by Head Coach Steve Trittschuh
This is the best time to be a soccer fan. Every four years everyone gets excited to watch the games daily for the World Cup. Everyone has their own opinions on who is going to advance out of the group stage and who is going home after their three games.
My opinion is after watching the preparation games leading up to the World Cup is that Spain will repeat as champions. Although you can not rule out Brazil since they are playing in their home country and will have a lot of support behind them along with Neymar as one of the top three players in the world.
As for the United States. They are in probably the toughest group of the whole tournament. Everyone has named this group the “group of death.” The group includes Ghana, which have knocked the U.S.A. out of the last two World Cups, Portugal which have Cristiano Ronaldo, in my opinion the top player in the world at the moment and Germany, that will always be in the hunt to be a contender to win the trophy.
The first game the U.S. Plays against Ghana I believe is the most crucial game. If they can come out and play the way they did against Nigeria in their final tune up game they have a chance to get a positive result. The next two games do not get any easier so getting a result in the first game is very important.
I believe that they will win the game vs. Ghana and also get a positive result against Portugal. The final game vs. Germany is going to be very interesting. If the U.S. need to get a win or a tie to advance I think they are capable of getting that result. Germany are a young team and have had some injuries to key players but you can never count Germany out. Also, with the knowledge that Juergen Klinsmann has on Germany I think he will have a good tactical plan to get that result.
I think U.S.A. And Germany will be the two teams to come out of this group, but as I said before the first game for the U.S. vs. Ghana will be a huge factor for the U.S. I am sure there are a lot of people that will disagree about the U.S. getting out of the group but I think they are capable and have quality players to pull this off.
I hope everyone enjoys watching the World Cup and cheering on their favorite country. I will be watching as many games as I can either at home or out at a sports bar so I can enjoy the atmosphere and passion that comes with watching a World Cup.
Enjoy and Good Luck U.S.A!