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Copa America 2016

Unbelievable. That Messi set piece goal may end up being one of the best of his entire career. That was... historic.
 
Unbelievable. That Messi set piece goal may end up being one of the best of his entire career. That was... historic.

The difference between the Argentine and American passes is very pronounced. They are so much better at it.
 
Great to see America get that far. Beat some good teams the last year.

Having said that Argentina is clearly the better team. Their passing is 2-3 levels about that of our national team. They need to hold passing drills every day for the next year.
 
Argentina is just unbelievable. The crappy thing about watching USA in soccer tournaments is that we have to watch a clearly lower level of soccer play. I wish we could be Argentina good and actually be able to dribble/pass the ball. Messi has more talent in his big toe than any USA midfielder/forward has in their whole body.
 
Great to see America get that far. Beat some good teams the last year.

Having said that Argentina is clearly the better team. Their passing is 2-3 levels about that of our national team. They need to hold passing drills every day for the next year.

I think the biggest difference is just the ball handling. No one on the USA has confidence they can beat the pressure and just do panic kicks or they have a horrible first touch and just outright lose the ball. Meanwhile you see Messi running near full speed while the ball is practically attached to his feet, just ridiculous.
 
I think the biggest difference is just the ball handling. No one on the USA has confidence they can beat the pressure and just do panic kicks or they have a horrible first touch and just outright lose the ball. Meanwhile you see Messi running near full speed while the ball is practically attached to his feet, just ridiculous.

This is the crux of it. The reason Argentina are able to penetrate so well and execute such pinpoint passes between the defensive layout is not all about positioning and seeing things - it's because they keep control of the ball at all times. They don't kick it past a defender and then try to outrun the defender to the ball. They are able to control at all times in all situations, and lay it off perfectly at just the right moment.

It was amazing watching them. We need to send spies to go grow up in Argentina and see what they focus on in their youth programs.
 
This is the crux of it. The reason Argentina are able to penetrate so well and execute such pinpoint passes between the defensive layout is not all about positioning and seeing things - it's because they keep control of the ball at all times. They don't kick it past a defender and then try to outrun the defender to the ball. They are able to control at all times in all situations, and lay it off perfectly at just the right moment.

It was amazing watching them. We need to send spies to go grow up in Argentina and see what they focus on in their youth programs.

LMAO, all Zardes does is kick the ball past a defender and try to outrun them. Dude plays hard but has a terrible first touch for an offensive player.
 
Well it appears that several MLS teams are starting to lay some roots down and the MLS is growing in popularity, money and reach. Not nearly at the level of places like Europe and South America. But it's a start, hopefully it continues to build.

I'm starting to get into it on a national and local team level.
 
Well it appears that several MLS teams are starting to lay some roots down and the MLS is growing in popularity, money and reach. Not nearly at the level of places like Europe and South America. But it's a start, hopefully it continues to build.

I'm starting to get into it on a national and local team level.

Truly, the growth of soccer as a competitive professional sport has been astronomical since the birth of MLS. It doesn't seem like it's come all that long of a way... but it really has. To the point where the momentum is very considerable now... I truly believe that in the next 20-30 years, soccer will become every bit as much a major sport in this country as football, basketball, and baseball are.

But that's just my opinion.
 
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