***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (2 Viewers)

[Bonzai]

Good call on Bobby Moore.

 

[andy_b]

Played around with this all morning:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/gre...5901&ver=us

I can't get the formation I want, and I disagree with some of the positions players are available in, but still a hoot.

Pele and Maradona are locks at forward...but who is the 3rd? Ronaldo?

I'd like to see something like this:.........................Yashin.............................

?????......Beckenbauer........????????........Maldini

.........................Mattaus.....................

.................Platini............Maradonna...........

Best.......................Pele...................Cruyff

is this suppose to be the greatest World Cup team of all time or the greatest team of all time? For Best, that would make a huge difference

He makes my team either way.

Great player(IMO one of the top 10 ever) but how could he ever make any all time World Cup team? He was only capped 37 times and I don't think ever appeared in a World Cup.

 

[Bonzai]

Great player(IMO one of the top 10 ever) but how could he ever make any all time World Cup team? He was only capped 37 times and I don't think ever appeared in a World Cup.

He didn't. He's just that good.

 

[andy_b]

Great player(IMO one of the top 10 ever) but how could he ever make any all time World Cup team? He was only capped 37 times and I don't think ever appeared in a World Cup.

He didn't. He's just that good.

he was one of a kind and truly a genius on the ball. I can't even imagine the heights he would have reached with modern training and no addictions.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

If we can keep the both of them, sign them to longer term deals along with Cahill, combined with the emergence of Gosling and Rodwell and getting Donovan to sign for next year, I like their chances of challenging for a CL spot.

Damn, that's a lot of AND's..... :fingerscrossed:

One "and" down. Rodwell signs for 5-years.

Jack Rodwell spurns interest to sign new deal

Jack Rodwell has been tipped for full England honours.

Rodwell, 19, enjoyed a productive season with Everton as he made 17 Premier League starts and scored two goals, including a composed finish in a 3-1 defeat of Manchester United in February.

United were believed to be one of the clubs interested in the England youth international, along with Arsenal and Chelsea, but Rodwell has shunned outside interest to remain with Everton. Rodwell, who can play in defence or midfield, only signed a new contract in March 2009 but has been rewarded with a pay rise by David Moyes following his promising season on Merseyside. "I'm very pleased that Jack has signed an improved contract because it re-affirms Everton's ambition to challenge the top clubs," Moyes said. "I want to keep all the players we have here to make us stronger in the coming season." It is reported that Rodwell will be paid £30,000 a week up until 2015, and he joins Tim Cahill and young defender Seamus Coleman in signing new contracts in recent days.

Rodwell said he had never taken any notice of speculation about his future and had always been committed to Everton. "I'm perfectly happy at the club and I'm very happy to be signing a new deal," he said. "I have enjoyed every minute of being at this club and I try not to look atspeculation that much, I just try to play my best on the pitch."

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

Anyone know of a place to listen to the ENG v MEX game online?

 

[PIK95]

Anyone know of a place to listen to the ENG v MEX game online?

Is it on TV? What time is it on?

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Anyone know of a place to listen to the ENG v MEX game online?

Is it on TV? What time is it on?

FSC is carrying it, started at 3Argentina/Canada is on ESPN3 right now too.

 

[Christo]

NACHOS!

 

[El Floppo]

Hmmm... from ESPN game-tracker:

They've been battered but England lead 2-0. A nice short corner sees Gerrard fire a cross into the box, Rooney's header is brilliantly saved by Perez but Crouch stands tall for the rebound and rolls it in on his arm by the looks.

eta:

What a good half of football this has been. If Mexico had England's cutting edge it'd be 3-2 to them.

 

[Christo]

Mexico definitely looked better than England.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Link

Champions League final gets 1.1 overnight

NEW YORK -- The first U.S. over-the-air network telecast of a European Champions League final got a 1.1 overnight rating and 3 share on Fox from major markets.

Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday also received a 0.5 rating for its simulcast on Fox Sports Espanol, Fox said Monday, citing data from Nielsen Media Research.

The game shifted to a weekend for the first time this year. Last year, with two more popular teams involved, Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Manchester United on a Wednesday was seen by 1,066,000 homes on ESPN, getting a 1.0 rating and 3 share.

Final national ratings will be released Thursday. Fox Sports chairman David Hill said last week he hoped for a rating of 2.0 to 2.5.

