1 Page 313 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
I Found Michael Jackson In A Brazilian Favela
From Dave Zirin's newest book, Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup the Olympics and the Fight for Democracy, available now. We'll be running excerpts throughout the World Cup....
Get Ready To Hate The Caxirola
Brazil's answer to the vuvuzela? Not quite. The "official musical instrument of the 2014 World Cup" is softer—it produces a rattle, not a blare. Another thing in favor of your viewing experience: it's been formally banned from Brazilian stadiums. But that hasn't stopped fans from bringing them in so...
Italy Great; Sky Still Blue
Regardless of how you feel about a shirtless, flexing Mario Balotelli, the luxurious follicles that sprout all around Andrea Pirlo's head, or Lorenzo Insigne's textbook giocatore look of prison-chic with a €1,000 weekly hair budget, Italy do not enter this tournament as a "sexy" team. Somehow, one o...
Finally, England Have A Chance To Win Something
At long last, England's "Golden Generation" is dead....
Uruguay Are Inevitable
Many believed that Uruguay's dramatic run to the World Cup semifinals in 2010 was somewhat of a surprise. It wasn't....
World Cup Group C Preview: Let's Be Honest, This Is A Crapshoot
Here's your Group C hub and open thread where you'll find our previews and predictions....
My Anger Therapy
Here's an excerpt from Bosnian-American writer, MacArthur "genius" fellow, and Howler contributor Aleksandar Hemon's new e-book, The Matters of Life, Death, and More. It'll give you a little taste of how seriously this World Cup debutante nation takes its soccer....
Why Japan Is One Of The World Cup's Most Exciting Teams
Japan is the best team in Asia, and it's not even close. Part of the reason they are the best is because they might be the closest thing to Spain's tiki-taka seen anywhere on the international stage....
Jürgen Klinsmann Says U.S. Players Can Have World Cup Sex
It's Jürgen Klinsmann Week, and you have your choice of profiles of the USMNT manager. There's the New Yorker ("Klinsmann is a hippie pseudo-Buddhist flake"), the Times ("Klinsmann plans to make U.S. soccer less American"), the WSJ (Klinsmann wants to make U.S. soccer more American"), and many other...
Which Countries Get Carded The Most At The World Cup?
Quartz has crunched the numbers on World Cup penalties, counting all the yellow and red cards for every squad back to 1970. Slovenia comes in number one, racking up 20 cards in their six World Cup games (3.33 per game). Peru was the least penalized, with nine cards in 13 games (0.69 per game)....
For Ivory Coast's Golden Generation, This Is Their Last Shot At Glory
It's put up or shut up time for Ivory Coast this summer. The Elephants have gone almost a decade as easily Africa's most talented squad, yet time and again, they've come up short in international play. In a finally forgiving World Cup group, and with a couple key players in the form of their lives, ...
"The Manager," From <em>Soccer In Sun And Shadow</em>
From Eduardo Galeano's classic, now available as an ebook. We'll have excerpts throughout the week....
Dammit, Greece Are Going To Try To Win Ugly Again
Greece has a pretty good domestic league that produces a handful of pretty good players who represent their pretty good national team. In the gauntlet that is European international competition, pretty good usually isn't enough. This year, though, Greece made it through the fire to earn a spot in th...
All 204 World Cup Shootout Attempts, In One Chart
With the tournament starting next week, the BBC has put together a neat little guide on "what makes the perfect World Cup shootout penalty." The graphic above—showing the location and result of all 204 World Cup shootout attempts—is just one of several neat visuals; go check them all out....
Guy Buys $1 Stanley Cup Tickets; StubHub Takes Them Away
Thanks to yet another StubHub seller who is bad at decimal places, a New York Rangers fan was able to purchase a few tickets for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals for $1 each (the purchase came with a $8.20 service fee, but who's complaining?). Unfortunately, this lucky Rangers fan probably won't end...
Even Without Superstar Falcao, Colombia Is Still A World Cup Terror
First, Colombia had to navigate the difficult South American World Cup qualifiers. It was easy. Led by superstar striker and certifiable beast Radamel Falcao, Colombia booked their tickets for the tournament after easing to a second-place finish in CONMEBOL. Going into 2014, Colombia looked a world ...
World Cup Group B Preview: Not Quite The Group Of Death, But Damn
Here's your Group B hub and open thread, where you'll find our previews and predictions....
Australia Should Probably Just Relax And Enjoy Their Holiday
A couple dozen Australian soccer players will vacation for a couple of weeks this June in Brazil. Here's what you need to know....
Vidal Is A Goddamned Tank; Or Why Chile Can Go Far In The World Cup
Chile's most memorable World Cup story is actually how they missed out on the 1990 and 1994 tournaments. Yes, they finished third in 1962 and gave Spain all they could handle in the first knockout round in 2010, but besides those two Cups, they've only gotten out of the group stage once, when they a...