USMNT WCQ Thread
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No. They'll reset. There is a yellow card accumulation in the World Cup and I believe they carry over from the group stage through the knockout round and reset for the semifinals/finals.
My wife is of the opinion that the player fouled in the box resulting in the awarding of the PK, should be the player who takes the PK. She says it is stupid someone else can take it. She then referenced hockey and basketball where the player fouled must take the penalty shot (albeit rare in hockey outside of a shootout) or foul shots in basketball. She's got a point.
Pulisic's 3rd goal is the reason why he's at Chelsea. While his initial touch and turn were a tad loose, the deft toe flick to meg the last defender to be free in the 6 was world class and only a small number of players worldwide can do the things he did there. Credit also to de la Torre who didn't force things after he got the ball from Robinson, and the pass in from Robinson was ridiculous. From the wide field level camera, it was a tight spot to fit the ball in.
That’s been tried before and it resulted in fake injuries necessitating a pinch shooter. Such a rule change also falsely assumes that every player in possession in the penalty area was in the process of shooting at the time of the foul and not looking to make the extra pass for a tap in.
If you want a penalty shot change, it should be awarding one for yellow card accumulation in game (4) or persistent group dissent after warning.
The hacking and whining needs to stop.
If you want a penalty shot change, it should be awarding one for yellow card accumulation in game (4) or persistent group dissent after warning.
The hacking and whining needs to stop.
The penalty shot should just be replaced with a spot kick. It's ridiculous that a penalty at the edge of the box results in a penalty shot when no foul probably would have resulted in an extremely low scoring chance.
I think Twellman was saying the 2nd PK awarded was not nearly as egregious as the 1st. Thing is, Godoy had been contacting US players high all game to that point including the initial PK awarded after VAR review. There should have been at least 1 red card given if not a 2nd. The Panama coach/player who fired the ball at Pulisic from the sideline should have finished the game up in the stands and away from the sideline. Hell, how Pulisic and Murillo didn't pick up yellow cards at that point was puzzling. There was every bit the chance that this game got completely out of hand with Panama looking to injure players out of frustration.
Yeah, the assumption that a goal or chance on goal is going to occur except that a foul was committed preventing that is one of the things I dislike...and it encourages guys off the ball and out of the play to go down trying to draw fouls. I am not saying that is what happened with Zimmerman. He got hammered and the fact that Godoy wrapped his hands around his throat...
I'd like to see VAR reviews result in yellow cards when they confirm that there was no contact causing the player to go down. More cards in those instances will encourage players to play through. And Man City would be without Foden, Jesus, and Sterling for more games as they accumulate cards for going down like a 10 year who has been run over by the family dog.
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Which player was stranded in Mexico due to a positive Covid test? I was watching basketball and missed the lineups and just heard a passing reference to somebody awaiting a negative test to return.
For those who pooh-pooh futbol as the world's biggest and greatest sport, here's one more reason why futbol is king and the WC is the biggest sporting event on the planet: LeBron James has 116 million followers on Instagram while Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Man Utd & Portugal, has 418 million followers.
I laugh when they call the Super Bowl the biggest event in sports. Ten times that number watch the World Cup final.
Not too concerning for qualifying.
But CR were holding out most of their A team for the playoff. I don't understand why we have so much difficulty playing there.
Only happens every 4 years though, so divide that number by 4.
Football would be just as interesting if it were played nation v nation.
Hooray! We avoided the 6 goal loss and any serious injuries and move on. A result would have been a nice mood enhancer but I still welcome it.
I guess all the teenagers playing for CR today made the outcome more irritating than usual.
Positives: they play as a cohesive unit, both the guys in camp and those not invited - not just the first group of 11 who have chemistry from practice. One of the things JK was trying to do but didn’t know how. Shaq Moore’s performance is impressive not just because of his individual effort and skill, but that his addition was seamless and not out of place. That’s how you build a side that can go deep into a tournament, along with ample youth and speed. You can argue what they are doing as a unit is flawed but they appear to executing what they are trying to do pretty well and they are playing for each other while they do it. That’s light years above the divided, old, confused, simple, selfish and slow veteran squad of 4 years ago.
Negatives: Steffen is not our best keeper. Way too many drops inside the 6. Last night was way too sloppy, last couple filled with errors and laziness. He/we got away with it.
