Soccer Page 399 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

ESPN Gives Clint Dempsey Unfortunate Nickname
So that was fun, huh? The U.S. played to a draw today thanks in large part to Robert Green's colossal cock-up. Green is expected to be Temple of Doom'd by Capello later this evening. Next up: Slovenia, lower TV ratings....

World Cup Open Thread: England-United States
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-...

Annoying Use Of The Vuvuzela Throughout History: A Video Retrospective
By now you should be familiar with the vuvuzela, whose buzzing has become the unofficial anthem of the World Cup. Here's a compilation of great moments in history, film, and the internet that may or may not have been improved by vuvuzelas....


World Cup Open Thread: Argentina-Nigeria
Game 2 of today's triple-header. Argentina has the tournament's most-talented squad and the most-unhinged coach. The Nigerians have Everton striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni, and he's pretty good. Should be entertaining. Talk about it below....

World Cup Open Thread: South Korea-Greece
Day 2 of the World Cup kicks off really early for a Saturday, so if you're awake right now, use this thread to finally settle the age-old question: better director Park Chan-wook or Costa-Gavras? Oh, and watch the game, I guess....

Your Culturally Insensitive World Cup Goal Roundup Of The Day (Video)
Two games today, two goals. Both of them in the first game. Bafana Bafana's Siphiwe Tshabalala knocked in a real beaut at the 55-minute mark, but Mexico's Rafael Marquez nailed the equalizer in the 79th. See, ties are fun....

Video Evidence That Maradona Still Knows How To Play
In amongst the fog created by the stone cold fact that, as a manager, Maradona is as mad as a box of oranges, it appears that everyone's forgotten that he used to be pretty handy with a football....

Private Stache: Brawling In The Stands At The 1986 World Cup
As keeper of Sports Illustrated's indispensable Vault, Andy Gray spends a lot of his time sifting through the sports photography of another time, when athletes wore short shorts and facial hair, and everyone looked vaguely uncomfortable. Here is one such photo....

Deadspin Classic: The Tiny Plastic Horn That Will Ruin The World Cup
That terrible sound you'll be hearing over the next few weeks is the vuvuzela, which Dash described last year as "South Africa's answer to the Thunderstick." His story is below....

World Cup Open Thread: Uruguay-France
Uruguay and France meet on the pitch to finally settle which is the best way to dispose of dissidents in times of political upheaval: desaparecidos or le guillotine. Unrelated two cents: Desaparecidos was a badass band....

World Cup Open Thread: Mexico-South Africa
South Africa kicks off its 2010 World Cup hosting duties against Mexico. Use this post for an open thread or head over to Guanabee for its liveblog....

How To Decide Who To Root For In The World Cup
Are you still hemming and hawing over who to root for in the World Cup? Spencer Hall has you covered with his World Cup Likability Rankings. So read through and coordinate in the comments. I'm thinking Slovakia. [SBNation]...

Beware The World Cup Wife Beaters
Yes, soccer is a thing that they take seriously some places. To that end, a British professor is urging women to have a plan in place in case their partners turn abusive after the inevitable England loss....

The 11 Most Dirty Players At World Cup 2010
Fantasy Football has exploded since moving off the newspapers and onto the Interwebs. Nowadays every office lunchbreak has someone boasting about their league ranking or furiously trying to work out a last minute transfer....

World Cup Refs Take Course In English Swears
It's rumored that FIFA wants the refs to be prepared when Rooney inevitably cusses up a storm, so they've been given a list of common English swears like "wanker," "Berkshire hunt," and "smibbly-bibbly." Note: one of those might be made up. [Times]...

Great Passing Sequence Reminds Everyone That Spain Is Pretty Good At Soccer
Spain defeated Poland in their final World Cup tuneup and the obvious highlight was this stunning series of passes that led to a David Silva goal, which officially put the rest of Group H on pants-crapping notice. [Business Insider]...

Austria Bans Zidane Head-Butt Adverts For Promoting Violence
Austrian telly chiefs have pulled a series of adverts showing people imitating Zinedine Zidane's infamous 2006 World Cup final attack on Marco Materazzi, claiming "they convey that violence can be used to solve conflicts"....

US/England Trash Talk Reaches Highest Echelons Of Government
Oh, it is on. The US and UK ambassadors' offices exchanged a great series of letters, making a friendly wager and generally talking shit in advance of Saturday's showdown. Who knew State Department types could be so, well, funny?...

Slightly Racist, Probably Untrue British Tabloid Story Of The Day
South Africa's gamblers are supposedly smoking vulture brains, because it'll help them see the outcomes of games before they happen. I heard the English are eating blood pudding, and they still can't see their elimination in the round of 16 coming. [Metro]...