US soccer coach is psychic!!!

[Gob]

Sports

U.S. Men’s National Team Coach: ‘We Cannot Win The World Cup’

YORK (CBSNewYork) — The United States men’s soccer team has its work cut out for it at the upcoming World Cup. The United States is in what has been dubbed this year’s “Group of Death,” containing Germany, Portugal and Ghana. It will be very difficult for the U.S. to get out of Group G, and head coach Jurgen Klinsmann isn’t expecting a miracle in Brazil.

In fact, he’s being brutally honest and realistic about his club’s chances.

“We cannot win the World Cup because we are not at that level yet,” Klinsmann said, according to the New York Times. “For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament.”
But part of Klinsmann’s plan is to have the U.S. competing with the best of the best in the future, leading to sustainable success against the most talented teams in the world.

And while he’s tempering expectations, he’s looking forward to seeing how his team faces the daunting challenge head. “It is one of the most difficult groups of the whole draw,” Klinsmann said back in December, according to Yahoo! Sports. “It couldn’t get any more difficult or any bigger, but that is what the World Cup is all about. We are looking forward to the challenge and we don’t see ourselves as any kind of outsiders. If you want to get into the top 10 or 12 teams in the world you have to beat these guys.”

This year’s squad is very young, which likely explains Klinsmann’s controversial decision to leave 32-year-old Landon Donovan off the roster. USA, which is No. 13 in the latest FIFA world rankings, will open up group play against Ghana on June 16, then take on Portugal on June 22 before squaring off with Germany four days later.

Next up Jurgen Klinsmann "US chances in the 2015 Cricket World Cup are slim." To be followed by "We don't have much chance in the 2015 Rugby World Cup either. Come to think of it, our chance of winning the 2017 Rugby League World cup is pretty much forgone conclusion..."

[rubato]

WGAF? Calling a rigged game is easy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/sport ... .html?_r=0

Fixed Soccer Matches Cast Shadow Over World Cup
A New York Times investigation of match fixing ahead of the last World Cup gives an unusually detailed look at the ease with which professional gamblers can fix matches....
JOHANNESBURG — A soccer referee named Ibrahim Chaibou walked into a bank in a small South African city carrying a bag filled with as much as $100,000 in $100 bills, according to another referee traveling with him. The deposit was so large that a bank employee gave Mr. Chaibou a gift of commemorative coins bearing the likeness of Nelson Mandela.

Later that night in May 2010, Mr. Chaibou refereed an exhibition match between South Africa and Guatemala in preparation for the World Cup, the world’s most popular sporting event. Even to the casual fan, his calls were suspicious — he called two penalties for hand balls even though the ball went nowhere near the players’ hands. ..."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sports-j ... cer_02-05/

PBS NEWSHOUR


TOPICS > Nation
For Global Soccer, Scandal and Corruption Seem Pervasive as Grass Stains

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/ ... n.scandal/

China crisis: Soccer rocked by corruption scandals
By James Montague and Jaime FlorCruz for CNN

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25133511

Soccer match-fixing: Corruption in football results 'endemic'

28 November 2013 Last updated at 10:50 GMT

Six men have been arrested in connection with allegations of match-fixing in English football, according to the National Crime Agency.

At least three footballers are reported to be among those being held, but they are not thought to be with professional clubs.

The arrests follow an investigation by journalists at the Daily Telegraph. ... "

yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Lord Jim]

Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the SCPS here...

"WGAF?" would seem to be the operative question, when asking about the footsies thing...

[rubato]

Reinforced by the:



banishment, it has kept baseball free of corruption by gamblers.

yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

Indeed, who gives a fuck for the most popular single sport competition in the world, certainly not the USA.

The 2010 Men’s World Cup drew the most US viewers ever for the tournament. ESPN announced that broadcasts averaged a 2.1 rating (2.29 million households and 3.26 million viewers), a 31% increase over 2006. The final between the Netherlands and Spain was the most-watched men’s World Cup game with 15.6 million viewers.

Even in the U.S., the value of the World Cup as sports content is getting richer. Last month Fox Sports won the US English-language rights for 2018 (Russia) and 2022 (Qatar), beating out bids from ESPN and NBC. ESPN bought the rights for the 2010 and 2014 rights for $100 million. While official figures for the new television deal have not been officially released, John Ourand of Sports Business Journal was told Fox may have paid between $400 million to $500 million. That is quite plausible since Univision bought the U.S. Spanish rights for $425 million for the last two World Cups.

[Lord Jim]

Speaking of scandals in obscure sports that serious minded sports fans don't care about:

Cricket hit by fresh match-fixing allegations over New Zealand players

CNN) -- The cricketing world has been rocked by fresh revelations over alleged fixing by former New Zealand internationals, following the leak of player statements made to a corruption inquiry.

The scandal has prompted ex-Black Caps star Chris Cairns to confirm that he is "Player X" -- the prominent former international accused in the statements of pressuring others to fix in matches -- while rejecting the allegations against him and vowing to clear his name.

