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Video: Breaking down the USMNT World Cup Draw

Clint Dempsey
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FT0FMzMj8E]

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  1. US travel in Brazil will all be in one time zone (except Manaus which is only 1/2 hour earlier.) Is 2 – 3 hours on a charter flight worse than 2-3 hours on a chartered bus? Changing time zones probably has bigger effect on players than travel time per-se.

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    • I’m pretty sure the distance between all the venues required flight with the exception of only a couple. So the US will probably average an extra hour or two of airplane time compared to most teams. But I still don’t see what the big deal is–sitting in a plane for a couple hours versus sitting on a couch playing video games. As long as they are smart about how they time the flights they should be fine. I’m more worried about them getting malaria in Manaus or the side effects of the malaria prevention pills.

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  2. My friend u talking about African cup of nations whereby ghana lost by three goals to one in the third-fourth playoffs which to many Ghanaians are meaningless!! Listen, even in this particular tournament, ghana and Mali were in the same group in the prelims and ghana beat them by one nil scoreline when it matters most and Mali nearly didn’t qualify to the quarter finals so what are u saying? Don’t deceive yourself because ghana had a difficult worldcup campaign and if u think ghana is a weak team, u ll be surprised how we all deal with both Germany and Portugal in Brazil!! Is obvious u are uninformed in African football and if u think USA is better than ghana because it has been beaten the likes of Honduras etc then u need to developed early shock absorbers come Brazil because this time around, we ll thrash the USA ll never before!!! I know u ll cry again come June!!

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  3. They have started underrating Ghana already and that makes me happy because we all beat all the so called elite team in this group without a sweat!!! Mark it today that non of these so called elite teams scares us and we all show the world once again that FIFA rating ain’t sh….t!! Continue to massage your egos but for us the field all do the talking and we will see if your so called dreams ll come into fruition!! A lot of people are highly uninformed but Ghana ll teach these people are bitter lesson!! Ghana has even matured and transition a lot from 2010 and we ll stand toe to toe with any team on the planet and if anyone is thinking like the usmt ll have any revenge against in brazil , then that person needs to have or developed shock absorbers in case of any thrashing!!! If am an american, I l tone down my expectations because in the game of football, ghana ll never stoop low for us to defeat us!!! Never!!! All the charlatans, experts etc ll see a very powerful ghana team that ll do wonders in brazil!! Mark this today!!!!!

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    • This comment is written kind of funny, but I agree that Ghana does have that potential to have a breakout World Cup and even maybe win the group. They have the potential to beat the US or Portugal by multiple goals. Doesn’t mean it will happen, but it COULD happen. The US needs to beat Ghana, to go anywhere next year, but on the flip side, Ghana might do even better against the US than they did before.

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  4. People are confusing “over-rated” with “under-performing”. Portugal probably should be better than they usually perform. Yeah they rely on Ronaldo too much but so does Argentina rely on Messi. Portugal like a lot of countries is missing a #1 striker.

    If the USA beats any of these teams it will be the same story as it always is; a little luck, great goal keeping, lots of running and work, team defensive effort with no break-downs, and set-piece scoring/defending. But now in 2014 we can add the expectation of beating some other teams with bits of skill…

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    • Whenever we beat a good team it is luck. Why is that?

      You make your own luck through hard work and skill.

      THAT is the difference in mentality between the US and most other nations.

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      • a little luck is just one little part of any team winning. I mention work and skill. In no way do I think luck is the only factor…

  5. I hear a lot of people are making little of Portugal and saying they are only Ronaldo. That’s not the case at all. Pepe and Bruno Alves aka the great kahli, have been rated amongst one of the best center back pairings in the world. Then you have the two full backs pereira and one of the best lbs in the world coentrao. Those guys have three lungs and are constantly running up and down the field. Then there’s also moutinho And veloso, who give fantastic passes ( see Sweden game for reference)

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    • Maykol,

      Get over it! They are calling it the “Group of Death” because all of the teams are good,…if not very good.

      Ghana is the best team in Africa. The USA is the best team in CONCACAF. Germany are historically and currently one of best teams in the world. Portugal have, arguably, the best player in the world on their team and other rplayers playing in some of the top club teams in the world.

      What are you about? Could it be that it you who is flipping out about Portugal’s unlucky draw?

      The USA are favorites against no team in the World Cup,…plain and simple. Even though they topped their group in ’10…..success at the World Cup is not linear. Also,…for all of your blustering about Portugal,….please revisit Korea 2002. The USA beat Portugal 3-2. That Portugal team was made up of their ‘golden generation’ which included Figo! And remember, one of Portugal’s goals was scored by Jeff Agoos!!!

      So stop,….everyone gets it. You think Portugal is a top class team and much more than just Ronaldo. We get it. No need for six months of this,….

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      • Brian K, I get it! you think because usa beat portugal 11 years ago, you think its just so simple to do it again today. Everyone gets it! no need for six months of this!

        haha if you dont like people’s opinions dont come to the comment section? Am i not allowed to argue against people who have different views of portugal than mine?

      • You obviously don’t get. I have not read one comment on this board that belittles Portugal. It seems to me that everyone recognizes that Portugal are a very good team with a great player.

        YOU seem intent on arguing that people are underestimating Portugal,….when it is apparent that no one is doing that!

        You also miss the point of the reference to 2002. Nothing is certain,….the games are played on the field. Who would have bet that an unfancied USA team would beat Portugal that day? I am not implying that because the USA gave Portugal 3 in ’02 and crushed their World Cup that it will happen again.

