World Cup 2014

[HTSS_TR]

It was a beautiful volley from Cahill, goalkeeper had no chance.

Cahill scored 5 goals in his WC finals, 1/2 of all goals scored by all Australians. But his second yellow card means he will miss the first round final match against Spain.

 

[HTSS_TR]

It was an excellent match, Australia was briefly ahead 2-1 but Netherlands was too much for Australian to handle. Australian should be proud of their team, they fought hard and Cahill scored 1 of most beautiful goals of the tournament so far. I rooted for underdog Australia team but in my mind I knew that Netherlands is too strong a team to be beaten by a team not in the top 10 of the world.

Nobody likes to loose any international/world cup match, but Australian players should held their heads high for what they archived so far.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Group A: Brazil and Mexico each needs a tie to advance to knock out stage.

Brazil meets Cameroon next so it's fairly easy for them. Mexico meets Croatia which is not easy, Croatia have to win to advance to next round. My prediction is Brazil first place and Croatia second.

Group B: Netherlands and Chile are in and they will face to face next match, the looser will likely meet Brazil in next round and neither like to.

Spain scores only 1 goal in 2 matches and gave up 7 goals, the defending WC champion and European champion of 2008 and 2012 is so bad this time.

 

[Pablo]

First match this AM will be SWEET. (I hope!)

Italy and Costa Rica

Another offshoot of the ongoing Euro vs. CONCACAF battle!!! (some of you may have noticed this or not)

 

[HTSS_TR]

Costa Rica performs much better than FIFA ranking. They are up 1-0 with perfect pass and perfect header.

CONCACAF didn't do very well in previous WC's but they are much better this time.

Until last night 3 teams are in the next round: Netherlands, Chile and Colombia. 3 teams are going home: Spain, Australia and Cameroon.

These last match of the first round will be exciting to watch:
Croatia vs. Mexico, Mexico needs a tie to advance to next round and the same for Brazil but they will meet a much weaker team Cameroon.
Netherlands vs. Chile, Netherlands needs a tie to avoid Brazil in the next round (Brazil supposed to be group A winner). But thing can change, since Brazil will play after Netherlands & Chile match.
Italy vs. Uruguay will be a good match if Italy doesn't win today, the winner of the match will advance.

There are many good round robin matches from now until elimination round.

 

[HTSS_TR]

As of yesterday England had small chance to advance to next round if Italy win today, but Italy lost this morning so England has no chance.

 

[gfh77665]

Crazy WC so far. Being a "favorite" means NOTHING right now!

 

[gfh77665]

http://soccer.si.com/soccer/planet-futbo...uguay?eref=sihp

 

[HTSS_TR]

Agreed. High FIFA ranking means nothing for European teams when it's in South America. France and Netherlands advanced to next round, other Europeans are either going home or about to going home.

Most CONCACAF and South American teams are doing better than expected.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

Most CONCACAF and South American teams are doing better than expected.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Very entertaining and surprise matches today. Two of the top 10 teams (FIFA ranking) Germany lucky to get a draw with Ghana and Argentina got a goal at 91" vs Iran. They supposed to crush opponents not a tie and 1-0 in extra time.

Tomorrow we will meet Portugal at 6:00 PM EDT, I think we have a chance to win with Ronaldo not 100% fit. Portugal is desperate to score and their defense will be opened for counter attack and that what we do best.

 

[Pablo]

I don't care what anyone says. We must WIN tomorrow. Think of winning our group as crazy as that may sound.

Scenarios for a good path:

United States: Win vs. Portugal

- Advance to round of 16

Draw vs. Portugal

- Advance with win/draw vs. Germany

- Advance with loss to Germany AND Ghana-Portugal draw

- Advance with loss to Germany AND IF U.S. holds tiebreaker over Ghana-Portugal winner

Lose vs. Portugal

- Advance with win vs. Germany

- Advance with draw vs. Germany AND Portugal-Ghana draw AND IF U.S. holds tiebreaker over Portugal

- Advance with draw vs. Germany AND Ghana win over Portugal AND IF U.S. holds tiebreaker with Ghana

_________________________________________________________

Ghana have become just more than the irritating team for the US. Hhahahahaha Germany. Sorry.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I don't care what anyone says. We must WIN tomorrow.


I fully agree. We DON'T want to face a desperate German side in the 3rd game with THEIR season on the line. That would not bode well for us at all.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Dang ! We gave up 1 easy goal to Portugal, the defender miss kick the inbound pass and a Portuguese slammed in.

We had 2-3 chances to even the score and our goal keeper had a great save at 45th minute.

We have 45 minutes to score 2 goals and don't commit trivial error(s).

 

[Pablo]

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!

 

[HTSS_TR]

Jones scored a beautiful goal and Dempsey belly in second goal for USA.

At the 5th minutes of stoppage time we gave up a goal, it would be better if we didn't. We would be in the next round even if we loose to Germany next week. Now we need a draw with a very powerful team.

FIFA world player of the year Ronaldo couldn't score a single goal in 2 matches.

 

[Pablo]

We could lose by 1 and Portugal v. Ghana draw, or as long as they are within each other by 1. We all but Germany would have a loss and a draw.

 

[javacontour]

We can advance with a win, draw or a loss to Germany even if Portugal wins by a small margin. It gets tougher (impossible) if we lose and Ghana wins as they have a better GD than Portugal.

So I'm rooting for the US and a squeeker win by Portugal

Originally Posted By: Pablo
We could lose by 1 and Portugal v. Ghana draw, or as long as they are within each other by 1. We all but Germany would have a loss and a draw.

 

[HTSS_TR]

May be I'm too optimistic but I think we will surprise German fans with a 3-2 win on Thursday June 26.

Match time is 12:00 PM EDT.

 

[gfh77665]

FROM SI.COM:

U.S. (four points, plus-one goal difference) will clinch a berth in the round of 16 with a win or a tie against Germany (four points) on Thursday in Recife. A U.S. loss, however, would open up the door for Ghana (one point, minus-one goal difference) to advance instead if the Black Stars can beat Portugal and make up the two-goal difference with the United States. Portugal (one point, minus-four goal difference) can still advance, but it would need a U.S. loss and a victory over Ghana that would make up the five-goal difference it has with the Americans. Long story short: There’s a lot to play for on Thursday.