Soccer (Football) Thread

[Kingsfan23]

There will be three World Cup Qualifiers for the US mens team over the next 11 days that could go some way in determining the likelihood of us participating in World Cup 2014 Brazil. Away against Jamaica on 6/7, home against Panama on 6/11, and home against Honduras on June 18. This is the easy stretch of our qualification and I would like to see 7 points (2 wins, 1 draw) from the coming proceedings

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I think worst case is 5 and likely case is all 9.

I know we lost to Honduras and that made everyone lose their marbles, but no way does this team fail to qualify in one of the 3 automatic spots. Even if Landon never shows up.

I got Gold Cup tickets in July but somewhat wishing I could make the trek to S**ttle next week to see the game. GC game is against Belize so won't be remotely as interesting.

 

[Kingsfan23]

pdx, this is as tight a group as I've seen. Jamaica is the only dud in my mind, everyone else can play.. but yes we should prevail.. The Gold Cup should be interesting, although not like 2011 which featured the A-Teams.. still it will be nice to see Landon, and some of the young kids trying to cement themselves for the national team in the future

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I agree that the gap is closing but I just don't see us losing at home to anyone other than Mexico. Win at home, draw on the road and you're golden.

I think Jamaica will finish ahead of one or two of these squads in the end. We'll see. They have two Timbers so I'm biased.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Great game.. Really didn't have a feel for Brad Evans on an international level. good for him to get that winner

 

[Uk kings fan]

the football season has now finished over here

Sunderland just staying in the premier league... although we are already starting to invest heavily in the transfer market (4 players in before the transfer window is even open)

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Great game.. Really didn't have a feel for Brad Evans on an international level. good for him to get that winner

I thought it was incredibly frustrating to watch, US didn't really bother to pressure once they scored and then almost let 2 points slip away.

Although the Timbers - Fire game was even more frustrating since we went up 2-0, pulled our stud player and promptly gave up the draw... Not my favorite soccer weekend. At least hockey went my way because I had to turn off the Heat/Spurs game midway through the 4th.

Now that Europe is out for Summer can't wait to see which MLS squads dip into the transfer market.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Tomorrows game against Panama will be more fun to watch.. expecting to win by 2+. the Pacific Northwest is very supportive of the sport, should be insane crowd

 

[pdxKingsFan]

It will be very interesting to watch. The ECS (Sounders supporters) actually requested to use the chants of the Timbers Army modified for USA. I think we told them to bugger off. I have seen USWNT matches at Jeld Wen and the average attendee was VERY VERY different than the normal Timbers crowd. It was extremely hard to sustain any kind of singing chant for more than a minute in the supporters section. Consequently I bought reserved seats for the Gold Cup match at Jed Wen. Sadly there is a lot of disconnect between the national supporters groups (Sam's Army, American Outlaws) and the leadership of the club supporters groups here. I'm trying to keep my expectations down but hoping it still goes well enough to give us more matches up here.

Also the grass pitch they put on top of the turf at the Clink is just awful. Hopefully it doesn't affect the game (or ruin the chances of more games up here). Interestingly they are allowing the Gold Cup game in Portland to be played on our turf.

I hope we win by 2 or more tonight but for whatever reason we sure seem to rise/sink to the level of our opponents. I'm going to say 3-2 with another furious finish.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Good crowd and atmosphere last night. Still short of what the club teams bring, but better than typical for most the night I think. I do wish the Portland and S**ttle groups could unite into their own USMNT supporter group, the American Outlaws has too much bro culture for my tastes, and then they could come up with chants that are better than cherrypicking ECS and TA chants.

 

[Kingsfan23]

I don't watch much MLS (hopefully that changes if we secure a team as planned down the line), but yeah I hear the northwest is renowned for their love of the game and truthfully the crowd participation last night was unlike any I've seen so far in this country for national team games. The field was bad, but I'm beginning to believe bad surfaces help more than hurt at home, as the game turns more physical and grind it out, a style of game we can play against other Concacaf sides. Also the game was superb. I haven't felt as good about this team in awhile. I am feeling the gap between us and Mexico has hopefully been eliminated..

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I maybe soured on some retreads of our local cheers but I am glad the rest of the country seemed to appreciate it. Hopefully by the Gold Cup game someone will come up with some creative new cheers. One thing that was great, I do not recall hearing a single You Suck A-Hole on goal kicks

Not sure how I feel about bad surfaces - I mean the Honduras loss came under horrid conditions on a sand lot. So yeah, I didn't feel too bad about the Costa Rica game. But I think JK's game plan is still best suited to be executed on a good pitch.

WTH is going on with Mexico anyway? 3 scoreless draws at home???

 

[Kingsfan23]

I maybe soured on some retreads of our local cheers but I am glad the rest of the country seemed to appreciate it. Hopefully by the Gold Cup game someone will come up with some creative new cheers. One thing that was great, I do not recall hearing a single You Suck A-Hole on goal kicks

Not sure how I feel about bad surfaces - I mean the Honduras loss came under horrid conditions on a sand lot. So yeah, I didn't feel too bad about the Costa Rica game. But I think JK's game plan is still best suited to be executed on a good pitch.

WTH is going on with Mexico anyway? 3 scoreless draws at home???

Mexico doesn't look good.. I think they are going to get their butt kicked at the Confederations Cup given their group.. Their remaining World cup Qualifying schedule is tough too.. the problem is, I doubt there is the talent in this hex to seriously threaten them missing the World Cup. I would be happy to be mistaken.. The Gold Cup will be interesting, looking forward to some of the rosters..

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I have no beef with Mexico to the extent that I wish they fail to qualify. But seeing them struggle with their talented roster does bring a tear to my eye.

 

[Kingsfan23]

I know many people don't put much stalk into the Confederations Cup, but it will be enjoyable to watch for me. A lot of the games will be played in a decent time zone for us here in the Pacific.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Probably not my highest priority with the Timbers playing a ton right now and my team in the Stanley Cup Finals but I'll watch all the ConfedCup I can fit into my schedule. I have to admit being a fan of the International game for much longer than I was at the club level so its pretty easy for me to get into these games even when it isn't the A teams.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Good home game tonight against Honduras.. I say we will win by a goal, solidifying ourselves at the top of the group

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Wouldn't be shocked if we win by 2 or 3.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Well we easily could have won by 2 or 3 but I thought the US looked pretty terrible for stretches last night and Honduras looked even worse. The pitch looked fantastic on the tele so it was hard to understand why the ball seemed so out of control and the passing was awful. When we pass back it seems to kill any momentum we have going and the attack gets lost. This concerns me greatly. On the other hand when we play against more skilled teams that aren't looking to just score on a counter perhaps it will open the field up. I guess we'll see.

And that crowd... wow. sucked (on both sides). But hey we won and it would be pretty tough not to go to Brazil at this point. Makes all the uproar after the first Honduras game look downright silly now.