Quote:
Originally Posted by PilotMan
Should've been a red. Unreal.
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Should've been a Red, but it was outside the box. It's rare a referee manages to blow the same call twice, let alone in the first two minutes! Let's hope today's game is better reffed, although knowing FIFA they'll probably bring a head ref in from Qatar in the name of diversity. (As an aside, same thing is happening at the Lacrosse World Championships - every good team and thus all the good refs are from North America, but "to avoid the appearance of impropriety" the governing body won't let any refs from the US or Canada ref their games or the ones vs. the Iroqouis, so you end up with refs who can't handle the speed reffing the most important games.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhlloy
You would have to say that in terms of technical ability, the Brazilians are probably in the bottom half of teams at this tournament. Outside of Neymar and maybe Oscar, just not much quality. So many terrible touches around midfield and balls given away in terrible areas have killed them the last two games.
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That kind of supports my point about US youth development. People can argue all they want about what's wrong with US soccer, but there isn't some formula to develop Neymar's (or Messi's, or Ronaldo's, or James's), or else these countries would have a dozen of them. You throw the net wide enough, and you develop your hardworking players who will comprise the bulk of your roster, and then just hope a transcendent player falls into your lap.
Honestly, take away Neymar and Oscar, and would you trade the USA's forwards/midfielders for Brasil's? (Weirdly, I do still rate Brasil's defenders higher than the US's individually, I just think it was coaching and mental as a group. You give them a Tim Howard or Brad Guzan in goal who is holding them accountable and they wouldn't have fallen apart like that.)