2014-world-cup Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Remember former USMNT striker Chris Wondolowski? He just led a team to victory as a goalkeeper
The Soccer Tournament, or TST for short, started its inaugural 32-team, 7-on-7 showcase earlier today and it’s a clusterfuck. And like all televised abnormalities of society, at least we get to watch. The nature of the tournament gives way for more unique scenarios to happen, like a goalkeeper scori...
Leo's legacy is on the line
After Argentina easily dispatched Croatia in the World Cup semifinals, the prophecy of Lionel Messi lifting the one piece of hardware that’d separate him from many of soccer’s other all-time greats is one win away. He’ll have that chance in what’s likely his final game on the sports’ biggest stage. ...
World sporting events are becoming a different kind of guilty pleasure
While this World Cup is unlike any other due to the start time and Middle East location, there is a recent world competition that comes to mind. Think about it. Climate unfit to host the event, haphazard accommodations, stories of government overreach, and sportswashing. That sounds like the Beijing...
DeAndre Yedlin is USMNT’s only bridge to last World Cup appearance
Before we can truly look forward, we must go back in time, to a marvelous place where the United States men’s national team missing the World Cup was such an afterthought, it would be equal to falling into the abyss. Yeah, a few CONCACAF rivals like Panama and Costa Rica were rapidly improving and b...
The casual American soccer fan's guide to the best international players ahead of the World Cup
For the fair-weather soccer fan, and let’s be real, that’s 99 percent or more of American sports fans, the World Cup is the one event taking place over multiple weeks where general interest is at a high. The United States men’s national team didn’t make the world’s best 32 in 2018, and a huge chunk ...
Berhalter’s shortcomings on display with September roster omissions
Mark it down now. John Brooks, one of the two Americans in any severity of contention to claim one of the 26 United States men’s national team spots on the plane to Qatar, will be watching the games on a TV screen. Brandon Vazquez, the 23-year-old FC Cincinnati striker with 16 goals this season, won...
Do Americans really care about soccer? We’ll find out
The unbearable heat of Qatar pushed the FIFA World Cup out of the summer months for the first time in the tournament’s history. In 2022, the quadrennial footballing soccer showcase won’t crown a new champion before jackets come out of closets across America. The upcoming global event will run from N...
Who are we taking to Qatar?
The USMNT punched their ticket with a true let’s-not-fuck-this-up-royally performance in Costa Rica. So now the attention turns to who are the 23 souls that Gregg Berhalter will be putting on the plane for the tournament. Our intrepid soccer goofuses Sam Fels and Eric Blum have some ideas....
A wild end to the MLS regular season
MLS had its “Decision Day” yesterday, the last day of the regular season when all of its playoff spots get shaken out. The permutation for the top, middle, and bottom of the playoff picture were David Lynch-level convoluted, so sometimes it’s best to express the happenings in one highlight:...
Gregg Popovich’s entire tenure with Team USA has been a failure
Over the past 17 years, every time the United States men’s basketball national team has been terrible, Gregg Popovich has been on the sidelines. And that’s not an opinion, either. It’s a fact....
Rüdiger HUNGRY!
I bet, my fellow footyphiles, that we thought we were done with international tournaments including players nibbling on each other, what with Luis Suarez not involved in the European Championships and probably too old for the next World Cup. And Copa America has bigger problems, though I suppose we ...
Euro 2021: For the last time, is this Belgium’s time?
For European teams, the lack of opportunities to actually win a trophy can muddy the results they do get. There’s only a trophy on offer every two years (when there isn’t a pandemic), and perhaps Spain at the beginning of the last decade altered our perception of what’s success and what isn’t....
FIFA Secretary Jérôme Valcke Suspended For Alleged Ticket Selling Racket
Jérôme Valcke, outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s second-in-command, is currently under investigation by soccer’s governing body concerning allegations that he was involved in a scheme to resell World Cup tickets for grossly inflated prices....
A Different Kind Of Party At The Women's World Cup
In May I was at a bar in Portland, Ore., with two of my brothers, watching the U.S. women’s national soccer team play the first of a series of pre-World Cup tune-ups. At first, we were the only people there—it was Mother’s Day, around brunchtime. A little after halftime, an older couple sat down at ...
The U.S. Ran The Most Of Any Team At The World Cup
USA players covered an average of 77.17 miles per match over their four matches at the World Cup. That's more per match than any other nation, which is something to be proud of, right?...
Mario Götze Less Excited Than Usual About Being On A Boat With His Lady
I guess it's true what they say. Success can really change a man....
FIFA's First Post-World Cup Rankings Are Out
Yes, we all know FIFA's rankings are bad and pointless and the formula is arbitrary and flawed. But if there's one thing we (the human race) can't resist, it's things, ranked....
Say Goodbye To The World Cup With This Gorgeous Animated Highlight Reel
These are still so awesome. Richard Swarbrick has made a few of these animated highlight reels and they are always great bits of eye candy. ...
Germany's World Cup Victory Ceremony Was Really Something
American championship parades may feature unexpected swearing and goofy-ass dancing from time to time, but we really don't have shit on the Germans. When they celebrate a championship, they pull out all the stops....
Concussed Christoph Kramer "Can't Really Remember" World Cup Final
Christopher Kramer wasn't supposed to play in the World Cup final. The young midfielder was told just minutes before kick-off that he'd be replacing the injured Sami Khedira. So you could forgive him if that's why the whole thing seems like a blur to him, but really it's just because of the brain tr...