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According to former Manchester United player and co-founder of CV Manchester, Billy Garton,
"This is the most exciting world cup open ever, the standard of international soccer generally has greatly improved."
"Any two of the 4 nations in the bracket/group, could advance. England rightly are favorites, but we have been here before and failed to deliver."
Garton continues
"I think the US have improved tremendously and have had a great preparation period with a couple of good performances. I think they can advance in second place, with England winning the bracket."
"In the Eng v US game on Saturday , I think it will be a tie, or a 1 goal win for England. Much closer than most would believe. Tim Howard is up with the best Keepers in the world and will play a big part in any success the US achieves."
Garton is very excited and says "let the games begin."
According to ODP coach and former pro player John Napier
"I think the US/England game will be a lot closer than most people think, I think the U.S. will be in a defensive mode and rely on the speed of Donavan and Finley (if he plays) on the counter attack. The big problem I see for the US is the wide attacking capabilities of the English team, their 2 full backs Johnson and Cole really cause a lot of problems going forward."
Napier predicts "
I take England to win 2-1."
"I expect the US team to be able to beat the other bracket opponents Solvenia and Algeria and advance behind England. Slovenia will be a tough game. I liked them in the preliminary rounds. After that it should be a real battle for every team."
"As in any professional sport there can be major upsets, also injuries can be crucial. I am expecting a team from the African nations to go deep in the tournament."
Napier says "I think Brazil and Spain will reach the final, with Brazil taking it all."
Shannon MacMillan, former pro player who was in the World Cup and is now with the Del Mar Sharks
"It is impossible to put into words what the energy of playing in a World Cup is like. Bob Bradley has done a great job preparing the men. I believe they are ready to play and will feed off of the excitement."
"I am really looking forward to watching them play and I would be surprised if they don't advance to the next round."
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Soccer Mania has engulfed our world.
The U.S. soccer team is ready for the World Cup. What will happen on June 12, 2010?
The Americans are used to being the underdogs and succeeding. When our U.S. team play in the tournament on Saturday against England, they are expected to advance to the next round.
South Africa is ready to be center stage for the world’s biggest sporting event and America is ready to be recognized as a country emerging as a contender – not just as one of the weaker teams in the 32-nation tournament.
America’s road to soccer’s popularity has been long and well travelled over several generations.
Today, millions of children participate in youth soccer. Competitive club soccer flourishes all across the country from urban city parks to sprawling suburban fields. Soccer moms spend endless hours driving players to practices and weekends are often filled with parents watching soccer games and tournaments. But it didn’t used to be this way. In the 70’s, when American football was the main option for athletic outdoor activity, youth soccer teams were hard to find.
Youth soccer is big business now and the excitement over the World Cup will help this sport continue to grow. Now, American families will gather together to watch the World Cup on TV. How well America does in the World Cup will definitely have an impact on soccer’s popularity as a youth sport.
So what would success look like for the sport? What does U.S. Coach Bob Bradley hope to accomplish with his team at World Cup 2010? A victory over England on Saturday would be wonderful. According to Landon Donovan, getting to the 16-team knockout stage should be the minimum goal.
Here are some great quotes from U.S. Soccer head coach Bob Bradley and midfielder Landon Donovan in a recent press conference:
As Coach Bradley says “In football, we understand that success is never guaranteed. So every time you step on the field, you have to earn it all over again.”
“The game keeps growing in our country. There are more and more people who follow MLS teams, more and more kids playing all over the place. The game has tremendous roots, it has diversity. So every time we step on the field as a national team, we represent all the people who are involved in soccer in the United States. The ability to perform at the highest level and be successful, we understand what that would mean to everyone.”
Landon Donovan says “In my opinion, England is one of the top teams in the world. With top teams, you don’t have a lot of weaknesses. It’d be hard for me to point anywhere and find weakness in their team.
Donovan on the importance of this game:
“In the bigger picture, it’s just one of three games, and we understand that they’re all equally important in that way. They really are. Aside from that, the other part of it is knowing what this game means back home. For the last six months all we’ve seen is U.S-England, so if you were a casual sports fan at home you might think this is the World Cup final, you wouldn’t know any different.”
Whether or not America advances this time around, all across America, people who have never been excited about soccer are rapidly becoming fans. The interest in soccer is unprecedented.
Donovan on June 12, 2010:
“I know I’m going to play well Saturday, and then it’s how does our team do and what happens in the game.”
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