utsoccer87

essien may find himself on the bench next year now that ballack signed with chelsea.

Here are my predictions:

 

Ghana-2 Italy-1 (Upset pick of the Group stage, Ghana has nothing to lose and I don't think the Italians will have an answer to stop Essien, I believe he runs free early and finally two Italians will have to mark him later in the game and that will open space for the no-names of Ghana, who you can bet will have tons of speed. This is another France vs. Senegal from 2002. If you remember, Zidane had an injury right before the 02 WC and that killed the French team, I see a big comparison between what Zidane's injury meant to France and what Totti's injury means to Italy. Don't forget that little scandal, as well.)

 

 

zidane didn't play in that game or the next one and totti is going to be playing so its not really the same thing. i hope your predictions are right though, that's about how i see it playing out.

1.France

2.Brazil

3.Argentina

4.Portugal

5.Italy

6.England

7.Germany

8.Czech

9.United States

10.Sweden

not a bad list. here's mine.

1) holland

2) brazil

3) portugal

4) england (#1 with a healthy rooney)

5) argentina

6) usa

7) italy

8) czech

9) france

10) spain

If Italy is so good, then why have they not won the WC in so long? If you dont like the ranking system, then you know that the Czechs are overrated and are incredibly old for a national team. Ghana is terrible because they were coming after Freddy Adu and were promising him a spot on the team..Italy has ALL the talent, but they are just not a well-organized team, and with all the scandal going on over there, I think that they will fall apart.

 

I think that the US does have some world class talent. Donovan could be a force in the EPL if he wanted to, that league is tailor-made for his style of play. Same with Beasley. This World Cup will also show the world that we have other world class talent in Eddie Johnson, Clint Dempsey, and Onyewu.

 

To go far in the WC, I am convinced it is just who is hot at the right time and who is lucky. Turkey and Korea played in the 3rd place game last year, and Germany made it to the final. Nobody predicted this. If our team uses its strengths (speed and one touch passing) we can win our group and hopefully keep advancing..

I agree with everything you said. Italy has this scandal hanging over their heads. The Czechs are old and Nedved commits some very silly fouls that could get him ejected and kill the team. Ghana is not better than us. Essien is a good player, but who other than that. The US has world-class talent that will be on display. Look for Onyewu, Johnson, Dempsey, and Donovan (if he wants to) to move to Europe and cash in following the Cup. Whoever wins this group is going to the semi finals, and I truly believe it can be us. As for the tourney overall, I don't think Brazil will repeat. England can get to the quarters without Rooney and if he can play at 75 percent in that game look for them to progress onward and win it as his health improves. If not, I like Holland. Portugal could also make some noise. In my opinion, this is as wide open as the Cup has been since I've been old enough to follow it. There are 8-10 teams that have a legitimate shot at it.

it's going to be a very close game that goes down to the wire. having seen both play live i'd have to go with bearden, but i said the same about the houston-h'ville game. that said hendersonville won't out physical bearden. i'll take bearden in pks.

first pick i've gotten right the whole tourney. guess i was due.

Haha fair enough, they had a few starters out there, but not all. It was the B team by name only.

they still shouldn't lose to belarus. belarus is worse than morocco. and i also saw that it was belarus's b team. i was just trying to show how much these friendlies don't really matter. england's using their b team only re-emphasizes that.

it's going to be a very close game that goes down to the wire. having seen both play live i'd have to go with bearden, but i said the same about the houston-h'ville game. that said hendersonville won't out physical bearden. i'll take bearden in pks.

Gibbs out with a knee injury, being replaced by Berhalter. I thought he should've been included in the squad from the get go. USA vs. Venezuala tonight @ 7 on ESPN2. G, how in the world does your dad know the trainer? Does he live around here??

that's 7 eastern right? did everyone see englands lost to belarus or someone like that. shows you how much these friendlies matter.

Hendersonville won 2-0 over Houston

good for h'ville and middle tn. i'm surprised at it though. details?

i was not disappointed at all by o'brien. the best chances we had in the first half were all created by him. sure his touch was off a little, but that's to be expected. i would have to say the biggest disappointment was mcbride. he was invisible. wolff also should not have been in, but i think johnson will move into the starting lineup friday against venezuela. i was very impressed by convey, he brought a lot of energy to the team when he first entered.

the one thing no one is talking about on the goal...keller should have come to play it with his feet. cherundolo did screw it up no doubt, but keller needs to come clear that in that situation.

also, donovan plays better without reyna in the game. reyna gets far too much respect. he is not one of the 5 best players on the team, and we lose nothing when he is not in. even 4 years ago when he was younger and better physically, we beat portugal without him. now we need him even less than then. i hope he's not back for the cup. donovan plays better when he has the captain's band.

overall the result is disappointing, but not devastating. it doesn't matter one bit, and hopefully will serve as a wake-up call as the team goes forward from here.

for those of you who don't know, sportscenter all access is following the team, so there will be a feature about them on sportscenter every night for the next week at least.

bearden will beat them.

houston 3 hendersonville 1

farragut 2 riverdale 0

ooltewah 3 ridgeway 2

bearden 4 brentwood 2

i've seen bearden, houston, and hendersonville all play and hendersonville is not as good as the other two. being from middle tn, i'm pulling for h'ville and brentwood, but i'm afraid they'll be headed home early.

i've seen both play, and houston is better. i hope hendersonville will win being from middle tn, but i don't see it happening.

