Soccer Thread

[Cigaro]

Originally Posted by Jughead10

Torres starting for Spain. Hopefully he can build some confidence against Ireland.

Well, looks likely that he will.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by Jughead10

Crap I missed it. Forgot it started. Was it nice?

Almost exactly like Gomez's second goal but off of an irish **** up instead of a schweini beauty.

[JRTPlaya21]

Oh Silva that was a beauty

[SuperPacker]

Iniesta/Silva combo!

[JRTPlaya21]

Torres double!!!

[jrdrylie]

I haven't been able to watch the game. I've only seen the clips of the goals. Is Spain just that good or is the Irish defense just that bad?

[JRTPlaya21]

Spain is just that good but Ireland had some tragic defensive lapses on some of the goals.

[Hurricanes25]

Just a dominant performance by the Spanish. Ireland is bad but Spain appears to be firing on all cylinders.

[Smooth Criminal]

Soccer isn't going to get a lot of casual American fans with this many ties. I don't give a damn about any soccer team, but there's other sports I don't care about that I can watch so it's something else with soccer. Im gonna go with the long strings of nothing major happening, the constant let downs during the game, and the fact that these early round games appear to mean damn near nothing when you have this many ties.

I've tried watching can't do it. I'll just never understand what people find so thrilling about it that they riot and kill people. All it does is put me to sleep everyday, and I usually don't miss much.

[SuperPacker]

Originally Posted by Smooth Criminal

Soccer isn't going to get a lot of casual American fans with this many ties. I don't give a damn about any soccer team, but there's other sports I don't care about that I can watch so it's something else with soccer. Im gonna go with the long strings of nothing major happening, the constant let downs during the game, and the fact that these early round games appear to mean damn near nothing when you have this many ties.

I've tried watching can't do it. I'll just never understand what people find so thrilling about it that they riot and kill people. All it does is put me to sleep everyday, and I usually don't miss much.

I speak on behalf of everyone by saying, we don't give a ****.

[JRTPlaya21]

Lol soccer doesn't really care about the casual Americans.....it's still gonna be the world's biggest sport regardless. I'll be in Brazil in two years for a month not caring about who watches the World Cup and who doesn't. But thanks for trying though.

[thefalconer]

Originally Posted by Smooth Criminal

Soccer isn't going to get a lot of casual American fans with this many ties. I don't give a damn about any soccer team, but there's other sports I don't care about that I can watch so it's something else with soccer. Im gonna go with the long strings of nothing major happening, the constant let downs during the game, and the fact that these early round games appear to mean damn near nothing when you have this many ties.

I've tried watching can't do it. I'll just never understand what people find so thrilling about it that they riot and kill people. All it does is put me to sleep everyday, and I usually don't miss much.

it's just the nature of the game. i'm a huge soccer fan but i'll concede the fact that it can be uninteresting at times. idk what your level of knowledge for the game is but knowing tactics and players helps a ton. what gets me is the intricate buildup to an attack, killer passes, and those rare late equalizers/winners. the sport will be fine without america rearing its ugly head into it so no worries. stick to the sports you like.

[Smooth Criminal]

I understand soccer doesn't care about, or need, American viewers. They have the most popular sport in the world.

Just pointing it out with the amount of coverage that American media puts on it, and pretends to care about it every couple years.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by SuperPacker

I speak on behalf of everyone by saying, we don't give a ****.

This. Americans can continue not watching soccer. The world will continue not caring. Although I'm sure if the US ever develops a youth development system and have a national team that's actually good, all the bandwagoners will go on and on about what diehard fans they are of the sport of soccer.

[Smooth Criminal]

Originally Posted by Rosebud

This. Americans can continue not watching soccer. The world will continue not caring. Although I'm sure if the US ever develops a youth development system and have a national team that's actually good, all the bandwagoners will go on and on about what diehard fans they are of the sport of soccer.

The bandwagon will be there, but only for as long as the team would be competing for a Cup or medal. After they lose the country will stop pretending to care and if they win the country would forget about it as soon as LeBron dunked the ball or Tebow scored a touchdown.

[JRTPlaya21]

They can "pretend" to care all they want but the fact that they go through so much trouble to include it in highlights and continue to purchase rights to the big tournaments & the EPL shows that they know a great deal of people appreciate watching it on their networks.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by Smooth Criminal

I understand soccer doesn't care about, or need, American viewers. They have the most popular sport in the world.

Just pointing it out with the amount of coverage that American media puts on it, and pretends to care about it every couple years.

The WC and EC do well regardless of casual mainstream american viewers because of the diehard soccer fans and us immigrants.

I'm a basketball fan but I think that sport isn't any more exciting than a soccer game, by the nature of the sport all of the scoring doesn't really matter and so it's the balance of play that you're really watching for, that's what buildup play in soccer is, the momentum shifting back and forth.

Or compare it to football, how do you not see the parallels between the two sports. The way soccer teams build up their play and move into attacking positions is the exact same way teams used to pound the ball to the redzone, with deep bombs being comparable to quick counterattacks.

Admittedly I'm a fan of all of these sports, so of course I'll see positive similarities more strongly, but I don't get this nothing major happens criticism. The score doesn't change like a basketball game, but if you took away FGs and all of the pro-passing rule changes, neither would the scores in football games and do FGs really make that huge a difference in the excitement of a game? In both footballs it is the nuance, tactics, strategy and execution that are most exciting; not just the individual scoring plays, which are still very exciting, but the way teams get into position to score.

