OFFICIAL WORLD CUP 2006

[No Mo Moss]

I realize that not everyone on here is a fan of soccer and that's fine, maybe this will result in a few people gaining interest in the sport.

After four long years the world cup is finally back, this time in Germany for World Cup 2006.

Please use this thread for related discussions.

[jack's smirking revenge]

Too bad that it sounds like the American team isn't worth crap this time around. I read that Reyna's already injured.

So, who in the heck do I root for? Aw, hell, it doesn't matter. It'll be fun to watch either way.

tyler

[Deputy Nutz]

I like to pull for Germany, and Italy.

And any team that has their goal keeper assasinated.

[No Mo Moss]

HOW THE WORLD CUP WORKS:

For those who may watch the games, but aren't that familiar with how it works here is a brief explanation.

QUALIFYING AND SCORING
Two years ago groups were indentified for qualifying (usually based on region, CONCACAF is the USA, Mexico, Canda, Jamaica etc...region.) Typically there were six nations in each of those groups. Those teams play eachother twice each over the course of a year and a half. In soccer, no matter what country or competition, the scoring is always the same. A team receives ZERO points for a loss, ONE point for a tie, and THREE points for a win. The teams are assembled on a table. Tiebreakers are usually decided on goals for. During the CONCACAF qualifying the USA and Mexico qualified on points. Tinidad and Tobabgo won the playoff for the third spot in a shocking result. Those three teams now will compete in Germany from this Region.

WORLD CUP GROUPS:

After all the qualifying is complete the world football organization known as FIFA holds a World Cup draw. FIFA preselects the top eight teams in the world. They use the current skill level of the team as a factor as well as past world cup success. Those teams are each put in a group A-H. Then the remaining teams are picked randomly until all of the groups are filled.
Here are the groups:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/group/index.html

Starting June 9th the group stage will begin. Teams in a group will play eachother once. Using the aforementioned scoring system, the top two teams on each group table move on to the round of 16. The other two go home. From there the teams play single elimination games similar to the NCAA basketball tourney until they have a winner. If games are tied at the end of two 45 min halves, the game will go into sudden death overtime, also known as Golden Goal. Overtime consists of two 15 min. halfs if necessary. If there is still no winner then the game will go to the dreaded penalty shoot-out. Probably the most dramatic event in all of sports. The two teams select an order of shooters and gather at one goal on the field. The teams send one player to face the goalie with one kick, one player at a time. The teams take turns trying to make the shots. When it first starts each team alternates en route to 5 kicks per side. The team must match each other goal for goal by the 10th kick or the team with more goals wins. If the teams are still tied the game will go down to single kick for kick. If one team makes it, the other must match or lose and so on. The catch is that you may only use a player once until every player on the field has kicked before you can reuse a player. Many times you see goalies facing goalies in what is always a cardiac attack even for objective fans.

The USA plays in the so called "GROUP OF DEATH" this year. That title is usually given to the one group that appears to be the most difficult to advance from.
In the Group E we have

The number one ranked Czech Republic
The Always formidable Italy
The scrappy African Cup winners Ghana

A very tough draw, but that's what they said in 2002.


RECAP OF USA SUCCESS IN 2002

Picked in the "Group of Death" back in 2002, the USA faced Poland, Portugal and host nation Korea. In their first match they literally stopped traffic in Europe by beating the top ranked Portugal team.

After that the USA tied the host nation Korea and then were defeated by Poland. The USA advanced to the round of 16 to face their bitter rivals, Mexico. These two teams hate each other. The USA wins a convincing victory over Mexico and advances to the round of eight. There is no gray area at that point. Teams in the round of eight are impressive world soccer powers. The world definately was on notice. The USA then played Germany. The USA dominated Germany through the entire game. Germany scored in the 39th minute. The USA then pumeled the germans on the other end but couldn't break through legendary German Goal keeper Oliver Kahn. Then the most contraversial mooment of the 2002 World Cup occurred. Greg Berhalter fired a rocket to the top left of the net, eluding Kahns grasps. The German defender illegally used his arm to keep the ball out of the goal. This would result in a penalty kick which chances are would have been converted for the tying goal. With the US possessing all of the momentum they would be looking good for the win. Unfortuantely the call was missed. The US continued to rattle the net for the rest of the game but could not break through with a goal, and thus were eliminated.


