I once had a hugely popular thread during the men's World Cup (that's soccer ICYDK). Doubt I get many takers for this one, but if you like the beautiful game, make sure your DVR is working and has plenty of space.
Champions League Final - Juventus v. Barcelona, Saturday. A pretty good match, in my opinion. Juventus is on a great run and are just a scrappy, balls out type of team. Barcelona are the pretty boys with all the best players in the world, or so it seems. They move the ball around like wizards and play tight defense. Oh, and they've got that Messi guy. He's kind of the Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods of soccer. Truly amazing player.
Men's Under 20 World Cup: The U.S. is off to a nice 2-0 start in group play with a squeaker over host nation Myanamar (Burma for you WW2 vets) and a blowout of New Zealand. If you like the game and want to see the future stars playing against their age-peers, tune it at 2:00 a.m. in the morning for our match against Ukraine. You read that right. I'm going to DVR and watch at 6:00 a.m.
The Women's World Cup kicks off this weekend in Canada. As dominant as our girls have been, you may not realize that we have not won the World Cup since 1999 and we have only one player on the squad who was on that team. But, we've got some really good ones. Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Sydni Leroux get most of the headlines because, at least with the latter two, they are very attractive. To be fair, all three are fine players, with Wambach being one of the all-time greats. She's getting old, but at 5"11 179 lbs, she's still a handful. Morgan is also big and fast (ok, she's also really, really pretty) and can put the ball in the net. She's battling a knee bruise and may not see much action in the early matches. But Carli Lloyd and Christin Press are really my favorites to watch. They both have a high work rate, play well off the ball and are tough defenders. Ok, shoot me, they are both pretty also. I'm a guy, so whatever. Unless you're under a rock somewhere in Pecos County, you're probably aware that FIFA had a pretty rough week and it looks like the case in the U.S. against its officials is going to turn into a RICO case. Nasty stuff being slung around about a bunch of real sleazeballs. Apparently, an official's vote for the World Cup host nation was worth about $10 million. Wow. In any event, FIFA needs the distraction and the girls should be able to provide it.
I like our chances. Germany is very, very tough and should be considered the favorite. But, we are right there. Defending champ Japan is outstanding and France has a good team as well. Sweden has our former coach and should be tough. Don't count out Brazil.
Finally, the US Men's National Team has a friendly with the Netherlands Friday. Honestly, the MNT is beat up, didn't put some of our best players on this roster, and IMO, are just not very good or watchable. We are in a transition period where our best players are old and starting to retire or not make the team, ie. Landon Donovan, or about to start sliding, i.e. Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. Meanwhile, the younger stars like Green and Johnanson are not ready for prime time. I like Jurgen Klinsmann and think he is a good coach, but results are what count and he hasn't really moved us forward much. The Gold Cup is coming up and he needs to win it. That said, I'm an American and will get behind this team. But, if you enjoy watching great soccer, the MNT provides little joy and are not much fun to watch.
Interested to see how tobywhitby and other soccer fans on here see it playing out. Or if anyone is going to watch at all. Luxembear, you're a Euro now! Get in on this thread!!
Champions League Final - Juventus v. Barcelona, Saturday. A pretty good match, in my opinion. Juventus is on a great run and are just a scrappy, balls out type of team. Barcelona are the pretty boys with all the best players in the world, or so it seems. They move the ball around like wizards and play tight defense. Oh, and they've got that Messi guy. He's kind of the Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods of soccer. Truly amazing player.
Men's Under 20 World Cup: The U.S. is off to a nice 2-0 start in group play with a squeaker over host nation Myanamar (Burma for you WW2 vets) and a blowout of New Zealand. If you like the game and want to see the future stars playing against their age-peers, tune it at 2:00 a.m. in the morning for our match against Ukraine. You read that right. I'm going to DVR and watch at 6:00 a.m.
The Women's World Cup kicks off this weekend in Canada. As dominant as our girls have been, you may not realize that we have not won the World Cup since 1999 and we have only one player on the squad who was on that team. But, we've got some really good ones. Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Sydni Leroux get most of the headlines because, at least with the latter two, they are very attractive. To be fair, all three are fine players, with Wambach being one of the all-time greats. She's getting old, but at 5"11 179 lbs, she's still a handful. Morgan is also big and fast (ok, she's also really, really pretty) and can put the ball in the net. She's battling a knee bruise and may not see much action in the early matches. But Carli Lloyd and Christin Press are really my favorites to watch. They both have a high work rate, play well off the ball and are tough defenders. Ok, shoot me, they are both pretty also. I'm a guy, so whatever. Unless you're under a rock somewhere in Pecos County, you're probably aware that FIFA had a pretty rough week and it looks like the case in the U.S. against its officials is going to turn into a RICO case. Nasty stuff being slung around about a bunch of real sleazeballs. Apparently, an official's vote for the World Cup host nation was worth about $10 million. Wow. In any event, FIFA needs the distraction and the girls should be able to provide it.
I like our chances. Germany is very, very tough and should be considered the favorite. But, we are right there. Defending champ Japan is outstanding and France has a good team as well. Sweden has our former coach and should be tough. Don't count out Brazil.
Finally, the US Men's National Team has a friendly with the Netherlands Friday. Honestly, the MNT is beat up, didn't put some of our best players on this roster, and IMO, are just not very good or watchable. We are in a transition period where our best players are old and starting to retire or not make the team, ie. Landon Donovan, or about to start sliding, i.e. Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. Meanwhile, the younger stars like Green and Johnanson are not ready for prime time. I like Jurgen Klinsmann and think he is a good coach, but results are what count and he hasn't really moved us forward much. The Gold Cup is coming up and he needs to win it. That said, I'm an American and will get behind this team. But, if you enjoy watching great soccer, the MNT provides little joy and are not much fun to watch.
Interested to see how tobywhitby and other soccer fans on here see it playing out. Or if anyone is going to watch at all. Luxembear, you're a Euro now! Get in on this thread!!
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