Soccer Thread 2011-2012

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

This may not be full strength Scotland, but the US doesn't put up 5 very often o actual countries.

Looking at the starting lineup, it is not far from a full strength Scotland side.

[Big Fo]

That was a lot of fun last night, what an excellent performance. All of the midfielders were good to great.

With 44k tickets sold, hopefully the national team comes back to Jacksonville in a few years.

Me and the people I was with went to a bar before the game where it seemed like half of the Scotland contingent was, the ones I talked to were all good guys. I was expecting to see some Scottish people who'd moved to the USA at the game, I was surprised at how many of these guys actually live in Scotland and flew over just for a friendly (and I guess some of the touristy things to do in Florida are a draw as well).

[bhlloy]

The Tartan Army might be the most dedicated (and forever disappointed) supporters in the whole of world football.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

That was a lot of fun last night, what an excellent performance. All of the midfielders were good to great.

With 44k tickets sold, hopefully the national team comes back to Jacksonville in a few years.

Me and the people I was with went to a bar before the game where it seemed like half of the Scotland contingent was, the ones I talked to were all good guys. I was expecting to see some Scottish people who'd moved to the USA at the game, I was surprised at how many of these guys actually live in Scotland and flew over just for a friendly (and I guess some of the touristy things to do in Florida are a draw as well).

When I went to Foxborough to see an AC Milan / Inter Milan friendly in 2009 there were a ton of Italians that had made the trek. Incredible dedication.

[DaddyTorgo]

Just watching the USA game tonight.

15 minutes in...I sound like I'm just repeating the commentators - but the attacking movement looks real fluid so far...not sure how best to describe it in words, but they just look more...composed?

Eww...that was an ugly OG. Vomit.

[DaddyTorgo]

Some of their combination-play has just been BEAUTIFUL this game. Absolutely world-class. Thinking in particular of the 1-2-3 down the right sideline in the first couple minutes of the second half. Picture-perfect.

And Torres has looked great.

[miami_fan]

I know I should not paint the broad brush but damn. I would like to get into Serie A but then is always this match fixing spector.

Italian authorities arrested Lazio captain Stefano Mauri and more than a dozen others Monday as part of a wide-ranging investigation into match-fixing in football.

Police also swept through the Italy national team training site near Florence as part of the operation.

The Italian football federation said Mauri was one of 14 people arrested and later announced that Zenit St. Petersburg defender Domenico Criscito would not be in Italy's European Championship squad after it emerged the player was being investigated.

Two police cars arrived at the national team's training site at around 6:25am local time (0425 GMT) and left more than two hours later. Criscito's house in Genoa was also searched.

Criscito had been in Italy coach Cesare Prandelli's provisional 32-man squad for Euro 2012, but was left out of the final 23-man group.

The coach of Italian champion Juventus, Antonio Conte, was also placed under investigation for alleged wrongdoing while he was coach of Siena and his house in Turin was searched.

''Conte's reaction is that of someone who's completely innocent and strongly determined to prove his total innocence,'' Conte's lawyer, Antonio De Rencis, said.

Siena president Massimo Mezzaroma has also been placed under investigation.

''The searches are connected to what's happening with Siena,'' said Cremona prosecutor Roberto Di Martino. ''There are seven, eight games being looked at and there have been statements that make us think they were manipulated. The searches involved players, coaches and directors of the club, including Conte and Mezzaroma.

''We shouldn't place too much emphasis on the blitz at Coverciano, it is a problem that concerns only Criscito and not other players in the national team at the moment,'' Di Martino said, before the squad was announced.

''Also we shouldn't place too much emphasis on this anyway, the notification of an impending investigation is a tool we have, but not a guilty judgment. There's been no action taken against Criscito travelling, he can play at the Euros easily.''

Criscito, who did not take part in Italy's training session, has reportedly asked to be heard by the authorities as soon as possible.

Action has been taken against 19 people, 11 of whom are footballers or former footballers - 14 have been arrested, three have been placed under house arrest and two others are to present themselves to authorities. Five of the arrests were made in Hungary.

''It's devastating news,'' former Italy and current Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. ''If the authorities are acting it's because there's something there.''

Mauri has been accused of sporting fraud. Most of the footballers accused now play in Serie B or lower leagues, although one, Omar Milanetto, spent five years at Genoa before joining Padova in 2011.

Numerous others have had their houses searched, including Chievo Verona's Sergio Pellissier.

More than 50 people have now been arrested in Italy in the past year as part of the probe started by judicial authorities in Cremona.

Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni was banned from football for three and a half years last summer, and former Lazio captain Giuseppe Signori was also arrested.

Serie A clubs Atalanta, Novara and Siena were among the 22 Italian teams notified at the beginning of this month that they are being investigated by sports authorities.

Prosecutors in Cremona have detailed an extensive match-fixing ring stretching as far as Singapore and South America that was allegedly in operation for more than 10 years.

''It will be impossible to go right to the end with this because my office is not equipped to do so,'' Di Martino said. ''If people wanted, we could go on forever but there's very few personnel.