Many in Europe called the game a sham. The US had made the Germans look like an inferior side, and coming off the events of 911, the USA had a fan base in Europe and many enthusiastic fan cried fowl. At any rate the USA had officially jumped onto the international soccer radar. Over the next 4 years the US team would find themselves ranked as high as #4 on the FIFA world rankings. It's a very tough draw, but thats what they said last time.

THE SCHEDULE:

Monday, June 12th 11:00am CT vs The Czech Republic
Saturday, June 17th 2:00pm CT vs Italy
Thursday, June 22nd 9:00am CT vs Ghana

Other Dates TBD

[No Mo Moss]

Too bad that it sounds like the American team isn't worth crap this time around. I read that Reyna's already injured.

So, who in the heck do I root for? Aw, hell, it doesn't matter. It'll be fun to watch either way.

tyler

The US has been very impressive at times, reaching #4 ranking on FIFA's world top ten only four months ago. Tuesday was the first time they had all their starters from European leagues on the team since they beat Poland in Germany in a friendly a few months ago. Reyna strained his Hammy, but will play in the world cup. They have two remaining games left on their tune-up. They picked some pretty good teams to play though.

Tuesday they dominated the game against Morrocco, although they didn't play well. They lost due to a last minute counter attack. The problem with trying to tell how we stack up from these games is this...
Morrocco decided to commit 8 guys to defend, which is unheard of. Usually teams use 4 or maybe 5 at most. With that many people it is nearly impossible to break down. You should watch the remaining tune-up games.

Today Friday May 26, against Chavez' Venezuela at 6:00 CT on ESPN2.
Latvia vs. USA Sun., May. 28 at 6:00 pm CT ESPN2

[No Mo Moss]

Reyna MRI negative, will miss Cup warmup
Associated Press


NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A day after straining his right hamstring in a lackluster 1-0 loss to Morocco, U.S. captain Claudio Reyna said the injury was minor.


Reyna had an MRI exam Wednesday before the Americans left for Cleveland, where they play Venezuela on Friday night, and the scan showed no damage.

"Good news, definitely," he said. "I'm happy, more relieved today."

Reyna was injured about 11 minutes in Tuesday night when he tried to intercept a pass. Four years ago, he missed the opening 3-2 win over Portugal because of a strained right quadriceps, then returned for the final four games as the Americans advanced to the quarterfinals in their best showing since 1930.

The 32-year-old midfielder is among only seven players in this year's tournament appearing on a World Cup roster for the fourth time. In 1994, he missed the entire tournament because of a right hamstring injury.

Because of the injury, he won't play Friday, when the Americans play Venezuela at Cleveland, or Sunday against Latvia at East Hartford, Conn., in their last game before their World Cup opener against the Czech Republic on June 12.

"There's no alarm bells going off that he's going to be out for a long time," U.S. assistant coach Glenn Myernick said.

Reyna was limited to 23 of 44 games last season with Manchester City in England's Premier League. He injured his right knee and ankle Oct. 22, returned Dec. 4 and played four games, then found out he had been playing on a broken ankle and had surgery. In his third game after coming back, he dislocated his right shoulder March 18 against Wigan. He returned again April 8 and started the final six games of the season.

After he left, the fifth-ranked Americans looked shaky against the No. 36 Atlas Lions, and they lost a home game for the first time since last May 28 against England. Morroco got a 90th-minute goal on a counterattack by Mohamed Madihi after defender Steve Cherundolo lost the ball to Bouchaib El Moubarki.

"I took a bad touch and pretty much gave it to them," Cherundolo said.