"I have not denied I am Player X," he wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday. "It's the allegations I reject... Thanks for all the support out there and to all those who understand that there are bigger forces at play here."

The International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has previously confirmed it was conducting an investigation into Cairns and fellow former New Zealand internationals Lou Vincent and Daryl Tuffey.

Cairns, considered one of the game's leading all-rounders in his day, has challenged match-fixing allegations in the courts in the past, and won. In 2012, he sued Indian cricket official and businessman Lalit Modi in a British court, after Modi had tweeted allegations of match-fixing relating to Cairns' stint with the Chandigarh Lions in the short-lived Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Cairns captained the side in 2007 and 2008, playing alongside Vincent in 2008. Modi, who ran the rival Indian Premier League competition, lost his appeal against the court's decision in October 2012, with damages increased to £90,000 ($147,459).

Tuffey, a bowler who played his last Test for New Zealand in 2010, also denies any involvement in fixing.

In the latest revelations, Vincent is reported to have told ACSU investigators he fixed in at least 12 games in five countries from 2008 to 2012, beginning with his time with the Chandigarh Lions. He then reportedly continued to fix in the English county competition, and the Twenty20 Champions League, using tactics such as changing the color of his bat handle to show that a fix was occurring.

'Hero' and friend

According to the reports, Vincent, 35, identified six other players he believes were involved in fixing, and told investigators he had been drawn into the practice under the influence of a prominent former international -- referred to by the press as Player X -- whom he felt he could not refuse.

New Zealand's current captain Brendon McCullum also reportedly told investigators that a friend and "hero" had twice attempted to persuade him to fix, first in India ahead of the start of the inaugural Indian Premier League in 2008, then shortly afterwards in England during a New Zealand tour.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/20/sport ... w-zealand/

Q: How can you tell when a cricket match is fixed?

A: Something actually happens...

[TPFKA@W]

I don't think soccer is ever going to catch on in a big way here. It is one collective WGAF over it. We have an over abundance of sporting events as it is.

[Gob]

Is Soccer Destined to Become America's National Pastime?

[TPFKA@W]

If it takes serious root it will be several generations away. I'd be perfectly fine with it taking the place of football which I also can't give 2 shits about. It would be nice if they toned down the crazy a bit.

[rubato]

I don't think soccer is ever going to catch on in a big way here. It is one collective WGAF over it. We have an over abundance of sporting events as it is.

I've posted this here before. Soccer already draws more fans/game than professional hockey. And it is growing quickly. I expect it will begin to displace football from a lot of HS sports as more parents realize that a life-changing brain, neck, knee, back injury is too high a price to pay for a meaningless contest.


yrs,
rubato

[Big RR]

I don't think it will ever replace (American) football here, but it is a rapidly growing sport. I played soccer in high school (quite a while back, mainly because I didn't care for a lot of the guys on the football team) and we could barely field a team (most of us played the entire game because we had few second stringers); now with peewee leagues, etc., soccer has become a major high school sport, and those players (or at least some of them) will become the next fans. Add in the burgeoning immigrant population, and soccer will only continue to grow.

[TPFKA@W]

Add in the burgeoning immigrant population, and soccer will only continue to grow.

This made me LOL. I know some Indian families. To the parent's (naturalized citizens) dismay the kids (all American) only care about basketball. They also want to eat hamburgers.
Time will tell. It certainly is an active sport in schools, thus the term "soccer moms" but it has a long uphill battle to become a popular professional sport.

[Big RR]

No doubt there is a rebellion by the kids against the "old ways"; but when soccer becomes acceptable, as it is now, some will remain fans, as will their parents and other family members.

[Sean]

... we could barely field a team (most of us played the entire game because we had few second stringers)...

You're only allowed three substitutions in a footy match anyway Big RR...

[rubato]

"... but it has a long uphill battle to become a popular professional sport.

As measured by attendance at games it is already a popular professional sport. It will never threaten baseball (#1 by a huge margin internationally and nationally) or football but 11 teams average more than 18,000 per game.

yrs,
rubato

[Big RR]

Sean--I know that is the rule in the pros, but as I recall in US high school soccer (at least then), unlimited substitutions were allowed, but only at certain times (like when a ball was thrown in by the substituting side or at half time). I don't know what the rule is now.

[Sean]

Really? That rule applies at all levels everywhere else...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Sean

With the little kids, everyone gets to play. I'm not so sure about high school - they might stick to the rules there. Still, you can see right there another hit against soccer. An American "foot" ball team (and for that matter baseball team) in school can usually manage about 150 players (+/- 17) at levels lower than varsity and everyone gets a turn in the same game. If real football allowed for only 11 +3 in one game, thousands of parents, grandparents and old aunties would be getting the coach fired tomorrow.

....and Brasil won by cheating

[Big RR]

Sean--see this link http://www.livestrong.com/article/42481 ... gulations/

I can't vouch for the site but it appears US high schools still allow unlimited substitution. Not sure about kid club teams.