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World Cup 2026 Thread

mpw said:
I am glad Belgium won vs. USA as a US citizen. The USA coach should not have played the Red Card player out of true sportsmanship but that of course did not happen.
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It didn't matter the least. I think Pocchetino's mistake was to not take out Pulisic and Balogun earlier, they were completely ineffective. Admittedly the midfield was losing balls left and right and the defense was leaky, so too many things to fix.
Unfortunately I think it was a classic case of choking... the US team got the jitters having come thus far. They played way below the level they'd shown previously... hopefully this promising showing (overall) will give the next gen of players more confidence. The athletic talent is undoubtedly there. The mental discipline and self-confidence not yet. :-(
 
pablolie said:
It didn't matter the least. I think Pocchetino's mistake was to not take out Pulisic and Balogun earlier, they were completely ineffective. Admittedly the midfield was losing balls left and right and the defense was leaky, so too many things to fix.
Unfortunately I think it was a classic case of choking... the US team got the jitters having come thus far. They played way below the level they'd shown previously... hopefully this promising showing (overall) will give the next gen of players more confidence. The athletic talent is undoubtedly there. The mental discipline and self-confidence not yet. :-(
Click to expand...
I’m starting to wonder if AI didn’t just write the script for this tournament… red-card drama, political interference, unexpected twists, and a 1–4 Belgium win. Even Hollywood would say “too unrealistic". Ah it is just a game an sometimes so much more:cool:
 
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pablolie said:
It didn't matter the least. I think Pocchetino's mistake was to not take out Pulisic and Balogun earlier, they were completely ineffective. Admittedly the midfield was losing balls left and right and the defense was leaky, so too many things to fix.
Unfortunately I think it was a classic case of choking... the US team got the jitters having come thus far. They played way below the level they'd shown previously... hopefully this promising showing (overall) will give the next gen of players more confidence. The athletic talent is undoubtedly there. The mental discipline and self-confidence not yet. :-(
Click to expand...
Personally I think I would have pulled Ream after the 1st goal, and definitely the 2nd. Might have avoided the 3rd - lol.

He was just not on the field.
 
Belgium in - USA out
1000006349.jpg

Clear dominance in every aspect of the game, Belgium held it's rank.
 
pablolie said:
I think Pocchetino's mistake was to not take out Pulisic and Balogun earlier, they were completely ineffective.
Click to expand...
Call me a hater but I'll say it again, I know that coach well, he's a clown. Don't count on him to motivate an unexperienced team to play their most important international game, he has the charisma of an oyster. Too bad for us, I'd have liked a more competitive game
 
mpw said:
I am glad Belgium won vs. USA as a US citizen. The USA coach should not have played the Red Card player out of true sportsmanship but that of course that did not happen.
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I totally disagree, even if I think the whole 'let's bend the rules' episode was terrible the coach the players and the supporters have nothing to do with it. Imagine being the coach and saying to the young Balogun, ''sorry dude, out of true sportmanship I won't put you on the field'', it just doesn't make sense at all. I don't know a single football coach on the planet who would've done this.
 
A little more on Balogun from Rudy Garcia (Belgium coach)
Garcia was able to exchange a few words with Balogun after the final whistle.

"He came over to see me, and I appreciated that. None of this is his fault. He's not the one who should be blamed, and I told him exactly that. I really appreciated him coming over to speak with me."
Class act from the kid.
 
pablolie said:
In the end didn't make a difference, did it? Belgium made their point on the field. Balogun was invisible, zero relevance despite all the focus on that.
USA was completely outclassed.
Wonder if POTUS will take their citizenship birthright away or just ban them to Detroit. :-D
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Please do forgive me for the nasty analogy:
Accepting this just because the corruption failed to provide the desired result is like aquitting a rapist in court, because the poor woman/girl didn't become pregnant.

I dare say it is widely accepted that many sport governing bodies are corrupt - just look at the IOC Samaranch era, Sochi, Bejing/Wada, LeTour, Chess, IBU and what not. However, such corruption revealed by the culprits as it happens, that it is quite rare, "unpresidented" so to speak. That's a new level of hybris even for FIFA. The examples I mention is just a sort of whataboutism, this is about FIFA and the governing of FIFA, it's rules and the game.

It matters, of course it does.

Groove01 said:
You do realize you’re getting worked up over US soccer right - lol.
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It is not really about US Soccer which was on the verge of becoming relevant, and that would have been a good thing for the game. And it is not about the player, this is way over his head. It is about FIFA and it's leader being a participating part in blatant corruption.

I'm not worked up at all, quite the contrary, as the championship just became irrelevant to me. Putting a stop to such corruption however, isn't ;)
 
Have to give it to Ronaldo, my least favorite celebrity teamplayer. He's the only player I'm aware of who has his own national team.

Handing it back to his country now, good for the game :)
 
Karmacoma said:
I totally disagree, even if I think the whole 'let's bend the rules' episode was terrible the coach the players and the supporters have nothing to do with it. Imagine being the coach and saying to the young Balogun, ''sorry dude, out of true sportmanship I won't put you on the field'', it just doesn't make sense at all. I don't know a single football coach on the planet who would've done this.
Click to expand...
I agree, the poor guy is caught in the middle of this. The whole thing is a balagan
But what if, in a purely hypothetical world he had said, sorry guys I'm recusing myself and I won't play
 
Mort said:
You come off as pretty worked up about it.

Your vulgar analogy doesn't make sense.
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Not worked up at all, and the analogy is quite to the point, admittedly nasty as it is and as pointed out.
 
Sir Sanders Zingmore said:
But what if, in a purely hypothetical world he had said, sorry guys I'm recusing myself and I won't play
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That's just too much sh*t to carry for a kid. Everything happened way over his head. That would have fueled the controversy x10 and his name would have been associated with it forever, impacting his international carreer and mental strenght. Unthinkable.
 
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