United States is Beating Spain-Confederation Cup

have fun with that

 

Wow. Cowherd is an absolute idiot when it comes to soccer. Doesn't he have people advising him so that he doesn't look so stupid when he opens his mouth as a prominent US sports-media talking head?

The US beating Spain is like a Missouri or a Texas Tech beating a top-notch juggernaut like USC, Oklahoma, Texas etc.

For the last 15 years straight, the USA national team has been as good as Texas Tech and Missouri have been in recent college football history--not a top-notch juggernaut, not a team that has ever won a national title or that always gets Top 10 recruiting classes, but the next-best thing below that: a team just like Texas Tech or Missouri--a team nobody wants to play, not even the top-notch juggernauts. You could say the same thing about Mexico, the other top team in our conference, CONCACAF.

Both the US and Mexico have consistently been among the very best teams in the World for the last 15 years straight. Both the US and Mexico make the World Cup every time (only the best 32 teams of the 207 national teams in the World make the World Cup), both the US and Mexico are always ranked in the among the top 25 of the the 207 national teams in the World, and they are often ranked in the top 15. For example, US has been ranked in the Top 15 of the monthly FIFA rankings every month from 2002-2006, reaching a peak of #4. USA climbed back into the Top 15 of the FIFA several months ago. Currently, the FIFA rankings have us at #14. The other rankings have us ranked even higher: the last Aggregated Football World Ranking had US at #9 (and that was back in March 2009, we are even ranked higher than that now). The Elo ranking currently has US ranked at #9. As for Mexico, they are like the US, a perennial Top 25 team over the last 15 years that often gets ranked in the Top 15 (just like the US, Mexico reached a peak FIFA rating of #4 during that time). Yeah, the US or Mexico has never been a top-notch juggernaut like USC, Oklahoma, and Texas... but we both have long been what Missouri and Texas Tech have been to college football in recent college football history.

Although they aren't top-notch juggernauts, both the US and Mexico beat the top-notch juggernauts a lot more often and more frequently than Texas Tech and Missouri does so (has Missouri ever beaten a top-notch juggernaut? Has Texas Tech ever done it more than the one time when they beat Texas last season? Mexico and the US have been upsetting top-notch juggernauts on a consistent basis for years and years).

For example:

--since 1993, Mexico upset Argentina once, Brazil multiple times, but they were never able to upset Germany, England, Italy, Holland, or Spain.

--since 1993, the US uspet Argentina twice, Brazil once (when Brazil was ranked #1 in the world by FIFA), Germany twice, England once, Spain once (when Spain was ranked #1 in the world by FIFA), but we were never able to upset Italy or Holland (although in the last World Cup, won by Italy, the US was only one of three teams in the tournament that was good enough to play Italy to a draw at the end of regulation: the other two teams that did it were the two teams Italy played in the Final Four: Germany and France).

Don't get me wrong, the US beating Spain is a huge upset, just like when Texas Tech beat Texas last season and just like every time the US or Mexico beats a top notch-juggernaut like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, England, or Italy. But that is laughable fool stuff to compare the US or Mexico national team to Navy's football team. "Navy teams" are all those bottom-feeder small crappy countries that never sniff making the World Cup, never sniff getting ranked in Top 25, never sniff beating anybody good, and get routinely blown out by every Top 25 team that plays them (usually by scores of 9-0). Yeah, if one of those teams beat the top-notch juggernaut that happened to have the #1 ranking by FIFA at the time, that would be like Navy beating a #1-ranked college football top-notch juggernaut. But that will never happen.

 

he baited a non-soccer crowd into a discussion and brought in new fans to the show the next day. is is the summer and the guy is smart.

 

So basically he was just being stupid on purpose to incite people that actually know at least a little bit about soccer to call his show? If so, smart for his ratings, but not smart when it comes to being an honest American, or even an honest person for that matter.

 

The people that know "a little bit" thought they would lose. It's the summer, they need stories. He spends little to no time on irrelevant sports and still draws in the listeners of those sports...the guy is good.

He was honest. He thought they would lose and they didnt. It happens on a daily basis...whats the big deal.

 

Right. Just like in American college football, it isn't often when top-notch juggernauts get to play each other, and this tournament features three top-notch juggernauts: Italy, Spain, and Brazil.

Put it like this, this is what you are looking at with this tournament:

#1/#2 Spain (defending Champion of Europe, which includes #2/#3 Holland, #3/#5 Germany, #4/#5 Italy, and #4/#6 England)

#1/#5 Brazil (defending Champion of South America, which includes #7/8 Argentina)

#4/#6 Italy (defending World Champion)

#9/#14 USA (defending Champion of North/Central America)

#40/#41 Egypt (defending Champion of Africa)

#72 South Africa (host country)

#77 Iraq (defending Champion of Asia)

#82 New Zealand (defending Champion of Oceania)

The #9/#14 USA beating #1/#2 Spain was an upset, but nowhere near as big of an upset as #40/#41 Egypt's 1-0 upset of #4/#6 Italy. Egypt also did well again #1/#5 Brazil, only losing 3-4. But when Egypt played the US, the US crushed them, 3-0.

Anyway, the final game, the game to determine who finishes with the Gold and the Silver is coming up at 1:30 today... it starts in 15 minutes. The Bronze-medal match that just finished was on ESPN2, so I assume the Gold-medal match will be on ESPN or ESPN2 as well.

The Gold-medal match features #9/#14 USA vs. #1/#5 Brazil. 10 days ago, in this same tournament, Brazil beat the US 3-0, which was the worst loss that the US has had to Brazil in the 11 times that the two teams have played each other in the last 15 years (usually, Brazil only beats the US by a score of 1-0). So you'd think the US is going to be furious and looking for revenge, and hopefully we didn't take all that fury out on Spain, but that we saved most of it for Brazil. Before beating #1-FIFA ranked Spain, the last time the US beat the #1-FIFA ranked team was when the US beat Brazil. Brazil is currently ranked #1 in the Elo World Football Rankings, so if the US beats Brazil, it will be the first time that I know of that the US has beaten #1-ranked teams in back-to-back matches.

 

USA crushing #1/#5 Brazil so far. Donavan just scored to put the US up 2-0. In American football talk, this game is currently in the early 2nd Quarter.

 

If you think Cowherd is an idiot, listen to Rome. The guy makes me want to drive to LA and hammer spikes in his head.

 

I love Cowherd when it comes to American football, the guy is one of my favorite football coaches and I'd love to play football for him. But the guy is an absolute idiot when it comes to soccer... most American football coaches are--at all levels (and they usually act like that on purpose).

 

yeah i never get the chance to listen to Cowherd. I know he is an LSU fan so that give him points. Rome is just a plain hater. Does not even care to give it a chance.