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World Cup 2022 - Qatar


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#121 Old Man

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Posted 31 October 2022 - 11:41 AM

This past spring my son and I briefly looked into going. The problem (besides getting tickets to the US games) were two fold.

 

1. There were almost zero rooms available in Doha. The cheapest when we looked in March was $1000/night. There were some much cheaper options via VRBO type arrangements but they didn't look all above board. I have talked to some guys that got some crazy expensive rooms but then are going to cramp 6-10 guys in there on the floor. Yuk.

 

So many fans are opting to stay outside Qatar and fly in for games.

 

2. This option is somewhat doable but you are at the mercy of the airlines.

a. Do you risk flying in several hours before the match and then trying to fly back to wherever right after the match?

b. We looked at the flights and its doable IF they run on time. If you wanted to fly reasonably early and long enough after the matches its was kinda doable but then you'd have some long down time. What do you do in Doha after a game then gets over say at midnight and your flight isn't till noon? Get a hotel? Oh wait that's why you aren't staying there in the first place.

c. The flights aren't that cheap so if you have say 3 matches to go to that's another large expense.

 

So there was one last option and that was to book a package trip via one of the airlines (Qatar). You can still get a package deal that has RT air from Atlanta. 7 nights in a hotel in Doha. Tickets to the US - Wales, US - England, and one other unspecified match. The cost of that package is $9K. If you wanted to go to all 3 US matches and a fourth unspecified match you got 13 nights hotel all for something like $14K.

Sounds bloody expensive to me. :)



#122 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 31 October 2022 - 11:53 AM

Sounds bloody expensive to me. :)

Indeed. But wait till you see what the second hand ticket prices will be for US games in 2026. I am thinking  a single game ticket in a corner is going to go for over $1K.



#123 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 05 November 2022 - 07:46 AM

FYI

 

The "final" 26 man roster will be announced on Wednesday Nov 9th at 5 EDT and there will be a live show on ESPN.  Note the final was in quotes. Since there are still games and training between the roster announcement date and each teams first match, FIFA allows teams to make changes due to injuries up to the time of the first match. Any players changed though must have been on the preliminary 55 player rosters already submitted to FIFA. And no we don't know who was on our 55 man roster as it wasn't made public.



#124 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 05 November 2022 - 10:23 AM

Sam Vines broke his foot and is out for 3 months or so. Not sure he was going to be on the roster or not but he isn't for sure now.



#125 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 08 November 2022 - 09:19 PM

Just a quick note. Since we are less than 2 weeks from the WC I am going to just put all USMNT stuff in this thread.

 

And here's the first shocker on the roster. Now its not official until we actually see the roster tomorrow but CBS has reported that Zach Steffen is NOT on the roster!!!

 

And Chris Richards is officially out. This really stinks but just about guarantees Tim Ream is on the final roster.



#126 DuffMan

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 07:20 AM

Just a quick note. Since we are less than 2 weeks from the WC I am going to just put all USMNT stuff in this thread.

 

And here's the first shocker on the roster. Now its not official until we actually see the roster tomorrow but CBS has reported that Zach Steffen is NOT on the roster!!!

 

And Chris Richards is officially out. This really stinks but just about guarantees Tim Ream is on the final roster.

Wow that's really surprising  about Steffen.  My personal preference is for Turner to start (provided he is healthy), but I'm surprised they would leave Steffen off of the team.  Any insight into why?



#127 DuffMan

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 07:21 AM

Also how great is it that we are less than 2 weeks away, I can't wait!



#128 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 08:10 AM

Wow that's really surprising  about Steffen.  My personal preference is for Turner to start (provided he is healthy), but I'm surprised they would leave Steffen off of the team.  Any insight into why?

Most of the rumors floating around center on a couple of thoughts:

 

1. Berhalter has decided that he needs to start Turner and that Steffen not being the starter was not a guy to have in the locker room.

2. Berhalter told Steffen he wasn't going to start so Steffen declined to get called up.

3. Or its as simple as Berhalter has watched enough tape of Steffen over the last 18 months and decided he just isn't good enough.


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#129 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 08:26 AM

Additionally on Steffen - Remember that he withdrew from the June camp (two friendlies and Nations League) without a public explanation (it wasn't injury related). So perhaps there is something else at play here. 

 

OR its really all a big nothing burger and he's out just because he's injured and that hasn't been reported yet.

 

OR is all really a HUGE nothing burger and he IS on the roster.

 

So can't wait till the official announcement this afternoon!!!!



#130 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 05:57 PM

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 10/0; Lilburn, Ga.), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 20/0; Park Ridge, N.J.)