 

[PIK95]

Link

Champions League final gets 1.1 overnight

NEW YORK -- The first U.S. over-the-air network telecast of a European Champions League final got a 1.1 overnight rating and 3 share on Fox from major markets.

Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday also received a 0.5 rating for its simulcast on Fox Sports Espanol, Fox said Monday, citing data from Nielsen Media Research.

The game shifted to a weekend for the first time this year. Last year, with two more popular teams involved, Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Manchester United on a Wednesday was seen by 1,066,000 homes on ESPN, getting a 1.0 rating and 3 share.

Final national ratings will be released Thursday. Fox Sports chairman David Hill said last week he hoped for a rating of 2.0 to 2.5.

Is that bad?

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Link

Champions League final gets 1.1 overnight

NEW YORK -- The first U.S. over-the-air network telecast of a European Champions League final got a 1.1 overnight rating and 3 share on Fox from major markets.

Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday also received a 0.5 rating for its simulcast on Fox Sports Espanol, Fox said Monday, citing data from Nielsen Media Research.

The game shifted to a weekend for the first time this year. Last year, with two more popular teams involved, Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Manchester United on a Wednesday was seen by 1,066,000 homes on ESPN, getting a 1.0 rating and 3 share.

Final national ratings will be released Thursday. Fox Sports chairman David Hill said last week he hoped for a rating of 2.0 to 2.5.

Is that bad?

It ain't good

 

[bweiser]

Mexico definitely looked better than England.

really? i thought they looked like they had obvious holes on defense, which england exposed. hopefully, the US defense can do a better job on corners.

 

[LHUCKS]

Watching ENG/MEX right now on FSC...if England brings this weak sauce vs. the US they may just get served by the Yanks!!

 

[Steve Tasker]

Watching ENG/MEX right now on FSC...if England brings this weak sauce vs. the US they may just get served by the Yanks!!

Thanks for the heads-up...thought I missed it for good and didn't even check for the replay.

 

[scoobygang]

Any help on those defenders?

Lilian Thuram was probably the best player other than Zidane on the French teams that won and made the final. Great club career as well. I thought he was better than Maldini.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Any help on those defenders?

Lilian Thuram was probably the best player other than Zidane on the French teams that won and made the final. Great club career as well. I thought he was better than Maldini.

Thuram was excellent, but better than Maldini? Wow. Can't say I agree there.

 

[Bonzai]

Any help on those defenders?

Lilian Thuram was probably the best player other than Zidane on the French teams that won and made the final. Great club career as well. I thought he was better than Maldini.

Thuram was excellent, but better than Maldini? Wow. Can't say I agree there.

Yeah, I can't get behind that either. Gotta go with Maldini. Thuram was great, though. Played with him a lot on those early 2000 FIFA games.

With Maldini at LB, the internet is telling me that the all time great right fullbacks are Brazillian. Apparently it's between Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Roberto Carlos, and Djalma Santos. I've seen Cafu and R Carlos, so I'm inclined to go with one of them.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Any help on those defenders?

Lilian Thuram was probably the best player other than Zidane on the French teams that won and made the final. Great club career as well. I thought he was better than Maldini.

Thuram was excellent, but better than Maldini? Wow. Can't say I agree there.

Yeah, I can't get behind that either. Gotta go with Maldini. Thuram was great, though. Played with him a lot on those early 2000 FIFA games.

With Maldini at LB, the internet is telling me that the all time great right fullbacks are Brazillian. Apparently it's between Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Roberto Carlos, and Djalma Santos. I've seen Cafu and R Carlos, so I'm inclined to go with one of them.

In reality you can't go wrong there, but IMO Carlos Alberto nudges ahead of his Brazilian counterparts. Although I couldn't fault you for picking Cafu or R Carlos. As an aside, the all time Brazilian best 11 kills anyone else. Who is 2nd? Italy? France? I need to play with that at work tomorrow.

 

[LHUCKS]

Roberto Carlos was a pitbull on the pitch...loved watching that guy play.

 

[LHUCKS]

Really looking forward to watching Argentina and Brazil in the coming weeks...Argentina for the potential trainwreck and Messi...and Brazil for obvious reasons.

Gonna be a great couple of months.

 

[scoobygang]

As an aside, the all time Brazilian best 11 kills anyone else. Who is 2nd? Italy? France? I need to play with that at work tomorrow.