While the Americans outshot Morocco 13-5, they generated only a few good scoring chances. The best opportunity came in the 82nd minute, when Landon Donovan's 25-yard shot was parried by goalkeeper Tarek El Jarmouni. With an open net, Eddie Johnson got little on the ball as he shanked the rebound. Bobby Convey then hit the side of the net on a 25-yard free kick in second-half injury time.

"We weren't sharp. I think we're a little bit leg-weary. We're a little bit overtrained at this point," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "We didn't do a good job creating chances. Our last pass was poor. Our crossing was poor."

His focus is the second-ranked Czech Republic.

"Nobody had a feel for the game," midfielder DaMarcus Beasley said. "It was kind of sloppy. Whoever made a mistake wasn't going to win the game, and we made it."

A crowd of 26,141, many waving red, white and blue, came to The Coliseum, the largest attendance for a soccer game in Tennessee.

Cherundolo played right back in the first half and pushed up to midfield in the second as the United States switched from four midfielders to five. Brian McBride and Josh Wolff started up front, with Donovan behind them as an attacking midfielder.

Cory Gibbs started at left back in place of likely World Cup starter Eddie Lewis, who rejoined the team after playing Sunday for Leeds United in its playoff loss to Watford at Cardiff, Wales.

Midfielder John O'Brien, coming off a string of injuries, had several effective passes in the first half, then was replaced by Bobby Convey. Beasley had a good two-way game on the left wing, and Cherundolo made a number of penetrating runs.

"It's a nice wakeup call," Donovan said. "We only have two more games to get ready."

[HarveyWallbangers]

Too bad that it sounds like the American team isn't worth crap this time around. I read that Reyna's already injured.

So, who in the heck do I root for? Aw, hell, it doesn't matter. It'll be fun to watch either way.

tyler

The American team isn't bad at all. It will be tough to get out of a group with Italy (always though), Czech Republic (one of the more talented European teams), and Ghana (an upstart African team)--but that doesn't mean the team sucks. The European teams will be tough with a tournament in Europe, and that's tough luck getting two in the draw. Heck, the team is better than the one put out there in 2002, but we had a much easier draw in 2002. This team finished ahead of Mexico in qualifying for the first time in a long time. We should have gotten the seed Mexico did. We were ranked higher in the FIFA rankings, we beat them in qualifying, we have owned them in recent years (except for a couple of games at attitude in Mexico), and we beat them in the Round of 16 in the last World Cup. Somehow, they got a higher seed and a cupcake group. The U.S. team has benefitted from the improved MLS and more players playing in Europe. We aren't a joke anymore, and it wouldn't surprise me if we got out of group play--although we'll need at least a draw in the first game vs. a tough Czech team.

[No Mo Moss]

I completely agree with you about mexico. They end up in a group with Angola, Iran and Portugal. Portugal is very good, but neither of the other two should provide much resistance. Of course that's how these things always work until its Iran and Porto moving on, anyway... that should have been us.

If we get out of our group, then there is no doubt the US can compete with anyone.
Just one other tidbit. If the US sneaks out of this group in the number 2 spot, they'll likely play Brazil in the round of 16. Ouch. They need to finish first in this group if they have any chance of advancing to the round of 8.

I have to disagree with you Harv on the last group draw in 2002. That was considered the second hardest draw in the cup, some even refered to it as the group of death. Portugal was the favorite going in. Poland was very highly ranked. Host countries are always difficult. It was a very hard Group and they just barely got out. Poland played very well, beating us 3-1, but we sneaked in ahead of them.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I have to disagree with you Harv on the last group draw in 2002. That was considered the second hardest draw in the cup, some even refered to it as the group of death. Portugal was the favorite going in. Poland was very highly ranked. Host countries are always difficult. It was a very hard Group and they just barely got out.

