USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

[BuckeyeRed27]

Very strong roster for WCQ against Costa Rica and Mexico:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City) John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Michael Orozco (Puebla)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Roma), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)

[RedTeamGo!]

Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg),

Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar),

Players to watch in my opinion

[Yachtzee]

Is anyone on here a member of the American Outlaws? Just saw this tidbit about some craziness going on within the supporters group.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-...-be-americans/

[Caveat Emperor]

Is anyone on here a member of the American Outlaws? Just saw this tidbit about some craziness going on within the supporters group.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/dan-...-be-americans/

I'd heard a little bit about this -- frankly, I'm not all that surprised. With the United States not having a "home" stadium for their national team, it makes sense to start coordinating supporters sections to help ensure that the match environment is strong no matter where the game is being played.

US Soccer is about growing the game. Part of that is making sure the product they put on TV is exciting and gets people excited about supporting the national team (and soccer in general).

[Yachtzee]

I'd heard a little bit about this -- frankly, I'm not all that surprised. With the United States not having a "home" stadium for their national team, it makes sense to start coordinating supporters sections to help ensure that the match environment is strong no matter where the game is being played.

US Soccer is about growing the game. Part of that is making sure the product they put on TV is exciting and gets people excited about supporting the national team (and soccer in general).

From what I gather, the problem wasn't with with the notion of coordinating supporters sections, but rather AO leadership bringing in Seattle's folks in on a conference call with the Columbus supporters and basically giving the impression that they were handing over leasershil to Seattle to run the show. Since then AO and the USSF have backtracked, saying AO Seattle is not taking over running the supporters sections. The Columbus people, and people from other chapters are upset because:

1. Why bring in only Seattle people on the conference call with Columbus? If it's about coordinating between groups, shouldn't some of the other leading American Outlaws chapters been included? It's like bringing in Cards or Cubs fans to tell Reds fans how to cheer.
2. Why mess with it in Columbus? Columbus has always shown some of the best support for the USMNT. It's the reason why the USSF puts US v. Mexico in Columbus every cycle.

[LexRedsFan]

These beauties came in yesterday.

[Caveat Emperor]

Jealous.

I'm genuinely disappointed I couldn't track down tickets to this game for a non-obscene price.

[5TimeWSChamps]

I'll be there Tuesday. Setting up a big tailgate around 11am. Anyone's welcome to stop by. DM me on Tuesday and I'll let you know where we are set up.

[dougdirt]

We suck again.

[Yachtzee]

We suck again.

Costa Rica is always tough at home. The bigger story tonight is that Mexico lost to Honduras at home and in serious danger of failing to qualifying for the World Cup.

[WMR]

Jozy might be...

[dougdirt]

Costa Rica is always tough at home. The bigger story tonight is that Mexico lost to Honduras at home and in serious danger of failing to qualifying for the World Cup.

I was not being serious with that post.

That was rough to watch in the first 10 minutes though.

[bucksfan2]

The Mexico game was on ESPN2 but the US game was on BeIn TV. US Soccer needs to do something about that.

It doesn't look good for the USMNT against Mexico. Playing without Bradley and Altidore will be an uphill battle.

[RedTeamGo!]

Bradley is a major loss. Best player on the team IMO. Does anyone know how long he will be out? Just devastating. Is Altidore not going to play vs Mexico?

[Caveat Emperor]

The Mexico game was on ESPN2 but the US game was on BeIn TV. US Soccer needs to do something about that.

US Soccer has no control over that. Per CONCACAF rules, the home team for a WCQ controls the broadcast rights for the match.

In a lot of these banana republics, rights get sold to the setup offering the best bribe v. the best bid.