The Diving Dutchman and Costa Rica

Yesterday was a great day for football. I thought both games were played outstandingly. It was really entertaining combined with tons of controversy (say that in your best Ian Darke voice). Holland took on Mexico in a game where the on field temperature felt like 104 degrees Fahrenheit and Costa Rica took on Greece in a round of 16 game that not many people saw happening.

I really thought that the Netherlands would handle Mexico easily, that was not that case. Van Gaal made 3 changes from the Spain game, I didn't see that as a good idea because you shouldn't fix something that isn't broke. In the end it worked out but it was very hard for the Orange. After having a good first five minutes the Netherlands couldn't keep possession of the ball and Mexico dominated. The referee decided before the game to make sure there would be a water break at around the 30th minute and 70th minute. Van Gaal said after the game that he used these water breaks as a time to go to his plan b and talk to his players about their different tactics. Taylor Twellman and Alexi lalas said this is an unfair advantage because it was a timeout, but more on that later. Anyways the first goal didn't come until the second half when Giovani dos Santos hit a magical shot that put the Mexicans up 1-0. I knew the Dutch were in trouble now, they really hadn't looked that threatening the whole game. Memphis Depay was brought into the game at the 56th minute. Depay has been a super sub in this tournament, he's full of pace and he has some tricks up his sleeve. Dirk Kuyt, the old man as I call him, played a great game. He ran to every lose ball and really kept the Netherlands alive at the end of the game. The Dutch didn't make their break through until the 88th minute when Wesley
Sneijder hit a cracker of a volley off a corner. That gave the momentum back to Holland. Arjen Robben, who had another great game, gave Mexico trouble on the wings. Robben really wanted the win and when he went down in the box the Netherlands were awarded a penalty. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, the substitute, stepped up and slid the penalty into the side net. After the match Huntelaar actually said that Robben came up and asked him if he wanted to take it. This is pretty surprising considering Robben can sometimes be selfish when it comes to set pieces, him and Ribery have had some fights in the locker room at Munich. Robben isn't that good at penalties though, so he made the smartest decision. The Netherlands advanced to the quarter finals on that 94th minute penalty.

The big controversy after the game was whether the penalty was a dive by Robben. All though Robben is an expert diver, that was definitely a foul. People forget that you can embellish and it will still be a foul. Robben did make the most of it, he did flail his arms up, but there was contact and it was a foul. If you say that Robben's penalty wasn't a foul than Diego Costa's never should have been. He dragged his leg and used it to his advantage. Even though I hate Mexico they played really well and should be proud of their World Cup.

Alexi Lalas said that diving is a part of the game just as much as a professional foul to hold up play. He went on to say they are both skills that are hard to pull off and a player has all the right to use them. I don't think many people agree with that but at least its one side of the argument.

The second game yesterday was Costa Rica vs Greece. Not many people thought that this game would be taking place, but it did, and it was a pretty good game really. Although there were only 2 goals scored I thought it was entertaining. Costa Rica went ahead in the 52nd minute with a goal from Bryan Ruiz. The shot was very soft but its placement was so perfect that it slid into the side net of the goal. Costa Rica looked like they had won, then Oscar Duarte got his second yellow and was sent off. This really changed the game, luckily for Costa Rica they were playing against a team that doesn't attack very well. Costa Rica was so close to winning it, right until Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored in the 91st minute. This stunned the CONCACAF nation who were so close to a quarter final match against the Dutch. The match went into extra time and then to penalties. Costa Rica, despite having crazy tired legs, took some amazing penalties and eliminated Greece. The final was 5-3 on penalties.

France took on Nigeria today and Germany battled Algeria, more on that later. The USA takes on the Belgian Waffles tomorrow, should be a pretty good game. I'm giving the USA a slight chance but I do think this will be the end of the apple pies at this tournament. Belgium should advance but this World Cup has been full of surprises.

Dancing Columbians and Brazil thanks the Crossbar

Today was the beginning of knock out round play in the World Cup. Two very good games all including South American teams took place.

Brazil are many people's favorites to win the whole World Cup. They're on home soil where they hardly ever lose and they have giant amounts of talent. Today their World Cup dream almost ended, but thanks to some good play, a friendly crossbar, and an amazing goalie from the MLS they advance to the quarter finals.

Brazil took on Chile in Belo Horizonte on the fist day of knock out play. Chile had been the surprise team in group B knocking out Spain and coming in second in the group behind the Netherlands. Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal have led Chile with some great play. The first half of the game was super exciting and played at a very high pace. The players ran end to end without much midfield play. David Luiz scored the first goal of the game off a corner. It might have been an own goal but for now we'll give the credit to the PSG man. After that the atmosphere in the stadium went crazy, Chile didn't give up though. After a small error by Hulk in his own half the Chileans acted quickly and Sanchez hit the back of the net. That tied the game 1-1 and that's how it would stay until penalty kicks. In the 119th minute Chile fired a shot from just outside the box. The shot had tremendous speed but it was denied by the crossbar. If that ball had hit the back of the net Brazil's World Cup probably would have been over. Julio Cesar has always been one of my favorite goalies, I've loved him since the World Cup in 2010. Sometimes he is criticized for not being as good as he should be. Today he had a great game and saved the first two penalty kicks from Chile. Brazil ended up winning in penalties 3-2.

