F is easy too and USA is screwed

12/6/2013 12:16:22 PM

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

12/6/2013 12:16:31 PM

FUCK

12/6/2013 12:16:37 PM

Well, that was fun.

See you in 2018.

12/6/2013 12:16:44 PM

12/6/2013 12:16:58 PM

Ghana isn't that strong this cycle and Portugal is a one man team. Avoided South American teams too.

Could have been worse. England's is worse, imo.

12/6/2013 12:17:00 PM

god dammit

12/6/2013 12:17:06 PM

Group of Death!!

12/6/2013 12:17:59 PM

euro teams will choke in south america

12/6/2013 12:19:01 PM

Current rankings:

2 Germany
5 Portugal
14 USA
24 Ghana

12/6/2013 12:20:00 PM

Ours is clearly one of the 1 toughest groups...

I really was hoping to see us play different teams than we have in the past.

Ghana has knocked us out twice now...

We play Portugal in 2002 I think?

And of course they had to put Klinnsmann against his country for fun.

There are some seriously weak groups though, like C F and H.

12/6/2013 12:21:03 PM

http://espnfc.com/team/qualify?id=482&cc=5901

obviously Ronaldo is scary but look at their WCQ results. This isn't a juggeranut of UEFA

12/6/2013 12:21:19 PM

drew Germany in 98, Port in 02, Ghana in 06

12/6/2013 12:21:41 PM

Group of Death
1 BEL
2 ALG
3 RUS
4 KOR

12/6/2013 12:22:12 PM

Get Germany last which I am not sure if thats good or bad.

12/6/2013 12:25:36 PM

I'd say bad, pretty much need to go into that one with 4 points minimum from the first 2.

12/6/2013 12:26:51 PM

That's true which basically means all 3 vs Ghana is an absolute must

12/6/2013 12:39:05 PM

Time for the Dutch to take revenge for 2010!!!!

12/6/2013 12:47:15 PM

In all seriousness. Germany last is probably a good thing. I think a disciplined performance against Portugal will get us a draw and then we need to beat Ghana. Of course Portugal can throw a wrench into the whole situation and beat Germany first. we would need Germany to beat Portugal or else we are going to have to get a result against Germany.

Germany beat Portugal followed by a USA win against Ghana. USA 3 Germany 3. Draw against Portugal and Germany beats Ghana. USA 4 Germany 4 Portgual 1. Then it comes down to GD. Avoid losing to the Germans by too much and hope Ronaldo doesn't score a hat trick against Ghana.

Alternative Scenarios
A draw in Portugal vs Germany followed by a USA win against Ghana. USA 3 portugal Germany 1. Draw against Portugal and Germany beats Ghana. USA 4 Germany 4 Portgual 2.

Lose all 3 and drink away the sorrows till 2018!

12/6/2013 1:03:45 PM

^
Aren't you English?

12/6/2013 1:11:29 PM

4 is always the target for group play. It worked in 94 and 02, would have worked had we beaten Ghana in 06, and only 5 got us out in 10.


Interesting thing here, about exactly the same as Portugal probability wise. Also shows just how tough the England group is. I hope Suarez drops a hatty on them.

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1639248/spi-world-cup-group-stage-projections?cc=5901

12/6/2013 1:15:14 PM

^^ Not anymore. I was naturalized as a US citizen this year. I also wasn't born in England, naturalized there as well. I am still supporting England of course but I am also a USA fan.

12/6/2013 1:18:54 PM

Tricky Round of 16 for Brazil (and Mexico) against either Spain or Netherlands.

My predictions:

United States gets out of group, loses to Belgium next round.
Semifinals: Germany-Brazil and Spain-Argentina
Final: Argentina over Brazil

12/6/2013 1:28:36 PM

Notable matches (all times EST, USA)

Thursday, June 12
Brazil vs Croatia 4pm

Friday, June 13
Spain vs Netherlands 3pm

Saturday, June 14
Ivory Coast vs Japan 6pm
England vs Italy 9pm

Monday, June 16
Germany vs Portugal 12pm
Ghana vs USA 6pm

Tuesday, June 17
Brazil vs Mexico 3pm

Wednesday, June 18
Spain vs Chile 6pm

Thursday, June 19
Colombia vs Ivory Coast 12pm
Uruguay vs England 3pm

Friday, June 20
Switzerland vs France 3pm

Saturday, June 21
Germany vs Ghana 6pm

Sunday, June 22
United States vs Portugal 3pm
Belgium vs Russia 6pm

Monday, June 23
Netherlands vs Chile 12pm
Cameroon vs Brazil 4pm

Tuesday, June 24
Italy vs Uruguay 12pm
Japan vs Colombia 4pm

Wedensday, June 25
Nigeria vs Argentina 12pm

Thursday, June 26
Portugal vs Ghana 12pm
United States vs Germany 12pm
South Korea vs Belgium 4pm

12/6/2013 1:49:21 PM

At what point does Ghana become an official rival of USA?

