Argentina Vs. Usa In World Cup: Who Would You Root For?

[toongeorges]

What? No comments about Dracula Suarez? I guess I have to read the comment section of the Telegraph now.

 

[AdrianB1983]

RESPONSE:

#1: Zusi has one assist off of a set piece. Di Maria has zero. (El no tiene nada.) Advantage: ZUSI

If I were to start one, I'd definitely pick Di Maria. Every coach in the world would. But if I needed someone to take a set piece, I'd pick Zusi. (Only about 5% of the coaches in the world would... maybe 1%.)

Perhaps Di Maria's failure on set pieces is because he is serving the ball to hobbits, but so far Zusi > Di Maria on set pieces. You either produce or you don't. And Di Maria hasn't.


#2: Clint Dempsey's goal against Ghana, a team that is far superior than Iran, was every bit as impressive as any Messi goal. And it was all him. And he wasn't being marked by a striker, but rather defenders.

He also has as many goals as Messi, but against much more impressive competition. He also has more career World Cup goals as Messi, but in fewer matches. Of course he is not as good as Messi, but unlike Agüero or Higuaín (both of whom I love as players), Dempsey is getting it done. And absolutely no coach in the world would say "He doesn't impress." He wouldn't have ever even earned a cap in a friendly if he were from Argentina, but he's now scored in 3 straight World Cups, something Messi will never do.

Jermaine Jones has been one of the best players in the entire World Cup. He has played far better than any midfielder on Argentina. Absolutely no coach would say "He can't play."

Fabian Johnson has been Zabaleta-esque going forward. Again, no coach would say that he can't play.

Tim Howard had a bad game, but is still better than any keeper that Argentina has had in the last 30 years, if not ever. He was also one of the best, if not THE best, keeper in the EPL this past year.

Michael Bradley has been crap (for him) this World Cup, yet he was a starter at Roma up until Kevin Strootman from the Netherlands showed up. And even then, he was getting starts. Considering Roma didn't deem Gago worth keeping, and Bradley if much more of a threat to score on set pieces (and has a World Cup goal under his belt), I would not only say that Bradley would be considered "someone who can play", but up until these past two uneven games, would be considered better than Gago. (Considering the US has shown up Gago in the past when the two teams played, I don't think that many think much of Gago anymore, but his familiarity with Messi is his greatest asset.)


#3: Iran was the more dangerous side in that match. If it weren't for arguably Romero's best game ever for the albiceleste, Argentina would have lost. (Again, the hobbit factor comes into play... as it does against Germany... every time except for 1986.) If the US were to play Argentina, there would be know doubt that Argentina would be favored and that Argentina would have the far superior players. The only doubt would be whether they would win.

Staying defensively compact, yet being opportunistic is how the US beat Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup in 2009. And this US team is superior to that team. And that Spanish team is superior to this Argentine team.


#4: There are many reasons that the entire bench is on the books for big clubs in Europe.
-There is a history of amazing players coming from Argentina, so as in the case of Gago... and Funes Mori, the mere fact that a player has played for Boca or River brings amazing clout. And more often than not, it shows in their play.
-The technical ability of Argentine players is borne out of years of honing their skills on their own, or in pickup games in addition to getting proper coaching at the earliest ages. Again, the opportunity for that in Argentina far exceeds that in the US were people who practice "sports" on their own are either doing it with a basketball or a skateboard.
-The pure numbers of kids who have to fight and scrap against players their own age, or younger, just to get noticed is a survival of the fittest petri dish for producing outstanding soccer talent (as it is in Brazil... though their team is kind of crap this year). The opposite is the case in the US and explains why a player like Landon Donovan could be "a star" from the age of 20 and yet feel that he can take some personal time to recharge his batteries. (Something that is never considered if you've had to fight for what you've got.)

All that being said, Kyle Beckerman has played as well as Mascherano. No one has come close to playing at Jermaine Jones' level. And Zusi has an assist from a set piece.

Advantage USA Midfield

Well, if the US players play that well I'm pretty sure Real Madrid will hire one of them pretty soon. Do you imagine how well Real Madrid would do financially if they had a player from the US??? It would be the biggest football business of all time. How many shirts would that guy sell in the US? Ads, television rights... wow! But, why don't they do it? Because these US players are not good. In fact, they are pretty bad for Real Madrid's standards. Period. They might have had one good game here, one nice goal there, one nice pass but they can't do it consistently and they will end up failing sooner than later. The difference is that a couple of bad games is the exception for someone like Agüero while a couple of good games is the exception for someone like Dempsey.
Oh, and Iran didn't deserve to win. They had some nice chances, Argentina played poorly, Iran played way above their expectations, but they didn't deserve to win. Their scoring opportunities and everyone view on the game are enlarged by the fact that such a tiny country could do that against a powerhouse (footballistically speaking of course). Just change the name Iran to Germany and everyone would be talking about how Argentina dominated and deserved to win.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Well, if the US players play that well I'm pretty sure Real Madrid will hire one of them pretty soon. Do you imagine how well Real Madrid would do financially if they had a player from the US??? It would be the biggest football business of all time. How many shirts would that guy sell in the US? Ads, television rights... wow! But, why don't they do it? Because these US players are not good. Period. They might have had one good game here, one nice goal there, one nice pass but they can't do it consistently and they will end up failing sooner than later. The difference is that a couple of bad games is the exception for someone like Agüero while a couple of good games is the exception for someone like Dempsey.
Oh, and Iran didn't deserve to win. They had some nice chances, Argentina played poorly, Iran played way above their expectations, but they didn't deserve to win. Their scoring opportunities and everyone view on the game are enlarged by the fact that such a tiny country could do that against a powerhouse (footballistically speaking of course). Just change the name Iran to Germany and everyone would be talking about how Argentina dominated and deserved to win.

With a little luck, then, US soccer will disappear off the map.

 

[Rich One]

No Empate Option? on this Poll??

 

[Matiasba]

very well done this photo!!!

 

[Joe]

It's a horse race in terms of whether BAexpat readers would root for Argentina or the USA in their soccer match.

This is a key poll, for it will determine once and for all if BAexpats are USA-centric or not!

 

[johnw100]

It's a horse race in terms of whether BAexpat readers would root for Argentina or the USA in their soccer match.

This is a key poll, for it will determine once and for all if BAexpats are USA-centric or not!

Not necessarily, a good few non-americans would always vote against wanting Argentina to win when it comes to football. Although i`m with Argentina on this one because of my beloved wife (who would slaughter me if I didnt support them)

 

[Crema Americana]

Argentina. It's not that I'm not a US patriot, but I think a win for Argentina means a lot more than a win for the US. A lot of Americans don't care about the game, here it's everything. Plus the US dominates in a lot of other sports, so I'm fine with them being a middle of the pack contender in soccer. It's funny to even see American fans in the stands... the fanfare is very American.

That said, I definitely root for the US to win - just not against Argentina or Spain. (Not that Spain even has a chance this year.)

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

Hybrid-san getting into World Cup spirit:

Yep but had a bad feelin' bout hiring a foreigner coach this time around. 4 years ago when the minor Japan soccer team dared to venturing to rough it out with the world's best, amazingly ended up as the best 8th? Then it was called "Okada team, Japan"...
This time around hoping to go further up the rankings, Mr. Zaccheroni took the initiative, but the fast talking Italiano could not teach enough to his palyers in " Italiano"..So _Adieu Japan_ hasta el proximo !!

 

[toongeorges]

What? No comments about Dracula Suarez? I guess I have to read the comment section of the Telegraph now.

Apparently some people earned money by betting 175 to 1 that Suarez would bite someone during the World Cup:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101787531