''It will be impossible to go ahead with this for a long time.''

Edit: Credit to the Italian authorities for going after the cheaters

[Grover]

Sigh.

[SirFozzie]

Yup, I'm almost beginning to think it's a good thing that Serie A is pretty much disappearing from US TV next season (heading to BeIN Sports USA, who don't have any cable company deals set up two months before the channel's US launch on August 1st).. Their imae is so bad that I think the "brand" has been seriously damaged

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Yup, I'm almost beginning to think it's a good thing that Serie A is pretty much disappearing from US TV next season (heading to BeIN Sports USA, who don't have any cable company deals set up two months before the channel's US launch on August 1st).. Their imae is so bad that I think the "brand" has been seriously damaged

Not a good thing at all Fozz. Eat poop.

Also - it's al Jazeera backed, which means they have metric fuckloads of cash. They'll have deals with the cable companies, no worries. Shit, word is that they may even get the rights to your preciosu EPL when they come up for renewal again.

[SirFozzie]

DT: I know you're a big fan of Juve (and I note that the Juve coach is under suspicion as part of this from his time at Siena). The brand is damaged. Perhaps irrepeairably. Once you can't trust the result to be fair.. it'd be like.. well.. watching wrestling. I'd rather watch "lesser" leagues that at least are not predetermined.

[Ajaxab]

I have to wonder if the political and economic troubles in Italy and Spain could have an effect on those countries' leagues at some point as well. Sure they have lots of tv money, but if I'm a player who is going to be paid a big salary, going to a place where increasing numbers of people are out of work doesn't seem like a good position to be in. Football players are certainly in a different category than executives in that they might be in a safer position because of their public profile, but if I'm a player, I would have zero interest in being near anything involving people who riot over austerity measures.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

isn't the roma owner american. i remember reading he was trying to make it into a 'global brand' wonder how this affects that.

hazard to chelsea

[Grover]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

isn't the roma owner american. i remember reading he was trying to make it into a 'global brand' wonder how this affects that.

hazard to chelsea

Thomas DiBenedetto is the current owner of Roma. Interestingly enough, he is also a partner of Fenway Sports Group.

Also, Chelsea? Ugh. I assume they're going to keep playing one forward, maybe rotating Mata/Hazard between the center and left attacking midfield. Still think United would have been his best choice in terms of footballing.

That being said, Mata, Hazard and Marin should be able to provide plenty of creativity for Nando.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Yup, I'm almost beginning to think it's a good thing that Serie A is pretty much disappearing from US TV next season (heading to BeIN Sports USA, who don't have any cable company deals set up two months before the channel's US launch on August 1st).. Their imae is so bad that I think the "brand" has been seriously damaged

You're missing the point if you think this stuff is just going on in Italy. This stuff apparently has spread across all 50 European countries, including the UEFA competitions and even the big tournaments. It's just that in Italy they're actually trying to do anything about it...

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

i'd always assumed it was rampant. how many 'worst miss in soccer history' clips were there this season? seemed it was every other day.

[IlliniCub]

Does anyone else subconsciously find themselves searing for Waldo on the Us National team?

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

blue numbers. good job nike

i know i'm alone. but i like the uni's a lot.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

blue numbers. good job nike

i know i'm alone. but i like the uni's a lot.

Grant Wahl has said US Soccer has had to pay over 6 figures to get the number color switched.

Assuming they had to buy out all the other kits.

[IlliniCub]

If they beat Brazil I won't care what they're wearing

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

You're missing the point if you think this stuff is just going on in Italy. This stuff apparently has spread across all 50 European countries, including the UEFA competitions and even the big tournaments. It's just that in Italy they're actually trying to do anything about it...

Thanks for pointing this out MIJB.

[DaddyTorgo]

Awesome. A penalty. Lemme see the replay, but it sure looked like his arm was close in to his body. Eh...that's a pretty weak call.

Nice bias there.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Awesome. A penalty. Lemme see the replay, but it sure looked like his arm was close in to his body. Eh...that's a pretty weak call.

Nice bias there.

Tough call to take but full speed I think it looked like he put his arm out for it. Not sure I agree with the call but I can accept it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Awesome. Now a shit card for something Torres said?

Nice to see the "Anti-US" bias of the Central American refs is alive and well.

Fuckhead.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by rowech

Tough call to take but full speed I think it looked like he put his arm out for it. Not sure I agree with the call but I can accept it.

Eh - if there's doubt on a play like that and his arm isn't like...fully outstretched that's not a call a ref should make.

[gstelmack]

Between the flopping, horrible officiating, and fixed matches, I think pro soccer should just switch to random penalty calling. Whenever the player with the ball gets anywhere near a defending player, a computer could randomly determine if it should call a foul and which one. Does anyone think it would be any worse?

[DaddyTorgo]

LMAO at the sentiment of this poster on big soccer

Dear BigSoccer, please feel free to ban me for life. Go ******** yourself, you ********ing banana republic piece of shit referee. Your currency is my toilet paper.

