WORLD CUP 2010

Happy hour starts in 5 minutes
Henry said:
Non-soccer-fan question here:

Do national soccer teams have mascots? Are we like the 'US Battling Patriots' or something or are we just the US team? I've always assumed it was the latter, but you never know.
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I'm not sure. I know the US National Rugby team are the Eagles, but I don't know about soccer. There are a few international teams that have names, but a lot don't. Like Manchester United, Arsenal Gunners - and then there's teams like Barcelona, and Real Madrid with no mascot. Its not a very consistent sport, so who knows?
 
Om Field: World Cup 2010: Moving On Up

USA 1 - Algeria 0

For those of you lucky enough to watch the entire game ... and/or those who have followed the arc of US soccer for lo these many years ... today your passion and patience were rewarded.

You can breathe again after 91 minutes of chewing your lower lip, trying to sit still, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. And you can trumpet to all who will listen that the United States just won a World Cup Group for the first time in 80 years.

For those of you who do not follow soccer football at all, my honest question would be ... does this not touch you even a little?

Moments like these are why watch sports...


More...
 
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Depends ... the FIFA site refers to us sometimes as "Stars and Stripes," but that's not official in any way I'm aware of.

This sounds more like it to me--we're generally referred to by fans of others nations as The Yanks.

I do remember the "MNT" thing ... thank god that didn't pick up any steam.

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/wo...-2010-World-Cup-team-nicknames?urn=sow,249286

Also ...

http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/world-cup-2010-team-nicknames.html

It’s time we started getting to know the 32 teams who will compete at World Cup 2010, and what better way to get familiar than with a nickname? Below you’ll find a list of the 32 teams, followed by their most common nickname or nicknames.

Team nicknames usually refer to the colour of the shirt (eg the Azzurri or Les Bleus) or some element of the football association crest (eg The Three Lions). Others are a bit more imaginative (eg The Desert Foxes) and some refer specifically to recent events (eg The Pirate Ship and Olsen’s Eleven). Some may surprise you. Until very very recently I genuinely thought that everyone in Germany referred to the national team as Die Mannschaft. But then I read Jan’s post here and learned that wasn’t true.

For one or two teams below I was either unable to find a translation or explanation for the team nickname (why are Slovakia called the Repre, why are Greece referred to as the Galanoleyki?) or unable to find any nickname at all (looking at you Slovenia). So feedback, corrections and suggestions are all welcome in the comments.

Support your team and buy their World Cup 2010 jersey.

Algeria – Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes)
Argentina – Albicelestes (White and Sky blue)
Australia – Socceroos
Brazil – Seleção (The Selection). Also Canarinhos (Little Canary) and Verde e Amarelo (Green and Yellow).
Cameroon – Lions Indomptables (Indomitable Lions)
Chile – La Roja (The Red)
Cote d’Ivoire – Les Éléphants (The Elephants)
Denmark – Olsens Elleve (Olsen’s Eleven) – In honour of popular head coach Morten Olsen.
England – The Three Lions – From the FA crest.
France – Les Bleus (The Blues)
Germany – National Mannschaft (National Team) or DFB Elf (DFB Eleven) or National Elf (National Eleven). The nickname Die Mannschaft (the team) is only used by non-German media.
Ghana – The Black Stars
Greece – To Piratiko (The Pirate Ship) – Since Euro 2004. But another common nickname is apparently Galanoleyki, though I have no idea what that means.
Honduras – Los Catrachos which is apparently how other Central Americans refer to Hondurans. Also La H (The H) – The crest is a large H, which looks extremely cool on the shirt..
Italy – Azzurri (Sky Blues)
Japan – Blue Samurai
Mexico – El Tri (after the three colours or “tricolor” on the Mexican flag).
Netherlands – Oranje
North Korea – Chollima (some sort of mythical horse)
New Zealand – All Whites (rugby union team are the All Blacks)
Nigeria – Super Eagles
Paraguay – La Albirroja (The White-Red) or Guaraní (an indigenous people)
Portugal – Selecção das Quinas (Team of the Five Shields) – Referring to the five shields on the FA crest. I think.
Serbia – Beli Orlovi (White Eagles) – Referring to the white double headed eagle on the Serbia coat of arms.
Slovakia – Repre (at least according to Wikipedia, but there’s no explanation as to what this means).
Slovenia – Zmajceki (Dragons) – Because there’s a dragon on the crest of capital city Ljubljana.
South Africa – Bafana Bafana (The Boys)
South Korea – Taeguk Warriors. Fans are often called The Red Devils.
Spain – La Furia Roja (Red Fury)
Switzerland – Schweizer Nati
United States – Often referred to as the MNT (Men’s National Team) or The Yanks.
Uruguay – La Celeste (The Sky Blue)
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Neophyte said:
Not only does the US advance, they win group C.
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Meaning we play the second-place finisher of Group D, who kickoff in about 30 minutes (EDIT: my mistake, both games have kicked off).

