CommentaryEnglandNews The Wormburner: A Whole Lotta Questions (Fantasy Football, Draft)July 9, 2019 — by Rob Kirby
BrazilCommentaryHistoryPhotographyThe AmericasWorld Cup Dictators and Soccer: The Junta, Argentina 1978, Disappearings, Match Fixing and Early Deity Era Maradona (Argentina)July 11, 2014 — by Rob Kirby
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World Cup 2014: The Ads

June 6, 2014 — by Suman

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Generally we're skeptical of modern corporate football, but the marketing creatives are good at what they do. These ads--which are really short films--are getting us hyped for the tournament to begin: The new 5min Beats video (AdWeek: "Did Beats by Dre Just Out-Nike Nike With This Incredible World Cup Ad?"):   The Nike one, which you've prob seen since it came out at the end of April (via AdWeek: "Nike Reaches High and Low in Perfectly Gleeful 4-Minute World Cup Spot"): In contrast with those cameos by current stars, this ESPN ad features a bunch of historical "cameos": Another ESPN segment--trying to get the the US public to believe in the USMNT: Finally, Nike does a fun one featuring the host country's celebrated Seleção--"Dare to be Brasilian":

Schedule

World Cup 2014: Fixture List and Viewing Guide

June 3, 2014 — by Suman

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Nine days until it all starts. In case you haven't bookmarked this (or an equivalent), here is ESPNFC's table of all 48+16=64 WC2014 fixtures (group stage+knockout rounds), including kickoff times, venues, and (US) TV coverage: http://www.espnfc.com/fixtures/_/league/fifa.world/fifa-world-cup?cc=5901 Actually we've copied and pasted the table in below, but we've also done you the service of choosing one match per day (from the group stage) that you should plan your day around: (all times ET, and all games on ESPN unless otherwise noted) Thursday, June 12: Brazil-Croatia (4pmET) Friday, June 13: Spain-Netherlands (3pm) Sat, June 14: England-Italy (6pm) Sun, June 15: Argentina-Bosnia (6pm) Mon, June 16: Germany-Portugal (and also Ghana-USA later that day, at 6pm) Tues, June 17: Brazil-Mexico (3pm) Wed, June 18: Spain-Chile (3pm) Thurs, June 19: Uruguay-England (3pm) Friday, June 20: Switzerland-France (3pm) Saturday, June 21: Germany-Ghana (3pm) Sunday, June 22: USA-Portugal (6pm, again on ESPN--why not put this one on ABC??)   For the last

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Player ProfilesUnited StatesWorld Cup

Get To Know Your USMNT: Who is Fabian Johnson?

June 2, 2014 — by Suman

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Fabian Johnson's name recognition with the semi-casual US soccer fan (i.e., the sort of fan who has watched few if any of their matches since 2010, but might tune in for a WC tuneup) shot up yesterday, as he scored a fantastic goal in the USMNT's World Cup tuneup match against Turkey yesterday at Red Bulls Arena in NJ. Here's the video, ICYMI: So who is Fabian Johnson? He's one of Jurgen's numerous German-American imports, and especially after yesterday's performance, he's likely the US's starting right back in Brazil. (Note: the pattern of importing Germans with American parentage predates Klinsmann. Jermaine Jones joined the USMNT in 2010, a full year before Klinsmann took over, but the trend has definitely accelerated under the former German NT manager and legendary striker, to the point that a site like AmericanSoccerNow recently ran a listicle a year ago titled "The 10 Best German-American Soccer Players" (which

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CommentaryEngland

Liverpool, Awoken from a Dream into a Dream

May 8, 2014 — by Rob Kirby

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On the eve of the final weekend of the 2013/2014 Premier League season, we’d like to thank Bryan Belyea, heart-on-sleeve Liverpool supporter, for breaking it down and sharing his thoughts on the heels of Liverpool's crushing draw with Crystal Palace on Monday night, when the fairytale title challenge may have faltered at the last. What to make of Monday night? Pain, disappointment, nausea. Having time to reflect I pondered why does this hurt so bad? Who likes being slapped in the face whilst in the midst of a beautiful dream?  Being slapped by reality. The reality we all knew was lingering over our heads amidst this improbable title run. The reality that a team that panics in defense the way we do under pressure has no business making a title run. Yet our beautiful dream went on for so long that we thought it was becoming reality. That despite our

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