The typical suspects have overcome group stage difficulties to rise to the top. However, no smoking gun has appeared to point out the single culprit most likely to win the tournament. Using a really big magnifying glass, a trench coat, a smart talking sidekick, and intuition, we embarked on an investigation of the remaining teams [...]
It’s that time of the year again. Another major tournament. Another quarterfinal round exit (or earlier) for team anglosaxon. While I was happy with the US performance and thought England put in a strong first half against sprightly Germany, now begins the inquest into the soul of our respective footballing cultures. Some will blame individual [...]
So, the US lost. I am sad, but happy we did not get played off the park and advanced out of our group. Salutations to Ghana – I do not wish you well, but you deserved to win. Daggumit! Still, despite the unprecedented attention to the World Cup in the US, unfortunately big media continues [...]
I went 11 for 16 on my last round of predictions (if you include the prediction I refused to put on paper: US wins the group, England comes in second…you’ll just have to trust me), which kind of sucks to be honest. But since I’m playing pundit, absolute past failure will have no impact on [...]
No, I am not referring to the pervasive US parties after Donovan’s spectacularly dramatic goal. Or the slight spike in internet traffic. No, I refer to a more personal stat for this site.
The tie against England, the stirring comeback against Slovenia, could the US world cup run get any more dramatic? In a word, yes. The Yanks brought an attacking verve to the clash with Algeria, but the ball simply refused to ripple the back of the net. Still, a combination of excellent fitness, quick thinking, and [...]
So, you enjoyed the world cup matches, didn’t you? The goals. The drama. The near misses. The crushing weight of expectations bearing upon broad shoulders, the dissipation of dreams like the dew of an August morning. Yet one very important victory escaped your grasp. It happened in Singapore. No, this is not some of that [...]
The World Cup group stages is an engineer’s delight. After each game, you can pull out your graphing calculator, whip up an excel spreadsheet, and coherently articulate the goals/points/wins necessary for the teams to advance. However, not all of us who follow the game revel in the hegemony of mathematical summation. Despite a very clear [...]
Would you like to get way wayyyy ahead of ourselves? I know I would. Add the discovery of the World Cup bracket and my trying to figure out what to do with my life after the last match of the evening, and you get a fun game of what-if scenarios. But before you get into [...]
Instead of writing a lot, I’m just going to steal some content to try and brighten your Monday morning. Here goes…. The US mounted a stirring comeback against Slovenia, yet a third goal by the Yanks was incorrectly(?) called back. Alan Jacobs at Run of Play argues that referees are weak – they prefer to [...]
