Slovenia 2, USA 0 at the half.
Ugh.
UPDATE: USA ties! USA ties! 2—2.
PS: Is the Bradley family allergic to hair?
UPDATE: Game over. 2—2 draw. Christ, that was fun.
USA—Slovenia
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{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
That one was great. It could hav been be a third goal for the US team but the referee decided otherwise. Though I like how the Slovenians played. I would count this match for one of the better one in the fist round. And almoust fair.
And I am the second. That makes us tied, considering the absence of a third commenter. Yep, those are the rules….
That was an annoying and excellent match. Why wasn’t that a goal again?
Also, Damnit, Fiiiiiindleeeyyy!
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
What a game! What a thrilling draw!
I was happy with a tie against Britain, less so with this. But I gotta admit, it was a helluva game. Great show.
One observation: speaking as someone who hates when Americans call soccer “gay,” I must concede that the little group dance that Slovenia did when they scored a goal is gayer than Richards Simmons boning Perez Hilton while playing “It’s Raining Men” on a piccolo atop a rainbow-colored unicorn in Castro.
Congrats to the US. The decision to disallow the third goal was completely mystifying, and is doubtless being added to the football X-files by Baduk and the tin-foil hat brigade as we speak.
Anyway, irrespective of the result of the England game, I’d say the US are now favourites to progress from that group.
ENGLAND, Granfalloon, ENGLAND. Try telling a Jock, a Taff or a Mick that you guys drew with their team last week and you’ll soon see how united the kingdom is
Whoops. Sorry. Might have had a few beers during that USA game . . .
My Algerian-French friend (who’s not having a great World Cup either, as you can imagine): If England beats Algeria, USA needs to win outright next week and England or Slovenia needs to win outright their match… if they tie then USA needs to blow Algeria out of the water and advance on goal differential. If England and Algeria tie, USA still needs to beat Algeria outright next week and England and Slovenia cannot tie. Those are the most basic ways for USA to advance as the #2 seed.
Me: In other words, it all depends on how shitfaced Rooney is going to be before those two matches.
Friend: … that’s every England game
USA in great position for the next round.
Absolutely embarrassingly awful game by the ref. Gives Findley a yellow for getting hit in the face with the ball, and then misses several Slovenians giving bear hugs to American players on that 3rd goal that was disallowed. Watch the replay dozens of times and all you’ll see is Bradley getting sexually assaulted from behind, no offsides, and a game-winning goal whistled away for no apparent reason. Goddamn disgrace.
Still a good chance to move on with a win against Algeria, but that was a swift kick in the goolies after battling back from 0-2 and deserving the win. The worst part is you could tell by how openly and blatantly the Slovenians were raping American players in the box on the 3rd goal, that they weren’t worried in the least about being whistled. Wonder where that confidence came from?
I still don’t understand why FIFA doesn’t go to 2 referees. There’s no way for one ref to cover the entire field and have a good angle on everything that occurs.
Check the ref’s bank accounts.
Good replay.
Bradley, Bocanegra, and Altidore all being manhandled, with Bradley’s being the most blatant.
America played like some common college team the first 20 minutes. After that they played quite well. I was really happy with their aggressiveness. No doubt that last goal should have been allowed. Bad officiating….. that’s soccer.
The USA is in a decent position to advance. No disrespect to the Algerian team but if America can’t beat Algeria, America doesn’t deserve to advance.
good game…i think usa got robbed at the end with the offside call.
As for the ‘gay’ comment…as much as I love soccer, it is a little bit gay especially when they do the goal ceremonies. And also when a player sticks both his forearms out perpendicular to their bodies while kicking the ball.
Corruption……disallowing good goals……stealing wins……this sounds like a recipe that will surely attract the sport to 300 million people. This just adds to America’s shit-list of soccer. When does the NFL season start? Did they call an offside on the stolen goal?!?!? There was no offside because Michael Bradley was being bear-hugged from behind by the last defender! Hell, one of the Slovenians had an American in a headlock!
Un-fucking-believeable.
Germans lost too. Surprising.
Possible developing story: Four North Korean Soccer Players Currently “Missing”
I didn’t like Bradley, the son of the US team coach. I thought it was nepotism to have his son play for the team he is coaching.
However, today’s goal changed all that. I know how hard it is to time the ball which is flowing through in front of you. And, the ball was not very slow either. He had to judge the bounce and timing and the position of the goalie. He kicked it just right so as it was high enough to evade the sliding goalie and not to high to go over the net.
