***Official 2022 World Cup Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[NewlyRetired]

Every WC goal, in order

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 All Goals

The FIFA World Cup 2022 saw some edge-of-the-seat football action with a total of 172 goals scored in 64 matches, averaging 2.68 goals per match. It was the ...

www.youtube.com

 

[Zow]

Why does Argentina wear a pale blue and white football kit? It's a story that involves the Byzantine Empire, Renaissance painters, Napoleon, and a revolution...

Somewhat related: anybody know why (without getting into the politics of it and whether it was appropriate) that Messi had to wear that black shawl thing to accept the award?

ETA: I ask because I've read briefs articles and posts/tweets suggesting it shouldn't have happened but I can't find just a general explanation for why the Qatari had him wear it in the first place.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Very cool. I found out today they have known each other since they were 5 years old.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FkWRsQvWYAAwHzw?format=jpg&name=large

 

[NewlyRetired]

Why does Argentina wear a pale blue and white football kit? It's a story that involves the Byzantine Empire, Renaissance painters, Napoleon, and a revolution...

Somewhat related: anybody know why (without getting into the politics of it and whether it was appropriate) that Messi had to wear that black shawl thing to accept the award?

ETA: I ask because I've read briefs articles and posts/tweets suggesting it shouldn't have happened but I can't find just a general explanation for why the Qatari had him wear it in the first place.

It is called a bisht. Traditionally worn on very special occassions, and when given to wear, it is a sign of respect and appreciation.

 

[Zow]

Why does Argentina wear a pale blue and white football kit? It's a story that involves the Byzantine Empire, Renaissance painters, Napoleon, and a revolution...

Somewhat related: anybody know why (without getting into the politics of it and whether it was appropriate) that Messi had to wear that black shawl thing to accept the award?

ETA: I ask because I've read briefs articles and posts/tweets suggesting it shouldn't have happened but I can't find just a general explanation for why the Qatari had him wear it in the first place.

It is called a bisht. Traditionally worn on very special occassions, and when given to wear, it is a sign of respect and appreciation.

Oh. Well that sounds reasonable then.

 

[NewlyRetired]

New FIFA Ranking top 20:

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Belgium
5. England
6. Netherlands
7. Croatia
8. Italy
9. Portugal
10. Spain
11. Morocco
12. Switzerland
13. USA
14. Germany
15. Mexico
16. Uruguay
17. Colombia
18. Denmark
19. Senegal
20. Japan

 

[Zow]

USA over Germany and Brazil over Argentina seem suspect at best.

Not sure how to respond to Italy at 8 since, you know, they didn't make the tournament...

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

USA over Germany and Brazil over Argentina seem suspect at best.

Evergreen: FIFA's rankings are a joke.

Italy are reigning European Champions.

ESPN's SPI rankings are probably the best source, but I'm kicking myself because having found that exact link before the World Cup I didn't save it. And now I can't find it again.

(It's true for everything: you need at least 30 and preferably 50+ records in a sample to have it be meaningful. That doesn't lend itself well to short tournaments, or soccer in general -- where teams change so much across a 50-game stretch. So soccer rankings are a lot more art than some other stuff.)

ETA: here's another good one. The US is at 23, which is typically about where you see us, but that entire tier from like Poland to Morocco are going to be very very similar.

 

[Navin Johnson]

It's been fantastic. I'm assuming they've been careful to avoid overlap with the NFL - at least for the knockout stage.

Being in AZ, the start times for the games has been wonderfully convenient.

you guys sincerely think that the WC organization paid attention to the NFL games start times? Really...LOL....how American of you....center of the world thinking as always. LOL, that one really made me laugh. Do you guys realize that most countries in the world have zero idea what American football is nor are interested in knowing, right? the fact that it's before the 1pm games is purely due to the time zone Qatar is and also based on the heat of the day, later games to avoid hottest part of the day in Qatar. Nothing to do with the NFL.

Some of your comments sometimes guys....LOL. Seriously.

Says the guy on an American football discussion board...

Also the US is still by far the single biggest market in terms of dollars and the WC isn't anywhere close to the biggest draw on TV.

So yes, they do pay attention to NFL start times because, like it or not, the US is the largest entertainment market in the world and it isn't even close (and here the NFL is #1, which is why no other sports even try to go head to head with them).