France is awfully strong. Just Fontaine (13 goals in one World Cup) and Henry up top. Zidane and Platini in the midfield. Thuram and Laurent Blanc at the back.Germany has to be considered too.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

As an aside, the all time Brazilian best 11 kills anyone else. Who is 2nd? Italy? France? I need to play with that at work tomorrow.

France is awfully strong. Just Fontaine (13 goals in one World Cup) and Henry up top. Zidane and Platini in the midfield. Thuram and Laurent Blanc at the back.Germany has to be considered too.

Troof. I am going to put these together. Will not be surprised to see the top 6 be the only modern countries to win WCs (sorry Uruguay)

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Holland could sneak in there on the strength of Cruyff and Van Basten. Their D will be their weak link. Just like in the 2010 WC.

 

[Bonzai]

Holland could sneak in there on the strength of Cruyff and Van Basten. Their D will be their weak link. Just like in the 2010 WC.

Watched some clips of Van Basten tonight. Has to be considered as one of the best pure strikers ever. Has at least 2 or 3 of the top ten goals ever on tape.After the US and Germany, I'm a fan of Holland. Gullit, Rijkaard, and Davids are studs.

 

[bweiser]

In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final of a World Cup, only to be again beaten by the hosts, Argentina. This side played without Johan Cruyff, Willem van Hanegem, and Jan van Beveren, who refused to participate in the World Cup.

Anyone know the story behind this?

never mind, found it:

because Argentina had suffered a military coup only two years earlier and he objected to playing in a country where torture and murder were continuing to be perpetrated by the junta.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

In 1978, the Netherlands again reached the final of a World Cup, only to be again beaten by the hosts, Argentina. This side played without Johan Cruyff, Willem van Hanegem, and Jan van Beveren, who refused to participate in the World Cup.

Anyone know the story behind this?

Argentina at the time was in the middle of what was essentially a military coup. There were human rights violations galore and threats against the Dutch team. Many protested. Many players, like Cruyff, just pulled out. There was a great article about this in Four Four Two magazine within the past year. I will try and find it.

 

[Christo]

Holland could sneak in there on the strength of Cruyff and Van Basten. Their D will be their weak link. Just like in the 2010 WC.

Watched some clips of Van Basten tonight. Has to be considered as one of the best pure strikers ever. Has at least 2 or 3 of the top ten goals ever on tape.After the US and Germany, I'm a fan of Holland. Gullit, Rijkaard, and Davids are studs.

Bergkamp will always be my favorite Dutchman.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Would it kill The Netherlands to develop a defenseman? Uncanny, really.

 

[Bonzai]

Holland could sneak in there on the strength of Cruyff and Van Basten. Their D will be their weak link. Just like in the 2010 WC.

Watched some clips of Van Basten tonight. Has to be considered as one of the best pure strikers ever. Has at least 2 or 3 of the top ten goals ever on tape.After the US and Germany, I'm a fan of Holland. Gullit, Rijkaard, and Davids are studs.

Bergkamp will always be my favorite Dutchman.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Holland could sneak in there on the strength of Cruyff and Van Basten. Their D will be their weak link. Just like in the 2010 WC.

Watched some clips of Van Basten tonight. Has to be considered as one of the best pure strikers ever. Has at least 2 or 3 of the top ten goals ever on tape.After the US and Germany, I'm a fan of Holland. Gullit, Rijkaard, and Davids are studs.

Bergkamp will always be my favorite Dutchman.

Best announcer call EVERNo denying that Cruyff is an all-time "best of the best" though. Bergkamp was great, but so are tons of other players. Cruyff is a legendary talent.

 

[scoobygang]

Troof. I am going to put these together. Will not be surprised to see the top 6 be the only modern countries to win WCs (sorry Uruguay)

Soccer is probably the hardest sport to do this type of exercise without overvaluing more recent players. At least for certain positions. We can always look to goals for strikers, but it's hard to make an argument for a center back playing in the 1960s who none of have seen. For some players, like Cruyff, Pele and Garrincha, we can safely rely on reputation, even though my personal memories of Pele and Cruyff are from the Cosmos and the Washington Diplomats. Same with Beckenbauer. Also, although I recognize the Lev Yashin is regarded as the greatest goalkeeper ever, it's hard to name a guy who's best World Cup finish was fourth, and who had only 4 clean sheets out of 12 career World Cup starts as the World Cup Best XI keeper. Especially when the next greatest keepers (Banks, Zoff, Buffon) all have a World Cup championship on their resumes (and we all remember Oliver Kahn's incredible World Cup performance too).

