world-cup Page 95 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Landon Donovan Was Our Savior All Along
It's a strange thing, to watch a hero die. First came the shock, the denial, the OMGs and WTFs that exploded through our Twitter feeds last night when we found out that Landon Donovan wasn't traveling with the United States men's national team to next month's World Cup in Brazil. Then in snaked the ...

Jürgen Klinsmann Explains Why He Left Landon Donovan Off The U.S. Team
Calling it "the toughest decision in my coaching career," manager Jürgen Klinsmann took a stab at justifying his decision to leave Landon Donovan off the USMNT's 23-man World Cup roster....

Here's The U.S. World Cup Roster
The 23 men representing the USMNT in Brazil, via U.S. Soccer. No Landon Donovan....

World Cup "Partakers," Illustrated
The illustrations above and below, by Craig Robinson of FlipFlopFlyin.com, feature notable World Cup "partakers," who made limited waves at the tournament (because, in some cases, they weren't very good). Craig was kind enough to let us post his graphics and brief notes, and you can check out larger...

Sepp Blatter: Giving Qatar The World Cup "Was A Mistake"
FIFA president Sepp Blatter offered up his strongest words yet regarding the scandal- and problem-plagued Qatar bid for the 2022 World Cup, admitting what nearly everyone else already has: "Of course," Blatter told a Swiss TV station, "it was a mistake."...

Are you excited for the World Cup? Do you live in New York? Then swing by tonight's Varsity Letters reading series, presented by Gelf Magazine. Soccer writers Greg Lalas, Graham Parker, and Alexander Abnos will be there to break down the World Cup field and talk soccer. Click here for more details. ...

Qatari Government: Qatari Migrant Workers Dying In Droves
It's getting harder and harder to deny that Qatari migrant workers are dying at an alarming rate. One report, published by ITUC in March, estimated that World Cup construction will eventually kill more people than 9/11. (That report didn't sit well with Qatar's Supreme Committee of Delivery & Legacy...

Samir Nasri's Girlfriend Is Not Happy With France's World Cup Team
It's been a bit of an up and down week for French star Samir Nasri. On Sunday, his Manchester City team won the Premier League. Way up! But today, Nasri found out he was left off France's World Cup squad. Way down!...

Brazilian Soccer Fan Killed By Toilet Thrown Out Of Stadium By Rioters
According to police, a 26-year-old Brazilian man was killed when rioters ripped out three toilets from Arruda Stadium and threw them into a crowd of people during a match between Santa Cruz and Parana Friday night. One of the toilets struck the man and killed him instantly. Be warned, you can see o...

Rio Olympics Shaping Up To Be Complete Crap
In a Guardian story on Tuesday, International Olympic Committee vice president John Coates called Rio de Janeiro's prep for the 2016 Olympics "the worst" he's ever seen, and no, there is no Plan B....

Fan At Mountain Bike World Cup Gets On Course, Has Ugly Crash
This video is from Cairns, Australia, site of this year's Union Cycliste International Mountain Bike World Cup. In it, a spectator is seen riding a bike down the course and crashing violently, smacking his head several times on the ground before coming to a stop....

That World Cup Trophy You Bought In Chinatown Might Be Fake
Counterfeiting the World Cup trophy seems kind of pointless. A Cup-winning team receives only a single gold-plated replica. It's not as if anyone's going to believe that you, Joe Soccer Fan, have one of these lying around the house to impress company. Yet thousands of counterfeit trophies ready for ...

Pitbull And J. Lo Team Up For The Official 2014 World Cup Anthem
Here it is, the song that you are going to be so damn sick and tired of hearing by the time the 2014 World Cup is over. Wrap your ears around Pitbull and J. Lo's "We Are One (Ole Ola)."...

Run The Jules: Your Guide To The USMNT's Newest (Maybe?) Star
During last night's USA-Mexico friendly, USMNT fans finally got a glimpse of Julian Green, the 18-year-old superstar-in-the-making(?) who spurned Germany to play for the US. The massive excitement at his arrival is matched only by the massive amount we don't know about him. Who is this guy? Is he re...

U.S. Fans Buy Three Times As Many World Cup Tickets As Any Other Nation
The World Cup kicks off in—holy crap—71 days, and other than host nation Brazil, no side will have as many supporters as the U.S. Recently released FIFA numbers show that Americans have purchased the most tickets of any visiting country, and it's not even close....

Report: Senior FIFA Members Tried To Halt Corruption Probe
Every time FIFA does something right—like forming an independent investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups—it manages to shoot itself in the foot. Reports out of Switzerland claim that "senior FIFA power-brokers" attempted to derail the inves...

The Organizers Of The Qatar World Cup Are Very Mad At Us
Below is an email that just popped into our inbox, from Paul Hughes, head of international media relations for Qatar's Supreme Committee of Delivery & Legacy (!). That makes him the main flack for the outfit that's overseeing the 2022 World Cup, which one international group expects to kill more peo...

Report: Qatar's World Cup Expected To Take More Lives Than 9/11
"Qatar is a country without a conscience," begins the International Trade Union Confederation's recent report on the working and living conditions of the 1.4 million migrant workers living in Qatar, many of whom are there to build stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. After reading thr...

Report: FIFA VP Paid Millions By Qatari Firm After World Cup Vote
It's a good sign a sport's governance is seriously screwed up when a report emerges that a FIFA executive received millions of dollars from a Qatari soccer official after Qatar was awarded the World Cup, and everyone's first reaction isn't anger, but more along the lines of "no shit."...

How Will The 2014 World Cup Ball Swerve? An Aerodynamic Test
There are now only a few months to go until the biggest sporting event of 2014—the FIFA World Cup in Brazil—and questions are being asked. Will the stadiums be ready? Are the airports ready for the crowds? But one matter rises above all others, and may have an impact on the destiny of the cup itself...