Neymar didn't score, except in the shootout, but he made some great plays and I think he will cause more trouble in the following matches for Brazil. Fred and Jo, Brazil's strikers, have been pretty horrible so far this tournament. One of them, most likely going to be Fred, really needs to step up if Brazil wants to win the tournament. Chile played very well but just couldn't beat Brazil on Brazil's turf. Sanchez had a great game and Chile ran as hard as they could the whole game. They had a great tournament but meeting Brazil in the round of 16 is a tall order.

In the other Round of 16 game another all South American match took place, Uruguay vs Columbia. With Uruguay coming off the vampire drama I didn't think they would win, and they didn't. Columbia played great and their new star James (pronounced Hamez) Rodriguez played great again. He scored both goals for Columbia as they advanced to play Brazil with a 2-0 win. His first goal should be nominated for goal of the tournament with Tim Cahill's and Robin Van Persie's. He chested a header and with the ball coming down he took it on the full volley, it hit the crossbar and went down into the goal. He's been on great form this tournament and I hope Arsenal is interested in him.

I only had Columbia coming in second in their group then losing to the Italians in the Round of 16. We see how that worked out. I think the Brazil vs Columbia game will be interesting, Brazil should win but Columbia might make it a tough game. By they way, Columbia's celebrations are pretty good, all the dancing and stuff they do.

Come back for more World Cup coverage and fun stuff like that.

"Iron" Robben, the Golden Boy, and Messi the Messiah

This tournament has plenty of star players in it. So far some of the big names have really proved why they are so famous. Neymar, the golden boy, has played well in front of his home country, very well. I've always liked Neymar because he was one of those typical young players that had all the hype about them. Instead of following the trend and not being that good of a player, just being all hype, he actually proved that he could play very well. Plus he's entertaining to watch. I've been a fan of Arjen Robben for awhile ever since I started watching Bayern Munich play a few years ago. He looks like an old man but he's very pacey and has a magical left foot. A left foot that rivals that of Leo Messi. Messi, who as I've stated before is not my favorite player, really needed to have a great World Cup. So far, he has done that pretty well.

All three of those players has helped their country tremendously so far. They will be needed even more in the knockout stages of this tournament.

The Netherlands take on Mexico in the round of 16. I think the Dutch will handle them pretty well,
but Mexico did hold the Brazilians to a 0-0 draw. Arjen Robben has 3 goals and 1 assist so far in the World Cup. Two of his goals came in the dismantling of the former World Champion Spain. One of them was very important because it gave Holland the lead and the second one was a World Class goal as he stormed down the pitch with 99 pace (FIFA 14 reference), made Casillias fall to the ground, and hit a nice shot into the goal. He scored the first goal vs Australia and had the assist to Memphis Depay in the Chile game. Robben has looked very quick and he also got his mind set right for this tournament. He always knows where to be on the field, he's a pretty hard worker and he is a great compliment to Robin Van Persie and Wesley Sneijder. Robben could be up there for player of the tournament so far.

Neymar had all the pressure in the world on him at the beginning of this tournament. After getting down 1-0 to Croatia it had to be him to tie the game up 1-1. He went on to score a penalty in that game after Fred flopped like fish. Neymar also scored 2 very good goals against Cameroon. Brazil needs his pace and trickiness to succeed in this tournament. Although he hasn't bagged
an assist yet, he can pick out a great pass every now and then. After having all of Brazil's hopes placed on him through commercials, advertisements, etc, he has really proved how good he is.

When I have seen Messi play for Barcelona, which is not many times, I was never that impressed with him. I heard he could do some great things and that's why he's been FIFA player of the year so many times. Maybe I just always caught him on TV when he was having a bad game. So far this tournament he scored a great goal against Bosnia from outside of the box after running past a few players, he scored a cracker of a goal to give Argentina 3 points against Iran in stoppage time, and yesterday he scored 2 goals against Nigeria. Many people have Argentina going all the way and lifting the World Cup Trophy in Rio. They won't be able to do it without their star man.

It will be interesting to see how Robben, Neymar, and Messi play in the knock out rounds. All three of their countries have plenty of talent but just wouldn't be complete without them.