Alarm: But for a tie in Azteca against an inferior Mexico team, we would not have out right qualified — in a tournament designed specifically so that the United States would be guaranteed to qualify. The fans and the players think anything short of a quarter final appearance is failure but we can’t beat Canada at home in a must win. How we beat Brazil in a one off in 95 degree heat in front of a billion people I have no idea. We have a really young team that is fun to watch. Anything could happen, but people are expecting miracles from these kids and they watch themselves too much on Instagram. Let’s hope for a good group in the draw. Gonna be a great ride.
Negatives: Steffen is not our best keeper. Way too many drops inside the 6. Last night was way too sloppy, last couple filled with errors and laziness. He/we got away with it.
Alarm: But for a tie in Azteca against an inferior Mexico team, we would not have out right qualified — in a tournament designed specifically so that the United States would be guaranteed to qualify. The fans and the players think anything short of a quarter final appearance is failure but we can’t beat Canada at home in a must win. How we beat Brazil in a one off in 95 degree heat in front of a billion people I have no idea. We have a really young team that is fun to watch. Anything could happen, but people are expecting miracles from these kids and they watch themselves too much on Instagram. Let’s hope for a good group in the draw. Gonna be a great ride.
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Heck, Italy lost to East Carolina (ok, North Macedonia - regardless, a directional school). So perhaps I should not be getting worked up over style points last night.
Fair point. And totally agree. It’s a game of beauty and worry. And I worry we have a few players whose heads are oversized. Also concerns me they tend to celebrate without CP. Only select players tend to rush towards him after a score if any. He is usually no place to found when others score. He was injured and they were all high fiving steps away from him after Arriola’s goal in Orlando. Only one player came up to check on him. Then in the post game he says he needs to learn his role and not do too much. Maybe I read too much into that. But sounds like he’s self aware of some cracks in the team and trying to repair it. And that’s good.
This team is good and deep. We were without 3 key cogs the last two weeks, and 2 absolute must have players if the US is to do anything in Qatar. Dest and McKennie are dynamic world class players and when you take them out of the mix, we lose a ton of quality as well as diversity in attack. I noticed most of our most dangerous chances came with Antonee Robinson pushing up the left side allowing Pulisic to tuck inside which draw 2 defenders every time. With Dest, the attack diversifies and teams have to defend more centrally...they can't overload or cheat to one side to hamper Pulisic. McKennie is also a world class aerial player, something we missed the last group of games.
Reyna is a difference maker. He came in last night and immediately Costa Rica were on their heels.
I agree with Huffy on Steffen. The US will not go anywhere in Qatar if he's between the pipes. I'm 95% sure Turner stops the first goal as he has some crazy good reaction time. The 2nd goal my son (a GK), commented at how lazy it looked like Steffen was getting back into position after his initial intervention on the play.
One criticism of Berhalter in this one....zone marking sucks and the 1st goal was 100% because of that scheme. We had 5 defenders at the top of the 6 and most of them didn't move on that play and Zimmerman's move to get the CRC player was just late. That goal probably doesn't happen if you are man marking in that situation.
The US needs to find a clinical finisher. Pepi seems out of form. Maybe Ferreira is the guy, maybe Pefok.
Reyna is a difference maker. He came in last night and immediately Costa Rica were on their heels.
I agree with Huffy on Steffen. The US will not go anywhere in Qatar if he's between the pipes. I'm 95% sure Turner stops the first goal as he has some crazy good reaction time. The 2nd goal my son (a GK), commented at how lazy it looked like Steffen was getting back into position after his initial intervention on the play.
One criticism of Berhalter in this one....zone marking sucks and the 1st goal was 100% because of that scheme. We had 5 defenders at the top of the 6 and most of them didn't move on that play and Zimmerman's move to get the CRC player was just late. That goal probably doesn't happen if you are man marking in that situation.
The US needs to find a clinical finisher. Pepi seems out of form. Maybe Ferreira is the guy, maybe Pefok.
I wonder if this had anything to do with CP not having the captain's arm band last night? I think Acosta had it
I don't understand why the captaincy keeps bouncing around without rhyme or reason with this team.
Turner is our best GK for sure. Along either the other comments I think he would he provided a better punch out of danger prior to goal 2 last night.
Really disappointed he didn't call up zardes. He is so good at finishing crosses.
I’ve read elsewhere that Acosta is the captain unless he is unavailable. In that event, it’s a players vote. It’s been CP lately when Acosta is gone. Not sure if that’s right, just what I’ve read.
