pg o2

man united could take 'em out (well, going on the premise that they'd allow non-national teams this go-round)

-ZiP!-

8/27/2005 11:14:56 AM

Quote :

"in 1 week. next saturday. we play mexico. huge game for the fact that we hate them and theyre like rivals. we're pretty much already qualified for the world cup so."

^^ We're not *like* rivals, we are HUGE rivals. There are two soccer powers in CONCACAF, and they are the US and Mexico. Once again, we've scheduled the Mexico home hex game for Columbus, though since it's not winter it won't be as intimidating for the Tri since it won't be 29 degrees like it was last time they played in Columbus. We NEED a point from this game, and a win would be fantastic considering the winner will clinch third spot in the hex, therefore guaranteeing a spot in the WC. It's important to note however, that as of now we have not qualified for the WC in any way, shape or form. In 2002, at this same point (second half of the hex, cruising toward a WC spot), the US fell apart and almost didn't make it to Korea.

We. Need. Points.

We also need finishing, but we've needed that since that goddamned handball against Germany.

^^^ Reyna is a regular starter in the first team of a club in one of the best leagues in the world (who happen to be second in the table right now, even). Sure, he's not racking up 30 assists a year for Arsenal, but it's still a damn high standing.

8/27/2005 1:28:24 PM

^ true. hes definitely good. i guess i just always felt ppl thought he was gonna be our pele or something. honestly i think his contribution is more leadership than being a superstar maybe

8/27/2005 4:22:45 PM

His crosses from set pieces are always excellent (see Reyna to Bocanegra, Gold Cup '03 vs. Brazil).

8/27/2005 4:27:43 PM

Yeah, it'd be nice to qualify while we play this game, cause our following games are at Costa Rica and at Guatemala, and it seems like we never play well in Central America.

I think this is going to be a very interesting game, especially after Mexico City where if we didn't have what looked like the best goalkeeper in the world, the USA would've lost 4-1. Our guys didn't play that great against a Trinidad team that didn't play very good either. Being Labor Day weekend and all, I'm expecting some kind of Mexican contingent, even if the USSF is trying to make it so they don't show by putting it in Columbus in a place that only seats 20k. Regardless of that, I think the USSF are complete idiots to put this game on the same day in the same city as the Ohio State college opener.

[Edited on August 27, 2005 at 6:03 PM. Reason : .]

8/27/2005 5:58:46 PM

Tonight is the night.

At 7:25 PM on ESPN Classic (or Telemundo if you prefer), the United States of America takes on Mexico at home in Columbus, Ohio.

The winner will qualify for the 2006 World Cup. The loser will have to fight their way through desperate Central American teams to gain points. Mexico won 2-1 at home in Azteca in March, marking the only game in the hexagonal round of qualifying that the US has not won.

This. Game. Is. Huge.

In 2001, Columbus was the sight of the last hexagonal home game against Mexico in qualifying. The US won 2-0, due in no small part to the fact that the game was scheduled for Ohio in February, and the field temperature was 29 degrees. The Mexicans still refer to it as "La Guerra Fria."

Highlights from US/Mexico home WCQ matches can be seen here: http://www.ussoccer.com.

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers (3) – Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)

Defenders (8) – Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Greg Vanney (FC Dallas)

Midfielders (10) – Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Eddie Lewis (Leeds United), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Santino Quaranta (D.C. United), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City),

Forwards (5) – Jeff Cunningham (Colorado Rapids), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (FC Dallas), Brian McBride(Fulham FC), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

It should be a hell of a match, and the US should be set for pace with Johnson and Beasley back in the squad.

GO USA!

9/3/2005 4:22:04 PM

if this mathc is happening tonight why is it on classic ... or am Ijust completely confused.

9/3/2005 4:59:01 PM

Because ESPN and ESPN2 are loaded with marginally meaningful football games, a game of national pride and two years worth of work is relegated to ESPN Classic.

9/3/2005 5:59:29 PM

fuck mexico and their pussy style of play. how do we always end up with a south american offical when playing them?

9/3/2005 7:44:42 PM

Guatemala is not in South America. Also, our games can never have an American referee, so it's either a Central American, someone from a Caribbean island, or a Canadian.

Neither team is playing very well, but Keller just saved our ass. Here's to some offensive organization in the second half.

9/3/2005 8:28:48 PM

yea, pretty choppy half, keller is the fucking man

9/3/2005 8:31:12 PM

Steve Ralston on a set piece

1-0 USA!!!!