12/6/2013 2:08:47 PM

Both sides have to win a game before that can happen

12/6/2013 2:15:14 PM

Quote :

"Germany beat Portugal followed by a USA win against Ghana. USA 3 Germany 3. Draw against Portugal and Germany beats Ghana. USA 4 Germany 4 Portgual 1"

had to stop reading there

12/6/2013 2:30:02 PM

12/6/2013 3:50:37 PM

Thank God Vietnam isn't in the same group

12/6/2013 4:05:02 PM

Well, I am pulling for the home team





Interesting fact: Pretty much the whole starting lineup for Germany plays for Bayern. Bayern is pretty much unbeatable this year (JUST FYI). Not a direct correlation, but still hurts.

12/6/2013 6:01:24 PM

^
Of course, who in Germany wouldn't want to play for FC Hollywood.

12/6/2013 6:06:55 PM

^All the folks that treat Dortmund as the fucking NC State of the Bundesliga

12/6/2013 6:09:36 PM

The Big Fucking German certainly doesn't play for Bayern. Nor does Ozil. Or Reus. Or Draxler.

Actually that post was just wrong all around.

12/6/2013 7:22:35 PM

actually not, but way to sling your dick around.

[Edited on December 6, 2013 at 7:27 PM. Reason : Özil]

I will, however, clarify by saying that the majority of starters playing for DE play for Bayern. Dont see why the internet loves to argue. It is a fair point.

[Edited on December 6, 2013 at 7:33 PM. Reason : f]

12/6/2013 7:26:02 PM

u mad

12/6/2013 7:51:16 PM

Love how NYM rustles ppl's jimmies

12/6/2013 8:00:32 PM

WOW! Brazil has it tough. The top two in their group get to play the top two from the Spain group.

12/6/2013 8:23:15 PM

But Brazil has the easiest group of the seeds

12/6/2013 8:39:40 PM

^Yeah I know, but it will get pretty tough right away once they get past the group. OTOH, the advancing teams from the US group get Belgium, Russia, Algeria, or South Korea. That is better than having to possibly play Spain in the second round.

12/6/2013 9:08:04 PM

playing germany last means they will already be in by the time we play them. That means we can get a point or 3. We should beat Ghana and Port unless ronaldo shows up but why would you expect him to show up when it matters?

[Edited on December 6, 2013 at 10:00 PM. Reason : group is not that bad yeah germany is great but we weren't beating any seeded team regardless.]

12/6/2013 9:54:17 PM

I see the time has arrived where we start getting the people that pay attention once every four years chiming in.

[Edited on December 6, 2013 at 10:48 PM. Reason : I expect face anytime now]

12/6/2013 10:44:15 PM

[Edited on December 6, 2013 at 10:56 PM. Reason : ]

12/6/2013 10:55:26 PM

i've been in the usmnt thread since the spain game

12/6/2013 10:56:45 PM

12/6/2013 11:42:27 PM

i was playing in the n.c. select league state championship game while some of you were still getting your diapers changed
(and yeah, i'll watch the u.s. national team and few other matches here and there, but i don't pay a whole lot of attention to futbol until the worldcup rolls around. and then i'm all about it. but it looks like the u.s. was pretty unlucky in the groupings)

12/7/2013 12:00:55 AM

12/7/2013 5:06:12 AM

Look I wasn't trolling. Bayern is amazing. They are THE model club in the world, but Germany has tons of other world class players spread around.

Of their likely top 18 Ozil, Reis, Draxler, Hummels, Weidenfeler (or Adler), Mertesacker, Bender, Schmelzer (or Jansen), Podolski and whoever will play up top which surely won't be from Bayern (do they even have any German attackers anymore?).

That's more than half of their setup.

[Edited on December 7, 2013 at 7:58 AM. Reason : if Sam keeps his form he may make team too]

12/7/2013 7:57:45 AM

Bayren's best players aren't even German

12/7/2013 8:01:48 AM

French and Dutch

12/7/2013 12:15:52 PM

MLS cup is in a pk shoot out on ESPN if anyone cares

12/7/2013 7:00:39 PM