Copa America 2024

At 75 minutes, “great call by the AR!”
No, you should have seen that before you declared a goal!! Jackass.

A messy final, which seemed appropriate for a messy tournament. Surprisingly, Martino hasn’t complained yet about Messi being hurt and why Inter Miami should get to spend another $60 million on his replacement. I’m sure he’ll be whining soon enough.

I’m fine if we don’t participate in this tournament for a little while. I’m really fine if it never comes back to the U.S. Run the Gold Cup, maybe invite a couple non-CONCACAF countries each time around, leave CONMEBOL to do CONMEBOL things in CONMEBOL countries.

I think Canada and US can get better by playing CONMEBOL countries. I have zero interest in CONCACAF matches except for a couple of countries. Would love to see more matches against European sides, of course.

I think it was good for the US cities to get some experience hosting these major soccer matches but I don’t care if they do it again for Copa. Soccer crowds for international matches are a different animal than for domestic games!

Miami (Dolphins) field looked like crap, too. Seems as if it were laid very recently.

Google is my friend, yet again:

While the regular Hard Rock Stadium surface is grass, unlike many newer venues in the United States, this playing surface was only recently laid down. A concert on July 6 at this venue forced stadium grounds crew to uninstall the surface, and it was only reinstalled beginning on July 8 and finishing four days prior to the match, according to the Associated Press.

Upon inspection of the surface around four hours prior to kickoff, many of the same issues that plagued other surfaces were evident. First and foremost, the surface was hard and had little give, as is often the case for temporary surfaces or recently installed pitches, since they have less depth than permanent grass fields.

The surface appeared to have only about an inch of visible depth, although it’s unclear what could be further underneath. Seams were clearly visible, which was something Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa ranted vociferously about just days prior. The Sporting News posted photos of the pitch prior to the match on social media.

I have concerns about how Vancouver’s field will be. Given the mega dollars being spent to host a few 2026 FIFA WC matches here everything had better be perfect! Vancouver at least has had experience hosting an Olympics and the FIFA Women’s WC which both went smoothly.

The turf was very smooth for that.

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Yeah, the Women’s WC cost nothing compared to what the Men’s will cost.

ATL has already announced they will lay the field the February before the WC. I imagine other host venues with artificial turf will also be putting down fields far in advance of the WC, unlike Copa America where the event is sandwiched around other stadium events.

Real grass indoors. Grow it maintain it for 17 days and seven matches.

Hopefully, FIFA comes over and essentially “closes down” (no concerts four days before matches) stadia for a few months before Opening Day.

I don’t disagree that we should be playing countries outside CONCACAF, but I’m also of the mind that playing countries outside CONCACAF isn’t a concern while we struggle with countries inside CONCACAF. Dominate the latter, then go worry about the former.

Nothing says we can’t invite day the top-4 non-qualifiers from UEFA over (that are interested) and get experience that way. That would still be a decent test, but we’re not trying to punch all the way up into the world’s top-10.

Uh, and what if USMNT cannot do even that?
And, if they do, that raises expectations. This team won’t be good for quite some time. I mean, 1998 not good.

While dominating CONCACAF would ordinarily be the goal, without having to qualify on the field, playing tougher teams is more important.

Considerations going forward:

  • don’t start McKennie, bring off bench
  • move Reyna up for Weah
  • start Musah
  • almost think Aaronson would be better in MF, covers ground-

A lot of our guys are still going to be in prime in 2030. While it’s nice to peak in 2026, they need to figure out line up and style. We are likely a better counter attack versus possession team. We can possess in CONCACAF but not against teams like Uruguay or Netherlands.

Your fault! No your fault!

  1. Do the need more police presence? Maybe. Especially for a final. Perhaps more at specific teams’ matches.
  2. Do they need barricades more hefty than a simple 4ft high vertical bar barricade? Probably.
  3. Do they need an extra perimeter to check attendees for tickets? Probably.
  4. Open gates earlier? Definitely.

I saw somewhere that the plan for WC in Miami had barricades / security perimeter much further out from the stadium gates. Why that plan wasn’t implemented for this game I have no idea.

I can’t understand why they didn’t open the gates earlier. In ATL they opened 3 hours pre-match knowing it would be a full house. A final like this one would of course have even higher demands.

Wondering what Argentine players were singing.

Anyway, in Argentina, government officials can’t tell people what they should do. Well, guessing CERTAIN people. Like soccer players. Hands off them.
Wasn’t like he was threatening them with sanctions. Just stated his opinion about what soccer players were singing.

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Don’t mess with Messi, I guess, is the message.

Would not be surprised if Messi enters politics in Argentina.

Quite a few examples of Brazillian footballers doing the same in Brazil.

We met Romario in a restaurant in Rio last year, and tbh I was not very impressed (neither was my wife).

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It takes a lot of work and time to be a great soccer player, or most types of athletes. A lot of time away from books and learning about stuff, but that is the sacrifice.