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OT: 2022 World Cup Thread

I don’t envy Berhalter trying to set a lineup with this group. Ultimately it will come down to chemistry. Want Musah to get on the pitch too - he is so athletic I think he can be used as a sub to run at a tired defense.
 
Qatar reverses their stance on beer sales. No beer being sold now. What could go wrong???
FIFA is a complete disaster. Putting this Cup in a bizarre country like Qatar is beyond mind boggling even knowing they were all were bribed
 
Can anyone speak about their group opponents? England need no introduction, but what about Wales & Iran? What are our chances against them? I've seen the FIFA rankings but don't put any stock in those.
 
Can anyone speak about their group opponents? England need no introduction, but what about Wales & Iran? What are our chances against them? I've seen the FIFA rankings but don't put any stock in those.
My quick answer is Wales have a few good players, the rest are nothing special, championship level players. Iran typically have a really good striker partnership but the rest of their squad is mediocre. I'm biased but I do believe we should make it out of the group stage, or at least put up a good fight against Wales and Iran.
 
My quick answer is Wales have a few good players, the rest are nothing special, championship level players. Iran typically have a really good striker partnership but the rest of their squad is mediocre. I'm biased but I do believe we should make it out of the group stage, or at least put up a good fight against Wales and Iran.
Thanks Shelley - Ideally, this is where you want to see the International Club experience pay off. So many of our guys play overseas now, you'd hope/think that this type of stage, and level of competition, doesn't faze them.
 
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My quick answer is Wales have a few good players, the rest are nothing special, championship level players. Iran typically have a really good striker partnership but the rest of their squad is mediocre. I'm biased but I do believe we should make it out of the group stage, or at least put up a good fight against Wales and Iran.
Wales should be the wild card here. We get 3 points from them, we should be thru
 
Qatar reverses their stance on beer sales. No beer being sold now. What could go wrong???
FIFA is a complete disaster. Putting this Cup in a bizarre country like Qatar is beyond mind boggling even knowing they were all were bribed
Do they allow other type of alcohol sales?
 
Can anyone speak about their group opponents? England need no introduction, but what about Wales & Iran? What are our chances against them? I've seen the FIFA rankings but don't put any stock in those.
Personally worried about Iran. Wales as close to a must win as one gets.
 
No all alcohol sales at all.
Wrong.


"Friday’s statement from FIFA said non-alcoholic beer will still be sold at the eight stadiums, while champagne, wine, whiskey and other alcohol will still be served in the luxury hospitality areas of the arenas."
 
Wrong.


"Friday’s statement from FIFA said non-alcoholic beer will still be sold at the eight stadiums, while champagne, wine, whiskey and other alcohol will still be served in the luxury hospitality areas of the arenas."
I'll have to find the article I read outside the the stadiums yes inside no alcohol anywhere.
 
Hard to say if soccer hooligans will be harder to deal with unwillingly sober or happily drunk. I see a pretty high potential for problems between the strict "no fun" rules of the host nation and the strict "24/7 insane fun" attitude of lots of soccer fans.

Happy Pop Corn GIF by Black Prez


Oh hey look! It's a rainbow shirt GIF. 😁
 
Hard to say if soccer hooligans will be harder to deal with unwillingly sober or happily drunk. I see a pretty high potential for problems between the strict "no fun" rules of the host nation and the strict "24/7 insane fun" attitude of lots of soccer fans.

Happy Pop Corn GIF by Black Prez


Oh hey look! It's rainbow shirt GIF. 😁
the germans, british, and eastern european fans are going to riot if there's no beer.
 
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The thing with Wales is that at times Gareth Bale can look like the best player on the pitch. But his lack of fitness can be exploited, we need to keep him busy when we have the ball, make him work, take his legs away from him. Because he is still very dangerous at times especially on set pieces.
 
The thing with Wales is that at times Gareth Bale can look like the best player on the pitch. But his lack of fitness can be exploited, we need to keep him busy when we have the ball, make him work, take his legs away from him. Because he is still very dangerous at times especially on set pieces.
lol. make bale work? have you watched him at all the last few years? when he actually plays, if he doesn't have the ball, he does absolutely nothing.
 
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lol. make bale work? have you watched him at all the last few years? when he actually plays, if he doesn't have the ball, he does absolutely nothing.
Exactly, exploit his side of the pitch on attack. Yes I have watched Bale, he is my favorite player. The World Cup for Wales means everything to him. Tire him out early.
 
Qatar reverses their stance on beer sales. No beer being sold now. What could go wrong???
FIFA is a complete disaster. Putting this Cup in a bizarre country like Qatar is beyond mind boggling even knowing they were all were bribed

World Cup is going to be so much......."fun"

 
Exactly, exploit his side of the pitch on attack. Yes I have watched Bale, he is my favorite player. The World Cup for Wales means everything to him. Tire him out early.
question is, is he going to start at RW or as the #9. that will change how we would attack him. not sure he has the fitness level to be a winger right now.
 
