Source: https://beemsville.wordpress.com/tag/brazil/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 10:12:12+00:00

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The big day is Monday – USA v. Ghana at 5:00 CST. But today and this weekend (just in time for Father’s Day) we have World Cup Viewus Maximus. Four games today, three games tomorrow. No overlap, all available to watch on ABC and ESPN. It’s like Sweet Sixteen weekend – all the games are on, all of them are important – only with higher stakes and it only occurs every four years. Have a seat on the couch or head out to your favorite sports bar.
So far we’ve seen some bad refereeing decisions (Brazil penalty, Mexico disallowed goals) and a shocking dismantlement of the Spaniards by the Dutch. The games this weekend all have some intrigue and reasons to watch.
Colombia v. Greece – 11:00 Sat: Without Falcao, Colombia aren’t as fun, but they’re still pretty fun. Will the Greeks come to play or will they bunker down?
Uruguay v. Costa Rica – 2:00 Sat: Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani are worth a look. Let’s hope Suarez’s knee is really OK. The Ticos of Costa Rica are from our region and feature exciting players like Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz. They’re definitely the underdogs in this group.
England v. Italy – 5:00 Sat: Euro Old Guard powers square off. The winner has the inside track on this group; the loser blames the weather and gets scorched by their home country’s media. A lot to like here Ballotelli and Pirlo against Gerrard and Rooney. This is one to watch.
Japan v. Ivory Coast – 8:00 Sat: Which Japan shows up? The technical swashbuckling samurai or the overmatched, over-pressured team of last summer? Ivory Coast features big names like Drogba and the two Toures (Yaya and Kolo). This is a potentially great match-up and we could see either of these teams winning the group or completely bombing out of the tournament.
Switzerland v. Ecuador – 11:00 Sun: Can the Swiss take the heat? The weather and Ecuadorians will oblige them. Is Ecuador for real or are they just the beneficiary of playing all their qualifiers at a very altitude?
France v. Honduras – 2:00 Sun: Hondo, our other regional cousins (we don’t claim Mexico) are big underdogs here. Many of their players are MLS guys. France has star power, skill, and talent, but you don’t know if they’ll show up to play or end up on strike.
Argentina v. Bosnia-Herzegovina – 5:00 Sun: Messi, Higuain, Aguero for Argentina. How will they play together? Will Messi exert some leadership and lead this team like he can? Bosnia will certainly try to bunker and counter but they do have Dzeko and Pjanic in the attack.
Here’s hoping for some great play, plenty of goals, and fewer bad calls this weekend.
The Mexico friendly is behind us. A tale of two halves, with some impressive midfield play and alarming defending, and surprise! Jurgen unveils a diamond midfield. Mostly, guys who’ve already booked tickets to the World Cup confirmed why they’re going, and a couple of guys made strong cases for inclusion. Among those not staking claims were the injured (Brad Evans), the not-allowed-to-participate-because-Mexico (Beasley, Herculez, Joe Corona) and the very wet behind the ears (Julian Green). While we wouldn’t be surprised to see Green brought along for seasoning, it’s getting might late for debutantes.
So it’s time for another Beemsville 23: our picks (not who we think Jurgen Klinsmann will take) for the World Cup. It’s t-minus two months until the USA kicks off against Ghana in Brazil, and only a couple of weeks before the coaching staff names its preliminary 30-man roster for training camp.
Earlier this month, Jurgen rolled out a mostly European-based squad in Cyprus, who were pretty roundly outplayed by a motivated Ukrainian side that’s just about the best team not to make the World Cup. It was an opportunity to confirm who probably shouldn’t be on the 23 man roster for Brazil, and that’s the best we can say about that game. Guys like Oguchi Onyewu, John Brooks, Edgar Castillo, and Sascha Klejistan showed very little.
So here’s our Ides of March Beemsville 23: our picks (not who we think Jurgen will take) for the World Cup, based on numerous factors. We will know more next month, with the Mexico friendly played and MLS a month or so into the schedule.
Goalkeepers (3): Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake). Timmy remains the #1.
The USA’s January camp is behind us, this World Cup year begun with training in Sao Paulo and an unconvincing victory over South Korea last weekend. Coach Jurgen has begun his stretch run of evaluation, giving looks to the MLS-based contingent in camp while continuing to watch and track the European and Mexico-based players.
Interesting about Jurgen: he espouses a lot of new-age philosophy, talks about mindset, attitude, leaving the door open for players. But when it’s come down to it, he’s been very regimented about bringing players in, having them earn their spots over time. He’s looked at a lot, but you get the sense he’s much less likely to drop a surprise on us than his predecessors.
That said, we have significant questions about the team’s back-line, the attacking midfield spots, as well as how many forwards should make the roster. Guys are hurt, guys aren’t playing (or aren’t playing well), and MLS is still a month from kicking off. We’ll know a lot more when the March 5 friendly in Ukraine rolls around.
For now, though, it’s time to roll out the Beemsville 23: our picks (not who we think Jurgen will take) for the World Cup, based on numerous scientific factors like watching the players on TV (some more than others), FIFA 2014-PS3 edition, the opinions of soccer writers and podcasters, and the proverbial gut feeling.

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