USMNT...I believe that we will qualify!

[Chip R]

Not having Chicago stunned me, but I guess it and Montreal withdrew because they didn't like the graft it takes to woo FIFA.

One thing that crossed my mind is that with Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and three Mexican cities 2026 could be a brutally hot World Cup. The heat they tried to escape in Qatar by moving it to December might be what they get in 2026. It's gonna be a scorcher.

I'm not sure the heat will be that much of an issue. It's going to be hot wherever they play in July unless it's like Australia. I don't think it would be Qatar hot but it's going to be hot for every team there.

As for the ATL, DAL, HOU stadiums, I believe they all have retractable roofs so they can bring grass in like they have before and if the roofs are closed during the hotter days they have matches, I doubt it will be a big issue.

I would have liked to have had them come here. I was always curious about where they were going to play besides TQL.

[BuckeyeRed27]

I don't love the idea of playing these games indoors. Doesn't Atlanta have turf? That will be interesting to see how they do grass there.

Yea I saw the Rose Bowl wasn't a venue at all, which is disappointing. Kinda having the WC in England but not playing at Wembly.

Cincy's airport could handle the traffic, it doesn't anymore, but it has the ability to.

The mass transit is an issue and I do agree the hotel space is fairly limited.

Lots of those stadiums have turf now, but they’ll install grass in all of them for the WC.

The Rose Bowl is cool and historic, but it has no facilities and is a logistical nightmare. It’s also consistently in the 90s in Pasadena that time of year.

[M2]

I'm not sure the heat will be that much of an issue. It's going to be hot wherever they play in July unless it's like Australia. I don't think it would be Qatar hot but it's going to be hot for every team there.

As for the ATL, DAL, HOU stadiums, I believe they all have retractable roofs so they can bring grass in like they have before and if the roofs are closed during the hotter days they have matches, I doubt it will be a big issue.

I would have liked to have had them come here. I was always curious about where they were going to play besides TQL.

Good point on roofs. They're going to need them. May wish we had them in the more northerly locations too.

IIRC, they play a lot of day games when it's in the Western Hemisphere in order to allow the European audience to see the games live.

[westofyou]

Lots of those stadiums have turf now, but they’ll install grass in all of them for the WC.

The Rose Bowl is cool and historic, but it has no facilities and is a logistical nightmare. It’s also consistently in the 90s in Pasadena that time of year.

I saw Russia play Cameroon at Stanford Stadium and it was mid 90's. That place is just like the Rose Bowl, old and full of benches to sit on (little space, shoulder to shoulder) no facilities.

Guy on Russia scored five goals for a WC record and they won 5-0

[RedTeamGo!]

USMNT looks like absolute dogcrap against Japan right now. Horrendous.

[M2]

USMNT looks like absolute dogcrap against Japan right now. Horrendous.

I've got some issues with players who were not called in for this session:

Jordan Pefok is scoring (4 in 8 games) for Bundesliga-leading Union Berlin. James Sands has been playing constantly in the league and Europe for Rangers.

[RedTeamGo!]

I've got some issues with players who were not called in for this session:

Jordan Pefok is scoring (4 in 8 games) for Bundesliga-leading Union Berlin. James Sands has been playing constantly in the league and Europe for Rangers.

Yeah, no idea what Berhalter was doing leaving Pefok out. That was just a garbage performance.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Matt Turner is good. That’s about the only thing to take from that.

[RedTeamGo!]

Matt Turner is good. That’s about the only thing to take from that.

I legit have no idea what Long and Zimmerman were doing most of the game. To the point I wonder if they got drunk last night.

[BuckeyeRed27]

I legit have no idea what Long and Zimmerman were doing most of the game. To the point I wonder if they got drunk last night.

Yeah, guys like Long and Cannon just aren’t national team players anymore (or ever were in cannons case).

I don’t really care about the result here since guys were missing and they were trying stuff, but the effort was clearly lacking and you never want to see that.

[M2]

Matt Turner is good. That’s about the only thing to take from that.

Really wish he'd have gone to Leicester.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Really wish he'd have gone to Leicester.

Arsenal has a bunch of Europa and FA Cup games and stuff coming up. He’s basically gonna play once a week from now until the World Cup.

[M2]

Arsenal has a bunch of Europa and FA Cup games and stuff coming up. He’s basically gonna play once a week from now until the World Cup.

He will benefit from the compressed schedule, but I think it's a bit tragic he's playing caddy to a lesser keeper. Ramsdale strikes me as yet another overrated English keeper.

[bucksfan2]

I watched the Japan game but not the Saudi game. For the life of me I don't get why there are some players who continue to hold down start spots when they just aren't that good. You can't tell me that Zimmerman and Long are better than Brooks, there is no way.

I have seen enough of Ferreria to know he isn't it right now. Their strikers seem to have difficulty finding the back of the net, which doesn't inspire much confidence.

I guess we will see when it come WC time, but if they continue to run the guys out there they have been, they will be out in the group stage.

[BuckeyeRed27]

There is other stuff going on with Brooks off the field, they are just too nice to say anything.

Those warm up games were awful. Hope guys get healthy because this showed they don’t have a ton of depth after the first choice guys.

I’ve given Gregg some benefit of the doubt because he’s won trophies and beat Mexico, but I do fear he’s gonna be out of his depth at the WorldCup.