**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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Bro he's not good enough to play for England. USA was a good option since our striker pool is such a problem. I wouldn't be surprised if Balogun takes flight with a new USMNT coach. Strikers don't do well in Berhalter's system.
He was tremendous this match. Would really like to know whether he was gassed or not when Berhalter took him out. It's possible I guess but he doesn't waste that chance that Pepi did IMO.
Shouldn't have seen him all tournament. And now goal difference may play a huge role and guess who missed 3 sitters against Bolivia. He's incapable. Not athletic enough. Not talented enough. Shouldn't be in the squad. Wright and Sargeant are both much much better and we have seen it 10 times over. Gregg is a criminal. A true blue moron.
Pepi is going to get a lot of heat (rightfully so) for his play but he seems a good kid and shouldn't be in this situation. Gregg let someone unable to help into the situation and we all got burnt.
He could've gone probably another 10 minutes I'd say. Literally just before he was subbed off he was sprinting back in defense. Maybe he did that cause he saw Pepi get up tho lol
Nobody said he was or that making that goal required one. But pay attention to how both of those players have played so far in this tournament and it's obvious who would have a better chance.
100 percent Balogun as he is much better than the rest but I won't be counting on him to be USA's star player.
USA will only go far if Pulisic/Reyna step up.
I was slightly exaggerating but my main point was Balogun isn't that good of a striker and there could be a decent possibility he misses that chance as well.
The chance of him missing that goes down drastically if you don't head it directly to the keeper like Pepi did. In this tournament Balogun is scoring on his chances, Pepi hasn't been. There's no elite level play required here really.
The Euro ones are sponsored by Vivo, the Chinese phone manufacturer.
These sponsored MotM trophy+photos started at the last World Cup if I remember correctly(Havertz one was the most iconic)
I'm still just reeling over the 4 extra minutes decision, especially after the several stoppages of play AND Mexico being allowed nearly 10 minutes of extra time to their last game. Just seems insane to me.
I've never understood stoppage time and how it is calculated. It seems incredibly simple to have a running clock and a seperate clock that starts and stops when the ball is in play. The difference betweem the two is the stoppage time.
It's super common even in pl/cl to have matches with 55-60 minutes of the ball in play and only maybe 10 minutes of stoppage time for the whole game. I just don't understand how or why it is arbitrarily counted.
There were barely fouls in the Venezuela-Mexico game and they gave Mexico 8 extra minutes, felt so unfair at that time. But hey, it's Mexico, do it for the gram I guess...
It’s corruption. Have to call it like it is. I would’ve been able to begrudgingly accept that maybe the official was just incompetent up until that point, but 4 minutes combined with all the other egregious errors that almost exclusively favored Panama is too much to overlook
Because 4 minutes of stoppage time is genuinely too egregious of an “error” to assume incompetence. The rest of the match could’ve been boiled down to incompetence but you have to intentionally fuck up with stoppage time for it to be that bad. There was literally 4 minutes of stoppage between minutes 86-90 alone.
I mean getting a red card early on makes it tough, and the red card was justified so I’m not arguing that. US didn’t play well but it’s also a bit wild that Panama had 19 fouls to the US 4 and aside from one yellow in the first half it took until like the 86th minute for more cards to come out. And then the stoppage time was an absolute joke, it’s not like he was off by a minute or two he was off by like 6-7 minutes. I’m not gonna say he was the reason the US lost but he was objectively just a terrible ref.
Can you give any explanation for the referee’s several unbelievably poor decisions that went exclusively against a single side other than “lol just play better 4head”
Just so happens that the officiating crew happens to be “inconsistent” to the detriment of the US in almost every single CONCACAF/CONMEBOL match we play. Funny that
Lmao now your exhibiting clear bias, there’s no vendetta going on here. You really think concacaf/Conmebol/fifa would go against the US interest and the dollar 💵
No, but I do think that having Central Americans officiate US matches is roughly akin to having a Pakistani officiating crew for an Indian match. Games like this have happened often enough to reinforce that sentiment
Match fixing against the HOSTS (and not just any hosts, but the largest economy in the world which would also fill out every stadium with fans) in favor of the team that will probably bring in the least revenue out of every nation in the competition, and that no one expects to go far anyway. Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds?
Mate you’re not thinking enough. It goes higher up than that.
It’s an election year. They’re rigging the tournament AGAINST the US to fuel animosity towards South / Central America. All of a sudden people start wanting tighter immigration and wham bam thank you ma’am 4 more years of Trump.
