Soccer discussion thread

[jsence2]

Here's the goal I was talking about....this series by Nike was one of their best ever.

The shit they did in the locker room was unscripted and they rarely had to reshoot anything. Just unreal their skills.

[jsence2]

Mike will enjoy these

[jsence2]

A few news and transfers.....

* Barcelona lost to Ajax yesterday, 2-1. Ajax led 2-0 before giving up a penalty on a red card, and held on to win. Leaves the tough Champions League group with Milan, Barcelona, and Ajax all having a chance to advance going into the final round of matches

* Jermaine Defoe has secured a transfer to Toronto FC in the MLS, starting in January. He has spent most of his career at Tottenham. Toronto also spent an MLS record 7 million to buy Gilardino.

* Speaking of Tottenham, after their 6-0 loss to man schitty over the weekend, he is close to being fired.

* United just trounced Bayer Leverkusen 5-0. Without RVP, without Vidic, and without Carrick. That is a shock result.

* manschitty is looking at buying Iker Casillas from Real Madrid to replace Joe Hart. They've also offered Hart on loan, plus 15m for Begovic of Stoke.

[nick]

Tim Leiweke is the new President of MLSE which oversees all the major sports and he said he wanted to turn the Toronto FC team around. After Forlan snubbed us good to see potentially these 2 coming in

[nick]

[Seeitsaveit13]

Well... At least we qualified??

[LetsGoPeay]

My super early predictions:

Group Stages:

Group A:
Brazil
Mexico I think they'll get their crap together finally
Croatia
Cameroon

Group B:
Spain
Netherlands
Chile
Australia

Group C: This is a tough group to predict. I have a hard time not picking Ivory Coast to get out over Colombia or Japan. Japan is quietly pretty good.
Japan
Colombia
Ivory Coast
Greece

Group D: England or Uruguay is basically a toss up to me. Uruguay is my pick because its in South America.
Italy
Uruguay
England
Costa Rica

Group E: I'm not buying Switzerland
France
Ecuador
Switzerland
Honduras

Group F: Nigeria is talented but always seems to be psychologically unbalanced.
Argentina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nigeria
Iran

Group G: Yeah, I'm a homer.
Germany
United States
Ghana
Portugal

Group H:
Russia
Belgium
South Korea
Algeria

Round of 16:
Brazil over Netherlands (This is a really good game for this early in the tournament)
Uruguay over Japan
France over Bosnia (Tough one to pick)
Germany over Belgium
Spain over Mexico
Italy over Colombia
Argentina over Ecuador
USA over Russia

Quarterfinals:
Brazil over Uruguay
Germany over France
Spain over Italy
Argentina over USA

Semis:
Brazil over Germany (Would be an awesome game in that atmosphere)
Argentina over Spain (Only because its in South America)

Third Place:
Germany over Spain

Finals:
Brazil over Argentina

[nick]

Spoiler!

[LetsGoPeay]

Spoiler!

Where did you find that?

[nick]

espn.com has a challenge or some shit and my buddy invited me so i just print screened it.

[ReignOnU]

UCL Round of 16 Draw was this morning...

Manchester City v Barcelona
Olympiakos v Manchester United
AC Milan v Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen v Paris St Germain
Galatasaray v Chelsea
Schalke v Real Madrid
Zenit v Dortmund
Arsenal v Bayern

To be played Feb. 18, 19, 25, 26 and March 11, 12, 18, 19

[ReignOnU]

The draw works out great for the teams that I like.

Manchester City v Barcelona
*** I love seeing City get the crap draw. With that said, if they bring like they have the last few matches, they are going to pose a serious problem for Barcelona.

Olympiakos v Manchester United
*** I know I should be overconfident, but seriously, this is awesome.

AC Milan v Atletico Madrid
*** A winnable matchup for Milan who has been incredibly lost on the defensive side and can't seem to work well as a team on the offensive. I think they pull through though.

Bayer Leverkusen v Paris St Germain
*** I don't see PSG having an issue here. Leverkusen is nearly a 2 man show.

Galatasaray v Chelsea
*** Droga v Chelsea... nice. Too bad that is the bulk of the matchup. Chelsea rolls.

Schalke v Real Madrid
*** RM... probably won't even record the games.

Zenit v Dortmund
*** Reminds me of the Schalke - RM matchup. Shouldn't be close. Dortmund moves on.

Arsenal v Bayern
*** After a hot start to the season, Arsenal has cooled off a bit. Bayern took them out in the round of 16 last year, before going on to win it all. I see the exact same scenario playing out again. (including the championship part)

[jsence2]

Paulinho took the whole "kick racism out of football" thing a bit literally yesterday



And of course Suarez, the little bitch he is, acted like he'd broken all of his ribs. I wish he HAD kicked him that hard, little cunt.

[Seeitsaveit13]

Paulinho took the whole "kick racism out of football" thing a bit literally yesterday



And of course Suarez, the little bitch he is, acted like he'd broken all of his ribs. I wish he HAD kicked him that hard, little cunt.

[BIGmike]

Ibra talking about being open to MLS in a few years. I'd actually go to a game then.

[Uuaww]

[jsence2]

Crazy Boxing Day matches today.

United were down 2-0 to Hull City inside ten minutes, but got two goals before halftime, and then got an own goal from one of Hull's scorers to win 3-2. Lost Rafael (again) to a groin injury (again), and then Valencia got sent off in the final minutes so now United are in trouble at RB.

Tim Howard got a straight red for taking down someone who had gotten past him, and the resulting penalty was the only goal as Sunderland (dead last) beat Everton 1-0. Sunderland hope to be the first club to ever be in last on Christmas day and avoid relegation.

Arsenal were down to West Ham and got 3 goals to come back behind two from Walcott. Walcott scored on a header. Let that sink in.

Fulham and Crystal Palace both won. On the same day as Sunderland.

Nine-man (and that's not counting their manager being sent off, too) Stoke were blitzed 5-1 by Newcastle.

City scored in first half stoppage time to lead 2-1 vs Liverpool at halftime.

[nick]

Toronto FC have officially signed Gilberto and Jermain Defoe, and now were reportedly getting Michael Bradley. Tim Leiweke is the man, I think I might have to invest in TFC season tickets this year.

[ReignOnU]

Defoe is a pretty interesting signing. Tiny guy that used to get away with a lot due to his pace, but he's over 30 now and a bit slower. Still probably capable though. Bradley is interested. It's being played up as a big deal for MLS, but I'm curious if it has the same impact since he's heading to Toronto, as opposed to a US based squad? Maybe I'm naive, but it seems like the impact would be less. On top of that, it's nice to see US Nationals coming home, but it's like a catch 22. I think there's a bit more pride in seeing them compete in Serie A (or the other top leagues), instead of playing in MLS right now. The counter argument is that they are coming back here because it's competitive. To me, if that is truly the case, then I'd like to see some decent talent start to head this way. Obviously the league is no where near capable of landing the elite talent, but I think the league starts to move forward when quality players consider it. Could you imagine who awesome it would be if Javier Hernandez went to the LA Galaxy, or Guisseppe Rossi opted to come to MLS?

[jsence2]

Rossi has a long way to go before even playing again. His ACL injury is a huuuuuge blow to Italy's World Cup chances

And Bradley's coming home because he's getting a massive pay raise (500k to 6m) lol