World Cup and European leagues

[SierraFD3soccer]

This is the "Wenger Law" for offsides and is currently being trialed in the Canadian Premier League. Led by FIFA and approved (but not voted on yet) by IFAB.

If and when it happens that will be crazy. Been seeing that coming for years. Not sure how I feel about it, but will def. change the game substantially.

[Ralph Turner]

This Messi kid looks pretty good.  Not tall enough for Amherst, of course, but I'm sure he could find the right fit with some college recruiting consultants.

... or the right NIL.

[Kuiper]

Cape Verde ties Uruguay 2-2 after tying Spain 0-0 in Game 1!  Quite the first World Cup for the tiny nation made up of ten volcanic islands with a population of about 530K that only became independent in the mid 1970s.  They even still have a chance for the knockout rounds if they can beat Saudi Arabia.   

[jknezek]

Cape Verde ties Uruguay 2-2 after tying Spain 0-0 in Game 1!  Quite the first World Cup for the tiny nation made up of ten volcanic islands with a population of about 530K that only became independent in the mid 1970s.  They even still have a chance for the knockout rounds if they can beat Saudi Arabia.   

It's a great story, but it's kind of like when Guadeloupe does well in CONCACAF. The players come from everywhere with the most tenuous connection to Cape Verde. I'm not knocking it, lots of American players have had dual citizenship and more than a few had pretty much no experience with America, but the global nature of weaker teams mean they sometimes have little to do with the shirt they are playing for.

That being said, I love the story. Curacao and Cape Verde are the best parts of this sprawling 48 team tournament. It balances out the absolute misery of some of these imbalanced games.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Absolutely. Many remember the US (and maybe still today to a certain extent) when it was a lot of Germans on the USMNT which was primarily through so many service members stationed in Germany. Will always remember Thomas Dooley, Jermaine Jones, Timothy Chandler and Fabian Johnson.

One child of an  American dad, but playing for the German Nat'l team, Nathaniel Brown.

Even today it is hard to say that USMNT players were trained by the US system. Many have went over to Europe to learn and train.

[jknezek]

Absolutely. Many remember the US (and maybe still today to a certain extent) when it was a lot of Germans on the USMNT which was primarily through so many service members stationed in Germany. Will always remember Thomas Dooley, Jermaine Jones, Timothy Chandler and Fabian Johnson.

One child of an  American dad, but playing for the German Nat'l team, Nathaniel Brown.

Even today it is hard to say that USMNT players were trained by the US system. Many have went over to Europe to learn and train.

It's certainly true that a lot of U.S. players end up in Europe. But many start here. As with you, I remember the days of "shopping for shirts". We still do it of course. We got lucky with Balogun. He had 3 or 4 different countries after him.

On the current squad, Robinson, Weah, Dest, Berhalter, Tillman, Pepi and Balogun, off the top of my head, could all have played for other countries.

Famous names that chose the U.S. that I remember --

Dooley, Stuart, Jones, Johnson, Adu, Chandler, Diskerud, Boyd, Brooks, Green, Carter-Vickers.... some had great careers, Stuart, others flamed out, Green, but all had other options.

And there is probably a whole other list just for those who chose between Mexico and America.

I think shopping for shirts didn't get the best results. The late 2000s German contingent just didn't have the heart when pulling on American shirts. And many of the Mexican-American players, so brilliant when playing in LigaMX, struggled under the rigidity of our national team. I think today it's different. Today we have players, not just a system.

The best U.S. teams like the 2002 Korean WC team, or the South African Confederations Cup team, they won because they simply worked the system so well as a team. They knew their chance to be discovered was if the team was successful, and so they played better as a team than they were as a sum of their parts. Now? Not so much. We have the players to be a top 20 team on talent. They get discovered long before they hit the national team. Now we need the parts to add up to greatness in any system they need to play.

We have the players to be defensive and counter, we have the players to be possessive and attacking. We have the players to compete. We don't need to be defined by the system.

I still don't think we are a top 10 team. We don't have those players. But I think we are inching closer again. 2018 was a shift in the players, from the old school, chip on shoulder, play as a team, to the new school talent. It simply didn't work, and we missed out. 2022 we were young and lacked confidence. Now? We are a solid team. Better than we looked before the tournament started. Win a World Cup? I'll be satisfied if we get to the Round of 16. Thrilled if we get to the last 8. Someday the players and stars will align to give us a shot at the ugliest trophy in sports. But not yet.

[Kuiper]

OK.  Messi, Mbappe, Haaland, AND Ronaldo are decent (although Ronaldo is mostly decent against Uzbekistan-level teams these days). 

I expect Emory Men's Soccer to announce that one or more of these guys are transferring there for the fall season.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Cape Verde ties Uruguay 2-2 after tying Spain 0-0 in Game 1!  Quite the first World Cup for the tiny nation made up of ten volcanic islands with a population of about 530K that only became independent in the mid 1970s.  They even still have a chance for the knockout rounds if they can beat Saudi Arabia.   

I think a draw should be good enough for them to advance. A win guarantees a top 2 finish, also with a draw and Spain win. But a 3rd place team on 3 points and 0 goal differential will certainly be one of the 8 to advance.

3rd place standings:
A: likely to only have 1 point
B: would be on 2 points if Bosnia-Qatar draw otherwise it's 4 points
C: likely will be on 3 points with negative GD
D: will either be on 4 points (Australia-Paraguay draw) or 3 points with negative GD
E: would need either Ecuador to beat Germany or Curacao to beat Cote D'Ivoire to have a shot at 3rd place advancing
F: if Sweden lose would be on 3 points and negative GD, otherwise 4 points
G and H (Cabo Verde): both groups are identical, lots of draws so far. Could be on 2 points, 3 points, or 4 points
I: Senegal and Iraq both have 0, a draw eliminates both, a Senegal win might improve their GD enough
J: either on 4 points or on 3 with negative GD
K: depends on DRC-Uzbekistan result. Could be on 2 points (draw), 3 points with terrible GD (Uzbek win), or 4 points (DRC win)
L: at worst 3 points and negative GD, a Croatia result means 4 points

Barring huge upsets, A and E are out. B, G, H, I, and K are the other groups that have possibilities to finish with less than 3 points. If two of those do then any 3rd place with at least 3 points would advance.