You guys can think what you want. FIFA doesn't give two ****s about the NFL.

 

[NewlyRetired]

USA over Germany and Brazil over Argentina seem suspect at best.

Not sure how to respond to Italy at 8 since, you know, they didn't make the tournament...

It is a formula based on ELO.

Elo rating system - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Hadn't really thought about what this game might do big-picture, but Pablo and Bill Barnwell's convo is straight-up injectable.

"This was as good a game as I will see in my entire life."

ETA: turns out I was watching live, not a clip. But find the clip if you can.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Hadn't really thought about what this game might do big-picture,...

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans. It will have a slow and steady effect on every facet of the sport here in the US, continuing to build the popularity and continue to have vast sums of money flowing. This should be felt in all levels of the game from MLS down to the youngest academy players.

The fact that we will be building to hosting in 2026 gives the chance for this to be a bigger boost than normal.


In a similar vein to that tweet, our biggest sports radio show here in Boston has had a soccer hater hosting it for a long time. He tweeted yesterday that he decided to invest time into this WC and he thinks he is now hooked. He is looking for an EPL team to follow now.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans.

Gonna guess this game might do more than, say Brazil 0-0 Italy in the Rose Bowl though.

Just a legendary game. They'll talk about it forever.

 

[AAABatteries]

Hadn't really thought about what this game might do big-picture, but Pablo and Bill Barnwell's convo is straight-up injectable.

"This was as good a game as I will see in my entire life."

ETA: turns out I was watching live, not a clip. But find the clip if you can.

Considering the amount of soccer I already watched and the insane cocktail schtick, it will probably result in my divorce.

Totally worth it.

 

[NewlyRetired]

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans.

Gonna guess this game might do more than, say Brazil 0-0 Italy in the Rose Bowl though.

Ironically no it won't IMO.

The % growth in the sport after WC 1994 can never be matched in the future (simply because we were building on almost nothing where as today there is already a huge base). Everything in the sport today in the US can be traced back to the success of the World Cup in 1994.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Here's the full show. World Cup conversation starts at 2:00 and runs thru about 15:00. Very enjoyable.

 

[Sand]

Just finished watching as I had to work today. Kind of think France got jobbed on a lot of calls. The kick save was amazing and while the Argentina goalie is a huge dickface, man he had a great game. Incredible that Mbappe is already setting records. Maybe Messi is the GOAT, but he heir apparent is in the wings. Wish someone had won it in extra time and would much prefer golden goal over PKs. PKs tarnish this game for me, kind of like deciding the World Series switching from extra innings to a stolen base contest. Still super exciting.

After we had two scores in the last OT I seriously thought someone was going to score in the last 5 minutes. It was that frenetic. And we almost did. While I think everyone wants it decided on the field it wasn't like a snoozer PK win (looking at you Italy/Brazil).

BTW, disagree totally on the Argentina GK. Love the guy. And, man, love Di Maria. He was absolutely incredible.

 

[Sand]

New FIFA Ranking top 20:

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Belgium
5. England
6. Netherlands
7. Croatia
8. Italy
9. Portugal
10. Spain
11. Morocco
12. Switzerland
13. USA
14. Germany
15. Mexico
16. Uruguay
17. Colombia
18. Denmark
19. Senegal
20. Japan

BS - Argentina should, at the least, be #1 here. They need to change the weighting of the WC until that flips.

 

[culdeus]

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans.

Gonna guess this game might do more than, say Brazil 0-0 Italy in the Rose Bowl though.

Ironically no it won't IMO.

The % growth in the sport after WC 1994 can never be matched in the future (simply because we were building on almost nothing where as today there is already a huge base). Everything in the sport today in the US can be traced back to the success of the World Cup in 1994.

Why not point to the success of the female team? You could go all the way back to Sting Soccer and use that as the start point easily.

 

[B Maverick]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

 

[SoBeDad]

How many from the USA are playing for the best teams in Europe vs 20 or 30 years ago? Is that a good metric?

 

[NewlyRetired]

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans.

Gonna guess this game might do more than, say Brazil 0-0 Italy in the Rose Bowl though.

Ironically no it won't IMO.