[Jughead10]

Originally Posted by Smooth Criminal

Soccer isn't going to get a lot of casual American fans with this many ties. I don't give a damn about any soccer team, but there's other sports I don't care about that I can watch so it's something else with soccer. Im gonna go with the long strings of nothing major happening, the constant let downs during the game, and the fact that these early round games appear to mean damn near nothing when you have this many ties.

I've tried watching can't do it. I'll just never understand what people find so thrilling about it that they riot and kill people. All it does is put me to sleep everyday, and I usually don't miss much.

The ties are only in the group stage. America loves the shoot outs which I actually find to be such an arbitrary way to end a match after 120 mins. But I understand there is really no other option. But I'm probably unlike most Americans, as basketball is my least favorite sport because of all the constant scoring.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by Smooth Criminal

The bandwagon will be there, but only for as long as the team would be competing for a Cup or medal. After they lose the country will stop pretending to care and if they win the country would forget about it as soon as LeBron dunked the ball or Tebow scored a touchdown.

Probably, but I'm not as sure. For the US to really contend they'd need to develop top tier soccer academies the way the Germans have been building or the Dutch have at Ajax. That would mean a viable next level for all of the kids that quit soccer for other sports in high school, which would mean more people involved in the sport at more competitive levels, a higher level of domestic league play, because the MLS is awful, and more players that'll actually draw fans. So if the US ever does seriously contend we'd be a looking at a very different public outlook on the sport.

[iowatreat54]

Originally Posted by Smooth Criminal

The bandwagon will be there, but only for as long as the team would be competing for a Cup or medal. After they lose the country will stop pretending to care and if they win the country would forget about it as soon as LeBron dunked the ball or Tebow scored a touchdown.

As a life long soccer fan, I do actually enjoy the World Cup years because casual Americans get all amped up about it and act like they're huge fans (which isn't bad for soccer in the US). But then they lose to Ghana and those same fans immediately complain about how the US sucks at soccer and it will never be popular because it's boring and blah blah blah.

I'm actually pissed I can't watch these games but have to follow online. I understand why anyone would not be interested, but I love soccer and don't care if it's a 0-0 game or 5-4 with a game winner in extra time. There's so many little things you enjoy from near misses on set pieces to great tackles on defense. I love that the rest of the world loves soccer and it's not just an American thing.

[Cigaro]

Oh look, someone doesn't like soccer because they find it boring.

Anyways, who netted the last goal for Spain? Stopped watching after Torres' double.

EDIT: Nevermind, found out who. Anyways, good to see Torres back in form. I like talking **** about Chelsea buying him, but at the same time, I really liked the player he was before his injuries.

[Smooth Criminal]

Originally Posted by Jughead10

The ties are only in the group stage. America loves the shoot outs which I actually find to be such an arbitrary way to end a match after 120 mins. But I understand there is really no other option. But I'm probably unlike most Americans, as basketball is my least favorite sport because of all the constant scoring.

Basketball is my least favorite of the major sports as well. It's not the low scoring with soccer that bothered me as much as the tied. Just feels very unsatisfying to watch a game for 2 hours and have them just say tie and go home. Itd be different if it were rare, but it feel practically constant this year.

[SuperPacker]

If the MLS was as competitive as some of the European Leagues interest would probably grow. My mate seems to think in 20 years time the MLS will be the biggest league in the world. I don't agree, but don't think it would be bad for the game. If Americans cared as much about soccer as basketball or football their national team could be awesome!

Does the MLS still have that, only 3 top earners rule? I don't understand that, because it could hold the league back in the future.

[Cigaro]

Originally Posted by SuperPacker

If the MLS was as competitive as some of the European Leagues interest would probably grow. My mate seems to think in 20 years time the MLS will be the biggest league in the world. I don't agree, but don't think it would be bad for the game. If Americans cared as much about soccer as basketball or football their national team could be awesome!

Does the MLS still have that, only 3 top earners rule? I don't understand that, because it could hold the league back in the future.

MLS rules are stupid. They're designed to keep all clubs competitive similar to the salary cap in the NFL, but truthfully the MLS needs to allow rich owners put whatever money they want into clubs(I actually don't think MLS teams have traditional owners), let them get more internationally competitive, and then maybe look at whether those rules should be reinstituted.

[Rosebud]

Originally Posted by Jughead10

The ties are only in the group stage. America loves the shoot outs which I actually find to be such an arbitrary way to end a match after 120 mins. But I understand there is really no other option. But I'm probably unlike most Americans, as basketball is my least favorite sport because of all the constant scoring.

Baseball's my least favorite american sport, never been to a game in person, so I'm not willing to say I hate the sport, but it's unwatchable on tv and I never played it growing up, so it's very hard for me to care.

Basketball's tied with Hockey for me in second place behind both Footballs, which are tied for first. The constant scoring makes it weird, because each basket is like a good passing combination for me, so it's like a soccer game with no goals, or a football game with two **** offenses exchanging field goals. But I still get into it for the playoffs and catch a lot of regular season games, especially the past few years when Donnie Walsh gave me faith in a better future for the Knicks.

Also can't say I dislike the penalties. We all love seeing hockey games go to as infinite OTs, but it's just not feasible in soccer since you're not rotating lines to give guys a rest. Plus I'm german, and I loved playing Goalie as a kid, so I love seeing a goalie go one on one with a field player to see who's nerves are strongest.