Well when it was scheduled there wasnt a horse going for the Triple Crown. Plus they leave tomorrow so I doubt they wanted a late game or a game in the middle of a hot, humid day in Florida.

 

Pretty strong performance today, too bad we couldn't keep the clean sheet.

 

Speaking of hot and humid, it sure seemed like the US suffered it far better than Nigeria. Certainly wouldn't expect that.

Speaking of hot and humid, it sure seemed like the US suffered it far better than Nigeria. Certainly wouldn't expect that.

Nigeria may be hot, but isn't humid.

Australia is so f***ed. They have 3 damn good teams in their group who may need to pad their goal differential to advance. They could lose each game 5-0.

Australia is so f***ed. They have 3 damn good teams in their group who may need to pad their goal differential to advance. They could lose each game 5-0.

 

 

 

there are some deep groups this year, that's for sure.

 

 

there are some deep groups this year, that's for sure.

 

They really need to change how they put these groups together. Just make pots of 8 grouped by ranking and draw from each pot to make the groups. Who cares if teams from the same region play each other?

They really need to change how they put these groups together. Just make pots of 8 grouped by ranking and draw from each pot to make the groups. Who cares if teams from the same region play each other?

 

I agree. Not fair that some teams have chances at teams like Iran, Australia and South Korea while others do not.

They really need to change how they put these groups together. Just make pots of 8 grouped by ranking and draw from each pot to make the groups. Who cares if teams from the same region play each other?

 

Just rank the teams 1-32 (I used FIFA's rankings) then drop them into groups via S-curve just like the NCAA tournament. Then you can even move teams up and down a spot to keep teams from the same region together. Not too difficult. Here are eight new groups more evenly matched.

 

1. Spain 16. France 19. Mexico 32. Australia

 

2. Germany 15. Netherlands 21. Algeria 31. Korea

 

3. Brazil 13, USA 17. Croatia 30. Cameroon

 

4. Portugal 14. Chile 20. Bosnia 29. Japan

 

5. Argentina 12,. Greece 18. Russia 28. Nigeria

 

6. Switzerland 11. Belguim 23. Ecuador 27. Iran

 

7. Uruguay 10. England 24. Costa Rica 26. Ghana

 

8. Colombia 9. Italy 22. Ivory Coast 25. Honduras

 

 

 

They would have had to use the November rankings and not the current ones, which would have changed things up a bit, but I agree with that system. I guess the argument against it is that the rankings can be manipulated in order to create/avoid certain matchups, but that's a pretty weak argument.

Damnit, just realized that I will be on a plane for the 2nd & 3rd US group matches. Oops.

Nate Silver's 538 calculates each teams's odds to advance from the group stage and stay alive in each knockout round.

 

http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/world-cup/

DAMMIT MONDAY GET HERE ALREADY!

Drew Magary's Hater's Guide to the 2014 World Cup. Hilarious.

 

http://screamer.deadspin.com/the-hater-s-g...-cup-1588867715

Nate Silver's 538 calculates each teams's odds to advance from the group stage and stay alive in each knockout round.

 

http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/world-cup/

 

34.5% of the US getting out of the group...I'll take it.

34.5% of the US getting out of the group...I'll take it.

 

I read a bit more detail about Nate's SPI that is used to rank teams. For some players, the SPI takes into account league performance when calculating the strength of the team. The reason that it's some players is that data is only used for the top European leagues (England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France). If you don't have players in those leagues, they don't get credit for club performance.

 

In general, the theory seems plausible since if your national team players were good enough to play in those leagues, they would. However, the US is a bit of an exception since we are trying to make MLS better and by doing that we need players who are good enough to play in Europe playing here. So you have Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley playing in MLS (and yes, I know they both played in Europe for a while) and not getting credit in the SPI. You can argue that they may lose some edge by not facing elite talent, but their value doesn't go all the way down to zero just by playing in MLS.

 

In short, I think the SPI underrates the US.

I have a strange optimism about this team. They are not the most technical team, but they are extremely fit. As long as they can keep games close, they should have opportunities. I think the most counter-attack strategy they used against Nigeria is going to be the key.

I have a strange optimism about this team. They are not the most technical team, but they are extremely fit. As long as they can keep games close, they should have opportunities. I think the most counter-attack strategy they used against Nigeria is going to be the key.

 

I saw a computer simulation run where the US, Germany, and Portugal all beat Ghana and then tied with each other. US ended up 3rd on goal differential. That would be a very disgusting way to finish 3rd in a group.

 

So basically the goal differential of the Ghana game is important.

 

If I was to predict, I would say that the US has a slight advantage with their schedule as its possible Germany wins their first 2 games and then only needs a draw to advance as the top seed. In that scenario the US would only have to beat Ghana and tie Portugal the end result would be:

 

1. Germany 7 pts

2. US 5 pts

3. Portugal 4

4. Ghana 0

 

(The above scenario has Portugal beating Ghana.)

Edited June 12, 201411 yr by Soxbadger

So basically the goal differential of the Ghana game is important.

 

If I was to predict, I would say that the US has a slight advantage with their schedule as its possible Germany wins their first 2 games and then only needs a draw to advance as the top seed. In that scenario the US would only have to beat Ghana and tie Portugal the end result would be:

 

1. Germany 5 pts

2. US 4 pts

3. Portugal 3

4. Ghana 0

 

(The above scenario has Portugal beating Ghana.)

 

I think you're missing some points somewhere. Don't forget it's 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.

 

Anybody else more concerned with Ghana than Portugal? Especially playing Portugal up in the hot rain forest, I think they the US can outlast them.

Anybody else more concerned with Ghana than Portugal? Especially playing Portugal up in the hot rain forest, I think they the US can outlast them.

 

If the order of the games had been reversed, yes, but I think the US is very focused on beating the first opponent.

I think you're missing some points somewhere. Don't forget it's 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie.

 

Woops yeah, I was doing 2 for a win 1 for a tie.

 

ill edit

Stupid trivia question on the Sox FB page:

 

Eight Sox players are rooting for six different teams in the World Cup. 2 each for Brazil and Colombia, and one each for France, Mexico, Argentina, and the US.

 

Now Rienzo-Brazil and Quintana-Columbia are obvious. I'm guessing Guerra-Mexico even though he is from Texas. There are a bunch of Sox players from the US and I don't know any of them to be big soccer fans in particular. I'm totally stumped on France and Argentina.

So Brazil has put the first goal in the net of the World Cup. Only problem is they put it into their own goal. 1-0 CRO

If anyone is getting blocked by douchey ESPN, this link is free:

 

http://deportesenvivo.univision.com/game/c...sil-on-20140612

 

 

I know I'm late for this, but...

 

OPEN WIDE FOR SOME SOCCER!!!!

 

By the way, Brazil with the equalizer from Neymar.