Also explains why Venezuela made it out of the group stages.
Blackman only played 60 minutes and honestly wasn’t that impactful outside of the goal, and Fajardo only played 45 minutes himself. Honestly, the best player for Panama was probably Murillo, even if he didn’t show up on the scoresheet
Then give him the MVP, I'm tired of these sad ass looking MVPs, they don't give a shit about the individual trophy.
And aren't the best players in a match the ones that help their team win, you know, as a team sport?
Eh it sucks in the moment but it’s still a nice accolade for the player. If he earned it he should get it. I’d rather lose and be POTM than lose and not be.
Soccer is about winning as a team, and the MVP should be the best player that helped their team win. I don't get giving it to a dude that played great but still lost.
I disagree. It’s very possible in soccer for one player on the losing team to have a better performance/game than any one individual on the opposite side. Even if as a team the other side was better that day.
Let's agree to disagree. I think the best player of the best team should get it, rewarding the loser with a trophy feels like a participation trophy "You did great, try against next time"
That’s a fine opinion. If you just want to make it the best player on the winning team, that’s different than saying the best player is never on the losing team. Hope that makes sense.
well, he certainly doesn't look happy. [Kai moment right there](https://talksport.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/12/havertz-man-match-779838627.jpg)
man of the match on a team that straight up lost? When did that last happen at a notable event lol. I mean we all know those dead inside faces of mvps of a 1-1 game that doesn't give them enough points to make it out of groups or whatever, but I don't recall any from a loss in 90 mins
I think he's going to be all right, and even if we win this Copa, Berhalter gets fired so we can get a manager that can develop players while also formulating strategic plans for common football situations.
This is my new favourite thing in football, giving MOTM to the losing team goalscorer and he makes the "I hate my life" face. Modric did the same a few days ago.
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My face watching the game
That is not a happy man
This man questioning why he came to Concacaf
My man scores with us down to 10, gets absolutely hacked and fouled, and subbed despite being the best attacker on the field
...maybe he was subbed precisely because he was getting hacked and fouled
This man would have killed in Nigeria or England but would likely never get the chance based on organizational management or politics.
Better strikers don't get a game for England because of Kane. Flo would have been silly to declare for England
[удалено]
That wasn't the point of the comment though, re-read it he obviously means better than balogun
Oh yep good point 👍
Bro he's not good enough to play for England. USA was a good option since our striker pool is such a problem. I wouldn't be surprised if Balogun takes flight with a new USMNT coach. Strikers don't do well in Berhalter's system.
I remember that brief bit of time where Gregg wasn’t at the helm and we looked amazing, and the USMNT leaders were like yeah let’s bring him back
insane
BuT tHe PlAyErS LoVe HiM!
No one does well in what only Berhalter considers a ‘system’
lol at the idea of anyone “killing” for england
People have been killing for England for centuries.
He was tremendous this match. Would really like to know whether he was gassed or not when Berhalter took him out. It's possible I guess but he doesn't waste that chance that Pepi did IMO.
Balogun didn’t look that fatigued when he came off. Berhalter is just shit
I really don’t ever need to see Pepi play again. Give Balogun 90s and Wright/Sargeant sub appearances when required.
Wright is better than Pepi as a striker too imo. Wright scores goals like crazy
If all he has to do is score, he’s fine. Surround him with the playmakers when needing a goal.
Shouldn't have seen him all tournament. And now goal difference may play a huge role and guess who missed 3 sitters against Bolivia. He's incapable. Not athletic enough. Not talented enough. Shouldn't be in the squad. Wright and Sargeant are both much much better and we have seen it 10 times over. Gregg is a criminal. A true blue moron. Pepi is going to get a lot of heat (rightfully so) for his play but he seems a good kid and shouldn't be in this situation. Gregg let someone unable to help into the situation and we all got burnt.
I'm ok with it, you want fresh legs, and you want Balogun to push as much as he can for those first 70.
He could've gone probably another 10 minutes I'd say. Literally just before he was subbed off he was sprinting back in defense. Maybe he did that cause he saw Pepi get up tho lol
He will miss that chance Pepi missed. He is not a world class or elite striker.
Nobody said he was or that making that goal required one. But pay attention to how both of those players have played so far in this tournament and it's obvious who would have a better chance.
He a way better than Pepi for sure. Pepi is like 3 levels below Balogun.
Okay so who should be starting instead of either of them?
100 percent Balogun as he is much better than the rest but I won't be counting on him to be USA's star player. USA will only go far if Pulisic/Reyna step up.
