Oh yeah!

There's still soccer going on, isn't there?

So many things have happened post World Cup, it'll take me a while to sort them out, but for now...

Bob, it's time to move on.
I watched the final 70 minutes of the US/Brazil friendly fuming at how timid the US looked. It's time for some new blood. Bob, you've done a wonderful job with the team, but I think they looked stagnant at the World Cup, and even worse against Brazil.

I'm not convinced Klinsmann is the answer, but I'm willing to give him a try.

Day 24 - Karma, bitches!

Watching Forlán's free kick clank off the crossbar was pretty good redemption for Ghana (although, I'm sure the Ghanaians would have preferred to have been in that game. Well done, Germany. Well done, Uruguay.

Time for the main event.

Day 22 - Way to keep it close

Any goodwill Uruguay had, evaporated with that goal line handball. However, I have to give them credit for staying with the Dutch and continuing to press the game.

Ruud's dick must be putting dents on the underside of that ESPN desk. Man, I can see why the Galaxy players hated him. What a fuckin' dork.

Day 21 - The German scoring machine (giggle)

Since when do the Germans out-Brazil Brazil?
I'm still amused and stunned at watching Die Mannschaft ping the ball around with counter-attacking prowess. Their defense did well to hold Argentina at bay. Especially in the final third.

Spain has yet to really impress me this tournament, but man what a second half with Paraguay. Trading penalties with two saves and one rightfully called re-take. Spain finally breaking through with a two-posts-and-in goal.

I still think the Germans will roll over Spain.

Day 20

You know I was all set to gloat about picking the Dutch, but then Uruguay/Ghana happened.

That was the cruelest ending to a game I've ever seen. Luis Suarez's desperate act paid off.

I think a Dutch/German final is on the way. The Dutch seem to do what they need to do to get it done.

Day 18

Games where pretty predictable today.

The Dutch spent a few minutes of defensive worry in the second half of their game, but still managed to shut down Slovakia. Still it shows a small chink in the armor of their defense. My pick to win is gonna have to be air tight against Brazil.

Chile went down swinging in their fight, but Brazil is a heavyweight to Chile's middleweight.

Day 17 - Ruh row

To the tune of Rule, Britannia!:

O dear England,
her fans too blind to see,
you're the Queen of Mediocrity.

Well, they might be seeing it now. At least we US fans weren't expecting them to win the whole thing. Missed goal call or not, y'all got your ass whooped.

Same with Mexico. I was cheering for ya, but damn, Argentina made you look like an amateur side.

Day 16 - The end for the US

South Korea gave it a go and pushed Uruguay, but in the end the Reds couldn't get it done.

Same with my beloved Yanks. They kept putting themselves behind the eight ball one too many times. I think this experience will make the 2014 team much, much stronger. We need some faster defenders, and an increase in overall team speed. Jozy, brother, work on your finishing.

Bob, take the hint. We played much more offensively in a 4-5-1.

Overall, I'm still proud of the guys.

Well done, Ghana.

It's the simple things

I had to drive to the post office this morning. After I got in the car, I scanned the radio stations for a Spanish broadcast of the Uruguay/South Korea game. I was shocked to stumble across an English broadcast of the game on one of the major sports radio stations. Props to ESPN radio and KNBR 1050 for broadcasting.

I was amused listening to Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino emphasize their own pronunciations of Uruguay (Ooo-rah-gwhy versus Your-a-gway).

Day 15 - Zzzzzz...

Now you know what happens when teams know the score. Brazil/Portugal? What a snoozer!
Spain/Chile? Boring!

At least Ivory Coast and North Korea went down fighting.

Day 13 - A Lucky Day

As my household watched the US/Algeria game, my partner started to believe the US was cursed.

For the first 90 minutes of that game, I couldn't say I blamed her.

Now the Yanks are through, and face Ghana (and all of Africa) next. I'm interested to see if the boys can get their focus, and beat this team.

Congrats to England and Germany (whew, we don't have to face them until the final), too.

I think the US has a chance to make it to the semis now. Uruguay is playing well and is the team to beat in our quarter of the bracket, and the US needs to finish better, but it's possible.

Day 7

Looking at how Group A and B are shaping up brought up an interesting point. Since Mexico and Uruguay are now tied with 4 points with France and South Africa only having 1 point, all Mexico and Uruguay need to do is tie their final group game and both are through.

However there is one reason for Mexico and Uruguay to be competitive...Argentina. Whoever finishes second in the group will most likely face Argentina in the Round of 16.

For a similar reason the U.S. needs to not just win their next two games, but score as much as possible to win Group C. If things fall into place, they'd avoid Germany, and have a reasonable chance to make it to the semis by avoiding the big dogs.

Day 5

If you had bet me who'd have the bigger goal differential Germany v Australia or Brazil v North Korea, I'd have lost a lot of money. Good on ya, Il Boys for never giving up.


Now that I've seen Italy, the Dutch, Germany, Brazil, England, Portugal, and Argentina, I gotta say the Germans look the strongest thus far. We'll see how Spain does tomorrow.


Congrats Kiwis on getting the point. I apologize for doing the "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi" chant to future ex- Quake Simon Elliott once upon a time. :) Next time though, make sure you check to see if there's a moat around the pitch before you run around like madmen.

C. Precious Ronaldo damn near had the goal of the tournament though.

Day 2

I'm not going get any points for soothsaying without any proof, but once I learned yesterday that Jozy was starting against England, I just had the feeling that Findley would start with him up front. Bob likes him some holding forward, speedy forward combo long time.

Damn, I wish Jozy's shot had gone in. The was a great fucking run by him. Hopefully the team got their jitters out with this game.

Thank you Martin Tyler for reigning it in.

I'm happy to see South Korea still doing well as a team. On the flip side, can someone please tell me how the hell Greece won Europe once?

Watching Maradona on the sideline is pure entertainment. That man is all id.

Day 1 thoughts

South Africa/Mexico was a joy to watch. I usually cheer for Mexico against other teams, but because of what South Africa's been through, my heart was going for them. Fun game to watch. Watching Archbishop Tutu dancing after the fabulous goal by Tshabalala was the embodiment of that joy.

I see what they mean about the ball. That thing's lively. Lots of players were skying free kicks and crosses.

Watching Lalas and Ruud together during the breaks of the Uruguay/France game was entertaining in its discomfort. I don't think Lalas looked at Ruud until the post game wrap up (I bet a director pointed it out to Alexi). Read The Beckham Experiment to find out why. :)

Martin Tyler, just call the game, please. The moment you start waxing poetic about stuff other than soccer, it's kind of embarrassing. Your broadcast partner today was just as bad. There was some "African rhythms" comment that was just cringe-worthy.

Uruguay/France was the kind of game that soccer haters point to. I can't blame them here. What a slog of a game.

Gosh, I wonder what's on tomorrow?

;)