The % growth in the sport after WC 1994 can never be matched in the future (simply because we were building on almost nothing where as today there is already a huge base). Everything in the sport today in the US can be traced back to the success of the World Cup in 1994.

Why not point to the success of the female team? You could go all the way back to Sting Soccer and use that as the start point easily.

The sport was near dead long after the Sting had shut down. They had no effect on the sport as we see it today.

The Women's success in 1999 did not really have any effect on the women's pro game as multiple women's leagues failed after that occurred. Even today the NWSL is still barely hanging on although there does seem to be signs of life now that US Soccer has removed their support and is now allowing the owners of the NWSL to take on all the risk/rewards. Still, this is 23 long years after the 1999 team. It is hard to say what type of effect they had outside of creating a long line of players who want to follow them. But from a business perspective it is a stretch.

They certainly had zero effect on the business portion of the men's side of the pro game.

 

[NewlyRetired]

How many from the USA are playing for the best teams in Europe vs 20 or 30 years ago? Is that a good metric?

~30 years ago would be the 1990 team or the 1994 team. The 1990 team was full of college players sent to the slaughter.

The 94 team starting having more professionals but was still a mix of amateur's and pros and the pros were from what we would call average teams.

This has slowly upgraded cycle over cycle where it eventually became all pros and now we have a significant amount of players from very good (even top) club teams.

Yes, it is a good metric. It does not always translate in a short form tournament but from a big picture it certainly points to progress.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

she is not wrong. And I don't even blame Pulisic. The coaching staff has to recognize that and make changes. We have often talked in the USMNT how the team went out of the way to hire a set piece coach for the WC. What in gods name was he doing watching that over and over and over again?

 

[culdeus]

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans.

Gonna guess this game might do more than, say Brazil 0-0 Italy in the Rose Bowl though.

Ironically no it won't IMO.

The % growth in the sport after WC 1994 can never be matched in the future (simply because we were building on almost nothing where as today there is already a huge base). Everything in the sport today in the US can be traced back to the success of the World Cup in 1994.

Why not point to the success of the female team? You could go all the way back to Sting Soccer and use that as the start point easily.

The sport was near dead long after the Sting had shut down. They had no effect on the sport as we see it today.

The Women's success in 1999 did not really have any effect on the women's pro game as multiple women's leagues failed after that occurred. Even today the NWSL is still barely hanging on although there does seem to be signs of life now that US Soccer has removed their support and is now allowing the owners of the NWSL to take on all the risk/rewards. Still, this is 23 long years after the 1999 team. It is hard to say what type of effect they had outside of creating a long line of players who want to follow them. But from a business perspective it is a stretch.

They certainly had zero effect on the business portion of the men's side of the pro game.

Really? I think the success of the Women's side drove a lot of people to support the Men's side. Whether a women's pro soccer league has success isn't a great metric here to use. It's certainly not the USMNT that is pushing people to watch the WC, as they are by any metric non-competitive and the MLS remains a niche league and sort of a joke. The team for awhile was fueled in large part by expats and military base kids on the male side, hardly anytown USA. I think the women planted the seed here.

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not. That we get any meaningful support is a shock to me, honestly.

 

[Tom Hagen]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

I have a 13 year old daughter also and for us the next world cup starts in 7 months. #USWNT

 

[encaitar]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

she is not wrong. And I don't even blame Pulisic. The coaching staff has to recognize that and make changes. We have often talked in the USMNT how the team went out of the way to hire a set piece coach for the WC. What in gods name was he doing watching that over and over and over again?

In a ways she is. Pulisic wasn't good at corners against Wales, but I think he might've been a bit amped up that game.

Every other game he gave excellent delivery. Against England and Iran, every single corner was dead perfect on the spot and no one was there to receive it. You can't tell me that someone as talented as CP puts 10 straight balls to the same exact spot that it wasn't on purpose. That points more to your second point of what was our set piece plan? If that's where the ball is supposed to be, then someone better be there to meet it. If it's not working, then try something else.

I'm probably gonna have long term nightmares about Harry Maguire's big slab head rising up to head the ball away from the spot over and over.

 

[Sand]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

Big fan of Ms. Maverick Jr.

