2014 Page 10 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Brazilians Are Using Social Media In The Fight To Save Their Favelas
From Dave Zirin's newest book, Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup the Olympics and the Fight for Democracy, available now....

Hundreds Of Ghana Fans Have Sought Asylum In Brazil
According to Brazilian federal authorities, about 200 fans who traveled from Ghana for the World Cup have requested political asylum in Brazil, and another 1,000 are expected to claim refugee status after the end of the tournament....

Why Your World Cup Stadium Sucks: Arena Castelão, Fortaleza
So I don't really know how to say this, but Arena Castelão was actually completed ahead of schedule and came in under budget. It makes me uncomfortable. ...

Listen To Buenos Aires React To Argentina's World Cup Semifinal Win
I love this video very much. Reaction videos are generally great for seeing people's reactions—the joy and surprise on their faces, the triumphant body language. In this one, you can't see a thing. But you can hear everything....

How The World's Best Player Finally Won Over His Home Country
If there was one defining moment to memorialize what might be the tournament that solidifies Lionel Messi's place as the greatest soccer player of all time, it was the few seconds after he scored the game-winning goal in Argentina's first group stage match. The shot itself was a sign of what was t...


10 Young Players Who Could Be On The USMNT At The 2018 World Cup
In the last calendar year alone, Jürgen Klinsmann called in over 60 different players for roster spots, as he tinkered with his final 23 for the USMNT. Granted, we knew players like Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, and Michael Bradley had unquestioned spots, but then again, so did Landon Donovan. Plenty o...


Angry Brazil Fan Destroys TV In Street
This is a (possibly drunk?) Brazil fan flinging a high definition television around in the street after finding himself on the wrong end of a 7-1 thrashing. YouTube (with the help of Google translation) fills in some details:...

What Brazil's Loss Meant, And What It Didn't Mean
When you visit the Museu do Futebol in São Paulo, you are at one point obliged to enter a long, narrow, pitch-black room, in which the increasingly loud pounding of a heartbeat plays heavily over concealed speakers as images of the Maracanazo—Brazil's infamous loss in the final of the 1950 World C...

Argentine Player Hit In The Head, Stumbles And Falls, Stays In The Game
Argentina's Javier Mascherano couldn't even stand up after clashing heads with a Dutch player. He was taken off the pitch for only a couple moments—concussion protocol!—before returning. ...

Your Netherlands-Argentina Open Thread
Huh, the World Cup actually didn't end yesterday. Let's hope for more fireworks now....

FIFA Is Its Own Metaphor: A Day Inside The Underground Bunker
Excerpted from The Soccer Diaries: An American's Thirty-Year Pursuit of the International Game....

Do We Believe The Netherlands Yet?
Louis van Gaal is as arrogant as they come. In this World Cup—as has been the case throughout most of van Gaal's career—the results have followed suit....

Showing Attractive Fans On TV? That Was One Man's Idea
Originally published on Slate....

Why Your World Cup Stadium Sucks: Estádio Nacional, Brasília
Estádio Nacional has the grim glory of being the most expensive stadium in Brazil, costing some $900m in public funds. (Now with more pictures!)...

Nothing Is Sadder Than Lego Júlio César Getting Bombarded With Goals
The French publication L'Équipe created a Lego depiction of Germany's thrashing of Brazil and it's a pretty cool little thing that really hammers home the onslaught poor Júlio César was under. An added bonus is that, it turns out, a totally helpless stop-motion Lego man is very sad and very funny....

Meet "The Saddest Man In Brazil"
He's been dubbed "the saddest man in Brazil," after cameras caught caught him hugging his replica World Cup trophy during Brazil's blowout loss, his face twisted by emotion. But don't you worry about the man who'd rather call himself "Gaúcho da Copa"—he's led just about the best life a soccer fan ca...

Kid In Anti-Gambling Ad Is Sad Because Dad Bet Everything On Germany
Look, gambling addiction is a serious thing and, really, this anti-gambling spot from the National Council on Problem Gambling only proves the point. In it, several young boys sit around yakking about the World Cup and who they want to win. Each kid has a favorite—one likes Brazil, another likes Arg...

Germany-Brazil Was The Most-Tweeted Sporting Event In History
If you are reading this, you probably watched and wondered at Germany's 7-1 brutalizing of Brazil. And there's a good chance you tweeted about it, because it was one of the most stunning outcomes sports has ever seen. If so, you're a little part of history....