Suarez Bites another Chunk

Tuesday was the conclusion of the "Group of Champions". It's called the group of champions because it includes 3 teams that are former champions of the World Cup: Uruguay, Italy, and England. Not one of them topped the group, the small CONCACAF nation of Costa Rica emerged out of what should've been a group of death for them to win the group. Yesterday all they had to do was tie against England to win the group and that's what they did. It didn't look like they played for a tie, it just happened to go their way. I was actually watching the Costa Rica vs England game instead of the Italy game because I wanted to see how Wilshere and Lallana played, along with the fact I just like watching England. Then Ian Darke mentioned that the Uruguayan vampire was at it again. I quickly switched channels to see what was unfolding. Just a few minutes after I switched channels the Atletico Madrid man, Diego Godin, scored what would be the winning goal for Uruguay. Godin scored the goal that gave Atletico the La Liga title, he scored in the champions league final, and has now scored in the World Cup. Italy had taken Balotelli out and they just couldn't hit the back of the net. Some people have accused the Italians of playing for a draw, which would have sent them through. They probably should've tried to be a little more attacking. I like a few players on Italy so it was sad to see them go, but unfortunately after a great game of football the headlines were all on Suarez.

Suarez has bit 2 players in his career, or I guess now that would be 3. Chiellini was the victim this time. Suarez had to save a bite for the world's biggest stage didn't he? But its pretty sad that he did it because Suarez is a World Class player and is one of the best strikers on the planet; this biting incident might get him suspended for the rest of the World Cup. Coming off a great year at Liverpool he would have a major impact in the knock out stages for Uruguay. Not only can he finish chances off, but he can also set up his teammates. On the bright sight, twitter and the rest of the internet have really made the most of their opportunities to create funny pictures dealing with his vampirish act.

It would have been interesting to see how England performed with Theo Walcott or Oxlade-Chamberlain. Neither of them might have played, but if they did they might have made a difference. Also, it looked to me like Roy Hodgson went the "Liverpool way" instead of playing his best players in the match against Italy, but they could've been his best players.

In group C Greece and the Ivory Coast battled it out to for the opportunity to play in the knock out stages. Greece ended up winning (


to my surprise) and advanced. Columbia won the group pretty convincingly and might be a surprise in this tournament. I didn't get to watch either of the group C games but I heard that Columbia was very dominant over Japan.

Well so far my ESPN World Cup bracket has been pretty bad. I'm ranked 488,720 in the world. Costa Rica and Mexico really messed it up. I think Costa Rica messed everyone's up haha. But come back for more World Cup Coverage.

Orange Greatness and Mexico Advances

Today, unless it rains, I will actually get to go play some soccer. Which is always fun during the World Cup because it really gets you in the soccer mood. Today (yesterday) was the first day of final group matches. We found out who would be advancing from Group A and from Group B. I wrote this intro yesterday and I have only decided to keep it in here to point out that right when I was about to leave to play soccer, it started storming. The weather always does that to me.

In Group B we already knew that Spain and Australia were out, and we knew that Holland and Chile were through, we just didn't know who would finish first in the group. The Netherlands would take on Chile in São Paulo wearing their famous orange kits. It took the Dutch awhile but they finally made the breakthrough in the second half through the sub Leroy Fer. Off a free kick Fer leaped very high and buried it into the net with his head. All the Dutch had to do to win the group was tie, so now it definitely looked like they would at least do that going into the last 13 minutes with a 1-0 lead. It got even better for the men in orange when Arjen Robben sped down the left wing on a counter attack, crossed it into the young super-sub Memphis Depay who tapped it in. Arjen Robben maybe player of the tournament so far. He's had a lot to do with each of the Netherland's goals. He's looked quick and creative with every touch. I've always liked Robben and I'm glad he's having a great World Cup so far, I hope he can carry that form into the knock out stages. I found out about Depay before the tournament started and watched a few of his high light reals on Youtube. I was very impressed with him and I'm glad he has shown up well in the cup so far too. Anyways the Netherlands won the group with a 2-0 win over Chile. They will avoid Brazil unless Brazil makes it to the finals along with the Dutch. Chile will advance and play Brazil in the round of 16.

We knew Spain and Australia were both out of the tournament before their game yesterday so Spain played some of their World Class backups. This would probably be the last game for this generation of Spanish players, or at least the last real competitive game. David Villa, one of Spain's most important players from the last few years of success had an emotional last game in which he scored a cheeky goal. Fernando No-Scores (pronounced no-scorez) also hit the back of the net along with Juan Mata.  Spain won 3-0 but didn't really celebrate after any of their goals after a very disappointing World Cup. They shouldn't be too sad though because 2 Euro championships and 1 World Cup in the last 5 or 6 years is about as amazing as it gets.