  6. Here’s my perspective. It doesn’t matter if the U.S. gets to the quarterfinals in this World Cup. We could have drawn an easy group like 2010, but for the United States, the point isn’t really what round the team gets to this year. It’s about fielding a better team than four years ago, playing better than four years ago, and eventually having a team in the future that can win the whole tournament. There is no glory in beating Slovenia and Algeria. Portugal and Germany are an opportunity to make a statement. The U.S. almost never gets to play those kinds of teams except in friendlies. This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for.

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    • Well, to be clear, there is plenty of glory in beating Slovenia and Algeria in the WC, but there’s more in beating Germany, Portugal, and/or Ghana…

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  7. I’m just not sure how you could have a seeded system and geographically even system. The level of subjectivity and controversy would be immense, not to mention convoluted.

    I actually kind of love the randomness of the draw. It adds drama and allows for great stories. The tournament is ultimately to determine the best in the world. We care so much about seeding in the US because frankly our goal isn’t to win, it’s to reach the round of 16 or quarterfinals, and a seeding system helps us with that goal.

    The Germanys, Brazils or Spains of the world aren’t nearly as concerned with the seeding system as we are, because their goal is to win the World Cup, and the seeding won’t make this substantially easier.

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    • I beg to differ. The seeding can certainly be done equitably, and the criteria for seeding can be established beforehand. That removes any controversy. Within each pool, the teams could be divded into sub-pools by strength.

      The NCAA with basketball does it right. The top teams are rewarded, and there is hope for the middle tier to advance. Furthermore, it makes March Madness very exciting to watch. This WC draw dilutes the quality of the tournament. It allows other teams in CONCAFAF (and other regions) who have a lower ranking the chance for a lucky draw (like France), and risks teams who draw fans and TV ratings a higher possibility of an early exit. I agree with Michael over Ives on this topic.

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  8. Group B is tougher, IMO. I also think we will get out of this group. While still a good side, Portugal is overrated. Look at their results in qualifying, two ties vs Israel…a late win vs Luxembourg. Ghana is good but hardly a great side, very winnable game. I expect us to come out of this group…if not it will be a disappointment.

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    • usa lost to costa rica & honduras so whats your point about portugal? they have 3 world class players…ronaldo, contreao,& pepe….. usa has 0. Ghana knocked usa out the last 2 world cups. And germany is a world cup favorite how in the world is usa coming out of this group??? You are overrating USA and concacaf my friend

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    • Portugal overrated? Not a single us player would even start for Portugal. And around, any portuguese would no doubt start for USA, the exception maybe being howard. And ghanas midfield is stacked. Prince boetang, muntari, asamoah, and Essen

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      • Ghana has a stacked midfield, but Bradley, Jones, Donovan and Dempsey (if that’s where he is) are by no out of their league against Portugal’s or Ghana’s.

        You can compare individual positions to each other all you want, but the strength and accomplishments of the US team is never that we are tremendous individually, but we’re always greater than the sum of our parts. I don’t think the same can be said about Portugal. This doesn’t mean we’re the favorite by any means, but a tie is by no means an unreasonable result.

      • The us can definitely beat all these teams. And yes Dempsey Donovan, Bradley, and jones can all hold their own against these teams. But my point was to show that Portugal is not overrated and has one if the finest stating 11 in the world. Also for someone to say Ghana is not a great side. IMO opinion, the us is the least best team of the group. But still I believe we have the talent to go through

      • Are you crazy? I follow Portugal because all of my in laws are Portuguese. They would LOVE to have Altidore replace Postiga, or add Dempsey. I haven’t been impressed with Nani either, even though he is supposed to be a big name player.

        Contreao is pretty crafty left back but him and Pepe are at Real Madrid because Mourinho brought them there. Pepe is tough defender, and Contreao is probably on his way out of Real Madrid.

        Both of those teams can play great or put in an underwhelming performances. The game is a near 50/50. Probably a 55% chance to win for Portugal, 45%. USA.

      • Altidore better than prostiga and Oliveira? Doubt it, those two aren’t even good, but I’m not so sure altidore would be an improvement. And who would Dempsey? Meireles or nani? Us fans would kill for a player of withers caliber. Yeah nani plays like an idiot sometimes and I truly hate him but he’s super fast and is always getting in dangerous positions and better dribbler than any us player. Hmm you know what, so are coentrao and pereira. .And yeah of course they are at Madrid to cause mo brought them there. He did it cause they are good. Coentraos a top 5 lb and pepe, well if you watch soccer, I don’t need to go into detail about pepe. And yeah Coentraos out cause they have Marcelo who is in argument for best lb. And I’m giving the us a 30% chance of winning

      • Altidore better than prostiga and Oliveira? Doubt it, those two aren’t even good, but I’m not so sure altidore would be an improvement. And who would Dempsey? Meireles or nani? Us fans hope for a player of eithers caliber. Yeah nani plays foolishly sometimes and I don’t like him but he’s super fast and is always getting in dangerous positions and better dribbler than any us player. Hmm you know what, so are coentrao and pereira. .And yeah of course they are at Madrid to cause mo brought them there. He did it cause they are good. Coentraos a top 5 lb and pepe, well if you watch soccer, I don’t need to go into detail about pepe. And yeah Coentraos out cause they have Marcelo who is in argument for best lb. And I’m giving the us a 30% chance of winning

      • I think Portugal being slightly favored is fair. Meireles and Nani are both really inconsistent (like a lot of the USA players). It will come down to the match up between the countries’ world class performers: Ronaldo vs. Howard

  9. Don’t forget guys, we need to do our part to contribute to the USMNT for the 2034 World Cup. Impregnate as many Brasileiras as you can so there are tons of dual-national Brazilian-Americans in the player pool. It’s our national duty…

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