 

[LHUCKS]

The play at 3:28 is godly.

 

[LHUCKS]

Every Pele highlight I see involves a pack of 3 or 4 players collapsing on him.

 

[Christo]

Holland could sneak in there on the strength of Cruyff and Van Basten. Their D will be their weak link. Just like in the 2010 WC.

Watched some clips of Van Basten tonight. Has to be considered as one of the best pure strikers ever. Has at least 2 or 3 of the top ten goals ever on tape.After the US and Germany, I'm a fan of Holland. Gullit, Rijkaard, and Davids are studs.

Bergkamp will always be my favorite Dutchman.

Best announcer call EVERNo denying that Cruyff is an all-time "best of the best" though. Bergkamp was great, but so are tons of other players. Cruyff is a legendary talent.

According to others, yes. But I was able to watch Bergkamp much more than Cruyff. Just like Keegan is my favorite Englishman when Bobby Moore is considered the best. And Ronaldo is my favorite Brazilian even though Pele is considered the best. And Shilton will be my favorite keeper even though . . . well no one will be able to convince me Shilton isn't the best keeper ever.

 

[Bonzai]

All time German XI:

Maier

Vogts.............. Kohler............ Sammer.............. Brehme

Matthäus............. Beckenbauer

Walter ........................................ Netzer

Rummenigge............

..............Müller

 

[bweiser]

All time German XI:

Maier

Vogts.............. Kohler............ Sammer.............. Brehme

Matthäus............. Beckenbauer

Walter ........................................ Netzer

Rummenigge............

..............Müller

really? what about klinsmann, klose, podolski?

 

[scoobygang]

All time German XI:

Maier

Vogts.............. Kohler............ Sammer.............. Brehme

Matthäus............. Beckenbauer

Walter ........................................ Netzer

Rummenigge............

..............Müller

really? what about klinsmann, klose, podolski?

Der Bomber is clearly the number one striker. Only Ronaldo has scored more World Cup goals. Klose certainly has a case to be the second striker, with two all tourney selections and 10 World Cup Goals. Klinsmann and Rummenigge have pretty much the same resume. An All Tourney selection with five goals in years their teams won the Cup. Podolski can't sniff those types of resumes, despite winning the Young Player award in 2006. I suppose he played midfield in 2006, but he really didn't excel past the group stage. The Germans also have a host of All Tourney selections at keeper, but only Oliver Kahn has ever won the Golden Ball award as a keeper. I think that might edge him ahead of Sepp Maier. Beckenbauer, Vogts, and Matthaus have each also made two All-Tourney teams.

 

[Christo]

All time German XI:

Maier

Vogts.............. Kohler............ Sammer.............. Brehme

Matthäus............. Beckenbauer

Walter ........................................ Netzer

Rummenigge............

..............Müller

really? what about klinsmann, klose, podolski?

On the bench where they should be.

 

[El Floppo]

All time German XI:

Maier

Vogts.............. Kohler............ Sammer.............. Brehme

Matthäus............. Beckenbauer

Walter ........................................ Netzer

Rummenigge............

..............Müller

really? what about klinsmann, klose, podolski?

On the bench where they should be.

:( A lot of young-folk bias up in here.

btw- Brehme is one of my favorite evah Krauts.

 

[andy_b]

Stole from Big Soccer. Mexico continues to have the best warm up games of any WC team.

