Question for soccer guys: Where we playing really conservatively? I don't know much of the tactical stuff, but it seemed like we were playing not to lose the whole time, and only got aggressive when we absolutely had to. I may be way off, though. I just felt like we were playing for a 0-0 tie against Germany and Belgium (and win during shoot-out).
The Brazil - Germany game was an aberration. To try and take anything away from the US only losing to Germany by one goal is a big stretch, other than the fact the USA muddled the game up to try to get into PKs. I watched the US soccer games and everyone we played largely dominated play against us with the exception of Portugal, who is way overrated and a one-man team if ever there was one, and damned if they didn't get a tie against the US. Even Ghana who is the only team the US beat largely dominated play in the game. Anyway, I know the soccer nerds are gonna take from this World Cup whatever they want to. Admitting I'm no soccer expert I see light years difference between USA soccer and the real world powers, and boys...that ain't changing until some of our best athletes start playing soccer almost exclusively, and from a very young age, and I don't see that happening soon.
That's what all the not very good teams do. Play very conservatively and hope to get into penalty kicks where it's as much about luck as anything. That's why a team like Germany only beats the USA by one goal - because Germany was the only team really trying to win, and quite frankly they didn't try too hard against the US.
Germany just won the World Cup, and the only team who played them closer than us was Ghana...who we beat. Portugal was top 5 coming in, and we tied them (even outplayed them). In the end, our worst game of the tournament was losing in extra time to Belgium. I'll take it.
