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THE WORLD CUP!!!

^That's if you lot actually can work out how to get to South Africa...

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LM
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ingAO! That's a major TV station... schmucks! :roll:
 
I'm mainly rooting for Netherlands, been doing that since before Euro2000 (Well, after Sweden that is). England was quite solid in the qualifications, will be interesting to see how far they can go. I'd like an "underdog" to surprise again.
Also, it's interesting and quite unique? that all the Asian teams are from so 'far away' as in Saudi-Arabia, Iran etc. didn't make it. I'm also quite surprised by the Brazilian squad, think Argentina looks stronger at the moment, even though they quite struggled to even get in to the tournament.
 
Way to go out against Turkey. Can't wait to hear what Jerry has to say about the match and what the atmosphere was like.
 
The 2-1 victory against Turkey was quite a send off & the team showed what they're made of with the come-from-behind win. The crowd of over 55,400 was very supportive & it was nice to finally have a home game that actually felt like one.
A lot of questions about our team were answered this week.
Tuesday's 2-4 loss to the Czechs was just to narrow down the roster to 23 players & more guys played their way off the team rather than on. We played without 8 of our starters including Donovan, Dempsey & Howard, but Maurice Adu, Herculez Gomez (both goalscorers), DeMarcus Beasley & Jose Torres all played well enough to earn their spots at the World Cup. Questions concerning our back line were raised however, as Oguchi Onyewu looked shaky in his first game after an 8 month injury layoff. Clarence Goodson showed that he's no replacement & Jonathan Bornstein didn't convince either.
That all changed on Saturday in Philadelphia.
The game was a tell of two halves, as the USA gave 4 substitutes starting roles. Onyewu was saved for the second half, with Goodson & Jay DeMerit starting in central defense. Team captain Carlos Bocanegra returned to the left back position with Jonathan Spector covering the right side. Benny Feilhaber got to start on the left wing with Landon Donovan on the right flank. Ricardo Clark also got to start next to Michael Bradley in central midfield, which pushed Clint Dempsey up front beside Jozy Altidore.
The team struggled at first as the players tried to settle into their new roles. Donovan grew frustrated & tried to cover too much of the field. He drifted over to the left as Spector moved up on a U.S. attack. With Clark also pushed up, the entire right flank was left exposed & the Turks took advantage to take the 1-0 lead. Although the goal was not entirely Spector's fault, the West Ham defender chased the game - and chased the Turks - throughout the first half.
Feilhaber did nothing on his flank & Clark made no impact on the game, which allowed the Turks to impose their play.
All that changed in the 2nd half when Onyewu came on for Goodson, Stuart Holden replaced Feilhaber, Torres for Clark & Steve Cherundolo for Spector.
Cherundolo keep the right flank in check and along with his solid 90 minute performance against the Czechs, earned the starting role in South Africa. DeMerit also earned the right to play along side Onyewu, who looked more secure & solid than he did on Tuesday night.
Holden also played well on the left wing & will be battling Beasley for the starting spot. The same goes for Torres, who could take the starting central midfield spot from Edu. With three strong players to his left, Donovan stayed on the right wing, as he did at Everton, and set up both goals - one each from Altidore & Dempsey.
So a good all-round performance before the team boarded their flight to South Africa. They have one more game, on June 5 against Australia, to tighten things up a bit more & nail down those last two starting spots, but it's looking like they'll have a fighting chance when June 12 roles around.
So right now it looks like our starting lineup against England will be as follows:
---------------Alitadore-------Dempsey-----------------
--Beasley/Holden--Edu/Torres --Bradley--Donovan--
----Bocanegra---DeMerit---Onyewu---Cherundolo----
------------------------Howard---------------------------
 
Found a fun little game with potential prizes on MSN. It's a World Cup predictor, and you guess what you think the score will be. A bit of fun, and there are prizes to be won.

Best of all, it's FREE!

Here it is: http://predictor-game.com/app/start.jsp

I've even created a mini-league for all CFers who join up. Basically, we'd compete against other leagues to see who gets the best scores, but really, we just want to see who's the best from CF.

Just search for "CoasterForce" in the mini-leagues.

And the password is rollercoaster

So, any joiners?
 
At work we had a sweepstake and I picked my two teams out. South Africa and Ivory Coast.

Wasted my money right there!
 
Well, needed a simple one that CFers can use :p The chances of people other than CFers actually wanting to join is close to nil, though I do have the power to kick anyone not a registered user on CF from the league ;)
 
I think England stand a good chance, but mainly because of other teams faltering.

The only team that really stands out is Spain, everyone else are beatable.

But whatever happens, I just hope the cheating Portuguese get ****ing stuffed in their group. Bastards.
 
Yeah, sorry about that :/ You had to select the league for one team only (which is stupid) and I instinctively put England out of ignorance. Perhaps you could start one for the US members and we could compete against each other on a CF vs CF battle? :p
 
Things are looking good for the Yanks heading into their opening game against England. Jozy Altidore (who plays for Hull City) sat out the 3-1 win over Australia with a sprained ankle, but resumed full training yesterday & should be ready to play again on Saturday. Edson Buddle, who plays for the L.A. Galaxy, made a strong case for starting along side Altidore with his brace against the Aussies & Herculez Gomez (who plays in Mexico for Puebla) got the third, proving that the Americans have as much depth up front as they do in midfield.
With so many midfielders to choose from, coach Bob Bradley could start Clint Dempsey (Fulham) up front with Altidore & let DeMarcus Beasley, who plays for Glasgow Rangers, (or Stuart Holden, who plays for Bolton Wanderers) start on the left wing with Landon Donovan covering the right flank for Dempsey. But Dempsey is more comfortable on the right wing, so I hope Bradley gives Buddle the chance, even if he lacks international experience.
The other question is who will start in central midfield beside Michael Bradley (the coach's son, who plays for Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany's Bundesliga)? Maurice Adu (Glasgow Rangers) looked to be the clear choice, but he sat on the bench against the Socceroos & Ricardo Clark, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, now seems to be first choice.
The Americans biggest worry is their central defenders, who still look particularly vulnerable to set plays. Oguchi Onyewu, the massive center back who plays for AC Milan, came off the bench an hour into the game against Australia & has yet to play a full game since suffering a tendon injury last October. Both he & coach Bradley say he can go the full 90 against England, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Clarence Goodson, who plays in Norway for IK Start, lineup beside Jay DeMerit (Watford) in Onyewu's position come Saturday. At least the outside back positions are clear, with longtime Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra starting on the laft & Hannover captain Steve Cherundolo as right back.
So there are still a few unanswered questions about the Yanks, but I think they have a good chance of giving England a run for their money & both teams should advance out of the group.
 
^That post actually proves to all those people who doubt it that the USA are a serious contending team this time round (even if many Americans don't believe it themselves)
 
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