OT World Cup Thread

[MUMac]

Almost looked like Wondo was not ready. Leaning back, skies it over the top. Needs to be on his toes, head down and drill it! Easier said than done.

I watched the replay several times. Looks like he tried to kick it out of the air, but the ball bounced first. That created the lift.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Yes Wondo's miss hurts, but realistically if Tim Howard wasn't playing out of this world the US would have been down at least 3-0 at that point, Belgium had several misses themselves so if you play the what if game I'm not so certain it would work out well...

Before the game, I talked to quite a few people and my main thrust was that the underdog teams against the big boys, Chile, Algeria, Nigeria, and Mexico, all had chances to beat their more fancied opponents. For long stretches, those small teams dominated the run of play and honestly probably deserved to win their games. But they failed to capitalize on the chances they got and ultimately the big boys got the breaks they needed and escaped. The point of my argument was that we couldn't squander chances like they did.

Belgium was clearly the better side, created better chances and had more possession all day, but we had Tim Howard playing the game of his life, and honestly, the entire back four was excellent. When you can defend like that for 90 minutes, it often comes down to one chance for the underdog to steal the match, and Wondo's miss was that chance. As soon as it happened I turned to my buddy and said "That was it. That's the one we're gonna regret." We still had a chance, we even could have drawn level after going 2-0 down, but as soon as Wondo missed, I went from "I believe" to "I'm not too confident".

There's reason for optimism. Green's 15 minutes, the way Brooks and Yedlin played in spells, and knowing that Bradley (who was better than his critics said), Altidore, Johannsson, and Besler will be back. There are young players coming up, some that are US citizens (Joe Gyau, Erik Palmer-Brown) and some that are yet to fully take the plunge (Gedion Zelalem, Darlington Nagbe, Shawn Parker) that have a ton of upside and could make the 2018 team even better than this one despite the likely departures of Howard, Dempsey, Beckerman, Jones, and Beasley.

Proud of the boys, and honestly, my disappointment didn't last long. Less than an hour after the match, I got the sobering news that my dad is in the hospital with renal failure. Took my mind off the loss pretty quickly. News since then has been better, I'm flying down to Florida tomorrow to see him. I know that better things are on the way.

[unclejohn]

Sorry to hear about your dad. That is what eventually took my mother. Dialysis is great, but it is really hard on elderly people. I will keep you in my prayers.

[mufan2003]

I watched the replay several times. Looks like he tried to kick it out of the air, but the ball bounced first. That created the lift.

I respectfully, strongly disagree. It was a high, hanging cross into the box, Wondolowski likely thought it would be cleared by the Belgium defense. He was caught off guard when the ball dropped to him. He was not ready. If he would have tried to kick it out of the air as you said, he would have swung and miss. He connected, but his body position was not ready and was too upright.

[warriorfan4life]

This best sums up today's festivities

http://screamer.deadspin.com/here-is...irs-1601968953

[kneelb4zerg]

This best sums up today's festivities

http://screamer.deadspin.com/here-is...irs-1601968953

Been watching this on an endless loop. The best.

[be69]

I personally like the Men in Blazers version of the game. Can anyone say Benny Hill?

Start at 2 minute mark if you want to skip the comments leading up to it.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Pumped!! I'll say Germany wins it (I'm biased though). If not them then Argentina. I think Belgium and Japan make a little noise as well. I'll say USA will beat Ghana but not get out of its group.
A) Brazil, Croatia
B) Spain, Netherlands
C) Japan, Greece
D) Italy, Costa Rica
E) France, Honduras
F) Argentina, BH
G) ZEE GERMANS, Portugal
H) Belgium, Algeria

If only I could pick my NCAA brackets this well! (yes I am patting myself on the back)

[warriorfan4life]

I did not believe in the Germans, primarily due to their back line and Sami Khedira looking like crap at the end of the club season in his recovery from knee surgery. Khedira played some of the best football of his life, and Germany lucked out that there were few center forwards capable enough to take advantage of their back line (like Balotelli did in the Euro 2012 semis). If Higuain remains on-side during the disallowed goal or finishes off Kroos's early blunder, I think Argentines could have won 1-0 or even 2-0.

I would have loved to have seen a Colombia-Germany game, but alas the Colombian defense betrayed them on set pieces and Brazil mangled their way to the German pounding. The Colombians could be really good in 2018, but I fear that they will be up against a good number of dangerous European sides that will be in great form as their core stars hit their prime. I expect for the Americans to be a bigger threat to make a run, but again they could be up against some European firepower (especially if we are stuck in a group with two European teams again and do not earn a seed).

[unclejohn]

If only I could pick my NCAA brackets this well! (yes I am patting myself on the back)

You'd get killed! Yeah, you picked Germany, but that is like picking Michigan State to win it all. A pretty reasonable guess in most years, but not one that is going to win a pool for you, because a lot of other people will pick them as well. You would have gotten clobbered in the earlier rounds. Honduras? Honduras????

Oh, all right. My dark horse picks were Ghana and Nigeria.