Is the TEAM USA is a Joke compared to the other teams in Europe and Asia?
477068
Not to be rude or anything but Team USA is not that good. If you're talking about football, they kill, but in soccer, they die. I'm not sure is they're considered a joke compared to Asia but europe has one of the best soccer teams and players in the world.!
1098166
They can't, not in 2006 anyway. The USA plays less than competitive teams to rack up qualifying points. This means lack of better competition. They will not improve, no matter how talented there players become in the future while they play teams that are less competitive than themselves. Better to play a few friendly games and lose to the greater sides and learn something and have your experience grow than to win against feeble competition and have your standard of play remain the same. Just my opinion.
1066542
According to ESPN this is USA's best team ever...but there are no garuntees! so i expect them to win don't you?
1176352
Are there really people out there who thought the US ever had a snowballs chance in hell of getting past the first group stage,every one in Europe knows better than that. But you should support your country in victory as well as defeat,so no reason not to party anyway as they did at least qualify for the competition and get to play some real teams.
1082162
That just shows that ranking means nothing..like the US being ranked number 5 ....and it is only based on the north american teams they play
467306
Simply put, no!\n\nRankings have come to prominence over the last couple of years but no-one really takes them seriously. It's difficult to say that a system that puts the USA in fourth just because they win more games that teams like Italy, England, Ukraine etc, whose qualifying competitions are always much harder due to the depth of European football.
326136
Now that I'm done laughing......   Unfortunately I have to agree that the USA is in the "Group Of Death"  lol  And If they do make it out of the group stages there is a good chance that their next match would be against the favorite to win...Brazil.
83806
USA will win it all.  just kidding.
1067325
I don't think it is all that surprising to to the US competing and pretty competantly in the 2006 World cup. \n\n Hey ...but the US benefits from a vast pool of 298 million inhabitants - the 3rd largest country in the world. It also has money, healthcare,  training and sports facilities that many countries can only dream of.  Don't forget that you have a massive headstart.   \n\nEcuador got thru to the knock out stages and they are not known as world class footy players. Only 6 million people in what is a poor country. \n\n Australias national sports are Aussie rules football (where you can pick up the ball) and cricket - but they do pretty well for a country of 20 million - and look set to get to the knock out stage.\n\nI'm not knocking the US at all, in fact its good to see them doing so well  - the match against Italy was particularly good.  But I'm more surprised to see Togo at the world cup than the USA team.\n\nCheers.....
1182413
The US is not bad at soccer period! ?We have been to 5 straight World Cups. There are teams that have not been to one. So no, we are not bad in soccer. I will say that we have the worst country in the World that doesn't support the sport or better yet, the team. \n\nThe US team had a bad game, wether we lose or win in the next two matches, it doesn't mean that we are bad at soccer.  We were put in a tough group. \n\nGO USA, Win, Lose, or Draw!
1055020
I wasn't impressed at all. I didn't see anything that showed me that they can beat Brazil. In fact, I have heard through reliable resources that the US is going to knock of Italy.\nItaly couldn't beat their way out of a wet paper bag if they had too.
477581
It's tough to say.  I would say no.  Italy, Czech Republic and Ghana are tough teams and will have stronger fan support than the Americans.  Additionally, the US seem a little overconfident because of their strong performance in the last World Cup.  The only way the US will make it past the first round is if one or two of the other teams play poorly.
1000375
1. Despite the FIFA World Rankings there's no way the U.S. is the 5th best team in the world.  Being ranked that high has probably upped expectations beyond where they should be.  In a group with Italy and the Czech Republic it would be an upset for the U.S. to go through to the next round.\n\n2. As for the rest of your question, unfortunately what many pro sports stars in the U.S. have in abundance, selfishness and arrogance, doesn't lend itself to success in team sports.  So it's no wonder they've done so poorly in international competitions lately.
414272
It's not that the USA is overrated.  Nobody knows how good they actually are.  They came out of nowhere last World Cup.  They're basically a somewhat talented team that hasn't proven if they have what it takes to win consistantly yet or not.  My prediction is that Italy chokes and the USA takes second in their group.
1065717
Czech is ranked #2 in the world and Ghana #48.\nExcept for Ghanaians, who support based on country loyalty and not actual hope of a win, I don't think anyone expected this.\n\nI don't want to predict the US score against this team. The US has made major changes to the team that played against Czech Rep. Let's see how they perform against Italy first!
360098
If they do, I would consider it a miracle.  The United States does not put as much emphasis in the sport as most of the country.  The resources available to the US National Team are not sufficient, in my opinion, to build a team capable of winning the World Cup.  They can do well, but it would be a surprise to me to see them past the quarter finals.
553130
I have no idea if that is true or not cause I have not heard it.  But that is a pretty foolish bet if it is true.  In my opinion the US is head and shoulders above Venezuela in terms of teams.  One we have a higher world ranking, and while that really doesn't matter, we are also in the World Cup.  Try and name 5 Venezuelians playing in a league in Europe, hell try and name 1, I can't.  Also the US played a poor game against Morroco, with such players as Landon Donovan and DeMarcus Beasley just not on top of their games.  They will look to this upcoming friendly as a way to gain momentum for the World Cup, and also factor in this is a home game and I feel the USA will come out hard and get a 2-0 win.