It looked that way at the time. I forgot about playing the host country. Let's put it this way, it sure looks like Poland and Portugal were overrated heading into that. The fact that South Korea was also in the draw ended up making it pretty formidable. I'd say that we got somewhat lucky in that it only took 4 points to make it out of the draw. With Ghana in the draw and no clear favorite it might take 2 wins to get out of the draw this time. I could see the USA tying the Czech Republic or Italy, but I could see the group winner finishing with 2 w, 1 d for the winner (e.g. say we beat the Czechs, they could beat Italy) and the second place team finishing with 2 w, 1 l (e.g. the Italians very could beat us and Ghana). 1 w, 1 d might not do it this time.

[No Mo Moss]

Well anyone can beat anyone. I'll tell you one thing Harv, Ghana is going to get a win. Its unfortunate that their best player is hurt or they might have done more. Italy is a notoriously bad starter and I suspect they fall to Ghana in the opening match. I believe you will need 5 points to get 2nd in the group. We need to come out strong and beat or draw the Czechs. If we can win that first game then things get easier. Win or loss to Italy and Win against Ghana gets us in. Pavel Nedved came out of retirement because his Czech team was so good and has a real shot at Brazil. I don't know if you've watched him play for Juventus or not but he needs very little space for his world class shots. We must score early.

You should watch the game tonight, it should tell us a lot about the team. Corey Gibbs went down today and is out of the World Cup. Enter BErhalter and Lewis to fill the spot.

[No Mo Moss]

GROUP BREAKDOWN

CZECH REPUBLIC


The birth of the Republic at the FIFA World Cupâ„¢

After two 1-0 play-off wins over Norway, Karel Bruckner’s team have booked their place at Germany 2006 - the first time that this relatively new country will be taking part in the biggest sporting event on the planet.
As was the case in previous campaigns, the Czech Republic did not have things entirely their own way. In European qualifying Group 1, their haul of 27 points was good only for second place behind The Netherlands, and put them a mere two points ahead of Romania, on 25. Another play-off lay-in wait for the Czechs if they were to secure their FIFA World Cupâ„¢ berth.

This awakened unhappy memories of 2001, when a strong Czech squad ended up watching the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ from the comfort of their own armchairs after losing under similar circumstances to Belgium. This time, however, it was a different story. Bruckner’s men set about their task with steely determination and outplayed the Norwegians both home and away. No wonder the coach was proud enough to describe it as his “finest hour as a manager.”

This Czechs’ qualification was merely the continuation of their success at the UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal. Despite losing in the semi-finals to eventual winners Greece, the Czech Republic produced what was widely accepted as being the most flowing, attractive football of the tournament. They were the only team not to drop a point in the group stages, coming from behind to win against both Germany and The Netherlands. The emergence of Bruckner’s men was one of the definite highlights of the tournament.
Jan Kohler (right)
They will be hoping to make a similar impact at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Their refreshing brand of attacking football saw them finish top scorers of the European qualifying phase, with Jan Koller second highest scorer overall on nine goals (two behind Portuguese striker Pauleta). The towering centre forward unfortunately went on to suffer a serious knee injury, but is hoping to be fit again in time for the festivities in Summer 2006. There, he will be looking to play alongside Pavel Nedved, after the Juventus star came out of retirement for the play-off games against Norway and put in two dominating performances in midfield. Hopefully he too will dust off his passport for Germany.
Pavel Nedved

Milan Baros
Alongside old warhorses such as Koller, Nedved and Karel Poborsky, a new generation of top-class players has been evolving. Milan Baros, Tomas Rosicky and goalkeeping star Petr Cech all added fine performances in the FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign to a successful showing in Portugal, surpassing the already high expectations in them.

Petr Cech

With this fine blend of youth and experience, the Czech Republic must aim high for their first FIFA World Cup participation. Repeating, if not surpassing, the success of their Euro 2004 run to the semi-finals is no doubt be their aim.

[No Mo Moss]

GROUP BREAKDOWN:

ITALY


Azzurri plotting fourth world crown
With three FIFA World Cupsâ„¢ to their name, Italy are rightly held up as one of the great football nations. Their first triumph was way back in 1934 at the second ever global showcase, held on Italian soil. Four years later in France, they became the first team to successfully defend their crown and their third title was secured in 1982 in Spain.

