Monthly Archives: June 2006

It was “a contest of countless heroes,” the Independent said of the nine-man draw the USA pulled off against Italy yesterday. “After a series of World Cup group games designed to satisfy the aesthetes and purists, this was car-crash football at its most fascinating, a contest of three dismissals, countless yellow cards, and controversy, which […]

Will they or won’t they? The Togo saga continues, and this time FIFA had to intervene to ensure that the Togolese would even show up for its contest against Switzerland tomorrow. Togo players threatened to hold Group G hostage unless someoneanyonepays them their ransom of $200,000 each to play, and $30,000 extra for each win. […]

The United States owes a lot to a stunning performance by Ghana that it still has any hope to qualify for the second round of the World Cup. Ghana played explosive soccer in Cologne yesterday, completely dominating the same Czech midfield that ran the USA ragged just a week ago. An early goal two minutes […]

There is no other sport in the world that’s so tide to a nation’s history and sense of identity. New York Times columnist Michael J. Agovino talks about how a country’s response to their national soccer team’s performance reflects its national character. If losing, finger-pointing, weeping, stewing, and stoicism are universal reactions, it’s the way […]

If Argentina is the team to avoidand that certainly looks to be case so far, The Guardian says England’s best chance of avoiding them would be to beat Sweden on Tuesday, because then they would be on opposite sides of the bracket. England Coach Sven Goran Eriksson confirmed his team will be going after top […]

There’s been a “muted” response from New York’s banks and brokerage firms to this year’s World Cup, according to Reuters. Despite the fact that games take place during the workday, interest in the tournament is far from surpassing the NCAA basketball tournament or daytime baseball games. “People here are not watching soccer for soccer’s sake […]

Nobody wanted to see the Ivory Coast go home. They took it to the Netherlands and Argentina, two of the World Cup’s heavyweights, and deserved to do better on both occasions than lose, 2-1. It’s disappointing to see the African side go home prematurely, but it’s also depressing when you consider that the Ivory Coast’s […]

It’s estimated that 32 billion viewers will have watched the World Cup by the time the tournament is over. The BBC explores the politics of watching the World Cup in certain countries. In North Korea, state TV began showing edited versions of World Cup matches three days after the opening just in case something questionable […]

The Associated Press reports that sanctions will be handed out before the World Cup final on July 9 for the Italian soccer executives under investigation for match-fixing. Former senator Guido Rossi, who was chosen to lead the Italian soccer federation after the scandal broke, told the AP that Italy’s sports magistrates would decide who will […]

If anyone out there doesn’t understand references to soccer as “the beautiful game,” they need only be shown how expertly Argentina carved apart Serbia & Montenegro yesterday in Gelsenkirchen. Casual fans know who Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are, but “If you’re really curious about all the commotion surrounding this event,” said The San Francisco […]

It’s been an exasperating World Cup for English fans so far: their team, one of pre-tournament favorites to win it all on July 9, sit atop Group B with six points, but despite this they haven’t looked like comprehensive winners in either of their first two matches, which any British pundit will tell you was […]

You’d have to check the record books on this one, but ever since Tunisia tied it up against Saudi Arabia in stoppage time on Wednesday, there was a goal scored in the last two minutes or later in each of the next five games. We can’t imagine that’s not some kind of record. And arguably, […]

Argentine school officials have been instructed to stop teaching and wheel televisions into the classrooms during Argentina’s World Cup games. The new measure was brought into effect because school officials are fed up with kids skipping classes to watch World Cup games. It would seem they’re now using soccer as a way to lure kids […]