European Parliament: Bronze Medal Match - America vs. Norway 31:24

* You need to add this tournament game to the stats too

No matter how this game ends, this will be the best finish the Americans have ever had in a major tournament. Back in 2008, they took 6th place on home soil at the European Parliament, and way back in 1958, they were also 6th at the World Cup. It’s worth noting that the US hasn't even qualified for the last two World Cups.

World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers

First off, the winner of this third-place match gets an automatic ticket to the 2017 World Cup in France. Spain and Germany already secured their spots by making the final, so our game decides the last traveler. The loser goes to the qualifiers. Based on the link, the loser of this match becomes a seeded team, which means if we lose, our potential opponents are: Canada, Czech Republic, Austria, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, and Mexico. Anyway, the draw for those qualifiers is tomorrow in Krakow. But even if we fail there, there's still a shot via an invitation or a playoff tournament that will be figured out later, if it even happens.

Regarding Ria, it's official: we're heading to the qualifiers. But everyone will definitely be watching the final, because that determines who we end up with in our group and whether we get to host.



The rest of the groups were posted by fortaleza - click here. Personally, I think a Spanish win works better for us. We'd host the qualifying tournament and avoid facing Denmark. Though, in that scenario, our group would actually hold three of the four semifinalists from the Euros, but that's just how it goes.

USA - Norway

Norway handed us our first loss of this tournament, and the main issue was just our shaky defense. We let the Norwegians take way too many shots from outside the box, and it cost us. Bjornsen and Lia Hansen are the top scorers (42 and 30), btw. Bjornsen has played 416 minutes so far—way more than anyone else on his squad. For comparison, Jondal is next with 366 minutes, followed by O'Sullivan at 253. On our side, only Štrlek has played over 300 minutes. The Norwegian keeper is sitting at 27%, having only saved 5 out of 35 penalties; we really need to capitalize on that. We'll see if coach Babić goes with Alilović or Stevanović. I can still hear him saying he didn't think Stevanović could handle two games in a row, which is why he put Mirko in goal against Spain.

Will Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or Zlatko be on our side? Check RTL tomorrow at 3 PM.

A difficult matchup lies ahead. I suspect the outcome will hinge entirely on whether the guys can get their heads in the game before kickoff.

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The betting lines have the Americans at 1.80 and the Norwegians at 2.40. I honestly can't wrap my head around the logic there; those Norwegians have been absolutely dominating both us and the French lately.

We're just totally wiped out ☕

Man, this is going to be a brutal game. I honestly don’t even know where our heads are at—it's hard to stay motivated when we haven't even stepped foot in a championship game since way back in 2010. It makes you wonder if we'll ever see another one, especially since this was supposed to be our golden ticket now that the French and Danish teams aren't even in the mix.

I mean, maybe losing that last one will light a fire under us? If we end up getting knocked around by the Norwegians again, I swear the International Organization is going to be breathing down our necks even harder than usual.

It all comes down to the Virgin Mary; if she’s hungover, we aren't getting anything done, I guess.

Shallow Creek ☕

If the Norwegians play anything like they did against Germany yesterday instead of how they played against France, I think we’re toast. Their ball movement is just too quick, their defense is holding firm, and their keepers are actually dialed in. They look way sharper than they did during the first round when they took us down, even if I reckon we could have played a much better game ourselves.
Honestly, I'm just bummed we didn't make the final against Germany, so everything else feels kind of meaningless at this point.

I honestly couldn't care less about one more medal ☕
...

Our guys just don't seem to have the stamina left to hold on for twenty minutes; it’s looking like a total blowout against Norway... I'm going to go ahead and place a little something on the 2.40 line.

If only we could get Alilovic on the field—then the bronze medal is ours!

We’re feeling completely drained, running on empty, and nursing quite a few injuries. On the flip side, the Norwegians—much like any opponent we face—have just arrived at this EP, and they are firing on all cylinders.
It's going to be an uphill battle.

we're grabbing the wooden 👋

Babić and his pre-game trash talk

Look, it’s the same old story—exhaustion, terrible rotation, and then you've got rookies getting gassed because they lack experience, which just leads right back to being exhausted again. 🥱 🥱

Even an underdog coach from Uzbekistan wouldn't dare make statements like those if they were prepping for a matchup against France. 😕 At least that guy would have some dignity and say, "We're going to fight, we're going to give it everything we've got..."
But then you hear this.
I mean, sure, maybe he was just tipsy, but when you look at his history and all those other ridiculous things he's said, the guy is clearly dead serious.

Jack Kelly5 said:If the Americans play like they did against the French instead of how they played against the Germans yesterday, we're done. Their ball movement is lightning fast, their defense is tight, and their keepers are dialed in. They look even sharper than they did in the first round when they beat us, and honestly, we could have played a lot better ourselves.
I'm just bummed we aren't facing the Germans in the finals, so nothing else matters.

Yup, I'm with you. The Germans have always been our kryptonite, just like the French are to us. 😁 Yeah, it’s a real shame... America is playing great, a total sleeper team. My only concern is Babić's erratic coaching decisions. You can argue about Duvnjak all day, but the fact remains he's one of the top 5 centers in the world, whereas Karačić is just a decent club player who doesn't belong on the national stage. It's simple: put Duvnjak in the offense (Mamić covered him well on defense), and since Ivić and Pešić are out, let Steve handle the defense. And please, leave Čupka out of the starting lineup. Same goes for Cindrić... ☕

I don't know about you guys, but I seriously disagree that Mamić was any kind of defensive beast. It was actually the exact opposite. Dule can definitely hold his own on defense and carries most of the load on offense too. Honestly, both him and Karačić deserve their minutes; the guy’s got real vision, he's tough in one-on-one situations, and he works great with the big man in the paint.

Of course, I meant a 6-0 blowout. At 5-1, Dule is running the show. Maybe it’s just my take since he didn't get much playtime, but I actually liked the kid. I think he’s got the potential to be a top-tier left winger. You can tell he’s got that special spark. I’d stick with him.

Karačić? I watched him playing against the center-back. He completely kills the rhythm; the offense slows to a crawl whenever he’s involved. One-on-one? Honestly, anyone could probably get past him at this rate 😁. As far as assists go, Dule is always the first option, even if this league isn't playing nearly as well lately...

I mean, I think Mamić actually has some solid potential, especially when he’s pushing forward on offense, but man, his defense? He’s got a ton of work to do there.

We seriously need to get Dominikovica onto the coaching staff. The guy spent years playing nothing but defense, so I bet he sees things on the field that everyone else is totally missing. Our defense looks absolutely pathetic sometimes—I mean, the other night we were literally falling apart at the seams, just completely wide open, and this guy won't change a damn thing.

🙂