9/3/2005 8:47:11 PM

GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

9/3/2005 8:47:47 PM

goal 2-0!!!!!

9/3/2005 8:51:49 PM

DAMARCUS FUCKING BEASLEY

2-0 USA!!!!!!!!!!

GOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOL!

9/3/2005 8:51:55 PM

nice assist, nice finish

9/3/2005 8:52:43 PM

Ladies and gentlemen,

The United States of America has qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

SEE YOU IN GERMANY!

GO USA!!!

9/3/2005 9:27:18 PM

YESSSS SIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

9/3/2005 9:29:34 PM

Holy shit. From the replays, Onyewu was RAPING Borgetti every time down the field. Well done.

9/3/2005 9:39:09 PM

gg US

9/3/2005 9:40:54 PM

Quote :

" The U.S. is a small team," [Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe] said [after the game]. "They play like my sister, my aunt and my grandmother.""

Here's to your grandmother motherfucker

[Edited on September 4, 2005 at 8:53 AM. Reason : .]

9/4/2005 8:49:40 AM

There are some games going on today.... anyone know of channels broadcasting them?

9/4/2005 9:57:21 AM

I was hoping to catch the England vs. Northern Ireland game today but it is only showing on some 800-level in demand channel here in Charlotte.

9/7/2005 1:14:31 PM

USA v. Guatamala is on tonight ESPN2 at 10pm.

Will be mostly our scrubs though since we already qualified

9/7/2005 1:30:18 PM

All the European guys aside from Hahnemann and Convey have been sent home, so it'll probably be an MLS squad + Convey that takes the field (Reis may start in goal simply because he's cap-less). The really interesting thing to see will be the roster for the final two games. There's no telling who gets the call-up there. Adu, perhaps, just for the hell of it?

9/7/2005 1:41:30 PM

i know we have already qualified (we are garaunteed third in the group). does our seeding for the world cup change depending on where we finish here. I cant remember if they choose the round robin groups randomly or if they do it by seeding.

9/7/2005 1:45:47 PM

I know the groups are picked randomly, but I'm not sure if they're weighted by conference ranking or not. I'd be inclined to say no, because the idea of trying to figure out how 2nd place in CONCACAF figures against 6th in UEFA or 3rd in AFC, etc., seems unneccessarily complicated.

9/7/2005 1:48:27 PM

no I'm pretty sure they're not

9/7/2005 2:08:08 PM

Disucssuing soccer on the wolf web forums is like discussing sex positions with esgargs.

9/7/2005 2:14:54 PM

or how to make a joke with TypeA. Go play baseball bitch.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 2:22 PM. Reason : .]

9/7/2005 2:21:51 PM

^^ yea that made no sense, gfto

on another note, cant wait. this is the one huge sporting thing i look forward to every 4 years

9/7/2005 3:56:36 PM

im looking forward to this one a lot actually. it's going to be pretty exciting to see some of the up and comers get international experience. i've been wanting to see twellman and cunningham get out there for a while

9/7/2005 3:59:44 PM

anyone planning to go next year? or have been to ones in the past?

I'm planning on goin to South Africa in '10, my dad has a master's in sub-saharan African studies, and I used to live in the Cote d'Ivoire, so I'm really looking forward to that (hopefully the US will be a power by then too)

9/7/2005 4:27:33 PM

I'm totally there. I think my cousin and I are both going.

9/7/2005 4:35:07 PM

USA v. Guatemala tonight on ESPN2 at 10.

NORTHERN IRELAND 1, ENGLAND 0

9/7/2005 6:11:59 PM

Holy shit, that just goes to show how big a home international can be.

Eriksson didn't put a slouch squad on the field, either.

Scotland beating Norway was big for them as well.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 6:31 PM. Reason : d]

9/7/2005 6:28:48 PM

yarrrr, my game is being delayed due to shitty baseball!!!

9/7/2005 10:06:01 PM

You mean glorious baseball. Only if the Mets get a hit here of course!

9/7/2005 10:07:16 PM

over a half hour for one inning...... please don't tie it and make it go into another inning

9/7/2005 10:28:22 PM

^haha

0-0. The USA played mostly their B/C team, and although they weren't poor, lets hope they don't have to go deep into the depth chart. A couple chances for the US and Guatemala.

Mexico destroyed Panama 5-0. Costa Rica defeated Trinidad & Tobago 2-0.

