DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Warming up the World Cup

In just over a month from now the World Cup will kick off in South Africa, once every four years the world is treated to a soccer spectacle.



I love the game, I love the atmosphere at games...fan involvement and participation make it fun to attend a big game, even if it is only once in your lifetime. The signing, the music, the atmosphere...the game.


ESPN World Cup headquarters

United States- Group C

The United States plays in Group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria. The games will be televised on ESPN.

June 12, 2010 @ 2:30 PM ET - England


June 18, 2010 @ 10:00 AM ET - Slovenia


June 23, 2010 @ 10:00 AM ET - Algeria

is EnglishDawg around?

i'd like his take on England's team as we prepare for our clash. just a month away.

I am excited, I am pulling for three teams in this order

1. USA
2. England
3. Mexico

As much as I am a English fan I would love to see the US shock them in the first round.


KING

Awesome...my wife will love it when I tell her that the USA-England match is on our anniversary!

Manchester City (former Aston Villa, Randy Lerner's other team) and England midfielder Gareth Barry has been ruled out for four weeks because of an ankle injury.

It is unknown if he will make the World Cup roster still, which would be a bad blow for the guy if he misses out, as the coach wasnt going to bring anyone that was injured.

I am excited. I am in the minority for Americans, but the World cup is my favorite sporting event. Nothing beats the passion, spectacle and drama.

Going to the World Cup is on my bucket list.

I can't believe our luck of playing England in the first round. Since the U.S. generally doesn't make it out of the first round, I usually root for England. What to do, what to do .... oh I'll root for the U.S. to kick some British ... tail. haha.

At last a REAL FOOTBALL post ....

England have a fighting chance of World Cup glory imo ... our team is now managed by Fabio Capello and he has got them into a real cohesive unit, playing some great football. England's chances lie squarely on the shoulders of Wayne Rooney and he has been amazing so far this season. With Gerrard, Lampard and Lennon we certainly have the individuals to get to the final.

I am delighted that no English club team made it to the finals of any European Competitions this year (except Fulham who have no English Internationals!!) less chance of any crucial injuries I was gutted for David Beckham missing out as he will.

It is sad for Gareth Barry that he got injured, but I dont rate him and feel we have much better options in the midfield so it may be a blessing in disguise for England.

I would fancy England and the USA to make it out of the group. Algeria and Slovenia are some of the easier competition we could have faced but the draw was kind.

My tip would be Spain or Brazil, but Holland, Argentina and Germany will also be in the mix.

Opening game

England 3 USA 1

I always love the World Cup! One of the best sporting atmospheres you'll ever see. Plus, it's one of the rare sports where the US is a legitimate underdog, so you have that "Miracle on Ice" type potential ... as opposed to the usual, "well we should of won that".

England is pretty stacked as a team and Wayne Rooney is pretty much in a tie with Lionel Messi for "Best Player in the World" honors. England should have a good chance of winning it all if they can stay focused and not sleep with each other's girlfriends or something.

Will be interesting to see how the US does. Altidore has looked very promising in past international matches, so hopefully he can continue. We've always been strong in goal as well, so I'm hoping for a few scrappy wins.

Should be a fun few weeks!

Looking forward to following it & watching a few games, my youngest started playing soccer at about 5, she's now a junior in high school so soccer is something we can share & spend some time together watching it, We've been down to a few Columbus Crew games over the years and had a great time, i still dont understand everything about the rules, but still learning..looking forward to the world cup & spending some dad daughter time..

Ha, this takes me back.

I went to Detroit in '94 and got to see Sweden vs Russia. The person next to me was ecstatic when someone was given a "green card"

That year they were sporting the fluorescent cards.

I've been playing 2010 FIFA World Cup for the PS3 nonstop for one week. I'm ready for June 11th.

BTW...GREAT game if you can swing the $60.

viva futbol

Can't wait for this to start. I would've tuned in anyway, but now that baseball season is over, it'll take take up the majority of my summer months. My friends and I were talking about going down to Brazil in 2014 for the World Cup.

Anyone know when the rosters are finalized? I'd like to get a Team USA kit that doesn't have Donovan on the back.

ok, i don't know nearly as much about 'futbol' as other major sports, but i have been doing what i can to get ramped up for the World Cup.

the problem i am seeing is that the USA doesn't seem to have it's roster nearly as settled as in years past. there are a lot of question marks and some of the better players are getting awfully long in the tooth. it has me a bit worried for the opening round.

I don't like that we lined up Czech,Turkey and Australia for our warmup friendlies (I like better competition there, though the Aussies have been good lately). And, either we have a lot more options than in year's past or we don't have as many solid spots taken. read 10 different sites and you'll get 10 different final rosters. here's ones take on it: Grant Wahl

i am especially concerned about our midfielders as the Netherlands completely controlled that area (they are among the best at it though), which left us with very few opportunities. the only glimmer i see there is that if we keep Beasely and Kljestan (which doesn't seem likely at this point), then they are able and willing to chase down anything and win those 50/50 opportunties (basketball term but still fitting here).

our defenders might be our strength (which given our midfield situation is sorely needed). I don't know what more Onyewu needs to do to get more time on the field, but hopefully Bradley is going to surprise teams with him? unless I am missing something while watching so far, he has seemed like our best defender.

Howard continues to be solid in goal.

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also of note: England destroyed...literally destroyed Mexico. not a good sign as their squad appears to be more set, more ready and playing together at a really high level coming into the World Cup.

remember, getting out of round1 is important, but the 2nd place out of our group likely has a round2 matchup with Germany. I would much rather avoid that fate.

j/c - I was able to see parts of this "commercial" a couple months or so ago in a meeting I attended. it was great to finally see it in full.

That was pretty sweet! Although, I don't think that Ronaldinho even made the Brazillian team.

nice video, can't wait for it to start.

I like how they had to transition over to Kobe Bryant doing a Ronaldinho foot-trick for the "American" angle. They could of at least shown Landon Donovan making a throw-in and cutting to crickets chirping or something.

Awesome video!

I'm going into the World Cup without a rooting interest. Don't worry...I'll be rooting for the Americans first off. But I'm really just excited to watch as much matches as I can.

For those people more experienced than me at watching international soccer. Is it like the NBA? Where the best teams rise to the Finals every year. Or is it like the NHL? Where the hot goalie/team can ride a wave of momentum to the Finals.

That clearly means it's either fixed.. or in need of a salary cap.

I'd say it's like the Final Four. You get all the fun and excitement of some scrappy teams that come out of the woodwork and do really well. But you also have the perennial powerhouses that always run deep.

Dang, 7 is low. Then again, there have only been 18.

10 teams won the first 18 Super Bowls.