OT: World Cup Day 15 Open Thread
Posting early because interesting news out of the Ghana camp:
#GHA crisis: Muntari & Boateng fought 2 days ago, which spilled over to Boateng insulting the coach when queried about it. #clubmetro
Reliable Twitter sources are saying that Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari have both been booted from the Ghana team. Muntari was out today anyway due to suspension but bad news for Ghana and says something about the potential state of their camp. Bad news for Ghana is good news for the USA. A Ghana win is the last thing U.S. fans should want to see from their game.
Anyway here's the schedule today:
12:00 PM
USA vs. Germany (ESPN)
Portugal vs. Ghana (ESPN2)
4:00 PM
Algeria vs. Russia (ESPN2)
Belgium vs. South Korea (ESPN)
...that the decision is ultimately in the hands of the match official--if he thinks the field is unfit he can decide to delay or postpone.
Unlikely, but possible. Depends on what the field looks like 90 minutes from now.
Costa Rica/Greece on Sunday.
Agent @RichardMotzkin tells ESPN US team family and friends have decided not to attempt trip to stadium. Too treacherous.
— Jeremy Schaap (@JeremySchaap) June 26, 2014
...but all the other pictures show umbrellas, so probably yes. Nothing's timestamped so who knows?
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/wm/spiele/weltmeisterschaft/2014/3/1…
I wonder if they'd be more likely to delay/postpone if this wasn't a third game? It needs to go off simultaneously with Ghana/Portugal to not give these teams the advantage of knowing what they result they need to avoid.
And what's the forecast?
But it's still pouring down, and the pitch is "allegedly in relatively good shape."
Ed.: Forecast is for even heavier downpours over the next hour.
The rainfall is one reason Brazil is one of the highest, if not the highest, producer of coffee. One price to pay, I suppose.
'Merica!!!
Germany is really prepared for this match today... 
LINE-UP: Howard, Gonzalez, Bradley, Besler, Beasley, Dempsey (c), Jones, Davis, Beckerman, Zusi, Johnson
Ugh. Gonzalez and Davis. Nightmare fuel
USMNT:
Howard, Gonzalez, Bradley, Besler, Beasley, Dempsey (c), Jones, Davis, Beckerman, Zusi, Johnson
GER:
Neuer, Howedes, Hummels, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Podolski, Muller, Lahm (c), Mertesacker, Kroos, Boateng
Brad Davis and Omar Gonzalez in the lineup for the USMNT. Geoff Cameron and Bedoya out.
I really hope I'm wrong but have the same feeling at seeing both Davis and Gonzalez as when I saw "Clark" on the team sheet four years ago.
Odd time to throw Omar Gonzalez and Brad Davis into the fire. Davis is great on set pieces and Bedoya hasn't been great. Other than Cameron's assist the other day, I thought he played better the rest of the match.
Bedoya was ran into the ground by Nani last game after having an excellent game 1 and we all know what a shitfest Cameron was. Sorry when Brian says "Cameron played great outside of his 2 major f***ups" that is like saying Verlander played great except for the 2 moments he gave up grandslams. The more I watch the last goal, the more you see he made another critical error by ball watching. Granted it was a perfect ball but he didn't track back properly.
Will be interesting to see how Davis copes defensively - Bedoya had a high work rate.
Cameron was bad, no doubt. But Gonzalez has looked off the pace since his knee injury early this year. And he was strangely MIA on that goal for a guy brought in to provide defensive stability at the end of the game.
Agree that Bedoya's probably just run into the ground. Davis's failure to put in a defensive shift against Turkey is what worries me. Would prefer to see Yedlin in game where our best chances are going to be on the break.
Yes the 3rd central bank idea has not worked vs Nigeria or Portugal. I have no idea on his fitness, obviously JK does but playing a central defender at defensive midfield for 15 minutes than judging him is difficult to do. I have no idea if he will do well today, just saying if you are a central defender and make 2 crticial mistakes in an otherwise great game you didn't play good... it's a tough position because like a cornerback your errors are obvious to the world whereas when a forward screws up it's oh well.
As for Davis v Yedlin, just a huge risk putting a 20 year old MLS player out there versus Germans ... not that Davis is any great shakes. Obviously Yedlin looks like a better athlete and is faster. Not to be repetative but wouldn't we all feel more confidant if Donovan came in as a starter for game 3 over Davis? I would. He still has pace and enough fitness to put up 60 minutes today versus players that have played most of 2 games and are going to wear down by minute 35.
Portugal:
Beto, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Miguel Veloso, William Carvalho, Ronaldo (c), Moutinho, Eder, Nani, Amorim, Pereira
Ghana:
Dauda, Gyan (c), Atsu, Agyemang Badu, A. Ayew, Rabiu, Waris, Mensah, Asamoah, Boye, Afful
Kiefer Sutherland as opening right?