[DaddyTorgo]

Sweet. 2-0.

Fucking mark Jermaine Jones. Fuckwad.

[DaddyTorgo]

Nice thru ball by Bradley at least.

[Easy Mac]

US looks tentative on the ball. Not like Brazil is super pressing the ball, but the US just looks hesitant on the ball.

[DaddyTorgo]

Gooch is toast. Seriously...absolutely useless.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by Grover

Grant Wahl has said US Soccer has had to pay over 6 figures to get the number color switched.

Assuming they had to buy out all the other kits.

that's ridiculous. nike's obsession with grey(platinum!) fucked college hoops this year. may as well go global.

hulk to chelsea? wow. i wonder if lukaku is ever gonna get a fair shot.

also, did ian darke compare jermaine jones to yaya toure? uh, no.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Gooch is toast. Seriously...absolutely useless.

Told my brother the same thing. It's sad but he's got no place being out there. Truth is I've always felt he was pretty overrated but there's no doubt he's done now.

[DaddyTorgo]

Credit to the USA - nice goal.

Should be a 1-1 game right now, which I'm cool with.

[Easy Mac]

Someone needs to hit tis Neymar kid in his non-existent balls.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Someone needs to hit tis Neymar kid in his non-existent balls.

hes the Justin Beiber of soccer

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Someone needs to hit tis Neymar kid in his non-existent balls.

His hair was better in Akira.

[Grover]

Oh. My. God.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Awesome. A penalty. Lemme see the replay, but it sure looked like his arm was close in to his body. Eh...that's a pretty weak call.

Nice bias there.

Dude, not every call is against you. It hit the hand, its a penalty. Brazil is the better team.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Dude, not every call is against you. It hit the hand, its a penalty. Brazil is the better team.

That was (at best) an extremely marginal penalty. The ball hit his hand...his hand didn't move to hit the ball (yes there's a difference).

No doubt Brazil is the better team. Wasn't saying they weren't.

[DaddyTorgo]

Nice offense here at the end of the game by the USA. Couple woodwork hits & fighting hard.

[Grover]

3/4 of Brazil's goals can pretty much be blamed on Gooch.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Gooch is toast. Seriously...absolutely useless.

Yep.

[Big Fo]

Onyewu is one of my favorites but yeah, it looks like it's time for the national team to move on. He's not a guy for 2014.

[Big Fo]

Rafael's had a great game for Brazil, we actually played rather well in the second half imo.

[Easy Mac]

4-1 here was not nearly the same as us beating Scotland 5-1. Brazil were much more efficient than we were tonight. brazil deserves the win, but the score line should probably be 4-2 or 5-3. We need our young defenders to mature quickly if we want to have a chance in the world cup.

[Easy Mac]

Good will serve us fine against European teams, but he is not fast enough on his feet against teams that move the ball quickly.

[kingfc22]

I missed the Scotland game, but I'm glad to see the the offense is starting to click and can create multiple chances. Defensively....aye.....

[Crapshoot]

I do think Klinsmann is a good guy for the US team; a long term system, where players can grow, is a good thing going to Brazil in 2014. And in Dempsey, the US has an honest to goodness match winner right now.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Good will serve us fine against European teams, but he is not fast enough on his feet against teams that move the ball quickly.

quick ball movement has been the big development in Europe over the last 5 or 6 years. Sure there´s the occasional team that doesn´t want to (or can´t) do it, but the top level teams are all playing that way. Just because they play a bit more streamlined than Brazil doesn´t make it less quickly.
Defense started out shaky with Klinsmann for Germany as well if i recall correctly, it picked up later on as the offensive players learned to work against the ball better.

Don´t be too hard on your team, this Brazil team is legit and should develop into a major contender again for 2014. Nice mix of technique, physichal ability and some solid glue guys.

Spain looked awfully impressive last night in a friendly against South Korea even though the Barca players didn´t play and other starters were still rested as well, they are the team to beat again. Iker Cassillas got his 130th cap (!) and recorded his 95th win, the latter is the most wins by any player in the world in international games.

Fun little stat , the average age of all the 23-man squads in the European Championship :

1. Russia 28,4 Jahre
2. Ireland 28,3 Jahre
3. Sweden 28,2 Jahre
4. Italy27,9 Jahre
5. Ukraine 27,3 Jahre
6. Greece 27,2 Jahre
Czech Republic 27,2 Jahre
8. Portugal 27,1 Jahre
Netherlands 27,1 Jahre
Croatia 27,1 Jahre
11. Spain 26,7 Jahre
France 26,7 Jahre
13. Denmark 26,5 Jahre
England 26,5 Jahre
15. Poland 25,1 Jahre
16. Germany 24,4 Jahre

I know that the goal is to win the title for the german team and there´s reason for those expectations. But when i read media basically claiming that this is now-or-never time for the NT Coach, that´s pretty insane looking at that number. There´s no reason they shouldn´t still get better for 2014 or 2016.