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Well, it took long enough, but it's finally time for the World Cup Final. It's your favorite divers from Italy against the surrender monkeys from France. It's non-stop fun; it's the World Cup. More »
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We're down to the final three teams in the World Cup — unless you count the third-place game, and who counts the third place game? — and we're knocking out one of them right now. The first team in the World Cup Finals is Italy; who will be the second, as they say? More »
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It's still hard to believe that the United States tied a team that's one game away from the semifinals. We think maybe the Italians should be disqualified on that indignity alone. More »
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And, at last, after a whole two days without soccer, the quarterfinals have begun, in what we think is probably the best quarterfinal matchup of all. The Argentinians have often looked like the best team here, but the Germans, you know, they're hosting, and they've looked doggone good themselves. Doggone good. You see. More »
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A little way to keep yourself entertained during this World Cup if you happen to be the sort who has trouble retaining interest? Pretend the countries are their corresponding characters in "Mike Tyson's Punch Out." Therefore, this one is Don Flamenco vs. Glass Joe. There. Don't you feel better? You can now RELATE! More »
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If you're the type of person who's still upset about the United States losing to Ghana last week, you might be lamenting that this could have been the U.S. playing in this game. But you know what? We highly doubt you're that type of person. More »
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As we continue along the Round of 16 — these games really are quite more exciting when they loser goes home — we start off your weekday live blogging with a team representing a country that was founded by the exiled convicts of another country ... and, much worse, a team that tied the United States. Heavens. How pathetic. More »
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The tightest of all the groups, Group G has three teams all with legitimate chances at making it into the next round. But these are the only two who control their proverbial destiny. The winner here automatically wins the Group and advances to play Ukraine next Monday. A draw means all kinds of chaos if France beats Togo, particularly if that's a 2-0 score. It's all very complicated. But no matter what happens: If we have a winner here, that's the Group winner. Whew. More »
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Ah, France. The French might have won the whole business two World Cups ago, but right now, they're looking like they could be in serious trouble. They need a win here, obviously, and then they have to either win convincingly or hope the Switzerland-Korea game doesn't end up in a draw. That's what happens when you come in with two draws; you put yourself in a tough spot. And we all know how well France handles tough spots. (Sorry.) More »
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It is not entirely outside of the realm of possibility that Saudi Arabia could somehow sneak into the next round; they would need a (huge) upset win here and then ... well, they'd need a lot to happen. Meanwhile, Spain is already cruising into the Round of 16 and is (mostly) assured of the top seed out of the Group. So subplots are small, we'll confess. More »
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This one's a potentially pivotal game; Ukraine is into the second round with a win, but Tunisia could end up in the same boat. A win could push them in as well, assuming Saudi Arabia doesn't shock Spain. But Ukraine has to be happy to be here; remember, they were hammered 4-0 in the first round. More »
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It's impossible not to have a good time watching Brazil, and not just because of the ladies, yeahhh. So far, the Brazilians haven't played that beautiful game we've all expected of them, but it's early, and Ronaldo hasn't lost all his weight yet. Give him time. More »
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This game is deceptively underbilled; it's pretty huge, actually. If Australia earns a tie or a win, the Socceroos will advance to the next round; a win for Croatia does the same for them, barring something crazy from Japan against Brazil. It's rare that this round of games end up with two teams playing against each other for the last slot, but it looks like what we've got here. More »
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Well, here we go: It's the game that will let us know whether we're gonna have a rollicking drunk Tuesday 11 a.m. party next week, or whether ... well, whether the United States will be playing during said drunkenness. As you know, the United States needs an Italian win and a win here, both of which seem firmly within the realm of possibility. But don't forget: A win for Ghana gets them in too. They'll probably show up. More »
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It's always important to have villains in international sports — because what's global goodwill except for an excuse for everybody to hold hands and smell of patchouli? — and last Saturday, Italy played the role right good. Now, of course, We Are All Italians. The United States needs to win its game, then have Italy win here. Not a draw, either; win. More »
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This is, from almost all accounts, the most entertaining game of the day; two teams who both will be in the next round but are playing for the No. 1 spot or the No. 2. A win or a draw gives Argentina the nod, and a Netherlands win does it for the Dutch/ Netherlanders/ Hollandaise. More »
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OK, so fine: This is another one of those games that doesn't mean anything. The Poland-Costa Rica game yesterday was supposedly "meaningless" too, and that didn't stop it from being perhaps the most entertaining game of the day. More »
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It's bright and early today, perfect for a particularly rocking soccer game. (Match. Pitch. Whatever.) This one, similar to the Germany-Ecuador game yesterday, could be for the top seed in the next round, though Mexico hasn't nailed down their spot just yet. More »
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You might be sitting there at your computer, saying silly things like, "Why would I need a live blog of a game between Angola and Iran? Isn't there an excellent Mexico vs. Portugal game right next door? More »
