World Cup draw

[Paisa el Toro]

That 2-2 tie with Portugal last night was heartbreaking for the Stars and Stripes. Michael Bradley played marginally better than the first game against Ghana, but he coughed it up at midfield, which lead to Portugal tying the game in the absolute last minute of play.

[charsibb]

So. What has to happen for us to stay in the hunt?

[JTrue]

Win or tie vs. Germany and we move on.

[Paisa el Toro]

So. What has to happen for us to stay in the hunt?

JTrue nailed it. If you want to have fun with mathematical possibilities, read the article below:

 

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/6/22/5832970/world-cup-tiebreaker-rules-usa-germany-group-g

[GaUSFBull]

Or lose to Germany and Ghana and Portugal draw.  I think there is one additional scenario beyond that that has us advancing, not sure what it is. 

[NCBull]

We can also lose and there's still a number of variables where we can move ahead. Despite the heartbreaking equalizer, we're still in a good position to advance.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/united-states-advance-group-death/story?id=24257709

[Fold FB Invest in BB]

The result is oaky by me, that was a game we were supposed to lose if cry baby Ronaldo was 100%. The way the W got away was a kick in the nads.

Never seen Ronaldo play buy man that guy can dribble a futbol. Shame for Portugal he doesn't play D. Seems like hes always offsides as well.

[charsibb]

So let's go beat the Deutschmen!

[CPR]

That was a devastating game, as we were clearly the better team, just made boneheaded mistakes. Here's the rundown:

• If USA gets anything from the game with Germany (draw or a win), they're through on points. A win puts them top, a draw keeps them second.

• If they lose and Ghana and Portugal draw, the USA are through in 2nd on points.

• If they lose and Portugal win, the USA are almost certainly through on Goal Difference- it would take Portugal hammering Ghana or Germany hammering USA to change the goal difference enough in Portugal's favour. At the moment, USA have +1 (4-3), while Portugal have -4 (2-6). In the extremely unlikely event that they ended up on the same Goal Difference and Goals Scored (probably 4-6, with USA losing 3-0 to Germany, and Portugal winning 2-0), they would draw lots to see who qualified, since their head-to-head match tonight was a draw.

• If they lose and Ghana win, the outcome will depend on the specific results and other deciders. USA currently have +1 (4-3), while Ghana have -1 (3-4). If both matches are 1-0, that is not enough to tip it in Ghana's favour, as they would have identical Goal Difference and Goals Scored (4-4), so it would come down to the head-to-head match, which the USA won. If, however, USA lose 1-0 and Ghana win 2-1 or better (2-0, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0 etc.), that IS enough to tip it in Ghana's favour- although the Goal Difference is the same at 0 for both, Ghana's 5-5 puts them through ahead of the US 4-4 on Goals Scored. This counts BEFORE the head-to-head.

• Bottom line: The US needs at least a draw against Germany to guarantee progress. If it's a defeat, a goal (a 2-1 defeat is better in this case than a 1-0 defeat) makes life very hard for Ghana.

[Leviathan]