mrcpack17 said:

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Couldn't have asked for a better group other than maybe getting into A. I would guess Wales will advance from the playoff to round out our group. I think we can hang with the Red Coats and should be able to handle Wales and give the Ayatollah a good thumping.

No standout out group of death other than maybe G.

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If the World Cup was not held in Qatar I believe England would be the favorites. England can not play in heat. The rest of the teams are beatable. Me being a UK and US citizen I will have at least one team to make it through so I will have a team in the knock out rounds.

ETA: The last time the US and England were in the same group the US won the group. A Yank living in England at the time did not let that go to waste.

mrcpack17 said:

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Couldn't have asked for a better group other than maybe getting into A. I would guess Wales will advance from the playoff to round out our group. I think we can hang with the Red Coats and should be able to handle Wales and give the Ayatollah a good thumping.

No standout out group of death other than maybe G.

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I don't know a ton about international soccer but I watch enough of premier league to think we don't have much close to England, save our top players. Others that know the international teams better can certainly disagree.

statefan91 said:

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mrcpack17 said:

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Couldn't have asked for a better group other than maybe getting into A. I would guess Wales will advance from the playoff to round out our group. I think we can hang with the Red Coats and should be able to handle Wales and give the Ayatollah a good thumping.

No standout out group of death other than maybe G.

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I don't know a ton about international soccer but I watch enough of premier league to think we don't have much close to England, save our top players. Others that know the international teams better can certainly disagree.

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They definitely are the deeper team, without a doubt. I expect them to win the group but could see us playing them tight. I think anything lower than 2nd place in the group would be a disappointment given our draw. And not to be overly optimistic but seeing as we are tied to group A for knockouts, we're looking at a Netherlands/Senegal (guessing) opponent. I'd take either of those over say...Spain/Germany or France/Argentina.

A good result would be getting into the quarterfinals. We can build on that for a very strong 2026 team. I hope everyone stays and gets healthy prior to November. My understanding is that they will only have a week to train prior to the WC starting but the MLS players would be finished with their season. I hope we schedule some really good Europe teams this summer for friendlies since we are playing 2 of them in our group.

SexualChocolate said:

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A good result would be getting into the quarterfinals. We can build on that for a very strong 2026 team. I hope everyone stays and gets healthy prior to November. My understanding is that they will only have a week to train prior to the WC starting but the MLS players would be finished with their season. I hope we schedule some really good Europe teams this summer for friendlies since we are playing 2 of them in our group.

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yeah its going to be really weird with the limited team-training period. Plus, probably some guys really banged up with it being in the heart of the Euro season.

We will be young, no matter what, so agree with you on the need to get knock out experience to build for the next go-round. And we need our key guys healthy, no doubt.

Our group is more doable than Mexico's!

That Black Friday game vs England might warrant a trip to a soccer bar to watch it. London Bridge Pub in Raleigh will probably sell tickets for it. I was in Richmond for a US World Cup match and watched the match at a pub called Penny Lane Pub and it was such a great experience.

One of my buddies lives caddy corner to penny lane! He loves that place. Might have to catch some of the world cup there this go round

SexualChocolate said:

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That Black Friday game vs England might warrant a trip to a soccer bar to watch it. London Bridge Pub in Raleigh will probably sell tickets for it. I was in Richmond for a US World Cup match and watched the match at a pub called Penny Lane Pub and it was such a great experience.

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What? You are not going to try to go? I am!!

It has come to my attention that we will be playing England the same day as the State/Carolina game. I sure hope they don't overlap because otherwise there's not a chance in hell I'm watching the USMNT.

We can hope for a 6/7 kickoff. Or maybe since it's Friday, it'll be the prime time game. Who knows though. USA/England is at 2.

mrcpack17 said:

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We can hope for a 6/7 kickoff. Or maybe since it's Friday, it'll be the prime time game. Who knows though. USA/England is at 2.

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If we win that first game (never assume with USMNT), can you imagine the hype leading up to the game with Eng. Clearly, we fans will already be looking ahead well before even our first game....

Champions League this week!

pic.twitter.com/CS6GXHUWwW

— GAGA (@GabrielSlonina) May 20, 2022

Huge for 2026 and forward for the USMNT

Interested to see how we look in El Salvador tonight. We struggled down there in WC qualifying. Not sure if the top line guys play, but the battle for the #9 will be big tonight.

Packchem91 said:

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Interested to see how we look in El Salvador tonight. We struggled down there in WC qualifying. Not sure if the top line guys play, but the battle for the #9 will be big tonight.

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Ferreira has looked really good lately. I think our best lineup might be a false 9 with Pulisic, Weah and Gio when fully healthy.

SexualChocolate said:

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Packchem91 said:

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Interested to see how we look in El Salvador tonight. We struggled down there in WC qualifying. Not sure if the top line guys play, but the battle for the #9 will be big tonight.

