Starts tonight. Escobars against the Try Hards 8:30PM on FS1. It's the Christian Pulisic coming out party. A few matches will be taking place at Soldier Field. I've got tickets to the semi final match on June 22. Anything but an appearance in the last four is a failure for Herr Klinsmann and a downright clusterfuck will likely cost him his job.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

Have to love the Spanish pregame music before the game.

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I'm already praying for Guzan.

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That was a nice set piece play on the goal by Columbia.

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This Mexico/Uruguay match is fucking crazy.

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I very rarely root against an individual these days, but man it's satisfying to have seen Suarez throwing a tantrum while Uruguay is eliminated. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

US-Ecuador tomorrow night in Seattle. USA can win this but that just sets up a match with Argentina (assuming they defeat Venezuela.) I'm happy to see Uruguay and Brazil out. Brazil still hasn't recovered from that Final Solution Germany deployed on them two years ago.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

Jurgen and the boys should advance.

No excuses.

And the crowd goes wild!

Dempsey getting it done here in this tourney.

And now they have a great built in excuse for when they lose to Argentina as half the team will not be playing for yellow card accumulation or red cards.

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Well they already had a pretty good excuse in that Argentina is 3x as good as they are.

Yes but now they can say they *might* have been able to hang with them eventhough everyone knows that is not true.

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US always plays up to the competition though, I'll give them that.

Chile didn't even bother using lube on Mexico.

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If the USA can get an early goal they have a chance. I'd turtle up and play for the counterattack. On paper there is no way, especially with Wood and Jones being suspended. Argentina have superstars on their bench.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

More terrible keeping by Guzan on that goal. Howard was way better than this turd.

Yeah no excuse on the first one. He froze and it cost him. The second goal was a thing of beauty though. Nobody was stopping that perfectly place ball from Messi.

I've got issues with Bradley. It sure as hell seems like every time the U.S. face good competition he gets exposed. You're getting nothing from him out there. There's no possession or playmaking to be had out there tonight.

That's why he's the best....the BEST!

Got to give it to him there, he couldn't have put it in a more tighter spot.

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

That's why he's the best....the BEST!

Got to give it to him there, he couldn't have put it in a more tighter spot.[/quote]
No doubt.

Few players in the history of the game could place that ball where he placed it. And I've actually come around to the belief he's better than Maradona.

fuck this.

I get why "stars" like Bradley come back to MLS to cash checks, but they sure do backslide playing MLS competition.

We all knew this beatdown was coming tonight but it's still a kick to the gut when you realize just how far we've come as a soccer nation only to find we're still miles and miles from where we need to be.

It's a similar feel to the Belgium game from the last World Cup. When you play a top tier squad and see what Futbol is supposed to look like it's just deflating as a fan. We should always be right near the top in CONCACAF, but on the world stage, will we ever get past being an opening act in our lifetimes?

I was insulted as a fan during the pregame all the American commentators (like Lalas) picked the US to win.

When you are starting players like Beckerman, Wondolowski, and Zuzi against Argentina, there is no fucking way you can win.

Start the young players like Pulisic and Nagbe, rather would lose with the young players than lose with the retreads.

Meh, we should have been in the WC semis in 2002. Need Tab Ramos to get the kids to actually excel at the youth level. Also need to find some goons to make sure players like Subotic and Rossi play for the US and not those Euro twerps.

But if they had all those players who were out due to yellow cards, I'm sure the final score would have been 4-1.

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one of the biggest problems i have with the whole "USMNT" hype is exactly what you laid out here. an over-inflated sense of self. the americans do have talent, but no depth. i don't think our keeper is world class the way howard was (and howard only had a brief period of that, really), and we don't have young strikers that will take the place of dempsey who is not going to last much longer.

normally in copa america we haven't sent our A list players, because i don't think the governing body took the CA as seriously as the gold cup.

what i saw last night was the typical script: play a nation that's elite, and get your ass handed to you.

I think it would have been closer, like 2-0. Jones has been great under Klinsmann. Need a dude like that fucking shit up in the midfield. The team had no backbone without him and they seemed starstruck by Argentina. Bradley has been useless since the last World Cup. Not sure what happened to the guy but someone who consistently shits the bed in major tournaments should not be the captain. I though Zardes and Brooks had decent games. Get Chris Wondolowski off the squad posthaste!

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

doesn't it pretty much work out like these players will play for european teams if they think they can make it? i.e. you only go and play for the USA if you're not good enough to crack the XI of your possible european country/countries? and this is at both club and international levels i reckon.

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Same thing with all the English who end up playing for Ireland or some other UK team when it's clear they won't get an English call-up and have an Irish Great Grandmother.