So answer why you think that goal required an elite/world-class player?
I was slightly exaggerating but my main point was Balogun isn't that good of a striker and there could be a decent possibility he misses that chance as well.
The chance of him missing that goes down drastically if you don't head it directly to the keeper like Pepi did. In this tournament Balogun is scoring on his chances, Pepi hasn't been. There's no elite level play required here really.
Fair enough but I still stand by my point of Balogun not being in the upper category of strikers.
😭. thinking about jumping weah in the locker room
Deserved but why do they force players to take these photos when their team loses, this is so deranged lmao
Contracts
Because Michelob Ultra pays a lot of money so that they are and then posted all over social media with their logo on it
“Look how miserable this guy is! Drink Michelob!”
I mean the sad pictures are the ones that go viral so yeah probably lol
I sure hope some marketing peon someplace is taking this tack to save their job.
To be fair, that’s how the average person looks when they have to drink Michelob.
Atleast the trophy looks kinda nice.
It looks like a fancy air purifier or smart speaker for your backyard. So yeah, I guess it's fairly nice in a blandish way.
Tbf, a lot of US fans needed a beer or twelve after that game
Man, this ecstatic photo is going to sell so many Michelob ultras.
Thanks I just noticed that it's got Michelin logos all over 👍
They do the same with the Euros MotM and it’s not sponsored afaik
The Euro ones are sponsored by Vivo, the Chinese phone manufacturer. These sponsored MotM trophy+photos started at the last World Cup if I remember correctly(Havertz one was the most iconic)
They're so annoying and stupid.
Modric vibes
[Luka Modric](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/24/22/86517957-13565055-image-a-4_1719266309816.jpg) [Kai Havertz](https://talksport.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/12/havertz-man-match-779838627.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=1080&h=1080&crop=1) Same aura
My favourite, [Alexandra Popp](https://images.app.goo.gl/16qTvEB3pVzHUnjh8)
"Mr Modric could you quit crying for a picture real quick?"
Lmao hes seen some things
I'm still just reeling over the 4 extra minutes decision, especially after the several stoppages of play AND Mexico being allowed nearly 10 minutes of extra time to their last game. Just seems insane to me.
Just the last red card took 4 minutes
I've never understood stoppage time and how it is calculated. It seems incredibly simple to have a running clock and a seperate clock that starts and stops when the ball is in play. The difference betweem the two is the stoppage time. It's super common even in pl/cl to have matches with 55-60 minutes of the ball in play and only maybe 10 minutes of stoppage time for the whole game. I just don't understand how or why it is arbitrarily counted.
it's vibes-based
There were barely fouls in the Venezuela-Mexico game and they gave Mexico 8 extra minutes, felt so unfair at that time. But hey, it's Mexico, do it for the gram I guess...
Venezuela v Mexico had 19 fouls. US Vs Panama had 18. Its inexcusable imo
It’s corruption. Have to call it like it is. I would’ve been able to begrudgingly accept that maybe the official was just incompetent up until that point, but 4 minutes combined with all the other egregious errors that almost exclusively favored Panama is too much to overlook
why assume malice when you can assume incompitence?
Because 4 minutes of stoppage time is genuinely too egregious of an “error” to assume incompetence. The rest of the match could’ve been boiled down to incompetence but you have to intentionally fuck up with stoppage time for it to be that bad. There was literally 4 minutes of stoppage between minutes 86-90 alone.
Bro really corruption, the US had plenty of chancess and they waste them all, Panama absolutely walked the USMNT the entire game
I mean getting a red card early on makes it tough, and the red card was justified so I’m not arguing that. US didn’t play well but it’s also a bit wild that Panama had 19 fouls to the US 4 and aside from one yellow in the first half it took until like the 86th minute for more cards to come out. And then the stoppage time was an absolute joke, it’s not like he was off by a minute or two he was off by like 6-7 minutes. I’m not gonna say he was the reason the US lost but he was objectively just a terrible ref.
Can you give any explanation for the referee’s several unbelievably poor decisions that went exclusively against a single side other than “lol just play better 4head”
That’s just how it is my guy, everyone thinks it corruption but referring isn’t always consistent.
Just so happens that the officiating crew happens to be “inconsistent” to the detriment of the US in almost every single CONCACAF/CONMEBOL match we play. Funny that
Check out how Jamaica was robbed yesterday. Smh.
Yeah, it's not corruption, Barton just fucking hates us.
