Where is the love for team USA?

[Old Seeker]

First, let me say that I am fully aware that soccer in the USA, overall, is nowhere near the level of that in Europe or S. America, or Asia, or almost anywhere else. We only have one rather sad major pro league, and support for the game is not soaked into the roots of the culture like it is with you folks who have lived with the game for a century.

So don't call me a silly American, because I know all this. ;p

All this granted, the USA National side is NOT weak. It has been a serious contender for a while now, making the final 8 in World Cup 2002 and being ranked in the top 4-7 or so by FIFA ever since. USA is currently ranked fifth, behind only Brazil, Czech, Netherlands, and Argentina. Not too shabby, I'd say!

Yet I go to start a World Cup in WE9 and try to lead the ol' US of A to victory in '06 and what do I see? A collection of mediocre players, perhaps two or three of whom would barely qualify for a Master League squad, and an overall team power that is FAR below what it should be.

Starting up a match to explore this further, I browse opponents national sides. The comparative "strength hex" for the American side is almost exactly the same as those of N. Ireland (ranked 98), Latvia (ranked 68), and Poland (ranked 26). The USA hex is barely half the size of real-world powers Brazil, Argentina, Italy, etc, whom they truly rank among.

This makes no sense at all. The American side now contains at least half a dozen players who can (and do) start for major European clubs, and have several MSL players like L. Donovan and especially Eddie Johnson that are being drooled over for signing by even the megaclubs like ManU and Real.

The guys who make this game are obviously experts on the sport worldwide, and all the players, and so I am left to conclude that this radical pummeling of team USA is intentional.

Why, Konami?!

If we promise to stop sending out Ben Affleck movies will you fix this?

 

[JoeyM]

As an American, I'm not really going to judge the strength of the National team until after the World Cup, plenty of bad teams have had one good tournament and then fizzled out, compared to sides who consistently make it to the quarter finals.

I would not say the US are a serious contender, or ever have been, serious contenders, there are probably 6 sides I'd rank as major contenders, followed by outsiders, such as Sweden or Ivory Coast, who could pose a chance of an upset, despite however unlikely, I'd say the US are among the major outsiders.

And FIFA ranking are pretty much regarded as an absolute joke, and aren't to be taken seriously at all.

As for the stats, I blame it on the stat system Konami uses, out of 100, below a 70 rating for a stat is considered terrible, due to that Konami rates pretty much any professional with at least 70s in the important areas, so a bad team like Latvia gets mostly 70s, while stats in the 90s are reserved for mostly world class players, which the US doesn't have, leaving them with being rated mostly in the mid to low 80s. The US is considerably better than Latvia, but the system doesn't really show it, if Konami ranked bad teams like Northern Ireland and Latvia in the 50s and 60s, than the US in the 80s, that would be a better reflection of the quality in the teams.

 

[shinking]

Where is the love for team USA?


in mi pants

 

[Chuck Morris]

This makes no sense at all. The American side now contains at least half a dozen players who can (and do) start for major European clubs, and have several MSL players like L. Donovan and especially Eddie Johnson that are being drooled over for signing by even the megaclubs like ManU and Real.

Er, i wouldn't say United or Real are 'Drooling' over the likes of those two, and Landon Donovan is pretty shite to be honest. Only Freddy Adu has really alerted the big names of European football. On another note, what is Wolff like? Apparantly us and Bolton are linked with him.

 

[Dodgyd]

stick to ur budget version of rugby

 

[tainted_devil]

USA's ranking is as false as my mums teeth. FIFA have them higher than than England, yet the USA got twatted 4-1 by the Germans. Yeh, thats a result of any top 10 team!.

 

[Singey]

USA's ranking is as false as my mums teeth. FIFA have them higher than than England, yet the USA got twatted 4-1 by the Germans. Yeh, thats a result of any top 10 team!.

Yeh whats with that?? Its a points ranking system or something but its all out of place, Mexico are a decent side but latety theyve been ranked in top 10 ahead of the likes of England etc. Why?

 

[Kewell[AUS]]

Yeh whats with that?? Its a points ranking system or something but its all out of place, Mexico are a decent side but latety theyve been ranked in top 10 ahead of the likes of England etc. Why?

Why? The FIFA system is rubbish and holds to credibility what so ever. Everyone knows this, its due to the fact that England play "stronger" European sides and don't always win, while the USA cruises latin and central America in search of some pussy amateurs that feel like having a kick around on the weekends.

Of course, when England are losing to Northern Ireland, they're a bad example. But looking at other teams like Italy and Spain its obvious to all the rankings are simply wrong.

 

[Preki-USA]

Er, i wouldn't say United or Real are 'Drooling' over the likes of those two, and Landon Donovan is pretty shite to be honest. Only Freddy Adu has really alerted the big names of European football. On another note, what is Wolff like? Apparantly us and Bolton are linked with him.

wolff is crap, he creative but doesn't score, he's had 1 goal from open play in 20 matches for the national team...