Tuesday May 25

================================

12:00 pm Live - Friendly: Ukraine vs Lithuania - FIFA.com

12:30 pm Live - Friendly: Georgia vs Cameroon - FIFA.com

1:00 pm Live - Friendly: Armenia vs Uzbekistan - FIFA.com

2:00 pm Live - Friendly: Greece vs Korea DPR - ESPN3/FIFA.com

2:45 pm Live - Friendly: Republic of Ireland vs Paraguay - FIFA.com

7:30 pm Live - Friendly: USA vs Czech Republic - ESPN/ESPN3/Galavision

Wednesday May 26

========================================

12:00 pm Live - Friendly: Estonia vs Croatia - FIFA.com

12:30 pm Live - Friendly: Moldova vs Azerbaijan - FIFA.com

01:30 pm Live - Friendly: Northern Ireland vs Turkey - FIFA.com

02:00 pm Live - Friendly: Netherlands vs Mexico - Telemundo/ FIFA.com

03:00 pm Live - Friendly: France vs Costa Rica - ESPN3/ESPND/FIFA.com/TV5

07:00 pm Live - Friendly: Chile vs Zambia - FIFA.com

08:00 pm Live - Friendly: DC United vs AC Milan - Comcast Sportsnet

10:30 pm Live - Friendly: Seattle Sounders vs Boca Juniors - FSC

11:30 pm Live - Friendly: Uruguay vs Israel - GolTv

Thursday May 27

============================================================

12:30 pm Live - Friendly: Belarus vs Honduras - FIFA.com

02:15 pm Live - Friendly: Denmark vs Senegal - FIFA.com

02:35 pm Live - Friendly: South Africa vs Colombia - FIFA.com

08:00 pm Live - M.L.S. : Chicago Fire vs FC Dallas - ESPN2/ESPND/ESPN3

 

[andy_b]

EPL fans should rejoice. ESPN is continuing in a big way next year!!

ESPN, Inc. will spend about $8 million to sublicense U.S. TV rights to 83 EPL matches ( including Saturday morning doubleheaders and 23 matches on Sunday mornings, plus a handful of midweek matches) from FSI for the 2010-2011 season.

ESPN2 will be dropping most of its "outdoor" programming to make way for the expanded EPL games.

 

[The Kansas Comet]

Would it kill The Netherlands to develop a defenseman? Uncanny, really.

Ronald Koeman down?

 

[boubucarow]

EPL fans should rejoice. ESPN is continuing in a big way next year!!ESPN, Inc. will spend about $8 million to sublicense U.S. TV rights to 83 EPL matches ( including Saturday morning doubleheaders and 23 matches on Sunday mornings, plus a handful of midweek matches) from FSI for the 2010-2011 season.ESPN2 will be dropping most of its "outdoor" programming to make way for the expanded EPL games.

All i want for Christmas is soccer in HD.

 

[The Kansas Comet]

All time German XI:

Maier

Vogts.............. Kohler............ Sammer.............. Brehme

Matthäus............. Beckenbauer

Walter ........................................ Netzer

Rummenigge............

..............Müller

really? what about klinsmann, klose, podolski?

On the bench where they should be.

A lot of young-folk bias up in here.

btw- Brehme is one of my favorite evah Krauts.

Brehme's goal against Holland in the '90 World Cup was a thing of beauty - that ball swerved so perfectly inside the post. I still remember that one 20 years later.

 

[andy_b]

EPL fans should rejoice. ESPN is continuing in a big way next year!!ESPN, Inc. will spend about $8 million to sublicense U.S. TV rights to 83 EPL matches ( including Saturday morning doubleheaders and 23 matches on Sunday mornings, plus a handful of midweek matches) from FSI for the 2010-2011 season.ESPN2 will be dropping most of its "outdoor" programming to make way for the expanded EPL games.

All i want for Christmas is soccer in HD.

Were the EPL games last year on ESPN not shown in HD? I could have sworn they were.

 

[Christo]

EPL fans should rejoice. ESPN is continuing in a big way next year!!ESPN, Inc. will spend about $8 million to sublicense U.S. TV rights to 83 EPL matches ( including Saturday morning doubleheaders and 23 matches on Sunday mornings, plus a handful of midweek matches) from FSI for the 2010-2011 season.ESPN2 will be dropping most of its "outdoor" programming to make way for the expanded EPL games.

All i want for Christmas is soccer in HD.

Were the EPL games last year on ESPN not shown in HD? I could have sworn they were.

They were. I think he's like me--stuck without FSC in HD and happy to see more games on ESPN.

 

[boubucarow]

EPL fans should rejoice. ESPN is continuing in a big way next year!!ESPN, Inc. will spend about $8 million to sublicense U.S. TV rights to 83 EPL matches ( including Saturday morning doubleheaders and 23 matches on Sunday mornings, plus a handful of midweek matches) from FSI for the 2010-2011 season.ESPN2 will be dropping most of its "outdoor" programming to make way for the expanded EPL games.

All i want for Christmas is soccer in HD.

Were the EPL games last year on ESPN not shown in HD? I could have sworn they were.

They were. I think he's like me--stuck without FSC in HD and happy to see more games on ESPN.