US women

Just watched the USMNT during the playing of our National Anthem. All were singing...EXTREMELY PROUD OF THEIR TEAM!

Kap isn't actually black but mulatto.  Birth parents were white mom and black dad.

Personally couldn't care about his race.  He lost me with the pig / cop socks.

Also couldn't care that Rapinoe is gay.  Many great women players are gay and no one cares.  My favorite was Tobin Heath - hard working grinder with great skill.  Abby Wambach was all out on the field (and off) and all anyone cared about was her great play - for the team.

Rapinoe is an attention seeking ball of negative energy that creates a toxic environment everywhere she goes.

Agreed on all of this. 

Case in point for Rapinoe being "an attention seeking ball of negative energy", she announced her retirement right BEFORE the World Cup so that she could get this "going away" party and make this CUP (as much of this as she can) about her. She could have gone the Carly Lloyd route and waited until after, so as not to distract the attention away from the team... but it looks like she doesn't get the old saying "There is no "I" in "team".

Someone is going to knock them out in the knockout stage.  This team is just not cohesive and doesn't play well together.

That backline is seriously missing the experience and stability of Sauerbrunn. I love Julie Ertz but she's not a CB. If she had been in her stronger position of the 6 instead of Andi Sullivan, that goal by the Dutch does not materialize. Valdko needs to find someone else to play CB and move Julie back to the 6. Second half was much better with the high press, but only because we had the awesomeness of Rose Lavelle subbed on. I love me some Ertz but Rose is an absolute game-changer that everyone seems to forget about till she strikes. Finally, we found out what it means to be Horan'd. I need us to start paying someone to piss her off because we see what she does when pushed. Now if we can only get Morgan to get mad as well, we would avoid the chaotic first half we witnessed...

p.s. Trinity Rodman impressed by doing so many things that never show up on the stat sheet🔥🔥🔥

Y'all seem to forget that Ertz broke into the USWNT as a centerback. That is where she played in the 2015 World Cup. In fact, doing a little research, she played every minute of the 2015 tournament and made the World Cup All Star Team as a CB. In 2017, she started playing the 6. At the 2019 World Cup opener against Thailand, she started at CB before playing the rest of the tournament as a 6. With being gone for 20 months, it is probably easier for her to fill the centerback role than the 6.

I get your point with Ertz and where she started, but my thought process is why put more pressure on the shaky backline. I say stop the attack before it gets into the final third. IMHO she's a shutdown 6 and would bolster the midfield which is what was glaringly obvious yesterday. Take Dunn, she plays for the Thorns as a middy, but the Nat'l Team, she's slotted into the left outside back because it's where she's needed. BTW, I love how she locks that left flank down...

|me tink dem know a ting or two|

Didn't watch the game this am -- but 0-0, come on! has to be better than that!!
did Portugal bunker?

I recorded it overnight & woke up early & watched (without knowing anything about what happened). No, Portugal didn't bunker. After the first 10 minutes or so I thought they looked much more cohesive and dangerous, and they did a much better job passing & possessing. I thought their midfield badly outplayed ours. I know it's cliché to say, but the US by & large played a lot of boomball- long, hopeful balls that rarely amounted to anything unless the ball happened to fall fortunately after the initial challenge for it.  In the 2nd half there were a few nice dribbling runs into the attacking zone from Lavelle, Horan, etc., but they generally petered out as soon as they tried to play in one of the forwards. Sophia Smith specifically seemed like she spent more time on the ground than upright and was not much of a factor. They subbed Rapinoe in for her after 60 minutes and I thought Rapinoe was more effective, though she's clearly lost a few steps from the last World Cup.

Overall, the US looked slower & borderline out of shape. I see that the stats say that we significantly outshot them, including 6 shots on goal, but frankly that was news to me. We rarely created any truly good chances or stressed the Portuguese keeper at all. They didn't have a lot of great shots either, but they obviously came a lot closer to scoring than we did with their shot in stoppage time that hit the post & was 2 inches from sending us home. It definitely wasn't a particularly enjoyable game to watch.

Will be interesting to see how they respond from here. In theory we have the talent & firepower to regroup and run the table, but thus far they haven't shown it on the field at all. Maybe Carli Lloyd's rant after the game will light a fire under them- she certainly wasn't afraid to say what a lot of others have probably been hesitant to.

Portugal did not bunker because they could not. They had to win the game to advance. Bunkering would not have made a lot of sense. That's why I figured the game would be wide open for plenty of scoring chances for the US. Sadly, much like the other two group games, they just seemed to have issues finding the back of the net.

They have got to try and figure things out. Otherwise, they will get bounced by Sweden on Sunday. Of that I have no doubt. Maybe coming into this game as underdogs, which they will be, and hearing everyone doubting them the next few days will light a fire under their butts.

100%

This team has not been good. We are getting beat in the midfield every game. Unless we change our formation or personnel or both in the midfield, we will be exiting the knockout stage immediately. One goal allowed in 3 games is good but 4 goals scored in the group stage is horrible.

He has no charisma, no passion, no personality.  I can feel his limp dead fish handshake through the TV screen.