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They should host it in a

They should host it in a small area, pack the whole thing into California or the Northeast. Or do a collection of college and nfl stadium in the great Lakes region 

midseason international

midseason international friendlies should be banned.

The Premier Leauge is

The Premier Leauge is horrible.  In six seasons the Premier League has only had 5Champions League quarter-finalists. Same time period Spain has had 17. Even lowly Ligue1 has had 7

you mean this

you mean this footage: http://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/olimpiadas/rio2016/noticia/2016/08/v…

yea most the brazillians (and

Yea most the brazillians (and a few bolivians) I know thought it all sounded completely normal until the pictures appeared of them with their phones.  

Every one of them knows, from experience, that the phones would be the first things stolen, the black market for phones in rio is massive.  They all called it bullshit immediately.  Hold people up at gun point to steal 200 reais (like $143) and not bother to take their $600 phones or watches.  Was mentioned a couple times that if the cops wanted to take cash they'd just demand a pat down and go through their pockets anyway, wouldn't go to the trouble of putting a gun to anyones head.

Well, the impression of the

Well, the impression of the Brazillian public is that their country is extremely corrupt and often let's privledged rich folks get away with anything.  I'd say this directly aimed at the public perception that Brazil doesn't hold the rich and powerful accountable.

 Idea of international perception sof internal Brazillian affairs is summarized in a great Brazillian cliche "para ingles ver".  Brazillians have long been fed up wiht their domestic politics being run for the perception of outsiders.

No one is deneying that

No one is deneying that Brazil has massive corruption problems. The point is, don't go about blatantly false accusations in corrupt foreign countries or you may have to deal with their corrupt courts.

"a successful athlete and

"a successful athlete and representative of The United States of America"  What does that have to do with anything.  Their stories were obvious bullshit to loads of people. If Brazil wants to run them through their legal system that is their perogative.  People should know better then to go to foreign countries and stir up shit.

Dhani Jones

David Harris, Peppers, Woodson, Denard, Dhani Jones, Wheatley, Breaston 

laughing a lot after the

laughing a lot after the second game.  needs to be pointed out that the England performance is preciesely why some here got annoyed at the "this is a disgrace" or "embarassing" comments after the Copa Semi vs Argentina. Can always count on the English to provide a proper example of an awful performance.

India does probably

India does probably underachieve in cricket

https://streamable.com/udij

https://streamable.com/udij some world class ball watching from brooks....

I think that was the most

I think that was the most obvious thing to come away from that game with. Argentina is really good. DiMaria and Aguerro didn't even play, Gaitan was suspended. They were two horrific Higuain misses from winning both those finals, and just strolled to their third major tournament final in a row.  They're not bad.

would Messi have been

would Messi have been recruited to play any of those sports? The USA is a massive country, you have plenty of potential to mold into a fine team.

And look at it this way, if anything, the USA constantly over achieves.  You could have it much worse, and be a constant under achiever like England or post communist Russia.

The expected result.

The expected result. Argentina was coasting from the 2nd goal onwards.  That was without DiMaria and Aguero too.

good chance either of those

good chance either of those teams just mail it in and play the subs if they don't make the final.

he's a perfectly useful CB,

he's a perfectly useful CB, just nothing to go crazy about, has plenty of holes in his game

He reminds me of Shazor

He reminds me of Shazor playing safety

his marking at set pieces and

his marking at set pieces and crosses has yielded a lot of opportunites. I didn't say anyting about how he would compare to the rest of the team.

he's been pretty poor in

he's been pretty poor in possession tonight too, his passing and skill on the ball leaves a lot to be desired

Not that surprising, the USA

Not that surprising, the USA works hard and gets along as a team.  The World Cup is always filled with teams with major internal disputes.  The Ghana team the USA beat at the last World Cup was feuding with eachother and their national federation, they lack talent but at least have a professional attitude.