 

DEFENDERS (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0; Southend-on-Sea, England), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 19/2; Almere, Netherlands), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 29/3; Oak Hills, Calif.), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 15/1; Powder Springs, Ga.), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 46/1; St. Louis, Mo.), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 29/2; Liverpool, England), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 3/0; Lake Grove, N.Y.), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF; 75/0; Seattle, Wash.), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 33/3; Lawrenceville, Ga.)

 

MIDFIELDERS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 24/6; Medford, N.J.), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 53/2; Plano, Texas), Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 32/1; Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 12/0; San Diego, Calif.), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 37/9; Little Elm, Texas), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 19/0; London, England), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 32/0; Pico Rivera, Calif.)

 

FORWARDS (7): Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 15/7; McKinney, Texas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 49/11; Mercer Island, Wash.), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 52/21; Hershey, Pa.), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 14/4; Bedford, N.Y.), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 20/5; O’Fallon, Mo.), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 25/3; Rosedale, N.Y.), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor/TUR; 3/1; Los Angeles, Calif.)



#131 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 06:01 PM

Well a couple of surprises for sure.

 

1. Haji Wright makes the roster over Ricardo Pepi.

2. Shaq Moore makes the roster over Reggie Cannon.

 

I will go into this in depth in my preview of our side and group next week. Going to be a 2 part series.

 

Part I - Overview of the WC and then projections for each group.

 

Part 2 - Specific overview of our side and what the lineups may look like in each of our matches.


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#132 Pedro Cerrano

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 08:47 PM

Steve, any gambling predictions you want to make; matches, futures, whatever would be appreciated!

There is baseball, and occasionally there are other things of note

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#133 BSLSteveBirrer

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Posted 09 November 2022 - 09:27 PM

Steve, any gambling predictions you want to make; matches, futures, whatever would be appreciated!

Beware of gambling on the WC. Soccer is a tough sport to bet on, as you know, in the first place. But the WC and this one specifically is just set up for weird results.  For example, the USMNT group matches are like 10 at night local time. I used to HATE having to wait until 3 in the afternoon to play a match. Way rather have played at 7 in the morning!

 

Now that said, I will be forecasting each group and who I expect to advance. But take anything I say with a grain of salt....lol



#134 DuffMan

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 09:12 AM

England wises up and decides to include James Madison on their squad headed to Qatar.



#135 Mashed Potatoes

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 09:40 AM

England wises up and decides to include James Madison on their squad headed to Qatar.


He's in good form right now. I'm worried about our group, I could see us finishing anywhere 1-3
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#136 DuffMan

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 11:40 AM

He's in good form right now. I'm worried about our group, I could see us finishing anywhere 1-3

He is.  Apparently this year in the PL he has 22 goal involvements trailing only Kane, De Bruyne and Son.

 

I'm with you about our group as well.  I think at minimum we need a draw against Wales.  Obviously a win would be much better for our chances to advance, but if we start out with an L and then have to face England it could be trouble.



#137 Old Man

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 12:05 PM

Indeed. But wait till you see what the second hand ticket prices will be for US games in 2026. I am thinking  a single game ticket in a corner is going to go for over $1K.

While I could pay that, I just dont see myself doing that.



#138 Mike in STL

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 03:10 PM

Steve, any gambling predictions you want to make; matches, futures, whatever would be appreciated!

Qatar will beat Ecuador. IIRC “Soccer powerhouse” Russia won 5-0 in their first game they hosted last time. Qatar either has a roster of good players not necessarily from Qatar, paid to change their residence just for this purpose. Money to payoff refs or Ecuador players to lay down.

Don’t bet on America.

Too corrupt to bet on teams. I like result props like 2-1, most corners kicks for the clearly better team.

Edit: There were a ton of penalty kicks awarded in the last World Cup. I remember putting $10 on a random team to score on a PK at +750, or +800 and it hit.
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#139 BSLMikeLowe

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 07:24 PM

I'm finding it difficult to get as excited in anticipation of this tournament as I usually do, even with the US back in it. I'm certain it's due to the timing and all the other sports going right now vs summer. Damn you FIFA!



#140 Mike in STL

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Posted 10 November 2022 - 11:32 PM

I'm finding it difficult to get as excited in anticipation of this tournament as I usually do, even with the US back in it. I'm certain it's due to the timing and all the other sports going right now vs summer. Damn you FIFA!

The site itself probably doesn't help. 

 

I just looked at the schedule and there are like two games that start at 2pm on Sunday, smack in the middle of the NFL slate. The other few Sunday games are 5am or 10am start times. 

 

There are four games on Thanksgiving, two of which are on when NFL games are on.

 

Should be nothing competing with the US games except a meh college football slate on Black Friday. 


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