The Magical Mexican Ochoa

Well Mexico really proved me wrong, big time. I thought no doubt Croatia would advance in Group A behind Brazil. Brazil did advance in first but instead of Croatia the CONCACAF nation of Mexico advanced. After such a horrible qualifying campaign I did not see them playing so well. They tied Brazil and beat Croatia 3-1 along with a 1-0 win over Cameroon. Chicharito said it himself in an interview after the game, "people think that CONCACAF is easy, but its not". He went on to describe how well Costa Rica and the United States have played this tournament. Mexico will take on the red hot, or orange hot Holland in the round of 16. That's going to be a hard game for the Mexicans.

Come back and read more World Cup coverage.

CONCACAF Looking Strong, MLS not to shabby.

At the beginning of this tournament we probably thought that the North American and Central American teams wouldn't fair to well in Brazil. There would be a chance that Costa Rica, Mexico, the United States, and Honduras wouldn't make it out of their group. All four teams not advancing. The story has been much different. The USA has a chance of advancing out of their "Group of Death", Costa Rica has advanced to the knock out stages, Mexico has it all on the line against Croatia today, and even though Honduras wont advance they haven't just looked horrible.

Ruiz scoring against Italy to propel CR into the knockout stages

Costa Rica was drawn into a group with Uruguay, England, and Italy. The group of champions they called it because everyone besides Costa Rica has lifted the World Cup trophy. What was little Costa Rica going to do in this group, nothing right? Well it turns out they qualified with one game to spare. I always said Costa Rica was a good team when the US played them in qualifying, we just happened to catch them in the snow. I didn't think they were good enough to take down Uruguay and Italy, but they did, and it wasn't a fluke, they just played that good. With help from Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz, and a top class goalie from La Liga, Costa Rica looked very promising in the group stages.

Mexico, although I hate them, has been able to hold on in their group. Today they play Croatia in pretty much a winner takes all match. Brazil should handle Cameroon, so the winner of the Croatia Mexico game will go on to the knock out stages with Brazil. Mexico had a horrible 2013, they barely made it to Brazil, and they went through many coaches. If they make it out of the group stage today I would say that's already a trophy for them, because for awhile it looked like they wouldn't even be here.

During the draw back in December I thought there was no way we could do anything good in our group. For awhile I didn't believe we could get 1 tiny point. Now we have 4, and we should have 6. When Dempsey and Bradley moved back to the MLS I was scared that this might lower their ability to play against world class teams in Brazil. Instead (excluding Ghana for Bradley) both of them have played pretty great so far in the World Cup and both played great in the World Cup warm up matches. In the starting lineup against Portugal we had 5 MLS players taking the pitch. More than I would've ever liked, but they played the best match the National team has ever played. I'm still not a big fan of us trying to "grow" our players in the MLS, but we have clearly made some progress. I hope that David Villa is the start of more world class players coming to America.

The good people at Arseblog have said that the US team has been one of the best teams to watch this year at the World Cup. Our collective team effort is what makes us good, not relying on one individual star.

Overall CONCACAF has proved that we are more than we used to be. We've improved and we should improve over the following years. We still have a long way to go to really win a lot, but for right now I'm pretty happy with how our qualifying nations have performed.

The best match ever for the USA

Well today was a crazy day for the United States men's national team. I believed that we could win after Dempsey's goal. In the end, after being up 2-1 until the 95th minute, we really deserved the 3 points, we came away with 1, but it was truly a great performance.

Well before the match if someone would've asked me would I take a 2-2 draw against Portugal I would've said yes, definitely. I didn't expect us to win or even come close, after all Portugal is ranked 4th by FIFA, 4th in the world that is. After Nani's early goal I thought we were done. There was no way we could come back. An error by one of my favorite US backs, Geoff Cameron, gave Portugal the early lead. Then we played outstanding. Michael Bradley showed up for this game. He made some great passes, looked like he could run around a bit, and made an impact. Zusi looked like he was ready to play. His corners weren't world class like usual tonight but he made some great passes from open play. Kyle Beckerman played some great defense. He never stopped running, in the Amazon jungle that's something that a player could do very easy, stop running. Jermaine Jones, one of my favorite players on the whole US squad played great as usual too. He deserves the title of man of the match 2 games in a row. Clint Dempsey, not used to playing up front by himself, made a nuisance of himself causing the back line of Portugal a few problems. The United States as a whole kept great possession, we made the best chances, and looked like we weren't scared. You know a player who didn't really show up? Ronaldo. Well he didn't show up till the 95th minute, but he didn't make much of an impression the rest of the game. He wasn't totally in the shadows like in the Germany game, but he was still quiet.