Germany 2006 will mark Italy's 16th appearance at a FIFA World Cup finals, making Sweden 1958 the only finals they did not grace with their presence. Following their successes in 1934 and 1938, Italy lifted the FIFA World Cup for the third time at Spain 1982 thanks largely to an outstanding performance by striker Paolo Rossi. After a subdued start to the tournament, Rossi burst into life in the knockout stages, scoring a hat-trick against Brazil to put his side through to the semi-final, where he struck twice more against Poland. Brimming with confidence, the Italians then went on to beat West Germany 3-1 in the final, with Rossi scoring a sixth tournament goal to clinch the Golden Shoe as top scorer.

Maldini (left)

Nesta, if I could be anyone else in the world...Ahhhhh

Nesta's girlfriend

Italy's strong national league, boasting world-famous sides such as AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan, has traditionally provided the platform for a competitive Italy team. Over the years, Serie A has produced true legends of the game such as Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Gianni Rivera and the unforgettable Dino Zoff who played in the victorious 1982 side at the age of 40.

Del Piero

However, life has not always been a bed of roses for the Italians, who have suffered their fair share of disappointments, including an abrupt exit from the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japanâ„¢. After battling their way through to the Round of 16, the Azzurri succumbed to hosts Korea Republic. Italy led for most of the match but conceded a late equaliser and the South Koreans secured victory with an extra-time golden goal.

In the wake of this crushing blow, Giovanni Trapattoni replaced Dino Zoff and led Italy through qualifying for UEFA EURO 2004. One defeat and just four goals conceded in eight matches marked a return to the traditional Italian virtue of resolute defending but more disappointment awaited the Azzuri in the finals in Portugal where they failed to progress beyond the group stage despite not losing a match. Having drawn against Denmark (0-0) and Sweden (1-1) in their opening two games, a 2-1 victory over Bulgaria saw them finish only third in the group behind the two Scandinavian sides.

Trapattoni then made way for former Juventus coach Marcello Lippi who immediately adopted the mantra "No-one is guaranteed a place" – something Alessandro Del Piero and Christian Vieri soon found to their cost. A new generation emerged, all eager to seize their opportunity. Between summer 2004 and autumn 2005, Lippi gave debuts to nine players - Cristian Zaccardo, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini, Daniele De Rossi, Manuele Blasi, Mauro Esposito, Luca Toni, Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta – and together they accounted for eight of the 15 goals scored by Italy on the road to Germany.

Buffon
These youngsters now form the spine of the new-look Azzurri with Zaccardo operating in defence, De Rossi playing as a holding midfielder, and Toni and Gilardino forming a potent partnership in attack and netting six goals between them in qualifying. Toni can even be seen on the home page of the Italian Football Federation's website alongside established players such as Alessandro Nesta, Francesco Totti, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon and il mister Lippi.

[GoPackGo]

Soccer fans check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kYBp...rch=ronaldinho

[No Mo Moss]

GROUP BREAKDOWN:

GHANA

Black Stars shine at last

Ghana's historic journey to their first FIFA World Cupâ„¢ finals began with a comfortable qualifying victory over Somalia, a 7-0 aggregate success that sent the Black Stars into the group stage.
There they were drawn with 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts South Africa in Group 2 and after opening their campaign with a 1-0 defeat in Burkina Faso, they signalled their intent by beating South Africa 3-0 in Kumasi on 20 June 2004, a famous victory secured by goals from Sulley Ali Muntari and captain Stephen Appiah (2).

They topped the group for the first time in September 2004 after beating Cape Verde Islands 2-0, again in Kumasi – now considered their lucky ground – but their momentum faltered following the sudden departure of coach Mariano Barreto, who quit to take over at Portuguese club Maritimo.

