****ing embarrassing. I know soccer is not a big thing here but we're playing like a bunch of damn little leaguers. And the captain goes off like a ***** because someone stepped on his foot.

Unacceptable.

Turrible--Charles Barkley

It's not the losing that sucks so much as the looking like you don't even belong in the game.

If you follow soccer you knew their run was fluky. They got an incredibly favorable group. They also had the easiest Rd 32 matchup. Belgium was always going to destroy them. Made a killing betting on Belgium at + $$

At least I can stop pretending to care about soccer now.

IowaBear said:

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If you follow soccer you knew their run was fluky. They got an incredibly favorable group. They also had the easiest Rd 32 matchup. Belgium was always going to destroy them. Made a killing betting on Belgium at + $$

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I didn't think we would win. Maybe if a few things broke our way, but even then it was going to be tough. It's not the losing that sucks here. It's the looking like we weren't even qualified to be in the game. The #17 team in the world shouldn't look like the worst team in the world in the round of 16.

The #17 rankin is heavily inflated. Just look at some of the national squads ranked below the US. Japan, Switzerland, Norway, Ivory Coast to name a few are all significantly better teams ranked behind the USA. I didn't see 4-1 coming. But it always felt like a comfortable Belgium W

BellCountyBear said:

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At least I can stop pretending to care about soccer now.

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Under-rated post

the reason so many people play soccer is so they don't have to watch it . . .

In many countries the best athletes aspire to play soccer. In the US the best athletes aspire to play other sports. Until that changes the US will not make much noise in the World Cup.

EDIT... Interesting take on access (or lack of access). Starts at 2:36

Jacques Strap said:

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In many countries the best athletes aspire to play soccer. In the US the best athletes aspire to play other sports. Until that changes the US will not make much noise in the World Cup.

EDIT... Interesting take on access (or lack of access). Starts at 2:36

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I guess it's like baseball or anything else. Rec soccer is probably still cheap but if you want to play serious you got to play club (travel) soccer and it costs $$$.