Daily Dose 05.26

May 26th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

Some stories to read while you sit out the World Cup group matches…

Ronaldo likes Red Bull but is this story just bull? (Soccer Weblog)
The seedings stink according to USA captain Claudio Reyna (Soccerway)
Don’t talk about the split (Globe and Mail)
Hell yeah I’m going to go to the Simple Minds concert on June 7 in Berlin (Gigwise)
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The Germans are f-u-n (Financial Times)

OPKO

re: Reyna complaining about the seedings…

He is right… the USA would stand a much better chance at progressing into the knock-out phase in the “soft” Portugal group.

However, he must learn that above all the seedings are about politics. Positioning the usual suspects as the top seeds to make sure they don’t meet until the knock-outs is FIFA’s way of rewarding the national associations who have earned their stripes.

1.) The USA has a long way to go before they earn their stripes.

2.) How embarassing would it have been for FIFA to have a group with: Portugal, USA, Iran, and Angola?

3.) The USA is about 20 to 30 places too high in the FIFA rankings… comes from being in CONCACAF and you’ve all seen my previous rants on how soft their conference is, which is why they have qualified for so many World Cup Finals in a row.
Cajun Nick

About Ronaldo: He’s not coming to MLS, and it’s NOT all about the money. Consider this – if he were being offered the same money, would he choose a mid-level (or higher) European/Brazilian team or an MLS team? If the money were close, there’s no doubt he’d stay away from the MLS.

Plus, I think that he’s going to play well this summer to showcase his talents for two reasons: 1) to land a good deal at another club; and 2) to show he’s still a star on the Brazil squad (there’s a lot of pride in that).