The 95th minute goal that crushed the USA

Anyways lets get down to the action. After Nani scored in the 5th minute the US took control. Our break through didn't come until the second half, and it came from none other than Jermaine Jones. What a wonderful strike it was. Off an American corner Portugal could only clear it as far as the top of the box, where Jermaine Jones was standing. Then Jones released a magnificent strike. A hit that rivaled Messi's against Iran. This was an extra injection of momentum that the US needed. Jurgen Klinsmann then brought on a player I like a lot and I think he will do great in the coming years, DeAndre Yedlin. Yedlin usually plays right back but came in at right mid today. He has plenty of speed and is very strong. He plays for Seattle in the MLS and helped set up his Seattle teammate Clint Dempsey for his goal. Yedlin dribbled down the wing with blistering pace, sent it across the box, and after in bounced around for a bit Zusi picked up the ball and sent a pass to the US captain who "stomached" it into the net. This was great! Spectacular! The nation known for hating soccer, the nation who didn't have a hope in this group was ahead of Ronaldo and Portugal. Going into stoppage time it looked like the US would secure their place in the knock out rounds before Germany, but then 5 minutes of stoppage time and the best player in the world (well ask Messi about that) crushed the United States' dreams. Off a Michael Bradley give away Portugal went on the counter in the very last minute of the game and gave the ball to Ronaldo. Ronaldo who hadn't looked like he could deliver a ball all game, put in a world class ball right to the head of his teammate. The European nation had tied it. It was the last play of the game.

All though the US came so close to a win, so very close, they shouldn't be tremendously sad, just really sad. We can take many things from the game. We tied the 4th best team in the world 2-2, we had the better of the game, and we looked great with out Altidore. Tim Howard made a mistake or two, but was still outstanding. Our wing backs looked great and DaMarcus Beasley, playing in his fourth World Cup looked like he was still 20. Geoff Cameron might have been able to do more on the last play but that's being harsh. Yes he didn't really pick up his man but he had just played in Manaus for 95 minutes. It was really just a great ball from Ronaldo. I said before the game that Portugal was one of the best counter attacking teams in the world.

In the end the USA could taste the win, we were oh so close, but we couldn't seal the deal. I thought it was the best game the United States has ever played, or at least the best I've ever seen us play. It was a great performance but we'll have to go into the Germany match playing for something. It should be a spectacular final group stage day. Keep watching the World Cup and keep reading this blog! #ibelieve


More Nil- Nil and Poor England

Well unfortunately I have missed one or two World Cup matches now, but I still have watched almost all of them. The action continued yesterday with some interesting games. England desperately needed a win against Luis Suarez and Uruguay, Greece and Japan both needed a win to catch up with the Ivory Coast and Columbia, and Columbia battled the Ivory coast to top group C.

I like England, I've seen them play in person at their home, Wembley. I know a lot of their players because most of them come from the Premier League, which is really the only league we get to watch over here. Although they have a lot of talent, they can never seem to get the most out of their talent. It happened again, yesterday, in Sao Paulo. Luis Suarez came back and started for his country, he proved why he maybe the best striker in the world at the moment. England didn't have a bad game. They created a lot of chances, but so did Uruguay. In the end it came down to who could finish off their chances and when you have a striker like Suarez, you will almost always win those type of matches. Wayne Rooney did secure his first ever World Cup goal, but it wasn't enough to overcome Uruguay who scored the winning goal in the 85th minute. It came from no other than Luis Suarez who scored both goals for Uruguay. Uruguay got their first win of the tournament after losing to Costa Rica in their first game.

The English press had been placing much of the weight on Wayne Rooney's shoulders. Why? I don't really know, but he didn't perform badly yesterday and he scored a goal. England's defense needs to improve a bit if they want to do some good things. I think their World Cup run is over this year, unless something amazing happens in the following group matches. Look for them in the Euro's in 2 years.

It looks like my prediction of the Ivory Coast winning their group will probably not be right. I didn't realize how good Columbia could be, even without their star striker Falcao. The Ivorians played Columbia well but Columbia came out on top with the 2-1 win. I would like to point out how well the former Arsenal man, current AC Roma member, Gervinho, has played. Defenses have had trouble stopping him and he has two goals so far this World Cup.

Japan and Greece also played yesterday in the other match from Group C. Both teams lost their opening match a greatly needed a win in this match. After Greece got a red card in the 38th minute their goal switched from trying to get 3 points to trying to get 1. That's what they came out with. Japan probably should've won as they had the better of the chances but neither team has an "outstanding" striker so the game ended 0-0. That's the third game that's ended 0-0.

Today Italy plays Costa Rica. Both teams got a win in their first group matches and the Italians will be the favorites but as we/Uruguay knows, the Costa Ricans can pack a punch. Honduras plays Ecuador and the Swiss take on France.

ORANJE! ORANJE! ORANJE!

