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I never cared for soccer until that last world cup. I worked with a half Italian and a full-blooded German from Germany. Their smack talking was epic and it actually got me into the games. It only made it better when those two teams made it to the semifinals.
And who could forget the headbutt heard around the world? Loved it.
haha nice. Hope you continue getting into the games. Its such a beautiful game. Check out some Timbers games this year, that will really get your BlazersBlood boiling for some soccer![]()
The beauty about sports is when you get to see the best in the world play, it usually is enjoyable to watch. Minor league sports don't really intrigue me, no matter what the sport, unless it's my kids playing. I don't think I'd ever get into the Timbers. But I will be watching the World Cup as much as I can.
World Cup is a lot of fun. Sometimes I can't get over how overboard serious people can be over a soccer team- then I go to our S2 Blazer forum and it all makes sense afterall.
The US team could make some noise provided Dempsey and Onyewu are healthy. They have a nice team. Howard is good enough to get you far. Landon has proven he can more than play with the big boys this winter. Dempsey and Onyewu do their thing. If Beasley makes the squad and plays as well as he did against the Netherlands a month or so ago, he would be a help. Altidore is whats needed to get over the hump though. Some are predicting that he breaks out this World Cup. He has so much potential as a player. And Raw talent. If he can put it together this summer, the US can make a nice run.
all that said.. its the Netherlands year Biznatches!!!![]()
just be glad we arent allowed to bring road flares into the RG.. things could get ugly real fast!
They allow road flares at PGE??????![]()
The US team should make some noise this time... they have a somewhat favorable draw, hopefully they'll be mostly healthy, and England is minus Beckham and Rooney is nursing some injuries himself. If the US squad can capture in a bottle how they played against Spain and in the first half vs. Brazil in the Confed Cup, they could be very dangerous.
Chicago Fire fans not thinking things through
Fabregas will also definitely be back to Spain by the World Cup so expect him to play a big part in Spain's campaign.
LOL!
"Fire, Fire, Fire."
It probably read, 'World Cup Finals' which means the World Cup. I found an article on it, I'll try and look for it again.I thought I read somewhere that Cesc would only be back for the Final if he made it. Maybe I misread though.![]()
It probably read, 'World Cup Finals' which means the World Cup. I found an article on it, I'll try and look for it again.
The 2010 World Cup, which starts in 58 days in South Africa, is shaping up to become the tournament of Lionel Messi.
Every generation or so, a player emerges undisputed as the greatest on the face of the planet from the tournament played once every four years since 1930, a player who embraces and conquers the withering pressure and hype on the global stage at the world's greatest sporting event rather than submitting to it.
It was so in Sweden in 1958, a tournament that was the coming-out party for a 17-year-old Brazilian boy wonder named Pele.
He didn't even get on the field in Brazil's first two games and didn't score until the quarterfinals, and became the youngest player to do so in World Cup history. But after that Pele was unstoppable. He demolished France with a second-half hat trick in the semifinals and then added two more goals against Sweden in the final as Brazil won 5-2 and Pele entered World Cup lore.
It was so in Mexico in 1986, when Diego Maradona dominated with five goals and five assists. He captained Argentina to the title and scored perhaps the greatest World Cup goal ever, weaving his way past a half dozen English players before depositing the ball in the back of the net.
And it could become so for Barcelona's Messi when the tournament opens June 11. At the age of just 22, the reigning FIFA World Footballer of the Year has gone on a virtually unprecedented pre-tournament tear in the last month or so, setting new standards and threatening to exhaust the superlatives of observers.
"Messi's like a PlayStation," Arsene Wenger, the respected French manager of England's Arsenal said last week after Messi had ripped one of England's best teams asunder by scoring all four goals in Barcelona's 4-1 UEFA Champions League victory.
"In the biggest games, exceptional players still make the difference," Wenger added. "Messi is the best player in the world, and by a distance. He has six or seven years in front of him, (knock on wood) that nothing happens to him and he can reach unbelievable levels."
In all Messi has scored 11 goals in his past eight games, including two hat tricks. With a stunning 27 goals in 30 La Liga games this season - and 40 in all competitions, a strike rate virtually unheard of in modern top-class soccer - Messi is on track to lift the Golden Ball as Europe's top scorer.
"This award says I'm the best player in the world," said Ronaldinho upon lifting the FIFA World Footballer of the Year award in 2006, "but I'm not even the best player at Barcelona."
And that was more than three years ago.
Since then, Messi has gotten even better, his career on a seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory.
His last outing even unintentionally illustrated the gulf between MLS and other leagues in the world.
On Saturday afternoon, winless Chivas USA labored to its first victory of the young MLS season over the previously undefeated New York Red Bulls in a dreadful game of tepid and uninspired soccer thankfully witnessed by a small crowd of 12,597.
At exactly the same time, a continent, an ocean and several levels of soccer away, Messi was scoring the superb opening goal of the Barcelona-Real Madrid derby seen live on U.S. television and around the world. The eventual 2-0 win gave Barca a three-point lead over its biggest rival, a gap considered virtually unassailable with seven games remaining.
It was further proof, were any needed, that even in the glare of one of the biggest club games in the world this year the diminutive 5-foot-7 Messi towers far above his peers.
And he could well surpass the likes of Maradona and Pele, too, if he hasn't already.
"Nobody was so wonderful at 19 years," declared former German star Karl-Heinz Rummenigge two years ago, "neither Pele nor Maradona."
Southern Californians caught a glimpse of Messi's prodigious talent in person last year, when a record crowd of more than 93,000 crammed into the Rose Bowl to see Barcelona take on the Galaxy.
David Beckham put on a show for the home team, but he was eclipsed by the magical, mesmerizing Messi, who played only the opening 45 minutes but was a joy to behold as he orchestrated the Spanish team's attacks.
Messi has been criticized for failing to duplicate his club form for Argentina, although that perhaps may be due more to the national team's style of play under the increasingly eccentric Maradona than anything else.
Nevertheless, soccer fans should mark their calendars for the Argentine games June 12 against Nigeria, June 17 against South Korea and June 22 against Greece in its group stage finale.
For that matter (unless Maradona messes up royally) fans might want to keep in mind the final is played July 11, since if Messi's current form is any indication Argentina likely will be playing in that game as well.
"Messi is incredible, a footballer you get once every 25 to 30 years," Barcelona midfielder Xavi Alonso was quoted as saying after Messi had dismantled Arsenal. "He scores goals, he helps out, he puts pressure on rivals, he defends. He is the number one."
And you don't want to miss that.