I'm 50 and could have taken better corners. No kidding.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

I have a 13 year old daughter also and for us the next world cup starts in 7 months. #USWNT

I am very interested to see this one. There has been a lot of bluster that while the US team is still loaded that many countries are catching up at light speed. It will be a good way to measure the progress.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I think there is a chance Messi will sign the largest 1 year contract in sports history if he accepts the PSG offer instead of Miami's.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

This is just ********. They just did it a couple Fridays ago.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

How many from the USA are playing for the best teams in Europe vs 20 or 30 years ago? Is that a good metric?

If you mean actually getting minutes at teams like Chelsea, AC Milan, Juventus, Dortmund and teams of that quality -- say top 20 teams in the world -- this is the first time it's ever happened.

There have been a handful of players in the next tier down for quite awhile -- lesser teams in the big 4/5 leagues -- but there are more of them now.

 

[The Z Machine]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

I have a 13 year old daughter also and for us the next world cup starts in 7 months. #USWNT

I am very interested to see this one. There has been a lot of bluster that while the US team is still loaded that many countries are catching up at light speed. It will be a good way to measure the progress.

The rapid improvement in opportunities for the women's professional game in European club teams will change a lot of things. I think there will be many rising powers in women's soccer coming. France, Spain, England all look to have the quality to challenge the hegemony of the American women.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

The rapid improvement in opportunities for the women's professional game in European club teams will change a lot of things. I think there will be many rising powers in women's soccer coming. France, Spain, England all look to have the quality to challenge the hegemony of the American women.

I don't pay a ton of attention to the women's pro game, but it feels like the US has missed the window to develop the top pro league in the world. Is that right? Like I see sold out games at Camp Nou and whatnot and lots of Americans playing overseas now?

 

[AAABatteries]

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

I’ve read different versions of this in here several times. I don’t buy it. We played England even and looked good for stretched against the Dutch. Are we top 10, no but with four more years and a quality coach there’s no reason to think that the US couldn’t make a run similar to what Morocco did this year.

 

[The Z Machine]

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

I’ve read different versions of this in here several times. I don’t buy it. We played England even and looked good for stretched against the Dutch. Are we top 10, no but with four more years and a quality coach there’s no reason to think that the US couldn’t make a run similar to what Morocco did this year.

I think it was the contrast in the technical skills of the players in the WC Final yesterday vs. the USMNT. Look at the one touch passing and lethal counter attacks that ARG did for 70 minutes until they ran out of gas. Look at that amazing finish of Mbappe and the looped pass by Thuram for the volley. That's the elite level that people are talking about, I think. Those were unbelievable technical plays.

 

[B Maverick]

The rapid improvement in opportunities for the women's professional game in European club teams will change a lot of things. I think there will be many rising powers in women's soccer coming. France, Spain, England all look to have the quality to challenge the hegemony of the American women.

I don't pay a ton of attention to the women's pro game, but it feels like the US has missed the window to develop the top pro league in the world. Is that right? Like I see sold out games at Camp Nou and whatnot and lots of Americans playing overseas now?

I think so. With the backing of the men's teams in Europe, the league will grow. A few US women have gone but the majority are staying in the US.

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

I’ve read different versions of this in here several times. I don’t buy it. We played England even and looked good for stretched against the Dutch. Are we top 10, no but with four more years and a quality coach there’s no reason to think that the US couldn’t make a run similar to what Morocco did this year.

(Although I don't think England was trying very hard in the match with the US)

 

[Tom Hagen]

The rapid improvement in opportunities for the women's professional game in European club teams will change a lot of things. I think there will be many rising powers in women's soccer coming. France, Spain, England all look to have the quality to challenge the hegemony of the American women.

The competition has gotten significantly better, but this USWNT is in a weird spot too. The roster is either over 30 (Ertz, Morgan, Heath, Sauerbrunn. Rapinoe) or really inexperienced (Rodman, Smith). Lavelle, Pugh, and Horan may be the only good players in their prime.

 

[The Z Machine]

The rapid improvement in opportunities for the women's professional game in European club teams will change a lot of things. I think there will be many rising powers in women's soccer coming. France, Spain, England all look to have the quality to challenge the hegemony of the American women.

The competition has gotten significantly better, but this USWNT is in a weird spot too. The roster is either over 30 (Ertz, Morgan, Heath, Sauerbrunn. Rapinoe) or really inexperienced (Rodman, Smith). Lavelle, Pugh, and Horan may be the only good players in their prime.