No way they both lose, I think both may win, brentwood will surely win against Bearden. Lowder should have a field day against Bearden, he has 35 or something goals, and Bolt has 25-30 for Hendersonville, I predict wins from both of these schools.

35 goals against bad teams. the only good team they played all year was Hendersonville and he didn't score against them. I've seen Hendersonville, Bearden, and Houston all play and Hendersonville is not on the same level as the other two. If Hendersonville and Brentwood are truly even teams then they'll both be headed home early.

Brentwood and Hendersonville are both goin out rd. 1 of the state to Bearden and Houston. Those two will play in the title game with Houston winning.

final 6-2. really wasn't even that close. first clarksville goal was a questionable pk and second came against hendersonville's younger players.

hendersonville by 3 goals and gallatin wins a close game

I was just wondering how all district players are picked etc. Only me and our goalie made it from our team and Adam Meholic #5 and Jake Vanderburg#3 are probably two of the best players in our district and did not make it.

your team gets a certain number of players based on where you finished in the district. if it truly was the best players in the district no matter the team, pretty much every player would have been from Clarksville and Rossview from that district.

clarksville 2 rossview 1

rossview 3 dickson co. 0

Clarksville-Rossview rematch Thursday night.

last 16:

germany

ecuador

england

sweden

holland

argentina

portugal

mexico

usa

italy

brazil

australia

korea

france

spain

tunisia

final 8:

sweden

holland

usa

korea

england

portugal

brazil

spain

final 4:

holland

usa

portugal

brazil

final 2:

holland

brazil

champion:

holland

I'm pretty sure those are eastern times listed.

we needed to fill another fullback for hejduk but i would have picked berhalter over gibbs

Gibbs should be there. I think Berhalter should have been there over Conrad. The reason I think Bruce chose Conrad is because whichever one of the two was on the team was going to be a backup, and I think Conrad was more willing to accept that role than Berhalter.

US in a 4-4-2

 

GK: Keller

RB: Cherundolo

CB: Pope

CB: Onyewu

LB: Lewis

RM: O'Brien

CM: Reyna

AM: Donovan

LM: Beasley

CF: McBride

ST: Johnson

 

US in a 3-5-2

 

GK: Keller

CB: Gibbs

CB: Bocanegra

CB: Onyewu

RM: Dempsey/Cherundolo

CM: O'Brien

CM: Reyna

AM: Donovan

LM: Beasley/Lewis

CF: McBride

ST: Johnson

 

Bruce likes to use 3 true centerbacks in his 3-5-2 formation with the 2 wings sliding back when necessary to create almost a 5-3-2 style of play. Cherundolo is probably our most solid man marker so he's always been penciled in as the starter. If Johnson can regain even some of his form from 2 years ago, It will be great seeing his seering pace flying onto throughballs and knockdowns created by the midfield and McBride!!

I like the 3 backs in that 3-5-2 a lot. The only problem I see is Beasley is going to be on the field for sure. But Cherundolo gets in the attack well so him at an outside mid might work very well.

Cherundolo would have started over Hejduk anyway. I think Albright is the right guy to take his place, as he is very good in set pieces, which is very valuable in international play. I read somewhere the suggestion of the US running a 3-5-2. I hadn't thought about that, but if O'brien is healthy enough to be effective that might be our best choice. Put Cherundolo, Onyewu, and Lewis in the back. The Defensive mids O'brien and Reyna with Donovan the Attacking mid, and Dempsey and Beasley outside mids. Johnson and McBride would be the striker tandem. We probably won't do this though. I really hope someone steps up to replace Pope, whether its Gibbs, Bocanegra, or whomever. Did you see the ball Donovan took away from him to score over the weekend? That stuff gets you eliminated in the World Cup.

I like our chances to win the group though. The Czech Republic has talent, but Nedved has not looked good this year, and I don't like his mentality. He played in no qualifiers and then decided to come out of retirement to play in the playoffs to get in. He also is a headcase and does some silly things. I don't know if anyone saw, but the foul he committed against Arsenal in the second leg of the Champions League was pretty ridiculous. I think he will do something that ends up hurting his side. As for Italy, the coach has come out and said he doesn't think Vieri will be fit for the cup. Totti is also coming off injury. Add in that they always seem to underachieve in the World Cup and lose to less talented teams, and I like our chances.

Whichever of those three teams wins the group will be in the semifinals. Round 2 would be a matchup with Croatia, Australia, or Japan and in the Quarters it will probably be an overrated French team, or maybe the South Koreans. Either way any of the three out of the US, Italy, and Czech should advance on to the semis.

I love the World Cup. There is nothing else on the same level. Can't wait for it to start.