<p>And I can’t see US beating a Ronaldo including Portugal, one that also has Pepe, Moutinho, and Carvalho. </p>
<p>And Fabio Coentrao. They’ve got a solid defense. </p>
<p>@Hawkace We’ve got a better coach than Ghana. Not to mention that Ghana has failed to even medal in the last two African Cups.</p>
<p>@HateBeinSober that’d be absolutely glorious.</p>
<p>I can see my ancestral homeland (Nigeria) coming second in their group and beating France in the ROF16 before losing to Germany in the quarterfinals. </p>
<p>Mark my words: Africa will have a semifinalist this year. It’ll be the Ivory Coast with Drogba, Yaya Toure, Gervinho, Kalou, etc.</p>
<p>@mrnephew </p>
<p>America could beat Portugal if Ronaldo does what Robben did in the 2010 finals and America is able to successfully contain him. As soon as America can get the momentum, the game is theirs. Portugal has strong wingers and physical, technical play, but America has put up with that in the past in victories against Spain, Germany and England</p>
<p>@Apollo11 not to mention we beat them in 2002 when they had Figo, Rui Costa, and João Pinto. Lol</p>
<p>@lbad96
To be fair, the 2002 team had a prime Brad Freidel, a prime Claudio Reyna and a godly Tony Meola.</p>
<p>The team in 2002, with the team that they played for at the time, caps, DoB and age.</p>
<p>United States
Head coach: Bruce Arena</p>
<p>No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club
1 GK Brad Friedel 8 May 1971 (aged 31) 74 England Blackburn Rovers
2 MF Frankie Hejduk 5 August 1974 (aged 27) 38 Germany Bayer Leverkusen
3 DF Gregg Berhalter 1 August 1973 (aged 28) 25 England Crystal Palace
4 DF Pablo Mastroeni 29 August 1976 (aged 25) 8 United States Miami Fusion
5 MF John O’Brien 29 August 1977 (aged 24) 13 Netherlands Ajax
6 DF David Regis 2 December 1968 (aged 33) 28 France Metz
7 MF Eddie Lewis 17 May 1974 (aged 28) 38 England Fulham
8 MF Earnie Stewart 28 March 1969 (aged 33) 77 Netherlands NAC Breda
9 FW Joe-Max Moore 23 February 1971 (aged 31) 95 England Everton
10 MF Claudio Reyna © 20 July 1973 (aged 28) 86 England Sunderland
11 FW Clint Mathis 25 November 1976 (aged 25) 19 United States MetroStars
12 DF Jeff Agoos 5 February 1968 (aged 34) 127 United States San Jose Earthquakes
13 MF Cobi Jones 16 June 1970 (aged 31) 153 United States LA Galaxy
14 DF Steve Cherundolo 19 February 1979 (aged 23) 10 Germany Hannover 96
15 FW Josh Wolff 25 February 1977 (aged 25) 16 United States Chicago Fire
16 DF Carlos Llamosa 30 June 1969 (aged 32) 26 United States New England Revolution
17 MF DaMarcus Beasley 24 May 1982 (aged 20) 9 United States Chicago Fire
18 GK Kasey Keller 29 November 1969 (aged 32) 58 England Tottenham Hotspur
19 GK Tony Meola 21 February 1969 (aged 33) 98 United States Kansas City Wizards
20 FW Brian McBride 19 June 1972 (aged 29) 58 United States Columbus Crew
21 FW Landon Donovan 4 March 1982 (aged 20) 20 United States San Jose Earthquakes
22 DF Tony Sanneh 1 June 1971 (aged 30) 29 Germany 1. FC Nürnberg
23 DF Eddie Pope 24 December 1973 (aged 28) 48 United States D.C. United</p>
<p>In 2010, they were against Spain. And you can’t compare a Spanish side to an American side. </p>
<p>Suarez is hurt, he won’t play against England. He’s just on the squad to psyche them out.</p>
<p>The US has a favorable order in the group stage. If the Germans can lock up first place after two games, the US might be able to get a point out of them. 5 points might get second.</p>
<p>That’s speculation. Uruguay go against Costa Rica first, which means he won’t have to play against them, as they should cruise by CR, and after that, Suarez will play. He might not be 100%, but he’ll still be great.</p>
<p>And I don’t think that any team in that group can beat Germany, but I still think Portugal will have a relatively easy time vs. the US. With Moutinho and Carvalho feeding the ball to Ronaldo… And it’ll be even better if Nani gets back into form with the international friendlies and such.</p>
<p>They have to do something about their striker, though… Postiga won’t cut it.</p>
<p>Lol. Woo a futbol post.</p>
<p>First off, for the person who said “England got Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Walcott, Carrick, etc. They’re good.”</p>