I might have to put some money on one of those European teams to take their first WWC trophy.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

I’ve read different versions of this in here several times. I don’t buy it. We played England even and looked good for stretched against the Dutch. Are we top 10, no but with four more years and a quality coach there’s no reason to think that the US couldn’t make a run similar to what Morocco did this year.

I think it was the contrast in the technical skills of the players in the WC Final yesterday vs. the USMNT. Look at the one touch passing and lethal counter attacks that ARG did for 70 minutes until they ran out of gas. Look at that amazing finish of Mbappe and the looped pass by Thuram for the volley. That's the elite level that people are talking about, I think. Those were unbelievable technical plays.

The US is still very clunky. First touch is straight bad 50%? of the time. They don’t pass into space much. DiMaria‘s play in the final has yet to be seen in an American. Let alone the top stars.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Talking with my 13yo daughter....

Her: well the World Cup is over, no more watching in school. Well not for another 4 years.
Me: The next one is back in summer, and in the US, so you won't get to watch in school.
Her: Darn. But at least we won't have to watch Pulisic take horrible corners. I can take better corners then he did.
Me:

I have a 13 year old daughter also and for us the next world cup starts in 7 months. #USWNT

I'm a classic every 4 year bandwagon fan for the Women. Never watch a single minute of league play and hardly know any of the players other than the really big stars, but will watch every US game in this World Cup. In 2019 I watched the final with my son at the US Soccer watch party in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Fantastic time - loved it.

 

[The Z Machine]

DiMaria‘s play in the final has yet to be seen in an American.

The guy was MOTM until it got crazy at the end. Then it was the Messi vs. Mbappe show.

Di Maria got like 3 different French players turnt. One so bad that he got yanked before half.

 

[Eephus]

How many from the USA are playing for the best teams in Europe vs 20 or 30 years ago? Is that a good metric?

If you mean actually getting minutes at teams like Chelsea, AC Milan, Juventus, Dortmund and teams of that quality -- say top 20 teams in the world -- this is the first time it's ever happened.

There have been a handful of players in the next tier down for quite awhile -- lesser teams in the big 4/5 leagues -- but there are more of them now.

Using this as a metric of development of the USMNT is problematic because it's happening all over the world. The sport is much more cosmopolitan than it was 20-30 years ago. The big European leagues were largely comprised of locally based players prior to the Bosman ruling. More US players are playing abroad than before but the same is true of nations in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

 

[NewlyRetired]

How many from the USA are playing for the best teams in Europe vs 20 or 30 years ago? Is that a good metric?

If you mean actually getting minutes at teams like Chelsea, AC Milan, Juventus, Dortmund and teams of that quality -- say top 20 teams in the world -- this is the first time it's ever happened.

There have been a handful of players in the next tier down for quite awhile -- lesser teams in the big 4/5 leagues -- but there are more of them now.

Using this as a metric of development of the USMNT is problematic because it's happening all over the world. The sport is much more cosmopolitan than it was 20-30 years ago. The big European leagues were largely comprised of locally based players prior to the Bosman ruling. More US players are playing abroad than before but the same is true of nations in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The big difference is 30 years ago, Bosman would not have mattered anyway even if it was in place. We simply did not have the infrastructure in place to produce the talent that top clubs would want.

 

[AAABatteries]

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

I’ve read different versions of this in here several times. I don’t buy it. We played England even and looked good for stretched against the Dutch. Are we top 10, no but with four more years and a quality coach there’s no reason to think that the US couldn’t make a run similar to what Morocco did this year.

I think it was the contrast in the technical skills of the players in the WC Final yesterday vs. the USMNT. Look at the one touch passing and lethal counter attacks that ARG did for 70 minutes until they ran out of gas. Look at that amazing finish of Mbappe and the looped pass by Thuram for the volley. That's the elite level that people are talking about, I think. Those were unbelievable technical plays.

Maybe folks are exaggerating but “stay on the pitch” means something entirely different to me.

 

[Zow]

It will do what every WC has done, to varying degrees, since 1994, here in the US. The WC will have a small snow ball effect of creating new fans and cementing already casual fans.