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More fun with America Sr.: The English - with a lead from Mr. Waxed Head Wayne Rooney - are already into the second round, but they need to a draw or a win to secure the top seed coming out of Group B. A win by Sweden here gives them the top seed, and a draw guarantees them a spot in the second round. And even with a loss, they'll want to keep it close; Trinidad and Tobago are three goals behind in differential. More »
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Paraguay has been a big disappointment, losing two games 1-0 and already having been eliminated. Meanwhile, the plucky Trinidadians — Toboggans? — look unlikely to make the next round; they need a convincing victory and a blowout loss by Sweden against England. But that's more than perhaps they expected coming in. It's something. More »
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Ecuador has been one of the more pleasant stories of the tournament, upsetting Poland and cruising past Costa Rica in their first two games. This is, obviously, the real test, with the Ecuadorians facing host Germany. The winner takes the top seed out of Group A, and if there's a draw, it's good news for Ecuador, which has the 5-0 goal differential advantage going in. More »
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You probably can't tell from that picture, but the guy in it is a Spain fan who is inexplicably wearing a Spider-man costume. (Oh, by the way: Can any comic book fan out there explain why the hyphen is in there? It's really annoying.) We can't, for the likes of us, figure out what Spain's soccer team has to do with Spider-man, but hey, that's why we merely type on a blog for a living. More »
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People tend to like us to find "sexy" pictures of soccer "babe" fans, wearing little "clothing" and painting their "faces." But, try as we might, we were unable to find any sexy photos of Saudi Arabia fans. (We also had trouble with Iran and, unusually, Brazil. Odd.) We apologize. More »
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So you know, folks: Togo is not out of this yet. You think you can count on Togo, but you can't: You just can't. More »
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Since our attentions are usually more focused on the World Cup than, say, any other aspect of soccer, we always forget that Mexico is the United States' main rival; they kind of hate each other. How happy Mexico must be now, then, since they're just one win away from the Final 16, while the United States looks like toast toast toast. Braggin' rights, we guess. More »
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You have no idea how much fun our dad used to have with us as a kid, trying to convince us that "the Dutch," Holland and the Netherlands were different places. He would set us up in front of people and make us talk about the differences in the people. That was kind of mean, now that we think about it. More »
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You know, we're pretty proud of ourselves for not once — not once — making a single "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" comment. Maybe it's because they haven't lost yet. We're gonna see if we can keep that going. Except for now, that is. More »
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Remember, everyone: Everything is funnier when it is translated into the language of the Swedish Chef. Bork bork bork! Anyway, Sweden had a disappointing draw in the first round, and if they can't sneak out a win here, they could be in serious trouble with the Brits next on the docket. More »
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Hey, everybody, it's England! America, Sr.! This is the first weekday game for the Brits, but despite an opening victory over Paraguay that was much-maligned, a win here sends them into the Round of 16. Will we see that Rooney fellow? Will Crouch do the robot? Is Beckham wearing a sarong? All kinds of questions! More »
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We can't say that people have been banging down our doors to spread the virtues of Ecuador, but don't look now: A win this morning puts the team in the field of 16. Costa Rica had the difficult distinction of playing the first game of the World Cup, against the host, no less. More »
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This is a key second game for each of these teams, with Germany needing a win to nail down a Round of 16 appearance and Poland needing a win (or at least a draw) just to have a chance. It's a good thing, too, because there's no obvious historic link between the two countries that would otherwise add to the intrigue. More »
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We know, we know: We haven't quite adequately captured the storied glory of the Saudi Arabia-Tunisia rivalry this week. We're trying, but JJ Redick keeps getting arrested, and it's distracting us. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=180379&view=rss&microfeed=true Anybody else having difficulty not making "Insane In The Ukraine ... Insane in the brain!" comments? The song's just stuck in our head. More »
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As has been pointed out, Brazil is like the Yankees it's OK to like. Few people think the Brazilians are arrogant or full of themselves, and rarely do people root against them. We think it's because every single Brazilian person we've ever met is extremely attractive. That's more than we can say for Johnny Damon or Melky Cabrera. More »
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One of our favorite essays in the new "Thinking Fan's Guide To The World Cup" is the one about England from Nick Hornby. He writes about how difficult is him to root for England in the World Cup, considering that his favorite team, Arsenal, has so many French players. We understand this completely; if the World Baseball Classic ever became truly huge, we'd find it near impossible to root against Albert Pujols ... even if we do like this here country we live in. More »
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As you would probably expect, it's not good when your coach leaves the team immediately before the biggest three matches of your life. Of course, it's also not good when your team is Togo, so there's that. More »
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All right, we wrap up a rollicking day of live-blogging — a TRIPLEHEADER, as they sometimes say — with that time honored international rivalry: Italy vs. Ghana. What can we tell you about this game? Well, Roberto Benigni will most certainly not be playing. More »
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All right! GO AMERICA! The one World Cup moment the majority of Americans will actually be paying attention is upon us: The red, white and blue is going soccering! More »
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All right, if you enjoyed yourself a solid weekend of World Cup action — yeah! we sound like a Coke commercial! — but you're stuck back at work, not quite woken up yet, sad you're not at a pub somewhere ... worry not! We're here for you. More »
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