I second that fact. referees and line judges forgive elite teams and force up and coming teams to live with with dubious calls. This time around because Europe needs to get out of its monetary woes, I am afraid that the organizers have already instructed the referees and line judges to favor England or italy. Remember that in 1998 a lesser team won (fFrance beat Brasil) and the next year the Euro was introduced. This is my conspiracy theory.

Written by a Brasilian I guess... A lesser team? 3:0 win by France over Brasil, might I remind you, in football it is as clear victory as it gets. If the ref would not allow the goal against Ivory Coast on two hand balls by Fabiano, Brasil would most likly be going home this week... Keep your conspiracy theories to yourself, it will be less embarassing.

a lesser team !!! ahahaahahha ... you dont know sh!@!t about football .. france was on top of its game. i watched every games in 98 , and i knew they had a chance ... brasil was beat before by france . learn your game and history ..

Right. The USA isn't doing as well as you'd like, so the refs are crooked. I'm an American, but I sure don't see what you do here. Yeah, bad calls are made just like in every sport. But the refs aren't out to get the U.S.

Football (sorry... soccer for Americans) has always had a problem with poor officiating. Referees and linesmen have been making bad calls since the sport began, and it isn't going to change anytime soon, so it's something that supporters just have to accept for now. They're not out to screw any one team... they usually screw them all equally, though it may not seem that way sometimes.

Having said that, I would like to see the US team go all the way, but although they have the heart, they just don't have the skills of the major contenders, and therefore won't make the final. I hope I'm proved wrong, but I don't think I will be. My guess would be a Brazil vs either Germany or Italy final this time.

The US has done great, but England wasn't on top of its game, that helped us to end on top of the group. We can beat Ghana and advance to the quarterfinals, from there on, it would be very difficult to defeat Uruguay, the bracket favorite; however if South Korea pulls a win on Uruguay, we have a chance to beat them and advance to the semifinals. It all depends on the opponent, the big name teams tend to win the World Cup.

By the way when France defeated Brazil in 1998, France was the top team in the world even before the competition, Brazil was the underdog.

You sir are not invited to join us for drinks and snack to watch the match on Saturday.

what are you mike ... daddy's boy ??

These so-called mama's boys would run 5 miles, than kick your butt! Some of the fittest athletes in the world.

Hey Mike.....if you dont give a crap about soccer what are you doing on a soccer site??? Damn sight better than a bunch of 300lb guys wrapped up in armor with 60 men on a team and 6points for a score and a chance for one more after that. And really how much actual playing time do these "athletes" see during a game.

Mike,

I 've watched "football" all my life. It's become a game of fat, overpaid, mediocre, spoiled high-school mentality jocks who have to wear all that s**t on their bodies! Real football (soccer), in which real skill is required to handle the ball with one's feet (as opposed to American "football") uses almost no protective gear, doesn't have "time outs," has athletes who are fit and trim, and has the respect and love of every other nation in the world except the U.S. Why is that? Could it be that we are so friggin' arrogant that we can't admit to these simple facts? Tell you what...I live in Northern NJ, a.k.a. Giants Country. I'd put the Giants on the field against the U.S. team, (or my favorite Germany) and I guarantee you the Giants wouldn't last the first half against them. I even suspect some of our local girls soccer teams would kick their butts!

Anyone who thinks that soccer is a sport for "mamma's boys" has never played. It's one of the toughest sports in the world. Baseball, basketball... now they're momma's boy sports.

MC, I see that you wisely left out ice hockey. To me, soccer (football) is ice hockey without the tenacity! That said, it is a much demanding sport, and I believe our US team can gut it out to reach the finals.

I hope the US wins and I know these guys have to be really fit to play but I have to say it's got to be the most boring sport I've found to try to watch and I am a diehard sports fan, will watch pretty darn much of anything involving competition. I just find watching a bunch of men (or women) run up and down a field for, what an hour (?) and ending with a score of "nil - nil" (by the way, what's that all about, 0 to 0 sounds much better) is an absolute waste of my time.

Only half the world; they're called conservatives.

Absolutely! Good advice!

I think Ghana will take the game on Saturday.