Other issue is that Brooks

Other issue is that Brooks and Cameron have hurt the usa all tournament with a lack of concentration. Leaving Zapata alone for the opener vs Colombia doomed that game, they were very lucky Enner Valencia didn't punish them with the multiple open headers in the Ecuador game, and giving up a 3rd minute goal to Lavezzi throws any pre-game tacitcs out the window. It's nice to have two European center backs, but they aren't world class.

pretty fair reflection of the

pretty fair reflection of the gulf of talent between the two sides.  Argentina sitting back pretty deep after the second goal, they could probably score 5-6 if they needed too.

Argentina looking to sit

Argentina looking to sit back, put the onus to attack on the USA and hit on the counter. probably wise to conserve energy, Chile/Colombia will be a much tougher game in the final.

USA just linked 10 passess

USA just linked 10 passess together!! game is turning around

rightfully punished for a

rightfully punished for a complete naive foul. well played argentina

relax, usa needs to defend a

relax, usa needs to defend a little better and hope for some luck on the counter, its still only 1-0

he works hard, pretty

he works hard, pretty tactically aware, but yea, hes not really up to this level of competition. He plays professionally in canada, what do you expect?

a confederations cup semi

a confederations cup semi doesn't approach a copa america semi for significance. I was in spain for that 2009 match, it barely registered and was viewed more as an annoyance (real and barca players missing out on an offseason and being susceptable to injuries) then a major competition. Argentina hasn't won a senior title since '92, they are gunning for this.

need a dempsy goal and then

need a dempsy goal and then to hold on for dear life and hope it goes to penalties.  DiMaria being injured is a boost, Pastore isn't 100% either.  stranger things have happened

I have much less confidence

I have much less confidence then Brian but it's a home game for the USA. If it was played in Quito I think it would be a different match.

looks like a probable

looks like a probable USA-Argentina, Mexico-Colombia semi final, been a fantastic Copa thus far.

Peckerman has won 3 U20 world

Peckerman has won 3 U20 world cups as coach of argentina

Cordova, AK on a sunny day.

Cordova, AK on a sunny day.

http://nesn.com/2016/06/copa-

http://nesn.com/2016/06/copa-america-in-usa-to-stay-officials-consider-…

The level of play in a merged

The level of play in a merged Copa-Gold cup might not equal that of the Euros, but one thing the Copa has always had going for it is the fierce atmosphere around the whole competition. Where the World Cup seems to play out in under an olympic like atmosphere with lots of open games and positive play till the 2nd Round or Quarterfinals, the Copa usually sees teams adopitng a win at all costs attitude from the begging. The increased intensity would serve the USMNT well.

I see the USMNT as having

I see the USMNT as having bascially a zero % chance of winning a World Cup.  I think winning a Copa America would be a huge achievement, and would require a fair bit of luck, but isn't beyond the realm of possibilities.  

Thats the biggest thing for

Thats the biggest thing for me, the Gold Cup is irrelevant, and stands as something to lose rather then something to win.  

this is silly.  A world cup

this is silly.  A world cup only comes around every four years, and every player involved has a job as a professional member of another team.  If you look at the list of major tournament winners, its not like you see a lot of slow team buidling from national associations. You see a bunch of talent playing well at the same moment. The players hardly play with their national teams, so preperation and tacitcs are often trumped by pure talent. International soccer is about getting a bunch of talented players to click in the 3 or for weeks between the end of their club seasons and riding some luck. Success in qualifiers and friendlies is a horrible predictor of upcoming tournaments.

France didn't qualify for the 1994 world cup, and played awfully in the '96 euro, they end up winning the World Cup in 98 and following it up with a Euro two years later. Going into 2002 Brazil was a disaster and barely qualified, they win the tournament. Greece won the Euro2004 by just being defensive, man marking and getting some luck. Italy and France were both a complete mess (match fixing scandals, internal disputes) leading into the 2002 world cup and both make the final. Spain was a perenial dissapointment riven by regional cliques who actually had a song "lets just get past the 1/4 finals" untill they got it together and won the euro and went on a run.  Germany this past world cup did have a string of second place finishes and did have a fair ammount of stability for years, and is a bit of an exception. If you look at the Copa America results its similar, host nations, Brazil or Argentina normally win.