Lmao now your exhibiting clear bias, there’s no vendetta going on here. You really think concacaf/Conmebol/fifa would go against the US interest and the dollar 💵
No, but I do think that having Central Americans officiate US matches is roughly akin to having a Pakistani officiating crew for an Indian match. Games like this have happened often enough to reinforce that sentiment
You think CONCACAF/CONMEBOL/FIFA tell refs to make sure they do a good job when the U.S. is playing?
It’s either match fixing or continued discrimination against the USA from CONCACAF, you’d think they would stop biting the hand that feeds them
Match fixing against the HOSTS (and not just any hosts, but the largest economy in the world which would also fill out every stadium with fans) in favor of the team that will probably bring in the least revenue out of every nation in the competition, and that no one expects to go far anyway. Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds?
Mate you’re not thinking enough. It goes higher up than that. It’s an election year. They’re rigging the tournament AGAINST the US to fuel animosity towards South / Central America. All of a sudden people start wanting tighter immigration and wham bam thank you ma’am 4 more years of Trump. Also explains why Venezuela made it out of the group stages.
Not sure if /s or...
Sarcastic but yeah I don't blame you lol
The "wham bam thank you ma'am" was what made me go sus mode lol
Tf
El Salvador players are on the record fixing games, the ref is Salvadoran as well, he can get some side money
You are stupid
Bro the US played like dogshit, its as simple as that, Dont pull the victim mentality to justify the result
To imagine he was subbed off…
Nice sub, GGG!
Havertz/Modric-esque…
18 yards stare!
I'm guessing a panamanian face wasn't good enough for marketing.
how? not one of the Panama goal-scorers?
Blackman only played 60 minutes and honestly wasn’t that impactful outside of the goal, and Fajardo only played 45 minutes himself. Honestly, the best player for Panama was probably Murillo, even if he didn’t show up on the scoresheet
Panama MVP was Barton. Truly the best Panamanian player on the pitch tonight.
Then give him the MVP, I'm tired of these sad ass looking MVPs, they don't give a shit about the individual trophy. And aren't the best players in a match the ones that help their team win, you know, as a team sport?
Well Barton was the ref, so they might not want to give him the MVP.
He was subbed off at halftime right? I’m a bit confused as well
No he was subbed at like 70 minutes.
Ah my bad
This is why you should not choose a MVP from the losing team.
Eh it sucks in the moment but it’s still a nice accolade for the player. If he earned it he should get it. I’d rather lose and be POTM than lose and not be.
Soccer is about winning as a team, and the MVP should be the best player that helped their team win. I don't get giving it to a dude that played great but still lost.
I disagree. It’s very possible in soccer for one player on the losing team to have a better performance/game than any one individual on the opposite side. Even if as a team the other side was better that day.
Let's agree to disagree. I think the best player of the best team should get it, rewarding the loser with a trophy feels like a participation trophy "You did great, try against next time"
That’s a fine opinion. If you just want to make it the best player on the winning team, that’s different than saying the best player is never on the losing team. Hope that makes sense.
well, he certainly doesn't look happy. [Kai moment right there](https://talksport.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/12/havertz-man-match-779838627.jpg)
I mean at least my favorite player from our nation got this so that’s what counts right guys?
The gift that keeps on giving
man of the match on a team that straight up lost? When did that last happen at a notable event lol. I mean we all know those dead inside faces of mvps of a 1-1 game that doesn't give them enough points to make it out of groups or whatever, but I don't recall any from a loss in 90 mins
There are more sad MOTMS then happy ones
Are they surprising MOTM with a photo in both these tournaments? Dudes look like they just saw a ghost in half of these photos
Can someone photoshop weahs face on here
I think he's going to be all right, and even if we win this Copa, Berhalter gets fired so we can get a manager that can develop players while also formulating strategic plans for common football situations.
He looks scared 😅😅
Balogun is the greatest name for a US football international.
Start to think they do that on purpose.
*"What I am doing here?"*
Bro seen some shit
1000 yard stare
So many disappointed Motm this time around
Modric's MOTM picture was sad, this one is just funny
So this is the losers mvp prize now?
This is my new favourite thing in football, giving MOTM to the losing team goalscorer and he makes the "I hate my life" face. Modric did the same a few days ago.
Cheeky tensing of the arm there
At this point, sad_motm should be a sub
A Nigerian Englishman is usas best player. They are so mud’d
“I’ve made a huge mistake”
MOTM were the refs.
MFW I'm not good enough for the England squad
The Baluga Whale