Ghana vs. Germany,
Serbia vs. Australia

I tried figuring out the scenarios, but I'm not sure what the first tie-breaker is. Here is my go at it:

If Serbia wins, and either Ghana or Germany wins outright, we play Serbia
If Australia wins, and Ghana wins, we play Australia
If Ghana and Germany tie, and Serbia wins, we play Ghana
If both games tie, we play Germany based on goal differential

Here's where it gets complicated:
If Australia wins, and Germany wins, it will come down to goal differential (1st tie-breaker) and goals scored (2nd tie-breaker) between Australia and Ghana. Australia is currently -4 with 1 goal scored, Ghana is +1 with 2 goals scored. So, for example if Austrlia wins 2-0, and Ghana loses 3-0, Australia would advance. It seems unlikely for Australia to advance in this scenario, which is unfortunate, cause we beat them 3-1 in a friendly before the tournament started.

If Australia wins, and Ghana and Germany tie, it would be the same thing between Australia and Germany to see who advances. Germany is currently +3 with 4 goals scored. It also seems unlikely Australia would advance in this scenario.

This reminds me of the playoffs a few years ago, where Favre and the Packers were lighting up the scoreboard, because it was going to come down to points scored as a tie-breaker. These teams will know what they need to do, and will be going all-out to score if these scenarios present themselves.
 
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Om said:
I do remember the "MNT" thing ... thank god that didn't pick up any steam.
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MNT is just short for "Mens National Team."

And I think "The Yanks" is just how the British and Scottish announcers refer to us, because they are British and Scottish. Ha!
 
Ok so I have been riding Landon Donovan hard because he does a lot of whining. I am here to tell you this guys is a world class soccer player! His clutch play these past couple of games have shown me he has the "it" factor we have discussed on this site many times!

Go USA!!!
 
And there it is, the US will play Ghana in the next round Saturday afternoon. Loser goes home.

Germany to get England on Sunday.
 
I slipped away from my desk to watch some of the first half and all of the second. Wow. There were at least shots with nary a defender between us and the goal and we were blanked. I really thought during the last 10 minutes that it would be a heart-breaking loss where we more or less dominated and controlled the action from start to finish, outshot the opposition by a wide margin and couldn't pull out a win. I even worried as we pressed late that Algeria would manage to slip a goal past us on a counterattack.

The goal was sweet vindication ... hell, it may have been God's will :)

One other thing I'll mention in addition to the clearly blown offsides call that nullified the earlier goal - Clint Dempsey was literally elbowed in the face in the middle of the penalty box (which should've given the US a penalty kick and almost certain goal) with no call of any kind. Hopefully the officiating gets a little better in the next round. The US had way more than it's share of horrible calls and was extremely fortunate to be able to overcome those. That's not whining - it's a fact.
 
Lanky Livingston said:
MNT is just short for "Mens National Team."

And I think "The Yanks" is just how the British and Scottish announcers refer to us, because they are British and Scottish. Ha!
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Some of these are dubious. England is not the Three Lions.

But perhaps the greatest ever football song originally written (by The Lightning Seeds) for the Euro Championships in England in '96 is called Three Lions.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLjMcK77BFU[/media]
 
Just a fantastic, fantastic win for the US.

Literally the entire floor erupted with a "WHOOOOOO" when the goal was scored. It's been great having the usual CNBC blather replaced by the World Cup on the trading floor TVs. Towards the end, almost the entire office was packed around one TV or another in the office focusing on the game. Pretty cool if you ask me...