The World Cup has been full of great moments so far. It has been a wonderful tournament in Brazil. I have basically done nothing over the past few days except watch soccer, in fact I've watched every game so far, that streak might end today, but I almost got through one full round of group matches.Only yesterday did we receive our first draw of the tournament, unfortunately it was the worst kind of draw, an nil-nil (0-0) draw. Thanks Iran and Nigeria! Haha, but even with that tie, the rest of the World Cup has been filled with upsets, great play, and fun celebrations. What upset is bigger than a 5-1 bashing of the former World Champs?

Hey remember when that blogger said that Holland would win their group and the days of ticky-tacka where over? Well yeah, I think the Dutch proved my theory with their dismantling of Spain. I predicted before the game that the Netherlands would win the game, now I didn't think they would win by four goals, but I knew they would win. After Costa went down in the box and Xavi Alonso slid it past the Dutch keeper I didn't give up hope. Then the former Arsenal man, the current Manchester United star, Robin Van Persie, scored an amazing header that gave the Netherlands plenty of momentum to carry into the second half. The pass from Blind was exquisite and the finish was even better. Going into the second half the Netherlands had all the momentum in the world. Arjen Robben, my favorite non Arsenal player, scored a great goal to put the Dutch ahead 2-1. It showed that he was world class. Robben has always been flashy and clinical in club play, but when he puts on the Orange jersey he hasn't always been the best. He said that after his miss in 2010, that could've won the World Cup, he would never forget Iker Casillas' save. He went on to put another one past the Spanish keeper, along with another from Van Persie, and for good measure one from Stefan de Vrij.

I was super excited because I hate Spain. The way they play has been very effective in the past, but I just cant stand watching it sometimes. They still have a chance in this tournament having so many world class players. If any of them get injured, they can stick another great player in there. If they finish second in their group I don't even think they'll get passed the round of 16 because Spain should meet up with the hosts, Brazil.

It was a great game to watch and wonderful for anyone who wanted to see the Spanish get demolished, but if you tuned into the game you might say, "who are these teams? There's no orange or no red, it cant be Spain vs Holland." Well you see, FIFA made the Netherlands wear blue and Spain wear white. Why, I don't know, but that's what the announcer said.

"Flying Dutchman"

Google pointed out that in the Netherlands, searches for their National team was 22x higher than the search for herring. Why is this important? Well its herring season of course, a popular time for the fish in Holland! Also, "Van Persieing" has become a thing now. Remember how he looked after his header on the ground with his legs held up in the air and his head held high, go somewhere, lay down, and take a picture like that, then post it on all the social media possible.

Come back for more World Cup coverage.

USA! USA! USA!

Okay, I would have to say that this World Cup has been pretty awesome so far. There have been plenty of goals, just the right amount of drama, and great world spirit. I will post  a lot in the coming days to cover the past few days of action (and future games), but this post will be for we, The United States of America (also know as 'murica).

We all know that I have had my doubts about the US national team. Sometimes I am even on the border of not supporting them, luckily for the US, they did a good job leading up to Brazil to get me interested in their cause. Putting on programs like Inside the March to Brazil and always giving us a behind the scenes look at the team made me like them a lot more.

Going into Ghana tonight I knew we had to get 3 points if we wanted to get out of the group. I couldn't even make a prediction as to who would win because I just really didn't have an idea. I knew the US had improved from 4 years ago but I didn't know if we could stand up to a team like Ghana who had also improved. When Dempsey scored his goal in 32 seconds (34 if you are a FIFA worker) I was bamboozled. I was very happy and very surprised. I thought, "Hey we might have a good chance now". That's when Ghana really came to life. The African nation looked faster, stronger, and had most of the possession. Then one of the worst possible things happened, Altidore when down grabbing his hamstring. Even though he is not my favorite player, he's Premier League built and is so strong that he can create chances for himself. We held a 1-0 lead through half time but we had to pull Besler off who picked up an injury. That might have the best thing possible in the sense of a result for the USA. Ghana tied the game in the 82nd minute. I was pretty sure it was all over in terms of a win, which would mean that our chances of getting out of the group would be pretty slim. Then John Brooks saved the day for the USA. Brooks came into the match as a sub for the injured Matt Besler. Brooks was quoted on twitter as "the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln". He headed the ball just like you're supposed to, down low and hard. It bounced past Ghana's keeper (this was off a corner) and hit the back of the net. He is now a true American hero.

Jurgen Klinsmann was asked at his press conference after the match why he subbed in Brooks instead of Omar Gonzalez. The answer was that Brooks is the sub for a left center back and Omar is the sub for a right center back.

