They have an U-20 WC. I agree I think the rule is ridiculous and was glad FIFA said they were getting rid of it. However now it appears to me that they haven't.

that boston goals is very OTT and not that funny really to any1 who actually knows how americans commentate sport. However, there were 1 or 2 gems in there i thought.

obv the use of nicknames all the time is quite funny, i find it weird that in the US it is standard for teams/franchises to move. when wimbledon moved, there was uproar evreywhere.

"Approaching the 50", and "approaching the half", and "minute ninety left," are all standard when watching nfl but sound ridiculous in a footy match. Im not sure why though.

I loled, especially after the whole "The Red Sox are... Boston is/are..." thing

The analogies in bold are laughably bad.

The ones not in bold no one would care about.

Really? If so, that seems to make the whole football/soccer thing pretty laughable since it would seem they are interchangeable and both are acceptable.

Yea, WorldSoccer has been in print since the early 60s and is a very respected football magazine. In fact, it was the english who coined the term soccer

Clark, what Dawg said, soccer is an English term. Look it up.

I have comcast.

I'm not sure exactly when it started but last weekend I noticed that it started saying HD for FSC and GolTV. The picture seemed a bit better than usual but did not seem to be HD quality (and there is some variance in quality from match to match so it could just be that) and it was not widescreen. BTW the same happened in the CL on ESPN2.

I can't believe they don't show the CL matches in HD and I really hope that Euro 2008 will be in HD. Even ignoring the quality difference, which is huge obviously, just having widescreen is worth it because you can see so much more of what is going on off the ball.

Is anybody getting these channels (or the CL from the ESPN2HD channel) in HD? I wonder if they're going to open up new channels soon or what.

This thread started with a discussion about US chances in future World Cups and I meant to post this then but things moved on a bit too quickly for my slow arse.

Pele said he thought an African nation would win the World Cup by 20something. I think the date might have passed.

Somebody made the point about the kids of poorer nations never being without a football and it follows that these nations would have a better chance of producing real talent over the developed countries, Whos kids play PES 08 instead.

Africa made the decision to hold their African Nations cup every 2 years instead of every 4 and this looks to be having a positive effect.

Given those couple of points, oh plus the number of European teams with training academys in Africa now, can we revise Peles prediction?

Incidently, excuse my ignorance, do the USA play in the Copa America or some other international tournement I never heard of? thanks

Theirry Henry is by far the greatest player ever to play in the prem. It always amazes me when I hear people say Zola, Cantona or Bergkamp were better. They were great players no doubt and influential, but c'mon Henry was just streets ahead.

That's a level right?

I agree that the 'streets ahead' comment was a little OTT but I am a Manchester united fan and even I can fully admit that Henry was the best player ever in the Premiership and I absolutely despise the french ****. Yes that includes Cantona. Ronaldo may take over in future though. By 'may' I mean will obv...

As an Irishman I can attest to the silliness of the protesting against the term 'soccer' since we use it all the time. In a lot of ireland in fact it would only be ever called soccer and never football although I generally only use it when I am at home and when I am talking to some GAA fans or people since they might get confused as to which sport I am referring to.

They compete in the CONCACAF gold cup, and often in Copa America by invitation.

yawefgaegfdasrlfaer, playoffs. still, at least we can throw our last two games now to rest the first team and relegate mansfield in the process

Are there? Go on then, educate us?

Funny, because the OT/ET mix up was pulled up in the EPL thread today. I guess we'll just have to agree that you just don't get it.

It appears many posters here are trying to educate, but some of "us" refuse to read it.

Hypothetical: Does it really matter what terms are used if nobody is willing to watch a match with you* because you are such a pain-in-the-butt about who does what and says what the whole time? Is it okay to just drink your beer(s) and watch the damn game and enjoy it in the manner you wish?

By the way, I am sure teh OT/ET mix up had everyone perplexed and it almost ruined the whole game for everyone involved and the game was about to be cancelled as a result. Total mayhem was averted, however, once somebody saved us all with the proper explanation of the differences between OT and ET.

* "you" is the hypothetical subject of this hypothetical.

here's a level

LIVERPOOL ARE GOOD!

Hmm so... you want everyone to think that you don't think Liverpool are good. If it's a level, that means you actually think LIVERPOOL ARE GOOD!

I agree.

actually he said ET instead of injury time. Or is suppose to be called stoppage time? Or added time?

I meant to say injury time but was half asleep.. I think some of the other premier league posters would vouch for me semi knowing what I'm talking about.

I know, I wasn't saying "deezy doesn't know what he is talking about". I was pointing out how silly it is to be a nit over terms.

According to a Soccernet article, Nigeria's former coach said that "if Nigerian football had the infrastructure enjoyed by the game in Germany, the Super Eagles would be one of the best teams in the world."

I don't think Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire are far from the world powerhouses in attacking talent. Their defense and goalkeeping isn't quite up to par.

2010 will be a big year for Africa. If the right teams qualify then I think they'll have a decent chance of placing a team in the semi-finals for the first time.

If I had to guess which team outside of Europe and South America will first win the World Cup, I would say Mexico. This generation of players is the first to play extensively in Europe and their youth teams have been successful. Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana and the United States deserve mention as well.