Unofficial World Cup Thread de 2014

[pbmax]

Communists are terrible at soccer. Socialists, Tories and the German Centre-Right will run you over.

[Bretsky]

Well, my hope now is that the US loses by a big enough margin that they're booted...

DITTO

[Bretsky]

Are we favored over whoever we play next ....Germany I think ?

I hate ESPN since this started

I just want it to end

[Joemailman]

Are we favored over whoever we play next ....Germany I think ?

I hate ESPN since this started

I just want it to end

Come on. The timing is perfect. There's no football to talk about, so we might as well talk about futbol.

[denverYooper]

Come on. The timing is perfect. There's no football to talk about, so we might as well talk about futbol.

No kidding.

Besides, ESPN is generally useless no matter what time of year it is.

[pbmax]

Not favored.

The easy way. First, it could draw or beat Germany. That might not sound so challenging, but the Germans are the third-best team in the world, according to ESPN’s Soccer Power Index. Our forecast gives the U.S. a 14 percent chance of a win and a 22 percent chance of a draw — but a 64 percent chance of a loss. As a bonus, however, the U.S. will advance first from Group G if it beats Germany. That matters because the first-place team from Group G is likely to face Russia or Algeria in the Round of 16 — while the second-place team will face a stronger side in Belgium.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-the-portugal-draw-boosts-the-u-s-s-world-cup-advancement-odds/

[wootah]

Suarez bites again... Nutcase.

[hoosier]

Not favored.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/h...ancement-odds/

If they can't at least play to a draw against Germany then they probably would not have been anything more than a sacrificial lamb at the next level anyway. Unless of course one thinks the confidence/momentum factor is really significant in this kind of thing, in which case fending off that late Portugal comeback might have made them a tougher team to beat down the road. I can see it both ways. The tough ending against a Port team that they outplayed for most of the match might also have some benefit: at least they can't go into the Germany match thinking they're better than they really are.

[hoosier]

Suarez bites again... Nutcase.

I take it that wasn't the first time

[pbmax]

Its his third infraction apparently, though I don't know over what time period.

It would seem cynical and not at all related to tackling the ball. You would think it merits a yellow card. Or at least a free kick.

[Guiness]

Suarez bites again... Nutcase.

That was pretty weird, to be sure.

Of course, he follows up with the delayed falling down when he realizes the defender swung an elbow and he better ham it up. Looking at replays, I'm not even sure it made contact, and if it did it was a glancing blow at best. I'm loving the play in the WC, but HD TV along with animated gifs posted minutes after the event are really showcasing both how ridiculousness and widespread the diving is. I have to think FIFA will move on this, maybe adding a 2nd referee on the field (hockey did it) and/or instituting some sort of replay review, where a player can be suspended after the game, which is the way the NFL handles un-noticed infractions. A second referee seems to be something that would work, big field with lots of room.

[Freak Out]

The guy is wack.

[Brandon494]

He should be ban for sure but I like how the guy drops to the ground from being biten in the shoulder.

[Guiness]

He should be ban for sure but I like how the guy drops to the ground from being biten in the shoulder.

The foot bone's connected to the leg bone.
The leg bone's connected to the knee bone.

Shoulder bone's gotta be in there somewhere!

[pbmax]

He should be ban for sure but I like how the guy drops to the ground from being biten in the shoulder.

That makes more sense than the delayed falling own from an elbow brush. When I can see your thought process like its a comic book dialogue bubble, you have failed acting 101.