Their best match together was the 0-0 draw against Mexico at the Azteca. They held out despite a Mexican offensive barrage. Let's hope they do that again.
we have lineups this game is taking place?
Podolski's more of a winger so this could mean a tactical switch away from the three false-nines they've been using so far.
Or it could be a preference for a bigger player on a water-logged pitch.
awesome shot from KC
Weather looks just mildly unpleasant.
Up 1-0. Thats good for the US, right? If I understand the pool play correctly...
Yes, if that game doesn't have another goal, it's great for the U.S.
Germany and USA through from Group G.
Barring an upset, USA faces Belgium in the Round of 16. Germany to face whoever comes out of the Russia/Algeria game.
Argentina/Switzerland the potential quarterfinal opponent for the US fans.
Algeria:
Mbolhi, Belkalem, Halliche (c), Mesbah, Feghouli, Brahimi, Medjani, Slimani, Bentaleb, Djabou, Mandi
Russia:
Akinfeev, Kozlov, Ignashevich, Glushakov, Kokorin, Kerzhakov, Berezutskiy (c), Shatov, Samedov, Fayzulin, Kombarov
Belgium:
Courtois, Vertonghen (c), Fellaini, Mirallas, Mertens, Van Buyten, Defour, Lombaerts, Dembele, Januzaj, Vanden Borre
Korea:
LOL at Belgium's lineup. Maybe 3 of those 11 will start in the Round of 16.
Don't blame them one bit...Kompany and Vermaelen are hurt, plus Witsel has a yellow.
For Belgium to not win the group today?
Algeria needs to win and Belgium lose, Algeria would top the group on GD
Let Ruud get today.
I'm sure he's going to get tired of hearing about the U.S. when his country won and won the group.
I love having all of the former players, but do them a solid and don't make them work when their team is playing the U.S.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 28 June – Belo Horizonte | ||||||||||||||
 Brazil |
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| 4 July – Fortaleza | ||||||||||||||
 Chile |
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| Winner Match 49 | ||||||||||||||
| 28 June – Rio de Janeiro | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 50 | ||||||||||||||
 Colombia |
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| 8 July – Belo Horizonte | ||||||||||||||
 Uruguay |
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| Winner Match 57 | ||||||||||||||
| 30 June – Brasília | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 58 | ||||||||||||||
 France |
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| 4 July – Rio de Janeiro | ||||||||||||||
 Nigeria |
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| Winner Match 53 | ||||||||||||||
| 30 June – Porto Alegre | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 54 | ||||||||||||||
 Germany |
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| 13 July – Rio de Janeiro | ||||||||||||||
| Runner-up Group H | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 61 | ||||||||||||||
| 29 June – Fortaleza | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 62 | ||||||||||||||
 Netherlands |
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| 5 July – Salvador | ||||||||||||||
 Mexico |
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| Winner Match 51 | ||||||||||||||
| 29 June – Recife | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 52 | ||||||||||||||
 Costa Rica |
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| 9 July – São Paulo | ||||||||||||||
 Greece |
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| Winner Match 59 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 July – São Paulo | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 60 | Third place | |||||||||||||
 Argentina |
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| 5 July – Brasília | 12 July – Brasília | |||||||||||||
 Switzerland |
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| Winner Match 55 | Loser Match 61 | |||||||||||||
| 1 July – Salvador | ||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 56 | Loser Match 62 | |||||||||||||
| Winner Group H | ||||||||||||||
 United States |
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To keep hope alive for being able to see them in Rio on July 4.
However, of course excited we're moving on...and actually, I get in Tuesday morning so I'll be able to head straight to the FanFest to watch that match (look for the Michigan flag). Then after likely seeing Germany/France at the Maracana on the 4th, I'll get to see U.S./Argentina on the 5th while still in Rio.
Assumes these teams all advance, but yea...can't wait!
Check out these tweets from Dutch Journalist Stefan Coerts:
We may owe a debt of gratitude to the Ghanaian federation for its dumb handling of the WC bonuses and consequently destroying their team chemistry.
if their performances were fixed
Especially the GK throwing that ball right to Ronaldo.
Russia opens the score against Algeria! If they win, they're through to play Germany.
I'm bored...so here we go:
Rounds of 16
Brazil 3-2
Colombia 2-1
France 2-0
Germany 3-0
Netherlands 2-1
Costa Rica 1-0
Argentina 2-0
U.S. 1-0
Quarterfinals
Brazil 2-1
Germany 2-1
Netherlands 3-1
Argentina 1-1 (PK win 4-3) :(
Semifinals
Germany 2-1
Netherlands 2-1
Championship
Germany 2-1