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Ferreira has looked really good lately. I think our best lineup might be a false 9 with Pulisic, Weah and Gio when fully healthy.

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I agree on Ferreira....even discounting the overmatching against Grenada, in other games recently, he's been able to get open and make great runs. Its like he just needs the ball to go in to break the dam (would like to think Grenada game offered that).

I like your suggestion -- I think both Weah and Gio offer some skills that are just not common in the US soccer player. Weah, over the past months, seems to be bursting onto the scene, and offers the dynamic, creative, strong athletic player we've sorely missed. I think Gio has that flair that not a lot of US players have. We need him to stay healthy, get his soccer legs back under him, and be full go this winter.

SexualChocolate said:

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Packchem91 said:

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Interested to see how we look in El Salvador tonight. We struggled down there in WC qualifying. Not sure if the top line guys play, but the battle for the #9 will be big tonight.

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Ferreira has looked really good lately. I think our best lineup might be a false 9 with Pulisic, Weah and Gio when fully healthy.

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Musah making a strong push to be a starter. Best player on the field tonight

I don't put much weight into that tie last night. The field was just terrible. It was a mud pit in front of the keeper.

Nike’s Senior Director of soccer apparel thinks USMNT 🇺🇸 fans are stupid.
“We WoN, sO tHe KiTs aRE BeAUtIfuL NoW”

That is someone out of touch with reality, there are plenty of kits we fall in love at 1st sight, this ain’t it. pic.twitter.com/i24aOLRODG

— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) September 15, 2022

This is the guy. This is who needs to lose his job.

The best sporting event in the world!!

What a beautiful build up and run for our first goal. Weah made a great run, and Pulisic hit a perfectly weighted pass.

Was the USA expected to win this match? How badly does this hurt our chances in this group?

PackFansXL said:

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Was the USA expected to win this match? How badly does this hurt our chances in this group?

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I had it as a 50/50 game. Got to get a point versus England, beat Iran, and maybe get a little lucky now

PackFansXL said:

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Was the USA expected to win this match? How badly does this hurt our chances in this group?

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We were slight favorites, and it was a game that, if we won, would have gone a long long way towards advancement

I think our inexperience showed up and, to a degree, our fitness. Most of our guys in Europe are not 90 minutes a game players and the guys MLS hadn't played in a month.

Once Wales changed tactics and started pressing us, we couldn't maintain possession and we're chasing the ball

Massive upset in the making this morning. Saudi Arabia leading Argentina in stoppage time!

Huge upset by the Saudi's. Think Argentina will turn it around to get out of the group but to lose to a team that does not have a player that plays outside the Saudi pro league is massive. This is Messi's last Cup and all his fans want him to go out with the Cup.

go usa

Man no soccer fans here?? We're on to the round of 16 baby!!!

SniderFC said:

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Man no soccer fans here?? We're on to the round of 16 baby!!!

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What a heart stopping finish. Given we played exactly like the Wales tie, If we had ended up tying, Berhalter should have had to walk home.
When that ball squirted thru Turner's legs, I screamed out

But now, fresh start. Netherlands is not the worst opponent to draw

Great win today. Shaky second half. Still don't like the way Berhalter sets us up. Feel like his insistence on having a true number 9, whether he puts Seargent or Wright or Pepe or whoever up top keeps some of our best players off the field. How Reyna hasn't gotten more burn this WC is wild to me. But hey, let's go kick those tulip lovers back into their windmills on Saturday.

The Canada that claimed the #1 spot out of CONCACAF did not show up at the World Cup, very flat and uninspired Tournament from the Canucks, and Mexico continued to be the Mexico of the past two years...pulling hard for Costa Rica to get out if group play and put another CONCACAF club through to the KO round.

DACWolf said:

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The Canada that claimed the #1 spot out of CONCACAF did not show up at the World Cup, very flat and uninspired Tournament from the Canucks, and Mexico continued to be the Mexico of the past two years...pulling hard for Costa Rica to get out if group play and put another CONCACAF club through to the KO round.

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I wonder if one factor - seemed like every qualifying game, Canada had its full complement of stars, where we had many Miss qualifying for injuries, conflict with Europe leagues, better depth, etc

And now, with both full squads there…they just aren't as good??

Two, drawing Belgium is not bad, but they did get destroyed by what appeared to be a hungry Croatia

Wow that goal was way to easy for the Dutch.

SniderFC said:

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Wow that goal was way to easy for the Dutch.

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beautiful too

2-0 Netherlands. Both goals were so easy for them, just beautiful passing.

SniderFC said:

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2-0 Netherlands. Both goals were so easy for them, just beautiful passing.

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The difference in the final third is shocking. It has been our Achilles heel all along though