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Late 80s Hokie Late 80s Hokie OP
Jun 13, 2026 at 09:11 AM ET
Is Paraguay THAT bad? Or, at least, is their Defense THAT bad? In a pro
level game, I've never seen so many through balls to an open guy in the box. And many of those through balls were followed up by multiple passes to another and another guy in the box. And I know that many teams specialize in counter attacking and really don't care if they lose the possession battle 65/35 or something like that, but when they showed that stat at one point, it was 79/21 US. That's insane.

18 Replies

`lag `lag
1mo
dumb question but as a host does the US get an "easy" group round?
(wink-wink, nod-nod) I mean, it would make sense for US to keep going to sell a few more tickets right? Or is that the luck of the draw and/or US might actually be pretty good?
L
localhokiekid
1mo
Teams are seeded for the draw, with hosts being put in the top group
There are four groups referred to as "pots", pot 1 being the 3 hosts and the teams ranked 1-9, pot 2 with the next 12 ranked teams, and so on. The host nations don't end up with any of the best teams in their group. We got a lucky draw with Australia being the lowest ranked pot 2 team. Paraguay was the pot 3 team. Turkiye qualified through a playoff that happened after the draw and was the pot 4 team due to that, but they are ranked above Australia and Paraguay, so we're a bit unlucky that our pot 4 team is really pretty good. It being an easy or difficult group depends on interpretation. There is no top dog dominant team, but there is also no weak team. Paraguay usually has a very good defense. We just played an amazing game.
`lag `lag
1mo
Ah, OK, thanks. It's like the USA is a top seed, therefore won't run into
other top seeds, er, "pots" in this case ie, 2,3 and 4 in the group round. So the US has done good against a pot 3 team which very roughly means the US is a better than average team in the WC.with one data point in.
Late 80s Hokie Late 80s Hokie OP
1mo
I think a little of both.
V
VTDante
1mo
Not impressed with Paraguay. Outside of the first five minutes we dominated
when Pulisic was on the pitch. Even in the second half, we probably should have had 1-2 more goals. There were big pockets of space between their midfield and back line that we weren’t able to exploit until Reyna’s trivela. That said, Paraguay only allowed six goals in qualification. Was the moment too big for them? Last night was a joy to watch as someone who has followed USA soccer for over 30 years. It have never seen the build up, technical quality, creativity, pressing and finishing put together in a single match. They were pressing well past the 90th minute! Poch has some flexibility given the goal differential to rest Pulisic or use him as a sub especially if Australia loses today. We can earn a result against Australia without him. Get him 100% for Turkey. My favorite US WC match since Portugal ‘02. ** Edited by VTDante at 6/13/2026, 11:34:40 AM
GCHokieof91 GCHokieof91
1mo
Regarding Fox’s TV coverage, am I the only one
who is disgusted by the repetitive celebrity sightings and callouts? Are we watching a soccer game or Entertainment Tonight? It’s like, “I went on a celebrity tour and a soccer game broke out.”
AirborneHokie96 AirborneHokie96
1mo
Yeah...I really don't care to see the cultist Tom Cruise...
VTMONEY94 VTMONEY94
1mo
I don't either but his dedication to the craft is amazing.
JoesterVT JoesterVT
1mo
They have a craft? I thought that was just metaphorical.
Late 80s Hokie Late 80s Hokie OP
1mo
Well, the 2 games I watched that were from Mexico didn't do that. It was
the game in LA, where you can kinda understand why.
HokieGator HokieGator
1mo
Like watching a Knicks game, right?
TomTurkey TomTurkey
1mo
Or Lakers
V
VTDante
1mo
It’s a global feed but yes. Would rather see crowd shots of our real
fans celebrating dressed as presidents, eagles and just decked out in the red, white and blue. Executives at these major corporations are operating on an old playbook and more people are tired being bombarded by celebrity culture.
Nova Hokie 95 Nova Hokie 95
1mo
Most Americans are. But I’d wager internationally it’s more exciting to see
Nova Hokie 95 Nova Hokie 95
1mo
It’s not Fox. All World Cup games are on a global feed
GCHokieof91 GCHokieof91
1mo
Okay, I didn’t know. But that doesn’t change
the point of my message.
TomTurkey TomTurkey
1mo
More irritated with the sporadic broadcast freeze of the action
PhotoHokieNC PhotoHokieNC
1mo
The guy who scored the own goal acted like (I thought)
he SMH'd to remind himself to not do that.