I played soccer and I have been in that situation many, many times. Right in front of the goalie with the ball coming in from the side. You have to time it just right and strike it with just right strength.
Bradley did that. And, I respect him.
Donovan’s goal was great as well. However, I expected him to do that. He is the only American player with international fame.
A great game overall.
For those who have never played soccer, let me explain Bradley’s goal. There are basically four outcome.
1) Total miss: this happens so often. Either the ball is too fast or the attacker did not get there in time.
2) Weak kick: The attacker gets the foot in but the goalie grabs it.
3) High kick: The ball is struck at low angle amd the ball goes over the net.
4) Goal: The attacker timed it perfectly and struck the ball correctly.
So, the chance of success is 25%. Even for experienced players.
Two words: Munich 1972.
I might well explain the Donovan’s goal.
He got into what players call “deal angle”. Once cannot take a shot in a dead angle because
1) A goalie usually comes out to defend the goal. : Donovan faked the goalie by posing to pass to the middle. The goalie had to stay in.
2) The angle is very slim : Donovan kicked on the side of the ball to slightly curve or he kicked it with laser precision so that the ball travels in perfect angle with perfect height. This is also very hard to do.
But he did it. A great goal.
US team would have been tarred and feathered by the media if they lost to Slovenia.
Wow, we got screwed by that call on the 3rd goal, and hard.. bummer. Soccer blows.. they can’t ref it, they don’t have enough refs to cover the angles and they refuse to get more. US is better served watching other sports.
England Algeria, 0-0 after 72 minutes… England is apparently overrated as usual… I can’t believe any top 5-10 team could go that long with out scoring on Algeria.
Well, a nil-nil England-Algeria tie gives some reprieve, and per total goals score, the U.S. is in second place and in total control of its destiny. They just better not lay eggs for a half against Algeria.
English are once again overrated. Jeez.
Scoreless draw was best possible result for USA chances of going on.
Draw or Loss for Eng v SL and USA go through with a draw v Alg as long as US keeps total goal edge, and with 2-goal edge now that’s likely.
Win for Eng v SL and USA go through with a win v Alg.
English tabloids are gonna be psyched about this game!
Wow.. Alexi Lalas looked whathis name the Brit commentator right in the eye after the 0 – 0 draw ; after the Brit went on about how disappointed he was. Lalas said, “How about this — they’re just not that good.” Britain definitely overrated again!
Btw, perhaps someone from England can explain why Emile Heskey continues to get time on the pitch. If he had any finishing ability at all, England would be at 6 pts and already through. Unacceptably awful.
English players are not skilled. They look good in the Premier league because many of the games are fixed by local bookies and players just go through motions. Nice shows but not real sports.
I believe the US, Korea and England are in the same level. Brazil, Germany and Argentina are definitely in the better skill level.
baduk, perhaps you are just trolling, but you’ve succeeded with me: YOU’RE A TOTAL FUCKING DICKHEAD. “Premier league…games are fixed by local bookies.” Seriously? It’s not wrestling, you know?If you are trolling—points to you. If you are serious—you merely underline your own stupidity. Not to mention the contempt people here have for you.
Seriously. You’re a total moron. God! What a fucking cunt. Asshat. Knobhead. Damn! Just ban me already Koehler! FUCK!
Adams-awry, I just wrote that with the tongue in cheek but your reaction definitely proves to me that it is true.
You are like powi. Your nationalism made you blind. I guess you’re a Englo-phile.
Believe in your queen and country? The Japanese, the Chinese and Koreans do, too, in their respective countries.
Some Americans like myself question the status quo.
Like NBA final that ended yesterday.
The maximum 7 game thriller that got determined in the last minute. The buzzer-beater. What a game!
Or, was it just a great entertainment that some players and owners got together in a smoke-filled room and scenarioed?
I think it fixed.
Modern sports envolves Money. Hugh amount of money.
Some say the players are honest and will not give in. Are you sure? Are they saints? They have families and wants, just like anybody.
Money corrupts sports. It is business.
Wake up and start suspecting. You will see many examples. And, remember these are just tips of the iceberg. Very big iceberg.
Soccer in England? Trillion dollars. Bigger than BP.
Anyone else ever wonder what other commentators look like? I always imagine that Baduk wears a trenchcoat and carries a small pair of binoculars in his pocket.
