I am impressed, both the US team and you Brad. 3-2 US won.

 

Italy... all actors and no play. Anyone remember Baggio's antics in '00? He got *touched* and he fell down to the ground, rolling and moaning... freakin' actor. They should all go and star in a drama or something... hope they play a convincing game (involving skill) this year!

 

That's not just Italy though. Nearly every Latin and European nation takes alot of dives. This is one of the main reasons the sport hasn't taken off in North America.

Portugal has a few players that will try to draw a call from the ref by diving (Juao Pinto & Rui Jorge). I used to hate it but unfortunately it's part of football and even though they're trying to crack down on it, it'll never leave the game. There's the old saying;

"If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough."

The U.S. team played very well and should be prould of themselves. I was looking forward to shoving Brad's words back down his throat.... another time maybe! wink

Next up.... POLAND!

VIVA PORTUGAL!

 

All I have to say is...

HAHAHAHAHAHA! The smelly Pork Chops went down to the mighty 32nd-ranked USA! How friggin' embarassing! They should all go back to their pork chop-shaped country and kill themselves! Just imagine Figo or Rui Costa going out to the bull fight next month and everyone booing them! What losers!

(PS: Mark--that picture isn't me, it's my cousin Guiseppe)

 

That was un-necessary! Go F*ck yourself!

 

Keep in mind that USA also didn't have their two top players for the game. Claudio Reyna was playing injured while Mathis was out with a hurt knee.

I think everybody underrated the US this year.

 

I don't think "everybody" under rated them. I know that they could play a solid game. But lets face it. They are ranked 32nd for good reason!

Portugal has a tendancy to play with little desire against weaker teams. But when they play with a sense of urgancy they play great! Yes, Claudio Reyna was hurt. But they didn't miss him at all anyways!

Portugals coach made some poor choices. The worst one was his decision to start Victor Baia in goal. He hasn't played for the National team in 2 years and has had 4 knee operations since. He clearly sucked ass today! The other poor choice was to bring in Nuno Gomes so late in the second half.

Ah well you live and learn. I'm not jumping off the bandwagon. I'll stay on until the wheels fall off!

 

US is ranked 13th.

 

Yup Yam you're right! I just checked FIFA's rankings.

I think the guys that rank these teams are a bunch of crack heads. With no disrespect intended to the U.S. team, There is NO WAY the U.S. should be ranked higher than Croatia, Denmark, Nigeria and Cameroon just to name a few. I'd love to know how they come up with these rankings. It's kind of like the American College ranking system (BCS). CONCACAF is so damn weak! U.S. has regular oponents like Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Canada and a bunch of other weaker countries in their group. That is a joke!

 

My bad, I was just kidding around. I guess that loss is kinda hard to swallow...