Ot - usmnt

[BobC]

Yeah. The Dutch should have pressed in AET. Argentina are formidable in PK shootouts. But I suspect that the Dutch were gassed after 90 (well 100+minutes)

Kudos to Argentina. Moving on.
Also kudos to Netherlands. They figured out the Argentinian weaknesses and exploited them (took them 83 minutes to do so, but who is quibbling?).

Finally, kudos to Croatia. They continue to fly under the radar.
See ya, Brazil.

Croatia is my pick from this matchup.

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by BobC

Yeah. The Dutch should have pressed in AET. Argentina are formidable in PK shootouts. But I suspect that the Dutch were gassed after 90 (well 100+minutes)

Kudos to Argentina. Moving on.
Also kudos to Netherlands. They figured out the Argentinian weaknesses and exploited them (took them 83 minutes to do so, but who is quibbling?).

Finally, kudos to Croatia. They continue to fly under the radar.
See ya, Brazil.

Croatia is my pick from this matchup.

Arrogant Neymar added a 6th star to his kit prior to the game - he needs to now see his tailor as Brazil remains at 5.
Without hindsight, wise or foolish for not letting him take the first PK shot?

The Croatian keeper has been outstanding and Luka's 37 yo legs held up pretty nicely.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by wc1934

Arrogant Neymar added a 6th star to his kit prior to the game - he needs to now see his tailor as Brazil remains at 5.
Without hindsight, wise or foolish for not letting him take the first PK shot?

The Croatian keeper has been outstanding and Luka's 37 yo legs held up pretty nicely.

Did he really, or is this hyperbole?

Also, there is a WC 2022 thread now.

Lastly, on-topic, there's a chance the next Copa America will be hosted in the U.S. Ecuador apparently withdrew the bid. Would be a good time to see how far the team has progressed, etc. I also hope I might get a chance to spectate.

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by echappist

Did he really, or is this hyperbole?

Also, there is a WC 2022 thread now.

Lastly, on-topic, there's a chance the next Copa America will be hosted in the U.S. Ecuador apparently withdrew the bid. Would be a good time to see how far the team has progressed, etc. I also hope I might get a chance to spectate.

https://www.besoccer.com/new/neymar-...-badge-1204227

Neymar puts 6th star on Brazil badge
BeSoccer
BeSoccer
19 days ago
1.6k
Neymar already has 6 stars and the WC hasn't even started. Screenshot/Instagram
Neymar already has 6 stars and the WC hasn't even started. Screenshot/Instagram
Brazilian Neymar Jr is looking forward to the action getting underway in Qatar. In one of his last 'stories' on Instagram, the footballer showed a photo of his shorts with his country's badege, but with a slight difference... Instead of five stars, which is what Brazil have thanks to their five World Cup victories, there were six, the sixth being added by the striker.
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It has been 20 years since Brazil won their last World Cup. The South American side have not lifted the trophy since 2002.

Despite two decades having passed, Brazil are still the experts in this competition, as they have won five. As well as the last one in 2002, they won the 1958, 1962, 1970 and 1994 editions.

But Neymar is not settling for that. He wants to make history and be one of the Brazilians to give their country another star.

Neymar wants to win the World Cup so much, that he has already added another star to Brazil's collection. He showed it off on an 'Instagram' story. It is a sign of how much that he and the whole team have to get the victory in Qatar.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by echappist

Did he really, or is this hyperbole?

Also, there is a WC 2022 thread now.

Lastly, on-topic, there's a chance the next Copa America will be hosted in the U.S. Ecuador apparently withdrew the bid. Would be a good time to see how far the team has progressed, etc. I also hope I might get a chance to spectate.

Copa possibly here & World Cup in 2026 as well. I'm itching to go watch some matches.

[wc1934]

***??????
Lots of discussion about Reyna not playing in WC - fitness - commitment?

Then rumors about Berhalter being blackmailed - apparently years ago he kicked/abused his girlfriend/ now wife.
Now it appears that Reyna's parents (Claudio - ex captain) may have been behind the blackmail.
What a $hitshow!!!

[Beldar77]

Originally Posted by wc1934

***??????
Lots of discussion about Reyna not playing in WC - fitness - commitment?

Then rumors about Berhalter being blackmailed - apparently years ago he kicked/abused his girlfriend/ now wife.
Now it appears that Reyna's parents (Claudio - ex captain) may have been behind the blackmail.
What a $hitshow!!!

this ^^^^^^ is a typical week at Barca or real madrid

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by Beldar77

this ^^^^^^ is a typical week at Barca or real madrid

hahah - then there is hope for the USA

[echappist]

Originally Posted by wc1934

***??????
Lots of discussion about Reyna not playing in WC - fitness - commitment?

Then rumors about Berhalter being blackmailed - apparently years ago he kicked/abused his girlfriend/ now wife.
Now it appears that Reyna's parents (Claudio - ex captain) may have been behind the blackmail.
What a $hitshow!!!

I just saw reports of this and was hoping not to be reminded of it.

$hyteshow sums up my thoughts. Just so much ugh. Berlhalter should have never shared the Gio benching in the first place (after the U.S. was knocked out). I see it as an overall harmless mistake but not enough t justify what Claudio Reyna has subsequently done.

