Soccer World Cup 2014
 

So the USA coach isn't very confident and Brazil is favored to win.
Who's watching besides me? any former or present players, and fans of whom???

Not watching yet. But I am a fan of the USA team - win or lose.

Z

I'll be watching for as long as it takes my tv remote to turn it off.

I hate to miss it but I have to sweep out the garage ......

Recording every game and will probably watch all of them.

This World Cup I am hoping that Belgium can mesh all their great players and go far in the Cup.

US has a great coach but few world class players.

.

Well, it seems it started out with a terrible call that favored the home team. But the skill level from Brazil and Croatia was amazing. Between the US Open and the World Cup, I'm a happy guy.

I am a former player and I am watching the World Cup. US is in a very tough group but they a have good team also. I think they have a chance if they beat Ghana in the first game. Remember you don't have to win your group, top two in each group advance to the next round.

I would like to see the US advance but do not see it as all that likely. I often watch these games as the crowds are almost as entertaining as the players. http://www.fifa.com/

TV announcers today during the Mexico vs Cameroon game mentioned that 85% of teams winning their first game advance into the knockout stage.

.

Probably true as winning the first game in any group stage tournament keeps who in the drivers seat in control of your destiny.

Not much to miss, you know the score will be 1-0.

average score of an NFL game is 29-18, or to put it in soccer terms 4-2.5. It takes about 3 hours to play a football game but the actual game play is 11 minutes. I love football and my NY Giants, and you're perfectly within your rights to hate soccer, but if you think it's boring it may come from a lack of appreciation of the game. I know lots of people who don't get baseball, and I think it's a great sport.
Here are some more numbers from an "average" NFL game:
There are 10.5 kickoffs, of which less than half are returned. about 6 are touchbacks.
There are about 133 plays that are runs or passes (80 passes and 53 runs). The other 31 plays are kickoffs, punts, field goal attemps, or knee downs.
More than one-third of pass or runs do not gain anything.
the game will be stopped often, for penalties and reviews and for time outs.

I love baseball and football. There's a "plot" to the games (for want of a better name), and I know enough about them to appreciate the moves. I have tried very hard to like the kinds of games where possession of the ball is constantly changing, several times a minute. I'm talking mainly soccer and hockey, but basketball too. I'm almost there with hockey. Our kids love and played both, so I keep trying.

Correct 1 of 4 games.

1-0 Mexico vs Cameroon
3-1 Brazil vs Croatia
3-1 Chile vs Australia
5-1 Netherlands vs Spain

In soccer (aka football in most of the world) a 3-1 score is a superior win; a 5-1 score is a blow out; a 5-1 win over the previous world cup winner is historic. It should be noted that Spain beat Netherlands 1-0 in the 2010 WC final.

.

.

As an old player and coach, I still love the game. Looking at the abundance of Pro sports opportunities in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world, a man's soccer talent and skill has a long road to climb to be recognized on the world stage. Compare that to women's pro sports on the world stage and there is more available opportunity for soccer. Where does the WNT rank? Oh, that would be the top. In my opinion the U.S. men's soccer program must learn how to blend 3 factors, talent, skills, and experience and be able to maintain that going forward. So this time, perhaps to the 2nd round, but not beyond.