BleacherCoaches.com

First question.... Can the US make it out of their group?

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Very very slim. For a couple main reasons:
1. Germany is the best team in this tournament. They are defensively sharp, have the best Central Midfielder in the world Mesut Ozil, and they have other prolific scorers to carry the load. There is not a single player on this roster that is weak and they go deep into their bench.

2. Portugal will be my predicted second for this group. Outside of Ronaldo they do not really have any outstanding talent but a ton of solid guys. If Ronaldo, who is top 3 in the world, thrives, then it is game over for the rest of this group.

3. Not really threatening, but Ghana always gives the US trouble. 4th in this group.

I don't expect much out of this tourney from the US. Just too many more advanced teams. They deserve better than the group of death but you get what you get and you don't a fit. I hope they surprise me and the rest of the world and at least outplay Portugal. Hopefully they have Ghana in the bag.

Soccer novice here but how do they determine these groups? I always hear them talk about the draw. I remember the US going on quite a long winning streak internationally last summer and qualifying for the World Cup very early. Doesn't that grant them an easier group than this?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... ort-of-dot


Makes perfect sense... or not.

Wow!!! This is why I never have followed soccer at all. I will watch the US in the World Cup but that's it. I mean their are like 42,000 soccer leagues between the MLS to the British Premier League to the Spanish Elite League to the Croatian Jagoffs League and so on. How do they even determine a world championship club team?

The only thing I like about soccer is that league that the worst teams get kicked out of. I wish all major league sports would have something similar.

I have no clue how the European club circuit works at all. The video game is fun, and the World Cup is cool. Other than that, I can't watch a second of soccer, and don't care to either.


Landon Donovan being left off the team now means I only have heard of Jozy Altidore on our national soccer team.

Each nation is placed within a federation, they play within their federation and based on their federations difficulty that is where they are placed. In the pots that one and only talked about.

The US did in fact have great qualifying success, they always do. It's mostly due to the fact that CONCACAF is the weakest federation of all. This is all taken into persepective. The World Cup is a great event, there are tons of good teams that belong in the tournament and then there are tons of bad that dont.

In fact, as the World Cup might be the most glorified soccer event there is actually one that is more competitive and deeper in terms of skill. It concluded just this past weekend, it's called the UEFA Champions league. That is soccer at its finest.

My prediction for WC 2014: Germany vs. Brazil in the finals and a German victory. My dark horses are Belgium and Spain. And my long shots are US and England.

USA! USA!

I don't know if you read that link I provided Aoki but the placement of teams within a group is a lot more in-depth than just based off where you finish in your federation.

I enjoy soccer in general and the World Cup but with the bribery/corruption history of FIFA and my new knowledge of this placement process it's hard not to wonder what goes on behind the scenes leading up to the WC every 4 years.

theoneandonly wrote:I don't know if you read that link I provided Aoki but the placement of teams within a group is a lot more in-depth than just based off where you finish in your federation.

I enjoy soccer in general and the World Cup but with the bribery/corruption history of FIFA and my new knowledge of this placement process it's hard not to wonder what goes on behind the scenes leading up to the WC every 4 years.

I agree with the corruption statement. It doesn't take much to figure out that the European countries have their own clique and that they basically act like the popular teenage stuck up girls to everybody else. At the confederations cup, brazil handed Spain it's first tournament loss in over 4 years, you never hear about that. But how many times do you hear about spain magnificent 2010 WC and their euro 2012 victory? Probably a decent amount.

I have nothing against these people, I just feel like the selective group that is UEFA feels very entitled. They hate that soccer is expanding and becoming more popular and they always have. You just watch, if a non European nation wins it all this year, there's going to be some problems.