Now you have to beat Iran by more goals than Wales or lose to England by fewer. Second place in the group and progression to the knockout rounds is likely to be decided on goal difference now.
Pretty much. They're a very young team and given their inability to score - 1 shot on goal tonight and 1 goal in their last three games - experience is probably the most valuable thing they'll get out of this Cup. The good news is that the WC will be played in North America in 2026 when this group should be entering its prime, so their best years and playing at home are in front of them.
Will be a very difficult game. Japan has first class players, a lot of them play for top European teams. The last test game was horrible, no preparations possible and Flick was experimenting like a mad-man. Timo Werner is out, injury. Key player in my eyes for Germany will be Jamal Musaila. That kiddo has been playing in top form for Bayern. Gnarbry, Sane, Kimmich are in top form. Will be interesting to see, who will take Werners place. It will be interesting. Most interesting choice was for me Mario Goetze, but he has been playing rather good in Frankfurt, at times brilliant. That could be the come back of the WC.
Young teams have to age well. That is the big question for the US team. Young is not a good excuse, they have played hundreds of games in leagues all over the world. They are well seasoned, they are professionals, that's their job. What the US is missing, is a real play maker in the middle field, who can keep them going for 90 plus minutes. The way they fell apart in the second half shows it
Argentina not looking too impressive so far. One nil up at halftime from a soft penalty and 3 offside goals. Argentina shouldn't be falling victim to Saudi Arabia's offside trap quite so easily. On the plus side their finishing has been superb and I expect them to come out in the second half playing a more intelligent game. Disappointing so far but I'm ready for a big improvement after a half time talk about the offside rule. Saudi Arabia are still in this game and they shouldn't be.
...and as I edited my last post SA scored an equaliser. Maybe there is a God and he's pissed that Maradona used him as a scapegoat for his outrageous cheating. 1-1 Game on.
Saudi win 2-1. Nothing in this match to worry England if they have to play the Argies later in the tournament. Very poor performance against the 53rd ranked team in the world. Take that Galtieri and take that Maradona. You suck.
I suppose. Well, at least the USMT isn't out of it. Let us hope they are more focused in the future on actually playing soccer and not engaging in political feelz.
Definitely not out of it yet. Let's not forget USA have pulled off a big upset against England in the WC before when they beat us 1-0 back in 1950 and they also held us to a 1-1 draw in 2010. You also beat us 2-0 in the only other non-friendly meeting between the two sides in 1993 in the US Cup. That's a 2-0-1 record against us in competitive matches. I'm not going to be underestimating you on Friday and I hope the team doesn't either.
On the other hand we haven't lost to Wales since 1984 and have a 68-14-21 record in all games. Our all games record against the USA is 8-2-1
