Well BCB, It would seem that you haven't seen too much of England, have you? words like pathetic can lend themselves very neatly into an observation of most England teams we put out.
Granted they can, at times be quite good, we have some gifted players. The strength of Rooney and the height of Crouch up front can cause any team problems. We have skillful midfield players like Lampard and Gerrard.
Our defence however can be weak at times and we have already lost Ferdinand through injury. Yes, I think the US team can get at England if they attack our often, ponderous defence, with speed, down the flanks and with quick one-two interchanges in the heart of the back two.
I think that is how they will play it and I think they will have some success.
However, they will not be able to sustain the required pressure and that is when the game will slow and England will play their game and therefore have their requisite success, thus equalising things out.
So that is why I go for a draw, also allowing for first game jitters. Nobody wants to lose their opening game.
The World Cup as continuosly thrown up shocks, I can think back to '66 and N. Korea turning mighty Italy over, the sun indeed shines on many a dog in this tournament, it is the nature of the beast.

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Nah i keep up with the EPL and most Euro leagues and World Soccer very closely. that being said, and I may regret it, I'd expect a 3-nil or 3-1 beating of the USA by England. Of course the US could pull a lucky game out like they did against Spain...and as I said earlier the game vs England should be the least of their worries, they have to worry about beating Slovenia and Algeria if they plan to advance. The US has a tendency to play down to their competition so those 2 games are ones they should be concerned with.

And if you know anything about the USMNT, one-two exchanges and solid passing aren't exactly their strong point. They play dump and run soccer. Plus, England may have a porous D but that means the USMNT's D is ever worse. Let's face it the USMNT has a god awful defense.

England would have to play a terrible terrible game and not execute at all with the USA playing above expectations for it to be a draw IMO. But I think we will see a very focused England squad. They know that if they put it on the US in the opening game there will be less pressure on the later matches and they might even be able to rest some players if they score enough against the US.

I trust the forwards and midfielders of Englands team to dissect a weak US defense much more than I trust the USMNT forwards and midfielders to break down what you call a weak England d, but to me looks light years better than what the US will run out and call a defense

I'm hoping for a 3-0 England victory or if the US does manage one goal that anyone other than Altidore or Landy Cakes scores it.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

I'm not a huge soccer fan, but I do plan on watching as many matches as I can. I'm hoping the US can at least put up a good fight, though I don't expect much out of them. Every year it's hyped up that this might finally be "the year" that the US team does well. It would be nice if they finally lived up to it!

Wow man!! Did you see that opening game today? Those hideous plastic trumpet things the crowd were all blowing, it was like a monsterous swarm of bees were in the stadium. The most irritating sound I've ever heard, buzzing and droning continually throughout the game and so loud.
I had to turn the sound off, I hope they sort that out quick, it's ruining the tournament, well it is for me anyway.
It might be just when S. Africa play, with their over zealous fans, I hope so.
Never heard anything like that, I couldn't believe it.
Not a bad game apart from that.

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It will be when any African nation team plays and I too had to turn the sound off.

What were your thoughts on the offside call that overturned Vela's goal?

Sidenote: I also turn it on mute when Alexi Lalas is speaking, the guy is a nightmare to listen to.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

My first reaction, when I saw it was that it was a good goal. On the playback, I could see that the goalkeeper had advanced far out and according to the linesman had put Vela offside.
On UK tv they drew a line across the field and it was very tight indeed, Vela's leg out stretched beyond the back line was all that it was.
A difficult one but the linesman probably got it right.
Which actually annoyed me because if the S.Africans had lost and after the group phase are put out of the tournament, we might all be able to enjoy this.
Good goal S.Africa scored though.

Interesting game tonight, I quite enjoyed it, over cautious perhaps but most first games are going to be like that.
What did you think of todays games?

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The What?

[Saturday: half-time] Oh my...

Sigh.

Cheers - C

Have we seen this somewhere before Ceri?

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I'm watching the World Cup.

1-1 USA vs England right now

[Full-time] Before anyone says anything I should point out that so far in this tournament America have scored no goals and England have scored two. I think we deserve credit for that...

And for anyone who isn't quite getting it, that's the famous English self-depricating humour.

Sigh...

Cheers - C

I don't know what to say that's new, I feel like I've said it all so many times before.
Hehe Oh man!

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great match today, i have to say that without Green's blunder the momentum would have been much different going into the half and coming out for the 2nd half. That was a momentum swing that really crushed England.

although, being a West Ham United fan for many years, I have seen Robert Green make blunders like that time and time again. I truly hate that guy.

David James better be in goal next game.

The USMNT fans are at it already talking about how they dominated the match and how this match shows they have finally arrived at the top of the World rankings...which is laughable because anyone who knows football knows, this England team is not really a threat to win it all, at least IMO. I'd love to see a Spain-USA rematch once and for all to settle the discussion...

Side note: South Korea looks like a damn good side and Uruguay's defense is stout. We have some interesting matches in the next few days and no doubt a lot of eyes will be on the Slovenia Algeria game tomorrow. Both those teams are better than ENgland or the US are giving them credit for being.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

What? A tie!! No sudden death overtime!! What kind of football is this!!!

this guy is staying in a massive replica of the world cup ball for 31 days in melbourne. 22 hours a day. He's gotta private mini bar, a bed, a TV, and all the other needs etc, kitchen.

Anyway i dont see what the fuss is all about, not really a fan of sport.

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riley