Well done to the US. I didn’t see the game, but it sounds like a 3-2 win might have been a fair result. Still, it could have been worse – you could have had your best midfielder red-carded for this.
Looks like the US team has a lot of fight and spirit, and is playing some refreshingly positive football.
Very surprised to wake up and see England tied (I was too drunk to stay up for the game . . . gettin’ old). Now, I know about as much about soccer strategy as I do about string theory. However, people have told me that the style of play in the English Premier League is not suited well for international competition. Make of this what you will, but I have heard it from multiple, reputable sources.
Hoju-Saram (#35), for years now, I’ve been wondering what Gypsy Scholar really looks like. I’m sure that he doesn’t actually have three balls.
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
In other news, apparently the internet is a US national asset. Who knew?
Today was just a horrible day for World Cup referees. You cannot find video of Maurice Edu’s revoked goal on MAFIA’s, excuse me (Freudian slip), FIFA’s website. From what I heard, the Germans also dealt with bad officiating. The president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, said that replays and extra referees should not be allowed because he believes debate, uncertainty, and subjectivity is good for the sport’s image. Are you fucking kidding me? The World Cup is now subjective? How the hell is this coming out of a Swiss mouth? Why doesn’t each country’s soccer federation just submit a thesis on why they should be granted the World Cup.
This game is my mind’s vuvuzela. FIFA ruined arguably the best game yet.
See #35
No, instead we get yellow cards for hitting the ball with our heads.
Don’t worry about it; it’s never stopped Baduk.
I actually haven’t heard this so much — the usual line is that English players aren’t as technically proficient as Continental ones — but I would say that there just seems to be something that prevents England playing well, or consistently, as a team. I think that most fans of top EPL sides would agree that Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon et al are at least as important to their clubs as the foreign players, and are not, by any means, demonstrably inferior in terms of technique.
In a world where Greece, FFS, can win the Euro championships, you would think there must be a coach somewhere that can make England perform well as a unit. However, if that coach isn’t Fabio Capello, then fuck knows who it is.
An amusing rumination on why England are shit.
Vuvugelas are alien weapon and its frequency is set to make English players to underperform. They need THE DOCTOR!
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3806497024/tt0436992?slideshow=1
That’s funnier than the English fans excuse for Robert Green fumbling the ball. Fans claims that he was distraught before the game because he and his lingerie model girlfriend broke-up.
There is a rumor going around that the Spain lost to Swiss because, the goalie’s hot girlfriend was distracting him from the stands.
Well, if there are tales to be told: Hong Suk Chun (Korea’s 2nd gay, I think) claims a role in Korea’s defeat of Portugal in 2002. The night before the Korea-Portugal match of Portuguese players turned up at his Itaewon bar. Many drinks and much Portuguese bragging later the midnight curfew approached. Hong told the players to return to their hotel for head count and that he’d contact them. Hong rented a room at the same hotel, brought in booze and babes, and the party continued on to the wee hours.
And that’s… the rest of the story.
Looks like FIFA has decided to review the ref.
http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/source-fifa-may-sit-slovenia-u-s-referee–fbintl_ro-referee061810.html
Baduk is actually a talking (typing?) cat.
IMHO the problem England has right now isn’t that they’re “just not that good”, but that they believe they just aren’t that good. They looked the stronger team (in both matches so far) but they just didn’t go for it. In other words the problem is mental, and it still could change…If you’re going to go out boys, at least go out fighting.
The US team is showing great fighting spirit and as for that third goal…makes me wonder, if that ref had an accident and broke both his legs, would refereeing decisions get a bit better in future?
I have to say, though, that the match sort of highlights one of the major reasons football isn’t as popular in the US, namely, one of the most exciting matches in the history of US football was played against a country most Americans probably didn’t even know was a country.
The would explain a few things.
Btw, this is what Jashin Densetsu looks like. Bro.
Speaking of England:
http://www.takimag.com/index.php/blogs/article/fifa_the_worlds_longest_con
Wow, why doesn’t Mr. Theodoracopulos really tell us what he thinks?
@50
The soccer World Cup: it’s good for your geography.
It’s actually because he’s the baby brother of Grant and Phil Mitchell whom they never knew about.
Their Scouse baby brother
@38
I thought we all did. The moon is ours too, did you see the flag? Finders keepers… :p
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