 

[hedache]

I don't think US has done enough to get a contender title yet. They're over rated in FIFA listings cos they keep playing the weak teams in the qualification group over and over. Put US in a European qualification group and see how many times they'll even make the world cup. On the other hand, US is becoming a better team, not because they're skilled but today's football favors athletic/physical play. And we have to admit that US can develop players in good shape in their soccer labs with special marine training, sci fi jerseys and blah blah...
The reality is, we should thank US that they don't like soccer much. Otherwise they probably would be the world champions every year. Why? Cos they have pretty much the best atheletes in the world, they just choose to play Football in the NFL, soccer takes the left overs. If MLS was more popular than NFL, you would see all the top star players play in the MLS, not in europe, which would also help american soccer improve. They've got the bling to bring anyone they want to, there just isn't a scene for the soccer world in the US.
So lets hope that we don't wake the giant up and ruin our precious european soccer.

 

[Charlie]

The voting system is fucked. USA has made the last eight World Cups becuase they dont have any real competition in North America. I know theyre a talented team, but I dont believe that they should occupy 5th place.

 

[Preki-USA]

I don't think US has done enough to get a contender title yet. They're over rated in FIFA listings cos they keep playing the weak teams in the qualification group over and over. Put US in a European qualification group and see how many times they'll even make the world cup. On the other hand, US is becoming a better team, not because they're skilled but today's football favors athletic/physical play. And we have to admit that US can develop players in good shape in their soccer labs with special marine training, sci fi jerseys and blah blah...
The reality is, we should thank US that they don't like soccer much. Otherwise they probably would be the world champions every year. Why? Cos they have pretty much the best atheletes in the world, they just choose to play Football in the NFL, soccer takes the left overs. If MLS was more popular than NFL, you would see all the top star players play in the MLS, not in europe, which would also help american soccer improve. They've got the bling to bring anyone they want to, there just isn't a scene for the soccer world in the US.
So lets hope that we don't wake the giant up and ruin our precious european soccer.

great post man, youve got everything in control

 

[hedache]

And for the topic, I love the US soccer! Let's keep our enemies closer.

 

[Old Seeker]

Heh, heh... I knew I would take some crap over this post, but I still think I have some valid points about how Konami has screwed team USA's strength in the game. I edited them a bit to fix that.

I will admit to being unaware that the FIFA rankings are considered to be a joke. I've started to become a huge fan of the sport over the last 5 years or so, but my knowledge is still obviously spotty.

To the poster who worries about the USA giant waking up to soccer, you are more right than you know. For starters, soccer in the USA is behind american football and basketball in the dreams of american kids. WAY behind.

In Europe and S. America you see toddlers kicking balls around. In the USA most of the babies are still bouncing basketballs, throwing baseballs, or kicking (american) footballs around.

Yet we are still gaining on the rest of you fast.

Organized youth soccer is huge here now, and with the Mexican invasion over the last 20 years or so, the USA has about 30 million new soccer fans right there. ;p

And you guys might have heard more about Freddie Adu, because he started out in pro leagues here at 14, but I'll give you two words to watch for this June:

Eddie Johnson.

Laugh at me now, but this young man might be ready to bust out in World Cup '06 along the likes of Rooney in Euro 2004 or even - that's right! - even Pele in 1958. When I saw him score an effortless hat trick in 17 minutes against Panama, in Panama, I became a believer.

I agree that the USA might actually get a rude shock, though, as we are in group with Italy, Czechs, and Ghana. Ouch. That could easily leave us with 1 or 3 points, and out of tournament.

If the USA does make it out of group, though, I think you could easily see them in the final 8 again. If we make the final four I will consider it a huge victory, and I don't think anyone at all can stop Brazil from winning it in a walk unless their plane crashes or something.

(Darkhorse pick - Sweden.)

 

[Preki-USA]

im not sold on eddie johnson, at least at this world cup, he still hasn't recovered from that injury and he's looked shaky his last couple of outings,i think twellman will score for team USA more than johnson at the WC

my breakthrough players for the WC are either Clint Dempsey or Bobby Convey

 

[zizou98]

the fifa world rankings are based on on qualifiers, friendlys and world cup finishes.
the usa teams world cup qualifying group contained panama, Jamaica and El Salvador and lets face it those teams are shit, but because the rankings are based on the number wins and not the calabour of the teams you beat, a team like usa can get ranked highly by fifa.

in other words, the reason the usa are so highly ranked is because they get easy teams in the world cup qualifiers, beat them, then play mostly shite teams in friendlys, all those wins (even if they are against shit teams) are added together and the usa are put in the top ten by fifa.

the fifa rankings are flaud, if they were based on how good the teams you beat are and the amount, then the rankings would look more like this(in my opinion):

Brazil
Argentina
Italy
England
France
Czech rep.
Spain
Portugal
sweden
nigeria

 

[Old Seeker]

Yes, I had no idea that the ratings weren't weighted to consider strength of opposition. That does render them pretty much useless.

However, I still think USA is far stronger than Konami make them.

 

[Jake Small]

Here is a site that tracks and ranks the internationals based on ELO ranking, which is what they use in chess; it is weighted to the ELO ranking of your opponent, etc. I'm sure there are flaws, but it seems a much better system than Fifa's.

http://www.eloratings.net/
Scroll down a bit for the rankings.

They have the top 20 like this:
1 Brazil
2 Netherlands
3 England
4 Spain
5 Czechia
6 France
7 Italy
8 Argentina
9 Portugal
10 Denmark
11 Germany
12 Sweden
13 Romania
13 United States
15 Mexico
16 Croatia
17 Turkey
18 Poland
18 Ireland
20 Iran

 

[Preki-USA]

anyone ever see in 4-4-2 when they did the world championship as if it were boxing, winner takes all? very interesting, I think scotland was the world champion...haha.