National teams are made up of players developed by other teams.  The teams that win / make it deep in tournaments are normally filled with exceptionally talented complimentary players. Motivation and team building are great, but they will normally just get you bounced out shortly after the group stage.

The USMNT should try to ride their luck and win the Copa, like every other tournament.  The Greek team from 2004 should be an example.  Keep it tight, finish your chances, ride your luck. It's a tournament, anything can happen. Don't waste opportunities to win something in an attempt to build a "TEAM" for a tournament 2 years away.

 

Sanbria was the top under 21

Sanbria was the top under 21 goal scorer in any major european league: https://streamable.com/4331https://streamable.com/mbdmhttp://streamable.com/7w2x wa

Itrube will be a handful: https://gfycat.com/ActualInfiniteAmurratsnake

 

 

I'm very interested to see

I'm very interested to see how Colombia approaches the game vs the USA.  They can get extremely physical (see last years Brazil- Colombia where they got super physical with Neymar and got him off his game) and counter through James-Cuadrado-Bacca, or play a lovely possession game. I've seen the USA play defensive and counter plenty, but I haven't seen them react to a violent physical game. Should be fun.

Colombia is bringing Bacca,

Colombia is bringing Bacca, Cuadrado, James, Zapata and Murillo.  They have a bunch of lesser know Atletcio Nacional players in their squad (Moreno, Perez, Aguilar), but they were the most impressive team in the Copa LIbertadores group stage and are now in the Semi-Finals.  James is likely leaving Madrid and will be extremely motivated to impress after not getting a lot of playing time. Additionally, the Colombian's won't have any issues with the heat and humidity in the USA, so the horrible soccer weather shouldn't effect them much.  I wouldn't overlook them.

while the USA certainly has

while the USA certainly has the talent to get out of the group, it certainly wouldn't be a shock to see them finish bottom after three 0-1s either.  Colombia could be very up and down, Costa Rica is familiar and a tough game, and Paraguay could be frustrating.

The Conmebol world cup qualifiers are very competitive so the South American teams have an experience advantage.

Hopefully this tournament looks a lot like last years tournament in Chile, tons of physical play, lots of retaliatory fouls and a lot of dirty/cynical play.  I'd be very interested to hear your opinion on how the USA would handle a game like last years Chile/Uruguay or Brazil/Peru games that were on the verge of turning into open brawls.

Keep an eye on Marlos Moreno for Colombia, only 20 but has been playing exceptionally well for Atletico Nacional (in the copa lib semis).

It's partly part of the

It's partly part of the natural progression of the USA talent pool.  As the players you are drawing for your national team rosters are playing in bigger games more regularly, you lose the focus and attention a lot of the players have for interntionl games, as they are no longer the highlight of their seasons, but a temporary distrction.  Major countries in UEFA and COMEBOL consistantly play awful against minows in qualifying.  Asking players to quickly swap team-mates and fly across the world for an international match brings predictable results.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFBS

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFBStreams/comments/3ji8vx/game_thread_michiga…;

 

plenty of options, will find one that works anywhere.  I've got a nice HD stream going currently

http://www.vipleague.se/ameri

http://www.vipleague.se/american-football/319144/1/michigan-at-utah-live-stream-online.html

http://www.stream2watch.co/live-tv/us/fox-sports-live-stream

some CFB version of

some CFB version of reddit.com/r/footballdownload would be very much appreciated

 

SLC state liquor stores will

SLC state liquor stores will close by 10pm, and most saturday nights will have a massive line.  Get to the liquor store early saturday and buy extra, if you run out at 11pm Saturday night its a long wait till Monday morning.

PSG-OM

PSG-OM

three 1-0 defeats?

three 1-0 defeats?