Great, great moment for U.S. soccer.
Boone said:
One other thing I'll mention in addition to the clearly blown offsides call that nullified the earlier goal - Clint Dempsey was literally elbowed in the face in the middle of the penalty box (which should've given the US a penalty kick and almost certain goal) with no call of any kind. Hopefully the officiating gets a little better in the next round. The US had way more than it's share of horrible calls and was extremely fortunate to be able to overcome those. That's not whining - it's a fact.
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Absolutely -- and consider if we hadn't won this game, the absolute robbing of the goal against Slovenia becomes the main story coming out of the World Cup for the American squad -- and no one wants the main story to be a blame game for what should have happened. It's a much better story for us to walk away with the magnificent win! :)

And I hear you on all the points, if someone has to leave the field by rule! because of blood coming out of their face, generally a foul has been committed. And yet no call.

To draw from one of your earlier posts in this thread J, if the referees are drawing any attention for their role in a match in any sport, then they aren't doing their job well. The refs should never be the main story.

In any event...

Go America!
 
What an absolutely beautiful day.

The stars really seem to be lining up for us on many different fronts. Three off the biggest:

1. For the first time in at least forty years, we have a true threat on our team. Not just the best player on our team, but now one of the best players on earth. That is so crucial in this sport. With 90,000 fans blowing horns in your ear, and other players to dump the ball off to, it is very easy for even very good players to miss seizing the moment. The great ones, and there are very few, take control and make the difference. We finally have one of them who is playing at a level that few ever achieve on such a global stage.

2. Our path forward is an absolute dream. We couldn't have possibly wished for an easier draw for the next two games. We are even money, if not outright favorites to win the next two contests, and advance into the final four teams. Our opponents cannot be taken lightly, but they certainly aren't Brazil, Italy or Germany. We have really never been so fortunate.

3. Our next opponent, Ghana, is without superstar Michael Essien because of injury. Wow! We dodged a huge bullet there. Ghana without Essien is akin the the Indianapolis Colts without Peyton Manning. Can someone else step up, and deliver them to victory? Sure. But I prefer to play the Colts with Peyton on the bench, thank you.

We have a fantastic opportunity to make a serious run here. This could be spectacular.
 
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So to recap:
Altidore and Howard have been battling injuries or sickness, 2 goals (essentially 3, counting the Clint Dempsey punch in the face) have been wiped off the board, and we still won our group.

Maybe I was wrong about US soccer?
 
Geez...France is out and Italy is working on being eliminated now, down 1-0 to Slovakia with roughly 20 minutes left.

It would be the first time in history that both teams from the previous World Cup Final would be eliminated in Group play when both qualified.

This is shaping up to be a memorably World Cup in a lot of ways.
 
Italy scored to make it interesting. Also, just had a goal wiped off due to a very sketchy offsides call. Its US-Slovenia all over again!

As I typed that, the Slovaks put it away with a goal in the 89th minute. Italy eliminated! Wild!
 
I don't know why they don't just add more officials. One at each goal and one in the midfield so that you had two views of all the action. Seems like a no brainer to me. There will still be some bad calls but surely not as many.
 
Sounds like a good idea, Neo-the officiating in this World Cup is, I believe, going to be a major story for a while if it continues to be as dismal as it has been so far.
 
Neophyte said:
I don't know why they don't just add more officials. One at each goal and one in the midfield so that you had two views of all the action. Seems like a no brainer to me. There will still be some bad calls but surely not as many.
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They do have three officials, so often they do have two views of the action. The folks on the sideline used to be called linesmen but now that are Assistant Referees and are miked. They are expected to intervene if they see something important that the central ref has missed.

Early on there was some excellent officiating ... I was impressed, but the have been examples at the opposite end of the spectrum for sure too.
 
Bad news for the North Koreans:

http://deadspin.com/5571899/defeated...=Google+Reader


Quote:
The North Koreans beat a hasty retreat to the team hotel after their 7-0 gubbing at the hands of Portugal on Monday. However, when they find out what mental leader Kim Jong-Il could have in store for them once their World Cup dream is over, they'll probably be taking the short journey back home verrry slowly indeed.

Despite winning round skeptical fans with a spirited performance against Brazil (and still having a chance to pick up their first points of the tournament against Ivory Coast tomorrow), one former North Korean coach is claiming when the players get home they'll be given new occupations. Shoveling coal for the rest of their lives.


This is a sad truth about this sport. But it's also why they give 100% effort. Arguably more than any other team sport on earth. And it is one of the biggest reasons why the WC is so exciting.
 
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