Sam Arday held the reins for a short time before the Serbian Ratomir Dujkovic took charge in late 2004. His reign began with a draw against Congo DR but after scraping a 2-1 home win against Burkina Faso on 5 June 2005, the Black Stars were back on track. A memorable 2-0 success in South Africa a fortnight later restored them to the top of the group. A place in Germany was now within reach and they held their nerve to beat Uganda before stamping their ticket in style with a 4-0 victory over Cape Verde in Praia.

For Ghana, a place on world football’s greatest stage is long overdue. They have won four CAF African Cup of Nations titles – in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982 - and twice captured the FIFA Under-17 World Championship. Moreover, they have produced some of Africa’s most talented footballers down the years - men like Osei Koffi, Abdulrazak Karim, Ben Acheampong, Afriye and George Al Hassan, in addition to 1990s stars Abedi Pele and Anthony Yeboah.

Ironically, their success comes at a time when they do not have as many big names but instead a youthful team with a disciplined approach fostered by coach Dujkovic, who offered an early statement of his no-nonsense approach by excluding former captain Samuel Kuffour from the squad.

Michael Essien
The shining lights in this Black Stars team are captain Appiah and Chelsea man Michael Essien – the most expensive player in the history of African football – who together with Udinese's skilful Muntari, give Ghana a formidable-looking midfield.

Muntari

Up front, Asamoah Gyan and Dutch-based Matthew Amoah, back after almost two years in the international wilderness, ensure their team-mates’ efforts are rewarded with goals.

Mathew Amoah

[hurleyfan]

Wait a second, isn't soccer made for American Kids who had "moms" that said "you can't play football, it's too tough and dangerous a sport", go try out for the soccer team?

I for one am one of those guys, I was 5 foot nothing in high school, played JV football until 10th grade then Soccer came to my H.S. Was "persuaded" to play soccer as I was so much smaller than all the other kids, and in the first game of the season, was tackled and blew out the ACL in left leg! Glad it was a safer sport!

Big league soccer is a phenomenal sport, and one has to admire the people that play it!

Go U.S.A!!

[Harlan Huckleby]

I don't know about safety, but soccer is a much better sport for kids in many ways. Better conditioning. Everybody touches the ball.

[No Mo Moss]

Ching, Dempsey help U.S. shut down Venezuela
May 26, 2006

CLEVELAND -- Bobby Convey and Clint Dempsey improved their chances of starting for the United States at the World Cup with sharp performances in a 2-0 win over Venezuela on Friday night.


Brian Ching scored in the 36th minute and Dempsey added a goal in the 69th as the Americans rebounded from Tuesday's dismal 1-0 loss to Morocco in Nashville, Tenn. Convey made the cross that created the first goal, and he was praised for his energy and defense by U.S. coach Bruce Arena.


"I think I'm making Bruce sweat a little bit," Convey said. "I'm happy about that."


The fifth-ranked Americans, who were given plenty of space as No. 71 Venezuela attacked, changed nine of 11 starters, keeping only defender Oguchi Onyewu and attacker Josh Wolff. They have just one game remaining before the World Cup: On Sunday night against Latvia in East Hartford, Conn.


Convey and Dempsey are competing for a starting midfield spot, likely on the right side, when the United States opens the World Cup against the Czech Republic on June 12.


"What we want to see out of Bobby is that kind of play for 90 minutes. He lost his concentration a little bit in the second half," Arena said. "I'm hopeful we can continue to move him forward because there's no reason to believe that Bobby can't challenge to get into our first 11."


Ching, who beat out Taylor Twellman for the World Cup roster, put the United States ahead with his fourth goal in 19 international appearances. Convey took the ball down the left side and crossed around Hector Gonzalez. Ching, at the top of the six-yard box, got a toe on it and beat goalkeeper Javier Toyo.


"Bobby crosses a great ball," Ching said. "When he gets the ball wide, I just look to make good runs in the box."