Now to individual player reviews. Michael Bradley who looked so good in qualifiers just played terrible tonight. I expected great things from him tonight and maybe they'll show up against Portugal and Germany but he was majorly disappointing. He couldn't make a right passing decision, he didn't seem to put in many tackles, and for some of the game he disappeared. At the end of the game he did play a little better. Jermaine Jones on the other hand, was absolutely the man of the match. He worked really hard, made some excellent passes, and always seemed to be in the right place. Playing in the Champions league for so much of his career and just playing in the Bundesliga really paid off tonight. I've always liked him and have
 always thought he's a hard worker. Although Tim Howard didn't have to make a bunch of saves tonight, I though he played very well and he maybe the best player on the team. It's hard to compare outfield players to goalies sometimes. I asked us to bring Zusi in, and we did. He put in a great ball on the corner to help John Brooks give the US 3 points. I have seen him take some great set pieces at Sporting KC and he proved he could do it on the biggest stage.

The support over here in the States was giant for our National team. The hype was big and we got the win. Twitter was blowing up with USA chants, along with Instagram and the like. Hopefully soccer will continue to grow over here. Overall I wouldn't say it was a great performance from the United States, we weren't pretty but we got the job done and at the end of the day that's all that matters. Going into Portugal with 3 points, with Portugal being Pepeless, we should have some tremendous momentum.

For more World Cup coverage come back and read more in the following days. Also check out Google's World Cup Hub, they have some interesting stuff comparing trends on Google, like searches between the USA National team and Chuck Norris, along with other stuff.

Sao Paulo could've had a much worse day...

Well a day where you run 4 miles, go to Starbucks, and watch the World Cup is pretty awesome day. You Best and Worst Jersey people, don't worry, it will be out later tonight or later tomorrow. For now, lets focus on the first game of the World Cup.

The biggest stage in the world, this is it, especially as the host nation with so much weight on your shoulders. The worst possible thing that could happen for Brazil would be for Marcelo to score an own goal and put the Croatians up 1-0. But surely that was impossible, Brazil is a much better team. Well that is exactly what happened. Croatia started the game much better than Brazil and looked like they had a goal in them. I was only semi surprised when the first goal went in, I was more surprised that it was an own goal. The OG didn't deflate the hopes of Brazil, the poster boy as they're calling him, Neymar, didn't really get ahold of his left footed shot, but it snuck past the keeper, hit the post, and went into the goal. Some people are questioning the goalie and asking why he didn't get to it quicker as the shot rolled pretty slow across the pitch, but he saw it late and it was expertly placed. If one person was going to start a comeback for an entire nation, it would have to be Neymar, and that's exactly what he did.

Now to the most controversial part of the game, the penalty call in the second half. Fred dived. I love Fred and I think he's a good player, but it was clearly a dive. The past Premier League season I have seen many defenders pull on the shoulders of the attacker and as the striker went down the ref just waved his arms no. Even if it was a clear foul the ref would never point to the spot, but in the world cup, as the Croatian defender tugged slightly on Fred's shoulder, his legs flew up and his arms flailed in every direction. He clearly sold it to the ref and that's probably what gave Brazil the 3 points. I am not saying that announcers or experts are always right, I usually do not agree with them, but not one of them said the penalty call was a good call. Anyways, Neymar put it in, just barely though as the Croatian keeper got his hands to it.

After that Croatia still put up a very good effort. They didn't give up and created more chances. Julio Cesar made a few saves but Croatia couldn't find the back of the net. After a Croatia chance Brazil went on the counter and Oscar slid one past the keeper. Again, the keeper was questioned. I think on this one he might have been able to save it, but it wasn't as easy a save as some people are making it sound.

Overall Brazil might be looking at the match as a bit of a disappointment but they got the three points and that's what matters. The outcome could have been much different and I think Croatia will be at least a little happy with their performance. Of course, they wont be thrilled, no one should be after losing, but they should carry the good performance into their matches against Cameroon and Mexico.

World Cup Predictions: Part 2

Yesterday I told you what would happen in the group stage, today I tell you what will go down in the knockout stage and who will be crowned world champions. By the way, I haven't been able to play soccer in forever because of this rain, IT NEEDS TO STOP. Hopefully it wont rain this much in Brazil, even if it did, they probably have world class pitches. Anyways...

The knockout stage of any tournament is scary, if you lose you go home and your hopes of winning are over. First off, lets say I predicted everything right in the group stage. The knockout matches would start off like this:

Brazil vs. Spain! What a spectacle to have in the second round, not even the quarterfinals! This is a final worthy matchup happening in the round of 16. Spain is a great team, but Brazil is quick and flashy, two things Spain needs to catch up on. This will be a re-run of the confederations cup final of last summer, Brazil will dominate, and Brazil will win. The Ivory Coast and Uruguay will be a great game to watch if it actually happens. Even though the Ivory Coast should have a dominating group stage performance, Uruguay edges this one out. France and Bosnia will also be a very interesting game. As long as the French do not lose their minds I think Bosnia's Cinderella run will end there. An upset could be lurking though. Germany and Russia should be a pretty easy game for the Germans. Russia is a European team but their footballing talent is not what it once was. The Netherlands and Croatia might be a pretty physical game. The Dutch will pull out the win with their "total football". Italy and Columbia should be a fun game to watch. Without Falcao, the Columbians wont have enough power to get past Italy. Argentina and Switzerland, unfortunately for the Swiss they will not have a chance. Look for Argentina to slice through them like chocolate. Belgium and Portugal, doesn't get much better than that for a Round of 16 match (except Brazil vs Spain of course). The young Belgian squad will face their toughest opponent yet and it will not be easy at all. It might go into extra time, but Hazard and the rest of the Belgium squad can pull out a win.

