Arena's men take the pitch on Monday

[DeltaOne81]

The US has 10 minutes to score 2 goals... see ya in 2010?

[ugarte]

Bleh.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

What an effin disaster. So many defensive meltdowns by so many different guys -- not just today, but the whole group stage plus all the horrific friendlies leading up to the finals. Totally depressing.

Heja Sverige!

[CowbellGuy]

I hate to be one of those people that blames the refs for everything, but there were so many phantom calls in that game, the worst of which was the penalty kick. No way in hell that was a good call.

At the end of the match, Ghana was taking every opportunity to drag their asses slowly off the ground. Sure they were tired, but it was excessive, and got a yellow card for it, too (not that it carries over). It's hard to blame them since they were able to get away with it, as everyone is. Instead of getting card-happy, maybe FIFA should look at improving flow to the game. The US was playing fairly well at the end but couldn't keep any momentum. At any rate, too little, too late.

Speaking of those theatrics, I think the reason everyone fell in love with that Cameroon team from 1990 is they didn't dive, didn't act, and just kept playing. Sure, they didn't know any better, but it actually made them more fun to watch.

[redhair34]

[quote CowbellGuy]I hate to be one of those people that blames the refs for everything[/quote]

Paging Got6 :-P

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote redhair34][quote CowbellGuy]I hate to be one of those people that blames the refs for everything[/quote]

Paging Got6 :-P[/quote]
The ECAC sent refs to Deutschland? ::nut::

[cth95]

Scheisse!

[cth95]

I like your ideas.  Soccer is a physical sport with a lot of contact leading to legitimate falls, but the show many of these players put on after they go down would put them up for awards on the best soap operas.  That's the crap that makes me want to change the channel.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

[quote CowbellGuy]I hate to be one of those people that blames the refs for everything...[/quote]

That call sucked, but there's no need to stop there. Blame Bocanegra for clumsily booting the ball from the sideline all the way to the side of his own friggin box -- and then compounding the goof by heading his own dumbass clearing attempt right to the top of the box, where the foul took place. Unbelievable.

[ugarte]

[quote cth95]Scheisse![/quote]Hopp Scheisse!

[jtwcornell91]

[quote ugarte][quote cth95]Scheisse![/quote]Hopp Scheisse![/quote]

wäg mit däm schiisdräck!

[Rita]

[quote jtwcornell91][quote ugarte][quote cth95]Scheisse![/quote]Hopp Scheisse![/quote]

wäg mit däm schiisdräck![/quote]

Babel Fish http://babelfish.altavista.com and I need a little  ::help::

Babel Fish's German to English translation "balance with daem schiisdraeck"

"daem schiisdraeck"???

Danke!:-)

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote Rita][quote jtwcornell91][quote ugarte][quote cth95]Scheisse![/quote]Hopp Scheisse![/quote]

wäg mit däm schiisdräck![/quote]

Babel Fish http://babelfish.altavista.com and I need a little  ::help::

Babel Fish's German to English translation "balance with daem schiisdraeck"

"daem schiisdraeck"???

Danke!:-)[/quote]

It's Schweitzerdeutsch, not "pure" German.  I suspect Babelfish isn't designed for that.  

I think it means "Away with the shit!" or more losely translated "Get this shit out of here!"

Right, John?

[jtwcornell91]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82][quote Rita][quote jtwcornell91][quote ugarte][quote cth95]Scheisse![/quote]Hopp Scheisse![/quote]

wäg mit däm schiisdräck![/quote]

Babel Fish http://babelfish.altavista.com and I need a little  ::help::

Babel Fish's German to English translation "balance with daem schiisdraeck"

"daem schiisdraeck"???

Danke!:-)[/quote]

It's Schweitzerdeutsch, not "pure" German.  I suspect Babelfish isn't designed for that.  

I think it means "Away with the shit!" or more losely translated "Get this shit out of here!"

Right, John?[/quote]

Basically.  I intended something like "Knock that shit off."  Guess I could have said "hör uuf" instead of "wäg".  And actually, I meant to say "huureschiisdräck".  One of my favorite Swiss sentences was uttered by a baseball player who noticed that the outfield fence had been erected awfully far from home plate: "z'fäud isch huurelang!"

[kfish]

Just got back from Germany, I'm still jazzed so beware of excessive writing below.  

The US team's showing was disappointing, to say the least.  We were at the Ghana game, which I really thought the US could win.  However, it seems we lost the gusto that we found against Italy.  Our defense is too inconsistent, and our finishers (Donovan, Beasley, even McBride) couldn't finish.  Also, it would have helped if the team hadn't waited until the last 15 minutes to discover Eddie Lewis almost always free on the left flank.  He was behind almost all of our final, really good plays at the end of the game.  The penalty call was a joke -- one German guy even apologized to another American we met, because the ref was German.  

We didn't deserve to move on, which is what is most disappointing given the potential this team had.  Hopfully, they'll learn a few lessons from this experience.  Thank goodness for yummy, huge mugs of Bavarian Weissbier to drown away my sorrows.

A couple notes on ref'ing and diving.  They both suck!  The refs really should hand out way more yellow cards for the ridiculous dives.  Even if they don't, they shouldn't believe everything they see.  It was pretty obvious that a number of fouls were called simply as the result of good acting.  That's one thing I can be be proud our team does little of (except Reyna after the Ghana goal).  McBride just never stops regardless of the abuse thrown at him!  I think the ref'ing in general has been pretty poor, although I certainly couldn't do better.  In two games, in particular, the refs lost complete control: US vs Italy and Netherlands vs Portugal.  Basically, the refs just started throwing cards left and right in failed attempts to regain control.  It certainly seems as though the physical play of soccer at this level has gone from controlled and within the rules of soccer to no holds barred.  Throwing elbows should not be the default when going up for a header.

Finally, the atmosphere in Germany was amazing and beyond description!  We went to the fan fest in Berlin for the US/Italy and Germany/Ecuador games.  The latter game was out of control.  A mile stretch of area in the city park, with four GIANT screen TV's, 1/2 million fans, beer flowing freely, and me in my Ecuador shirt catching lots of s___ (smart).  Almost every restaurant was showing the games in every town we visited, everyone was wearing soccer jerseys, and each night fans from the winning teams were screaming, singing, and honking their car horns like crazy.  As a life-long soccer player and fan, I was in absolute heaven!  Wish I were there for the semi's and final.