Dell19 said:
Scary thread at the last link Marla posted. Provided for comical value. Love the reasoning that USA are great because they have a captain at Cottbus. The final point is vaguely accurate though as thats the biggest problem England has.
There are some accurate points in there. Reyna is not the best captain in the EPL in terms of playing skill, but he definitely provides a good leadership role for the team. He was at one point early on ranked as the best EPL player by some statistic thing they use there. Donovan-Beasley is a very solid combo, and if there is anyone who saw their corner kick play that led to the second US goal in the 2-0 win over Mexico last month will agree. The quarter-finals 2002 were a close game, and if the proper refereeing decisions had been made, I venture to say that it would have at least gone to penalties. Kasey Keller is definitely a class keeper. He is having a great season in the Bundesliga. For the last point, I actually do agree, though it is also true with alot of the smaller teams who do well. The United States is reaching the point where it has a good combination of talent and teamwork.
The rest of those points, especially the ones about the captains are a little iffy to totally laughable.
I like the ad, but in general I think Nike is too in-your-face and arrogant, and judging from that post and some others I read, that's the kind of people it attracts to forums. People who don't care much about soccer but want to see the USA win alot and seek to brag about it online.
Marla_Singer said:
But when I've seen this, I wondered why they've chosen a black, red, white combo for the colours. Maybe it's because my mind is screwed up but I automatically associate that colour combo with some nasty Historical references.
Anyway, I don't know if you've seen the movie clip but it's rather funny : we are the best in sports, "soccer" is now "the american game" and we have the best gene pool on earth... as such, we are the next Brazil. As much as I appreciate the initiative about promoting footie in the US, I'm still a bit disturbed by the mean used to make American people interested in that sport.
I think the red, white, and black seem like intimidating, "tough" colors that Nike would choose to promote this ad.
As for the ad, I think it is a little extreme, but nonetheless I think many people fail to realize that American soccer will grow and keep growing for a very long time, and we will win a World Cup at some point in the next 20-30 years IMO.
Dell19 said:
Thats the attitude that makes a lot of football fans hope that the USA will never win the WC as we would never ear the end of it.
Inter4 said:
That's the last thing I need... USA Champ of the World. I rather see Brazil win it again.
Dell, your point is true, but you must also keep in mind that this is just an ad put on by a corporation I (and others) see as one that constantly promotes an "in-your-face", "we are better than the rest" attitude, and does not necessarily represent the attitudes of many American soccer fans. Like I said before, Internet forums are probably not the best way to judge American fans. If and when we do win the World Cup, I'm going to have to rub it in. True American soccer fans have endured so much America-bashing and people constantly laughging off their team, that it would be hard for us to be quiet after a WC win. Personally, I think you all who laugh at American soccer would deserve to be poked fun at after an American win.
Shevchenko said:
From my point of view, we can let them say what ever they wanted and continue playing their "manly sports" after all they are the one that miss it and we have already enought people playing to make several million teams...
So hows finishing second to us in CONCACAF feel? Any better than getting knocked out by us in the second round of the 2002 WC?
(As you may imagine, I don't play footie every weekend).
