Who will win FIFA World Cup next: US or England?

Ha! Good point!

There are quite a number of competing claims as to who invented the game, see here.

I thought America's pastime was baseball? Grew from 'townball' which itself came from cricket. (BTW did you know that the first ever international cricket match was between the USA and Canada? 1844, St George's club in New York. Canada won by 23 runs).

 

I have to say England will get it first. I love the Italian soccer team of course (but I doubt they will win the next one).

England simply has more skill then the US at this time. It's all about not cracking under the pressure and making sure that their biggest stars perform (for England).

I think they will get it first.

Skinny

 

My understanding was baseball came from rounders.

 

They come from a similar root - as does croquet. Let's face it, since humans first evolved (or got made directly by God, I don't want to offend anyone here). we've hit things with sticks, kicked things and thrown things to each other. When the first colonists arrived in America they brought with them their various local forms of their favourite hitting/kicking/throwing games. (Don't forget even in England there was a disparity between local versions of sports such as 'football' - the only thing they shared was the name, hence the need to codify it). Between us we've managed to codify quite a few of these hitting/kicking/throwing games into the modern sports we all know and love.

Now if we can just agree on the names and which one is 'best' ...

 

China

 

I have thought a few times about creating a game matching site to match your tastes to a game that would be good for you to watch or play. It's kind of like the dating sites that ask a bunch of questions and then match you with a potential mate or date.

Some questions would include whether you like the outdoors or don't mind indoors. If your color preference is for shades of green, white, tan, or earth tones you could be matched to games on grass, ice, wood, or clay/sand earth surfaces. If you are more offensive minded you'd be directed to baskteball, volleyball etc, if defense then hockey, soccer (or name of your choice). If you like finess maybe tennis, badmiton, golf, billiards,darts. If brawling is your thing then boxing, mixed martial arts, or the Jerry Springer show might do. If you like balls hitting sticks in the ground then cricket or croquet. If you don't really like athletic sports than you can watch auto racing, poker, spelling bees, and bingo.

I prefer the battle sports like hockey and football (football) but also like basketball due to its flow of scoring, more often the better team wins whereas hockey often times a low seed beats a high seed on some lucky bounces.

There is no best sport only a best sport for you.

BTW way my absolute favorite sport for girls is soccer.

 

I think the US will win it this time.

 

England is be the next winner.

 

I think England have a very good chance this time around.

 

To those of you voting for England, is there anything different now than there has been in their efforts since 1966. The reason I suggest the US will win next out of the two is that the development program has grown and is still growing rapidly whereas England has had a strong development program for a very, very long time.

Also, there would be virtually no media pressure on the US compared to England. I don't quite understand the whole media pressure thing anyways. Isn't all the things they write, just tomorrow's fish & chip papers?

 

People might not expect great things from the US soccer squad , but their players do not have that much experience of playing in high voltage encounters. They might get to the final, and crumble at the final hurdle.

 

Are you taking the piss or what? That would be like saying Australia will win the World Cup. If there was to be an extreme upset I would think it would come from an African based team.

 

I would agree with you. The US is a whole continent and if football continues to grow and more players come to Europe (or perhaps even stay in the MLS if the standard improves) then inevitably the US national team will get better and better. In England we seem to go backwards, certainly in terms of technique. Everyone's got their own reasons for this; some say it's because kids nowadays would rather watch TV and play video games, others say that because the nation has become more affluent there isn't the need to escape from a poor background as there used to be. And if you DO want to escape there's now more than just football as the way out: pop music and drug dealing are two other accepted ways to make decent money.

Personally I blame the parents. There's nothing more depressing in England than watching a kids' football game. The parents stand on the touchline screaming 'encouragement' at their own kids whilst shouting abuse at the opponents. Fights are all too frequent, at one boys' game in my home town (Brighton) last year a parent got his ear bitten off. The boys are terrified to play properly and simply lump the ball forward


As far as the media pressure goes it's not just one story on one day - it's relentless day after day. Not just papers but TV as well. Every year that passes the burden of expectation gets heavier and heavier.

 

i want uk win.But some how it is not happening

 

Who won the World Cup last time? How did Australia fair against that side (plus a ref that could recognize a dive even if the diver had a scuba tank on)? And didn't Australia out play Croatia only to end in a draw despite a number of very controversial calls? Australia winning it all is not far fetched, it is pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth.

 

You obviously didn't see Australia's performance in the Asia Cup. Australia/USA/England winning the WC is far fetched, anyway you look at it.

The Dutch is one team to look out for. You should have seen there U21 team win the Finals in the UEFA Championships. If that translates to good performances when they play open age definitely one to look out for.

 

During my daughter's first year of club soccer, I noticed a few loud parents and they had British accents. I was talking to the club director and he said he would not hire someone with a British accent and now the girls teams were mostly coached by ladies who had competed at university and national team reserve level. The boys teams were mostly coached by hispanic men. We do now have a new technical director who has hired some guys from the UK but they are guys that came over to play in college teams and seem like guys that are playing the game for fun.

My only requirements as a parent are that my child is improving, is having fun, and that coach is doesn't take herself or the game too seriously, very serious is OK.

By the way, over here it's a game for the affluent but some teams to give out some scholarships and bus players in from the inner cities.

 

I only saw highlights but it was teams like Iran, Singapore and some others. We mostly get EPL, MLS, Milan, and the Argentine league here.

How far off were the Socceroos at WC? I really enjoyed watching them as they competed well with Brazil, Italy, and Croatia, stayed on there feet and fought nobly.

 

Your club director is on the right lines. I forgot to add in my original post that the other thing 'wrong' with British football is that it's all about committment and workrate; indeed the slogan of the English team is: "Passion. Committment. Belief" whereas it should be "Skill. Talent. Ability." I've got all the passion, committment and belief you want could possibly want but I'm still crap. In Britain people that physically 'get stuck in' are more highly thought of than some nancy boy in an alice band with the ball seemingly glued to his feet.

Partly this stems from the fact that, despite all-seater stadia and the 'prawn sandwich' corporate fan, football in Britain is still very much the working class sport. The toffs all play Rugby Union. Funny that for you football is an affluent game.

Anyway it's been nice talking to you, I've got to go now, my son's team are playing a pre-season friendly against Lewes Bridgeview tonight. We hate those bastards ...