THE ROUND OF 16 IS SET!
🇳🇱 Netherlands vs. United States 🇺🇸
🇦🇷 Argentina vs. Australia 🇦🇺
🏴 England vs. Senegal 🇸🇳
🇫🇷 France vs. Poland 🇵🇱
🇯🇵 Japan vs. Croatia 🇭🇷
🇧🇷 Brazil vs. South Korea 🇰🇷
🇲🇦Morocco vs. Spain 🇪🇸
🇵🇹 Portugal vs. Switzerland 🇨🇭 #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/v8ON5XCJr3— Roberto Rojas (@RobertoRojas97) December 2, 2022
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Yeah, I figured you chauvinists would want a dedicated post for this one…
“For a Miracle” | United States vs. Netherlands World Cup 2022 Trailer pic.twitter.com/NQVzrnBY0Y
— Jacob Fineberg (@jacobfineberg12) December 2, 2022
CNN:
The round of 16 match on Saturday between the US Men’s National Team and the Netherlands is one of the more intriguing clashes in the first knockout round of Qatar 2022.
Though the bookmakers have the Netherlands as the odds-on favorite, this match-up is certainly closer than that and both teams will feel confident of booking a place in the quarterfinals.
The USMNT gave England real trouble in its group stage match and will likely have come out of that game the more disappointed of the two teams with the 0-0 draw, while a solid win over Iran in a high-stakes, winner-takes-all match showed that Gregg Berhalter’s men can perform under intense pressure.
With the Netherlands ranked eighth in FIFA’s world rankings – eight places above the US – and boasting world renowned talents like Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay, Saturday’s match will be a tough one for the US…
If the US can perform as it did against England and for much of the game against Iran, a place in a first World Cup quarterfinal since 2002 beckons.
The USMNT will be confident against a Netherlands side that hasn’t quite got it together in Qatar…
Britain-based SportsMole, somewhat less enthusiastic:
… The Stars and Stripes also got as far as the last 16 in 2010 and 2014 before being eliminated, and a quarter-final appearance came the way of the U.S. as recently as 2002, but recent history against European nations in the World Cup does not favour Berhalter’s crop.
Indeed, the USA have not beaten a UEFA team in the World Cup since 2002 – drawing six and losing five versus such sides since then – and their three previous knockout games against European nations at the World Cup have all ended in defeat.
Victory over Iran also marked a first win in six matches across all tournaments for the Stars and Stripes, who lost their first four clashes with the Netherlands in friendly encounters, but they recorded a stunning 4-3 win over Oranje as recently as 2015 – coming back from 3-1 down to win it late on thanks to Bobby Wood’s 90th-minute effort.
JML
Come on, USMNT! This would be a huge win.
I really dig this team, especially the law firm of Adams, Musah, and McKennie in the midfield. Tyler Adams is awesome, the kind of player every team needs. He just fixes problems. (my club team has been searching for his type of player for 4 years) Musah is already showing the signs and he’s only 20! McKennie has that creativity that’s only going to get better. All of them work so hard and run so much. I love this midfield.
USMNT can win this game. Can’t wait to see if they actually will.
Mousebumples
I love that they’ve been attacking and getting shots on goal so far. I caught some of the game vs England, and that felt more like they were on defense most of the game.
Omnes Omnibus
Feh!
JML
Oof. Too easy for the Dutch there. Can’t get caught out like that.
phdesmond
GOAL! Netherlands 1-0 USA (Depay 10).
bjacques
I’m in Amsterdam, in the Jordaan neighborhood. The streets are pretty dead, especially now the Saturday market just packed up. Also it’s gloomy out. Time to go get vodka, from the Republic of Zubrovka (the best!).
EDIT: And it’s twice we got downfield and passed across, with nobody around to seal the deal.
Barney
Total football from the Dutch. All 11 players touched the ball in the 30 seconds before the goal, without a touch from any American. Calmly played out from the back, pass after pass,
phdesmond
a Telemundo announcer senses “fear” and “doubt” on the part of the American team, after that slick Dutch goal.
Omnes Omnibus
@phdesmond: I don’t see either fear or doubt in the way the US is playing.
ETA: OTOH, fuck!
JML
well, fuck.
ALurkSupreme
That’s the ball game.
Omnes Omnibus
Damn!
Scout211
Thanks, Netherlands! 2-1!
JML
No quit in this US team.
Scout211
@JML: Subs brought some energy.
MomSense
YAY USA!!!
JML
Robinson has had a rough night.
Onkel Fritze
Oh my. Some awful defense by the Americans. Cost them the game.
Alison Rose
Sigh. I didn’t expect to win this one, but I wished they would put up a decent showing at least. Glad we got the one goal so it wasn’t a shut-out, though.
And hey. We did better than Mexico, so there’s that…
Now I shall be rooting for Japan and South Korea.