The dredging of old issues, especially if one that has been a non-issue for decades, is just sheer pettiness. If Berlhalter is to be believed and if no further incident has taken place, a good 30 years have elapsed.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by echappist

I just saw reports of this and was hoping not to be reminded of it.

$hyteshow sums up my thoughts. Just so much ugh. Berlhalter should have never shared the Gio benching in the first place (after the U.S. was knocked out). I see it as an overall harmless mistake but not enough t justify what Claudio Reyna has subsequently done.

The dredging of old issues, especially if one that has been a non-issue for decades, is just sheer pettiness. If Berlhalter is to be believed and if no further incident has taken place, a good 30 years have elapsed.

The whole thing is really not good. For anyone.

I am sure there is more to follow. Probably nothing good for the Reyna family.
From what I read is what Claudio's wife, who was GB's wife's college roommate, who submitted the complaint.
I suspect that GB, fairly or otherwise, is done.

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by echappist

I just saw reports of this and was hoping not to be reminded of it.

$hyteshow sums up my thoughts. Just so much ugh. Berlhalter should have never shared the Gio benching in the first place (after the U.S. was knocked out). I see it as an overall harmless mistake but not enough t justify what Claudio Reyna has subsequently done.

The dredging of old issues, especially if one that has been a non-issue for decades, is just sheer pettiness. If Berlhalter is to be believed and if no further incident has taken place, a good 30 years have elapsed.

Totally agree - why did the Reyna's wait all these years and now use extortionary tactics to keep their kid on the team. Those actions are disgraceful.

And for now Berlhalter has been relieved of duties.

[Louis]

What a soap opera:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64168700

[verticaldoug]

My cousin was a NCAA Women's Coach for many years. She would give the same speech every year to incoming 1st year players and their parents. I am coaching you to not just be the best player you can be, but to be an adult who can deal with life. If you have a problem, come talk to me. Parents, if your daughter has a problem, encourage her to come talk to me, but I will not negotiate with you.

Every year, the AD would get at least one letter saying the coach should be fired. She had won a couple national championships at the time, so was safe.

This is essentially what happened to Coach B.

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The culture of drinking and violence has definitely existed in college sports for years. It really started to get attention after the Duke Lacrosse incident with the strippers, and the UVa incident where a young woman on the lacrosse team was killed by her lacrosse playing boyfriend in a drunken rage.

There has been a big push on dealing with relationship violence at both the collegiate and high school levels in recent years. It is probably better now.

This incident was 1991 with 1st year college students involving alcohol. It doesn't appear they kept it a secret and Coach B has said he sought counselling. They are still together and there are no reported incidents after.

This is what you want. A person with a problem to get help. After they have gotten help and change, you don't punish them....

If anything, Coach B can become a real advocate for change and continued support for dealing with relationship violence in sports. That seems the right approach here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the Reynas have taken toxic bulldozing parenting to a new low.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...na-family-feud

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by Beldar77

this ^^^^^^ is a typical week at Barca or real madrid

I read this comment at Defector, but it still holds true. The Reyna BS shows that America is finally becoming a real soccer (football) country!

Originally Posted by wc1934

Totally agree - why did the Reyna's wait all these years and now use extortionary tactics to keep their kid on the team. Those actions are disgraceful.

And for now Berlhalter has been relieved of duties.

Just to add onto the s#*7 sandwich, it wasn't even to "keep their kid" on the team, it was purely petty revenge tactics after it got out that their kid was rightfully denied playing time because he wasn't being a productive or good teammate. It was after the US was eliminated, and spurred on by Berlhalter's speech that unintentionally disclosed why Reyna was mostly kept on the bench. The irony of Berlhalter's speech is that it was mostly supposed to be a positive one for Reyna - that he was acting immaturely and learned his lesson, and that going forward he will be better given his immense talents and career to come. Operative quote:

But the other thing we said to him was, you’re going to have to apologize to the group, but it’s going to have to say why you’re apologizing. It’s going to have to go deeper than just ‘Guys, I’m sorry.’ And I prepped the leadership group with this. I said, ‘Okay, this guy’s going to apologize to you as a group, to the whole team.’ And what was fantastic in this whole thing is that after he apologized, they stood up one by one and said, ‘Listen, it hasn’t been good enough, You haven’t been meeting our expectations of a teammate and we want to see change.’ They really took ownership of that process. And from that day on there were no issues with this player.

To be fair, Berlhalter was never relieved of his duties. His contract was up at the end of 2022 and it was widely understood that it would be re-upped, but this has obviously slowed if not stopped the renewal. So the gambit "worked" but to what end? If anything the actions of the parents hurt Berlhalter with a contract but most likely not his career, at the cost of their own reputations/standing and will ultimately set back if not permanently damage their son's promising if still nascent career.

[Waldo62]

To me, the Reyna family comes off the worst. Gio pouted hard, Claudio threatened to go public with allegations against Berhalter during the World Cup because Gio was benched, and now mom Danielle really stepped into it with both feet. Claudio can forget ever coaching the USMNT, Gio's USMNT career is in jeopardy because of his own and his parents' actions, and as for Danielle.......