Gonna guess this game might do more than, say Brazil 0-0 Italy in the Rose Bowl though.

Ironically no it won't IMO.

The % growth in the sport after WC 1994 can never be matched in the future (simply because we were building on almost nothing where as today there is already a huge base). Everything in the sport today in the US can be traced back to the success of the World Cup in 1994.

Why not point to the success of the female team? You could go all the way back to Sting Soccer and use that as the start point easily.

The sport was near dead long after the Sting had shut down. They had no effect on the sport as we see it today.

The Women's success in 1999 did not really have any effect on the women's pro game as multiple women's leagues failed after that occurred. Even today the NWSL is still barely hanging on although there does seem to be signs of life now that US Soccer has removed their support and is now allowing the owners of the NWSL to take on all the risk/rewards. Still, this is 23 long years after the 1999 team. It is hard to say what type of effect they had outside of creating a long line of players who want to follow them. But from a business perspective it is a stretch.

They certainly had zero effect on the business portion of the men's side of the pro game.

Really? I think the success of the Women's side drove a lot of people to support the Men's side. Whether a women's pro soccer league has success isn't a great metric here to use. It's certainly not the USMNT that is pushing people to watch the WC, as they are by any metric non-competitive and the MLS remains a niche league and sort of a joke. The team for awhile was fueled in large part by expats and military base kids on the male side, hardly anytown USA. I think the women planted the seed here.

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not. That we get any meaningful support is a shock to me, honestly.

I'm an every 4 year fan, but the bold seems nuts to me.

 

[NewlyRetired]

This WC more than any has shown there's a lifetime to go before the US can field a team that can stay on the pitch with the elites on the men side young team or not.

I’ve read different versions of this in here several times. I don’t buy it. We played England even and looked good for stretched against the Dutch. Are we top 10, no but with four more years and a quality coach there’s no reason to think that the US couldn’t make a run similar to what Morocco did this year.

I think it was the contrast in the technical skills of the players in the WC Final yesterday vs. the USMNT. Look at the one touch passing and lethal counter attacks that ARG did for 70 minutes until they ran out of gas. Look at that amazing finish of Mbappe and the looped pass by Thuram for the volley. That's the elite level that people are talking about, I think. Those were unbelievable technical plays.

Maybe folks are exaggerating but “stay on the pitch” means something entirely different to me.

it has to be exaggeration. He also said "by any metric the 13th ranked team out of 211 teams is not competitive"

Which means by that definition, 99% of the countries are not competitive, which for any one who watched qualification from around the world and how incredibly hard the process is, will realize how wrong that concept is.

 

[NewlyRetired]

The US is still very clunky. First touch is straight bad 50%? of the time. They don’t pass into space much. DiMaria‘s play in the final has yet to be seen in an American. Let alone the top stars.

This is overly harsh imo. Of the players that played in the WC for the US, two are very poor technically. Jedi gets away with it because he is a super human athlete. And Haji should never have been rostered, but that is another story.

You don't get paid millions of dollars by some of the biggest clubs on the planet if you have a bad first touch that often. There is simply ENDLESS competition for spots and you will be replaced almost instantly.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

The US is still very clunky. First touch is straight bad 50%? of the time. They don’t pass into space much. DiMaria‘s play in the final has yet to be seen in an American. Let alone the top stars.

This is overly harsh imo. Of the players that played in the WC for the US, two are very poor technically. Jedi gets away with it because he is a super human athlete. And Haji should never have been rostered, but that is another story.

You don't get paid millions of dollars by some of the biggest clubs on the planet if you have a bad first touch that often. There is simply ENDLESS competition for spots and you will be replaced almost instantly.

Fair enough. I did put a ? After the 50%. It’s way too high, whatever the percentage. And I think the lack of creativity and usage of space is more apparant when there are all US players on the pitch.

why aren’t we paying some dual citizen wunderkind millions to ply for the US?

 

[NewlyRetired]

why aren’t we paying some dual citizen wunderkind millions to ply for the US?

We already have a bunch of dual citizens playing for the team. Most countries do these days.

Players from all over are increasingly eligible to represent multiple countries and the US's natural melting pot means a lot of our players are going to be dual (or more) citizen eligible. Heck, I think there was even an American born player on the Japan team.