Pulisic Sargent Weah
Reyna Adams Musah
Jedi Ream Zimmerman Dest
Turner

Weah was our best attacking player all through qualifying. His speed and ability to get behind the defense is a dynamic we need to open up space. He puts in good crosses

Reyna in the midfield. The MMA midfield lacks creativity. We need Reyna centrally with his ability to make things happen and link up quick combination passing. The midfield looked horrible without Musah in the last window. Weston was really poor and he since got injured. Fitness and form are concerns enough to have him off the bench.

Weston and Aaronson sub in

I'd also be fine with Weah or Reyna as a false 9

Please no Jesus. He is not a true striker. Weak leg. All his goals for USMNT are against the bottom tier competition. He came up small in MLS playoffs
 
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Pulisic Sargent Weah
Reyna Adams Musah
Jedi Ream Zimmerman Dest
Turner

Weah was our best attacking player all through qualifying. His speed and ability to get behind the defense is a dynamic we need to open up space. He puts in good crosses

Reyna in the midfield. The MMA midfield lacks creativity. We need Reyna centrally with his ability to make things happen and link up quick combination passing. The midfield looked horrible without Musah in the last window. Weston was really poor and he since got injured. Fitness and form are concerns enough to have him off the bench.

Weston and Aaronson sub in

I'd also be fine with Weah or Reyna as a false 9

Please no Jesus. He is not a true striker. Weak leg. All his goals for USMNT are against the bottom tier competition. He came up small in MLS playoffs
there is no way that weston doesn't start. form or not, his spot in the lineup is written in sharpie, not pencil.
 
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there is no way that weston doesn't start. form or not, his spot in the lineup is written in sharpie, not pencil.
Weston is basically the third name on the lineup after Pulisic and Adams. Only injury or card concerns would keep him out of the starting lineup.

The US definitely needs a bit more creativity but not sure where to get it. Maybe have Aaronson rotate with Pulisic as a false 9? I do think Berhalter has a good number of impact subs, starting with Reyna & maybe Aaronson (if he doesn't start, which is probable), plus De La Torre in midfield.
 
Weston is basically the third name on the lineup after Pulisic and Adams. Only injury or card concerns would keep him out of the starting lineup.

The US definitely needs a bit more creativity but not sure where to get it. Maybe have Aaronson rotate with Pulisic as a false 9? I do think Berhalter has a good number of impact subs, starting with Reyna & maybe Aaronson (if he doesn't start, which is probable), plus De La Torre in midfield.
My prediction on GB's lineup:
Turner
Robinson
Zimmerman
Long
Dest
Adams
McKennie
Aaronson
Pulisic
Reyna
Ferreira
 
France's hopes of successfully defending the World Cup were dealt a huge blow late Saturday as Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema was ruled out of the tournament in Qatar with an injured left thigh.

The 34-year-old Real Madrid striker had been struggling with the injury for some time and had played less than half an hour of football in his club's last six games before the World Cup.

On Saturday, he took part in full training for the first time since the World Cup holders gathered last week ahead of the tournament.

He was forced to withdraw from the session at the home stadium of Qatari champions Al Sadd with the injury and was taken for tests.

The French Football Federation (FFF) later said in a statement that the injury "will require a recovery period of three weeks," ruling out any prospect of him being fully fit for the tournament that finishes on December 18.

"I am extremely sad for Karim, for whom this World Cup was a major objective," France coach Didier Deschamps was quoted as saying in the FFF statement.

"Despite this new blow for the France team I have full faith in my squad. We will do all we can to rise to the huge challenge that awaits us."

The 36-year-old Olivier Giroud is set to benefit from Benzema's absence by coming into the France attack alongside Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.

 
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My prediction on GB's lineup:
Turner
Robinson
Zimmerman
Long
Dest
Adams
McKennie
Aaronson
Pulisic
Reyna
Ferreira
Weird/funny moments with Dest at podium answering (actually not answering and having funny long pauses) questions on our setup vrs Wales. Thinking this might mean there are some tweaks to the above - maybe Z/Long/Ream as a back 3.

Under that setup ... hmmm. Things get even more confusing player selection-wise.
 
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Ecuador gets an early goal taken off the board on offsides review. That looked really close to me but supposedly a lot more tech used now to track the movements of players to be more precise. I don’t watch soccer outside of these big tournaments to know if that’s new tech or is being used in all the leagues currently.
 
Ecuador gets an early goal taken off the board on offsides review. That looked really close to me but supposedly a lot more tech used now to track the movements of players to be more precise. I don’t watch soccer outside of these big tournaments to know if that’s new tech or is being used in all the leagues currently.
It is new tech just for this cup and IMO this won't be the last goal taken away where we shake our heads.
 
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It is new tech just for this cup and IMO this won't be the last goal taken away where we shake our heads.
They just showed it…sort of like tennis with the electronic ball and lines graphics. That was a really close offsides..my goodness.
 
They just showed it…sort of like tennis with the electronic ball and lines graphics. That was a really close offsides..my goodness.
I view it almost like when baseball decided to enforce actually touching second base on double plays. For most of history you only had to be in the vicinity. Now we have a computer by the letter of the law paying attention to certain body parts that humans sort of overlook most of the time.
 
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