A 1-goal lead is never safe. Bale may be nearing the end of his career and has been stealing money from his club teams for years, but he's a world-class talent and he's always motivated to play for the national team.
If you're a casual fan, it's not a big deal. But it's a big reason that the UK team does not field an Olympic team most years (2012 was an exception). They basically get to field 4 teams for each country (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales). They don't want a UK soccer team because they might lose their separate teams.
England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all play separately in international soccer.
All four UK nations play soccer separately. But they have to combine for the Olympics (not too big a deal for the men since the Olympics is a minor, mostly U-23 tournament). Scotland and Ireland have their own domestic leagues too, but Wales plays in the England domestic leagues. Cardiff and Swansea have spent a couple of years in the Premier League in recent years.
I legit had no idea until I heard on sports radio this morning that Wales has their own soccer team and we're playing them today.
The first half was pretty good. The way they played the second half just pretty much took away any interest I have in America playing in the World Cup.
My son asked me to explain the difference between UK, England, Wales, etc. this morning. Told him I had no clue and he'll just have to google it
True. But this group of young players is more talented than any we've had. In 4 years, playing on home soil, they should be a strong contender for at least a top 8 finish.
Soccer will keep being irrelevant in the US until at least the lower middle class can afford to play on elite teams. Elite level soccer is crazy expensive in the US. Until that happens we won’t win big, and the US fans only get behind winners.
Travel baseball is a huge expenditure, too. Along with AAU basketball. The scholarship situation for college baseball is abhorrent, but finding a school that funds mens soccer at all is even worse.
True.
This is a tired, uninformed, and over-used argument that doesn't take into account just how popular the sport is in America. We tied a team we should have beat, but we still have plenty of time to advance out of this group. We are also hosting the world cup in 4 years. If this young team underperforms expectations in this World Cup, it has little bearing on how far the sport has come in the past 20 years. It helps no doubt, but it's a used up and shallow argument. The problems with US soccer go way way deeper than this team underperforming.
Again, where are you finding that US soccer is "irrelevant"? Facts say that it's more popular than it has ever been. Volleyball and cricket are irrelevant sports in america, not soccer. This is the same used up argument from people who have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to soccer.
Wow. You do realize we’re ranked in the top 20 in FIFA rankings (which you can criticize all you want and I would agree), and if we make it out of the group we will be in a 16 team playoff for the best in the world. We’re not world beaters by any means, but we are highly competitive on the world stage.
By irrelevant, I meant it doesn’t have anywhere near the support of MLB or NHL, which are way behind basketball and football.