Ching nearly got another in the 54th, off a sharp cross from Chris Albright, but Toyo dove left to punch the ball away. U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard then made a leaping save in the 64th to push Juan Arrango's shot over the crossbar.


Landon Donovan, who entered with DaMarcus Beasley midway through the second half, started the play that led to the second goal, pushing a through ball ahead to Eddie Johnson.


Johnson ran the ball down just before it reached the goal line and bent it back to the onrushing Dempsey, who sent the ball in with a diving header from the top of the six-yard box for his fifth international goal.


"I don't think anything is guaranteed at this point, so you've got to do whatever you can to hopefully try to see minutes over in Europe," said Dempsey, who has been slowed by a sore back.


Although Arena said Dempsey needs to improve his defense, the coach sounded impressed.


"He's a guy that is, in his own way, creative, and he takes chances," he said. "He's got to be a little bit more experienced and understand when to pick his spots on the field in terms of going after people in one v. one situations. But he's a confident player on the ball. He has had a habit of scoring goals, which is a real positive out of the midfield."


Dempsey followed his goal with an extended dance, waving his arms in a hula motion.


"It's just a dance we saw on video and me just messing around," he said.


Arena's choices this week were cramped by the schedule of three games in six days.


"I'm not sure there are any benefits for the players. I think for marketing purposes there are benefits because you're playing weekend games," he said. "The games are more attractive for television on Friday and Sunday, and for marketplaces. Obviously, if we could avoid doing this, we would do that.'


With 2½ weeks left before the opener, he's still unsure about his starting lineup against the Czechs.


"It's still going to be based on players being in the right form," he said. "I think there's a chance that we'll make a few decisions for our first 11 in the first game that will probably surprise some people."

Notes
Oft-injured midfielder John O'Brien, who played the first half against Morocco, had an MRI on his right Achilles' tendon that was negative and is day-to-day. ... Earlier in the day, the U.S. team watched a telecast of the Czech Republic's 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia. ... A crowd of 29,745 came to Cleveland Browns Stadium for the national team's first game in Cleveland since a 1994 World Cup warmup. ... Michael Bradley, the son of Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley, made his national team debut in the 89th minute. ... The Americans finished a man short after Carlos Bocanegra was ejected in the 82nd for getting his second yellow card.

[Tarlam!]

The USA needs a win and two draws to go through. Ghana is your wild card. Traditionally, at least one African country plays its lights out, you just should hope it's not Ghana!

Italy played against Germany in a frindly 3-4 months ago, and I was overwhelmed at their game. These guys are so good. Scary good. It's a shame you don't play them last, because if they had two wins going into your matchup, they would rest their stars.

They will be looking to win two, the draw their last game.

I think you guys are good for at least a draw against the Czeks. They are a great team, but they struggle against non-Europeans. Key to this team is their blonde Midfielder, Nedved. You need to double team him the whole game.

If you lock up the middle of the field, don't allow your backs to drop back too far, you can beat Nedved. Rosicky, plays slightl behind the front 2 is a dangerous little guy, and Koller, big forward, is also great in the air. Don't allow him to dominate the penalty area by keeping the flanks covered.

[MJZiggy]

Could someone please explain offsides rules in international soccer? I only watch the major matches, but don't understand how one can be offsides. Also, more pictures, please. Soccer players have the best physiques of any sport I've seen.

[Tarlam!]

Could someone please explain offsides rules in international soccer?

No. It is impossible for women the world over to get this, because men the world over cannot explain it.

But, I am a glutton, so I'll try.

1. You can never be offside in your own half of the playing field.

2. When in the opponents half of the playing field, there must always be an opponent's field player between you and the opponents goal line. If not, you are in an off-side position, although unless you receive the ball, you are considered to be in passive off-side (no penalty).

3. If you receive the ball in an off-side position, you will be called off-side. You just became active. That's a foul.

4. The key is, where you were positioned at the time the pass was actually made. You might have been on-side when the ball was played and ran into an otherwise off-side position. In this case, you are not off-side.