IMO Zimmerman is probably the real captain. He's been steady, seems to be the voice of reason, and also seems to be the one to calm everyone down when things start getting feisty. In the end the captaincy in soccer is more of a respect thing as there is not a true function except they can talk to the referee (technically, although usually never followed).
He was on the bench a year ago. There’s a hierarchy in any locker room regardless of how well you play or act.
I understand that. I also find it a little odd at the number of fouls committed against Pulisic last night and no teammates jumping in to defend him. I don't know if we have that personality on the team right now but I do feel if McKennie's on the field, he's absolutely getting into a scrum to defend a teammate.
I’m in full agreement on the Steffen vs Turner discussion. I’ve never been a Steffen fan. When others were hyping him as the next great keeper for the US I just didn’t see it. Turner just seems to have superhuman reflexes so while any of the available keepers can stop the routine shots he can often stop those crazy shots that are headed for corners.
So much for a little momentum and warm fuzzy feelings for November. Still, Beer?halter & the lads got it done. Hallelujah! Now, it's all about the WC draw, tomorrow. I don't pretend to know how that draw works, but I can't wait to see who is in our group. At a glance, we will know whether our chances are good or bad to advance.
It seems Brenden Aaronson was a target of Leeds well before J. Marsch became coach and they will apparently spend some money this summer. And that might include Sergino Dest at Barca. Leeds has been eyeballing him, also. Two more Yanks in the EPL would be sweet. Of course, this all depends on Leeds staying up (they are still 7 points clear of the drop zone).
It seems Brenden Aaronson was a target of Leeds well before J. Marsch became coach and they will apparently spend some money this summer. And that might include Sergino Dest at Barca. Leeds has been eyeballing him, also. Two more Yanks in the EPL would be sweet. Of course, this all depends on Leeds staying up (they are still 7 points clear of the drop zone).
My understanding is the US cannot be in any group with any CONCACAF member for the group stage...so we will not be in a group with Mexico or Canada or Costa Rica if they make it into the main draw. They will draw a country from pot A into groups 1-8 first. Then they will draw countries from pot B which the US and Mexico are part of (I think the pots are divided out by FIFA rankings at the time of the drawing....US is 13 right now based on what I saw last). If a ball drawn from pot B cannot be in the group they are drawing for, they will be placed in the next group they can be placed in based on region restrictions. Then they'll go back and draw for the group passed over. Then they'll move to pot 3 and pot 4 repeating the process. Since you still have 3 spots not decided, they've dropped those spots in pot 4. 1 spot will got to Ukraine, Scotland or Wales. The Ukraine vs Scotland game was ppd for obvious reasons. The next will go to Australia/UAE vs Peru winner (Australia and UAE still have a playoff as the two 3rd place teams in Asian qualifying groups). The last spot will be the Costa Rica vs New Zealand winner (I'd be shocked if it's not Costa Rica...Honduras turned this spot into a knockout stage appearance 4 years ago).
The only region that can have more than 1 team from that region in a group is Europe since there are 13 teams and only 8 groups. Looking at the pots you could potentially have a group with Belgium, Denmark, Senegal, and Canada (top FIFA ranked teams in Pots 1-4 respectively....QATAR is given the actual #1 seed as host but we know they are not). Rankings wise this would be the group of death. Reality is there are teams from pot 3 and 4 you want to avoid...South Korea, Japan from pot 3, Ghana, Cameroon, and possibly Wales or Costa Rica from pot 4. Because of the US high ranking we won't see a repeat of 2014 and a group with both Germany and Portugal in it. The US and Germany are in the same pot...But the US could be in a group with England and Poland which would suck as those teams both have dynamic scorers. I would welcome playing Portugal this time around...Ronaldo is older and their central defense is a wreck.
Based on the rankings...the US is favored to get to the knockout round.
I am pulling for Qatar, South Korea and Cameroon
So an amendment to my previous post about the draw. Teams from pot 1 will be assigned to groups A-H with Qatar going in group A. Then a ball drawn from pot 2 followed by a ball from the group pot so the draw for the US would be when their ball is drawn from pot 2 followed by a ball for the group assignment. If Mexico or another CONCACAF team is in that group already they will be placed in the next available group allowed
Look man, I did not take calculus and this is getting rather difficult. Just do it like bingo. B7, O72
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