Mexico join the USA and are officially qualified for Germany 2006.

x-Mexico 6-1-1 19pts 16:5 +11
x-USA 6-1-1 19pts 14:3 +11
Costa Rica 4-3-1 13pts 11:11 even
--------------
Guatemala 2-4-2 8pts 11:12 -1
--------------
Trinidad & Tobago 2-5-1 7pts 7:14 -7
Panama 0-6-2 2pts 4:18 -14

Qualified Teams:

Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, USA, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil

9/8/2005 12:10:41 AM

bttt

Spain is still on the ropes

im anixously awaiting the Oz-SA 5th place qualifier

[Edited on October 3, 2005 at 12:03 AM. Reason : .]

10/3/2005 12:00:17 AM

gettin closer

10/3/2005 1:44:11 AM

the end of oct. is when all the teams should be qualified right?

10/3/2005 12:33:11 PM

fucking english bastards, they just beat poland and are gonna get a top seed

10/12/2005 5:29:14 PM

Qualified:

Africa - Togo, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire (or Ivory Coast), Ghana, Tunisia

South America - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador

Asia - Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran

CONCACAF - Mexico, USA, Costa Rica

Europe - England, Poland, Italy, France, Netherlands, Serbia-Montenegro (former Yugoslavia), Portugal, Croatia, Ukraine, Germany (host)


Playoffs:

Trinidad & Tobago or Guatemala vs. Bahrain

Australia vs. Chile, Colombia, or Uruguay

European playoffs will have: Spain, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, Czech Republic

10/12/2005 5:51:43 PM

USA win 2-0 over the group midget Panama.

USA game was a bit boring in the first half. Highlights all came in the second half. Kyle Martino of the Columbus Crew scored a goal and then Taylor Twellman of the New England Revolution finally got his first international goal, but don't be impressed, 105% of all strikers could've put what he had away.

Brian Ching had an idiot card late in the game for a handball in the box that gave Panama that might knock him out of consideration for a spot on the World Cup team.

The other 2 games were a lot more exciting, and thanks to Telemundo I got to see Mexico and Trinidad at least. Trinidad came in with 10 points and Guatemala came in with 8 points but holding the tiebreaker with the victor going on to take on Bahrain in a playoff. So if Guatemala won, Trinidad had to win to advance.

Guatemala went up 3-0 in the first 30 minutes over Costa Rica, who had qualified this past weekend with a win over the USA and hence didn't have much to play for.

Back in Trinidad, they were given a penalty for a Mexican foul in the box. Stern John took the pk but it was saved by the Mexican keeper. 5 minutes later Mexico scored through Jamie Lozano to put them up 1-0 and all looked lost considering the other scoreline. However, just before halftime, Stern John scored a goal that may have been offside from a rebound off the post to tie the game. But the tie didn't help Trinidad, they had to go for the win.

Around the 60-65 minute mark, Stern John fired a shot from outside the box into the upper far corner of the goal to put them up 2-1. They then stayed ahead and even almost scored again (as well as Mexico, both with good chances). They are going on to likely defeat Bahrain in the playoff. Props to them, they have very passionate fans spread all over the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean, and the World Cup and the region would be benefitted by their presence. But it was a great game.

The Trinidad win over Mexico means the US win the hex by aggregate score over Mexico (each with one win, but the USA has 3 goals to Mexico's 2). They finish with identical records of 7 wins, 1 tie, and 2 losses.

Also, Uruguay take the CONMEBOL playoff spot for the right to take on Australia.

USA 7-2-1 19pts 16:6 +10 (loss to Mexico, loss to Costa Rica, tie to Guatemala)
Mexico 7-2-1 19pts 22:9 +13 (loss to USA, loss to Trinidad, tie to Panama)
Costa Rica 5-4-1 16pts 15:14 +1
Trinidad 4-5-1 13pts 10:15 -5
Guatemala 3-5-2 11pts 16:18 -2
Panama 0-8-2 2pts 4:21 -17

10/12/2005 10:42:08 PM

Go Cote d'Ivoire... my home country for a year in 1992

10/12/2005 11:24:10 PM

guess im stuck with australia as my team for now...and they havent even qualified

scotland and northern ireland, better luck next time guys

10/13/2005 2:39:33 AM

Oceania always gets the shaft.

They were promised a whole qualification spot FOREVER ago and it's never come.

10/13/2005 2:53:33 AM

FYI there is a Friendly b/t Scotland and U.S. about to start on FSC..

Holy crap. Scots have far stronger accents then anyplace in England I've been...

11/12/2005 10:38:01 AM