<p>That’s awkward because Walcott, as stated earlier in this forum, tore his cal against Tottenham a few months ago and Carrick did not even make the team. Though an England fan, I cannot say that England getting out of their group is a given. England, honestly, have a very flimsy squad that’s nowhere good enough to match Italy, and potentially even Uruguay.</p>
<p>And for the person who said Holland looks good this year, then I wonder how you must have felt when you took a look at the German and Spanish roster. Holland is nowhere near capable of winning the WC this year and honestly, there is a huge chance they won’t even make it out of the group stages given Chile are a team capable of causing a huge upset.</p>
<p>Lastly, Columbia have a huge chance of excelling in this World Cup; even without the presence of Falcao. As stated before by another user, Jackson Martinez is an absolute beast and with Guarin+Rodriguez+Cuardrado+Quintero ruling the midfield, opponents will have a very hard time trying not to concede numerous goals. Oh and don’t forget Zapata+Armero+Zuniga etc. Columbia have a very large chance of doing very well in this world cup.</p>
<p>And I don’t think anyone should discount Ghana. Remember, this is a team that SHOULD have reached the semi finals in 2010 if it weren’t for the cheap antics of Luis Suarez.</p>
<p>@TheLawrentian I agree with almost everything you’ve said except for the last point about Ghana. Was it Suarez’s fault that Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty? No, of course not. Suarez did what he had to do to save his country from getting knocked out of the World Cup. And they only went that far in the first place because of Bob Bradley’s poor rotation policy that led to his players getting tired and the fact that they were on African soil. They won’t do nearly as well this year in Brazil, especially because of the climate. They may get a point against Portugal, but that’s it. As for the USA, I can see us getting as many as 7 points; beating Ghana and Portugal and drawing a (hopefully) B-team Germany in the final game.</p>
<p>Oh, and it’s *Colombia.</p>
<p>Even the B team Germany would be the best team in that group. </p>
<p>I have a hard time believing that the US can beat Portugal. </p>
<p>Esp. with their defense right now</p>
<p>Well, we still have a climate advantage over the other three teams in our group. Plus, Portugal are very inconsistent; they drew Israel and Northern Ireland in qualifying, teams that they should have easily swept away. Like I said, Ghana keeps on losing to Mali in the African Cup third place game, and we have a better coach than Ghana’s, so I have a very hard time believing that they can beat the USA a third time.</p>
<p>Not sure about Ghana or the US, but I’m a firm believer in Ronaldo’s big time credentials. </p>
<p>And the climate change is being mitigated, with the players training in a heated environment, as well as the new anti heat material and techniques. </p>
<p>I don’t think that’s going to factor in to this tournament at all. </p>
<p>@lbad96 Haha most teams will be playing in a better climate, I don’t think it will negatively affect them. You’re definitely right when you say that Portugal is inconsistent. But Ghana is not inconsistent. African cup literally doesn’t mean anything anymore. Egypt won 3 in a row last decade, and Zambia were the champs before Nigeria, our current champs. I even think Burkina Faso made it past Ghana in recent cups. But we all know Ghana would beat all of these teams. Anyways, without the leadership and experience of Landon Donovan, the US will have trouble even winning a game. Btw I dislike Donovan, but value his leadership.</p>
<p>Also, I just found out your username is “L-bad” and not “I-bad.” Pretty cool</p>
<p>Yeah, leaving out Donovan was a terrible mistake.</p>
<p>Not really, he is past his prime</p>
<p>He’s thirty two years old. Sure he may be past his prime, but that veteran leadership? No one on that squad can replace that. That’s like leaving Xavi out of the Spanish squad. </p>
<p>Don’t think that leaving out Donovan will be as awful as everyone says. He’s been poor this season and won’t be able to keep up in the climate of Brazil. </p>