on a hot strek in the MLS, so I wont complain either way.

The biggest thing I want to see is Zusi in for Bedoya. I loved the defensive ability he brings, but without Jozy, we need more offense, and Zusi is much more skilled in that regard.

So, Id go:

-----------------Howard------------------
------------------------------------------
--Johnson---Besler----Cameron---Beasley--
----------------------Beckerman----------
-----------Jones-------------------------
------------------Bradley-----------------
Zusi--------------------------------------
--------------------------Dempsey-------
-------------------AJ---------------------

Flip flop Jones and Beckerman in terms of what side they are on if Ronaldo is out. That would keep it the same with Jones in front of Beasley more often. But if Ronaldo is in, we need Beckerman shading to that side to help.

The more I think about it, the more I think that if we start Zusi, we should start Wondo. Wondo is much better as an aerial threat than AJ. We could exploit Portugal's depleted back line with a Zusi/Wondo combo.