***Official 2022 World Cup Thread***

Gunnerclone

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Jul 16, 2010
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Kinda nice for the World Cup to come along every 8 years (for us) and remind us why it's a sport that pretty much everyone quits caring about after 5th grade.

I'll refuse to care about something we can't be dominate in because after all, that's the American way.

Stayed tune for ‘26. We’re going to be in a much better spot than we are now and at home-ish.
 

clonedude

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Apr 16, 2006
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Kinda nice for the World Cup to come along every 8 years (for us) and remind us why it's a sport that pretty much everyone quits caring about after 5th grade.

I'll refuse to care about something we can't be dominate in because after all, that's the American way.

Nice take.... it's only by FAR the most popular sport in the world.
 

CloniesForLife

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Kinda nice for the World Cup to come along every 8 years (for us) and remind us why it's a sport that pretty much everyone quits caring about after 5th grade.

I'll refuse to care about something we can't be dominate in because after all, that's the American way.
It seems to be getting much more popular across the country and I could see youth participation moving more from football to soccer. Wouldn't be surprised if we're pretty good in a decade. Going to be a long climb though because it is so engrained in the culture of a lot of these countries.
 

Clonefan32

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Nov 19, 2008
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I guess I don't see where we will ever be "good". Youth soccer has been huge for some time but our elite athletes are so spread out. We as a Nation of 331 million just drew with a country of 3 million.

This is supposedly our golden era and we are very, very mediocre.
 
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ianoconnor

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I guess I don't see where we will ever be "good". Youth soccer has been huge for some time but our elite athletes are so spread out. We as a Nation of 331 million just drew with a country of 3 million.

This is supposedly our golden era and we are very, very mediocre.
We're still consistently ranked in the Top 20 in the world. That is "good". Americans are just used to being in the top 2 or 3 in basically every other sport, so we're spoiled.
 
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TheHelgo

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Mar 20, 2006
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It seems to be getting much more popular across the country and I could see youth participation moving more from football to soccer. Wouldn't be surprised if we're pretty good in a decade. Going to be a long climb though because it is so engrained in the culture of a lot of these countries.

In St. Louis, soccer is by far the most popular youth sport - and honestly its not close. Baseball, Hockey and hoops are next in some order, with Football not hitting very high until high school. The soccer popularity here extends well beyond grade/middle school, as it is also huge in high schools.
 
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BryceC

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In St. Louis, soccer is by far the most popular youth sport - and honestly its not close. Baseball, Hockey and hoops are next in some order, with Football not hitting very high until high school. The soccer popularity here extends well beyond grade/middle school, as it is also huge in high schools.

My son plays soccer and while that may be true, that's still probably a pretty rare thing. Certainly not that way in the DSM metro.
 

BryceC

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I guess I don't see where we will ever be "good". Youth soccer has been huge for some time but our elite athletes are so spread out. We as a Nation of 331 million just drew with a country of 3 million.

This is supposedly our golden era and we are very, very mediocre.

Not our golden era, and this is a country of 331 million. We just tied a country that has 1% of that population. Even with the leftovers from other sports we could at least be pretty good.
 

3TrueFans

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Not our golden era, and this is a country of 331 million. We just tied a country that has 1% of that population. Even with the leftovers from other sports we could at least be pretty good.
We are pretty good.
 

brett108

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May 1, 2010
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Damn that second half was deflating.
I saw good things but not in defense. This team can’t set back and pack it in. They are built to go forward, Zimmerman and Ream are not the stalwarts needed inside and the rest of the guys don’t seem to get the concepts of a pure defensive block. The team looked dangerous again after the made penalty and should have been pushing the whole half.
 

3TrueFans

Just a Happily Married Man
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Bad corner kicks would like a word. Can no one else on the team take a corner? Weston or Dest? I mean it was terrible all game from Pulisic.
We wasted every single corner and set piece, not that we’re great at them anyways, but they didn’t even have a chance.
 

JustAnotherTimeline

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Even though I'm not a regular soccer fan, I always love to watch the World Cup. I do have a question for those more familiar.

It seems the internet pulse is that the US losing to England is a forgone conclusion. At a approx +330 line to win or draw, the odds are long, but far from clear cut. Are upsets not very common to high level soccer?
 

Gunnerclone

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Jul 16, 2010
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Well, yes, but I mean consistently getting out of the group stage at the very least.

I think we made it out of the group every time since ‘94 2008 not withstanding? Maybe we missed one other time? People’s expectations are so warped on soccer.

I mean just look at this **** where people are basing results off of population. It’s wacky. That’s not how sports works. What group is India in?
 

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