JML
@Alison Rose: The US weren’t terrible, but they weren’t clinical at all. We don’t have a striker and that really hurts us. And the Dutch took advantage of every mistake and we didn’t.
Young team. They’ll do better in the future.
Alison Rose
@JML: Yeah, I am definitely looking forward to the 2026 Cup, especially since it’ll be at least partially home turf for us :
Although I am NOT looking forward to the new dumbass structure of it, but alas…FIFA being stupid is no surprise
MomSense
This may not be the place for this but I think as a country we should talk about how expensive it is to play competitive youth soccer and other sports. The kids who want to play in college or professionally all compete in super expensive travel teams and it means that most kids are excluded because of the prohibitive cost. We honestly need to fund arts and sports in this country. Money shouldn’t be the obstacle to participation.
Cjcat
Ok. I have to confess I know nothing about the game. I was once an American football fan, gave that up, am a big Ted Lasso fan and thought I would just watch a little since it is the World Cup.
I am converted! Yay for our young team making it to this round and not getting shut out. The pressure on them had to be enormous. I love it and will be looking at the future threads on the Cup trying to learn more.
MazeDancer
FeltI should support USA, so watched the game.
Love how there is a lack of violence and lack of brain damage.
Also, on a shallow note, struck, once again, how footy guys are all so handsome.
Even if so many members of the Dutch team do not look very Dutch.
Alison Rose
@MazeDancer: It is true that there are many nice looking men on these teams. Which is why I think most people in the audience don’t care when a player violates the rules to tear their jersey off, LOL.
Alison Rose
@Cjcat: Yay! One of us, one of us!
Once the Cup is over, keep your eye out for other USMNT (and WNT!) games and tournaments to keep supporting them :D
phdesmond
sad headlines in the Guardian:
Pelé moved to end-of-life care in hospital, reports say
Brazilian football legend is reportedly no longer responding to chemotherapy treatment
citizen dave
@Alison Rose: Word up. The USWNT is my favorite team in any sport.
Alison Rose
@phdesmond: Oh, wow :( It will be tough for the players to hear this.
phdesmond
@Alison Rose:
yeah. i wonder if he’ll die during this World Cup. that would seem ominous/prophetic/(in)auspicious.
Kevin
Good showing for a young US team. Just unfortunate for all the talent we have it was simple defensive breakdowns that killed us today.
if we can develop a striker or two and keep growing I’m excited for the USMNT future.
OverTwistWillie
hold my beer…..
Results are consistent with a 10-20 ranked team. They lack a best eleven player, don’t have quality across the starting eleven, and lack quality in depth.
The haven’t had a #9 since Charlie Davies, but you gotta bring somebody, even if it be a MLS/D2 level plugger. -cough- Ricardo Pepe -cough-
cmorenc
@MomSense:
You see this most acutely in the expense involved in traveling to big showcase tournaments for upper competitive-level players in the U13 through U18 age range. Raleigh annually hosts one of the marquis showcase tournaments for U15-U19, for which I served for 5 years as site & referee coordinator for one of several sites across the Triange area. I got to see up-close lots of high-quality games and very talented players up-close, but franky I always harbored a fear that some soccer-parent who flew in from a distant place would be struck with the realization that this whole showcase tournament thing, particularly *this* one, was simply an overhyped expensive borderline scam relative to the potential value received, and then choose me as the most immediately available on-field target to vent at and try to challenge me to debate the matter. Um, privately I thought they were right, but I was in an awkward position to throw the host club I worked the occasion for under the bus.
Anonymous at Work
Missed the game with something but was just curious how the U.S. announcers handle the Dutch names. I’d rather try to sight read Amharic…again…than try to recite Dutch names on the fly
Kevin
@cmorenc: correct. My son plays competitive at U17 ( he is actually U16) and it is prob pushing $2,500+ this season. His team is prob in the top 10 in the state and play regionally? I’ve heard of some national teams that cost in the tens of thousands. Honestly some of them may not even play college soccer. It’s crazy
His coach routinely complains how the US system is broken (he grew up in South America where the youth teams make money off selling players not from parents.) In soccer the idea of trickle down economics actually seems to work.
Dadadadadadada
@Anonymous at Work: I bet they drill relentlessly from the moment they know who’s playing.
The Spanish language announcers usually do great with foreign (to them) names.
Just One More Canuck
@cmorenc: My daughter’s team (U18 in Toronto) was supposed to go to that tournament, but never did because they didn’t have tryouts early enough to get commitments to travel – Fortunately, she already has an offer for university next year (and has accepted), so this wasn’t on our radar at all. The showcases are really a cash grab, as is everything about high level soccer (there is a suspiciously strong relationship between her club and the uniform provider – high prices and shitty quality from a company no-one else uses and very few have even heard of makes one go hmmm). She has worked really hard to make herself a very good player, and soccer has given her the opportunity to go to a really good university and with a really good soccer program. I just can’t wait to see the end of my involvement in youth soccer