Now into the quarterfinals. By now most of the mediocre teams are out and it all gets pretty exciting. Brazil vs Uruguay, a South American matchup. Uruguay has some great attacking quality and their defense isn't as bad as one might think. Although they stack up nicely against Brazil, Brazil's overall talent and momentum they will carry from beating Spain will push them through into the semifinals. Next up, a European match up, France vs Germany. France has plenty of talent but unfortunately for them they will meet up against a team that has even better talent. Germany advances to the semis. Another thrilling quarterfinal matchup is possible. I hope it happens because it will be very entertaining. The Netherlands vs Italy. This game could really go in either teams favor but I have the Italians advancing. Argentina will end Belgium's run. The Belgians will be even more dangerous in 4 years.

Ahh, the semi finals. Now you are so close to final you can taste it. No matter if the semi final games turn out to feature the same teams I have in them or not, they should be great games. My first semi final game involves two teams that are top favorites to win the whole tournament. Brazil vs Germany. This should be a cracker of a match. It could go deep into extra time or even into penalties but the home team, Brazil, will pull out the win under immense pressure. The other semi final has two big teams in it, not exactly favored teams to get that far, but still very good teams. Argentina vs Italy. Argentina has great attacking players and Italy just wont be able to handle it on South American soil. Argentina advances to set up an all South American final. Doesn't get much better than that.

Brazil vs Argentina. The atmosphere in Rio would be absolutely crazy. Whether this final happens or not, one of those teams will definitely be in it, Brazil. That's because Brazil will hoist the World Cup trophy on home soil. Playing at home will give them a huge boost of confidence. They have plenty of talent in all positions. Goalie, defense, and of course the midfield/forwards. Argentina is great up front but that can only carry you so far, that's why Brazil will win the 2014 World Cup.

Tomorrow I will post the third edition of the best feature on this blog: Best and Worst Jerseys. Of course it will be World Cup Edition so come back and read!

World Cup Predictions: Part 1

This is it. What we have all been waiting for. My World Cup predictions. While slugging down some coffee I will tell you all you need to know about what I think will go down in Brazil. Since starting this blog this will be the biggest tournament I have covered yet. No need to fear though, I would say I did pretty well covering the Euro's two years ago, so how different could it be, wink wink.

The World Cup does not really have a clear favorite this year, well in my opinion. Many nations will travel to South America with plenty of star power along with the occasional young gun stepping up. The eyes will be on the host nation, Brazil. Having home field advantage and having a good pool of talent, they are expected to do big things. The pressure will be immense and Neymar is the key to their success. Last season at the Confederations Cup, although not the biggest and best tournament out there, Neymar proved that he was more than just fancy street skill moves. Now on a much bigger stage he can lead his country to the most valuable prize possible.

The group stage, the key to the knock out rounds, the path to the final starts there. The group stage should be filled with some pretty interesting matches. I don't see many upsets taking place in any of the groups, or at least not any big upsets. Group A gives the host nation a pretty easy ticket into the second round, playing Cameroon, Mexico, and Croatia on home soil might secure them 9 points. With Brazil easily advancing, the battle for second will be much more interesting. Many of the so called experts favor Mexico but I think Croatia will advance. I just can't stand Mexico and I think they are a horrible team that does not deserve to be in the World Cup. Although star power doesn't mean everything, they just do not have the power that Croatia has. I am looking for Modric and Mandzukic to lead them on the next round, along with the support of Olic, Jelavic, and Eduardo.

My group B predictions might be surprising to some, well a lot of people actually. Yes I have Holland and Spain advancing, but the Netherlands will win the group. Spain's ticky-tacka football can only work for so long. I think they are aging and their style of play is getting left behind. Although Holland's defense can be shaky at points, their power going forward is tremendous. Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie can lead the Dutch to a first place finish in the group. Chile could have made the group interesting but I think the injury to Vidal totally eliminates their chances (although there is a chance Vidal could play, but they still will not advance).

In Group C I have the Ivory Coast finishing first with Columbia in second. Yaya Toure had a great season at Man City and the team will look to him for leadership. Yaya isn't the only player on the team with a good amount of talent, Drogba maybe old but he can still finish. Gervinho usually impressed at Arsenal and I hear that he had a great season at Roma, so hopefully for the African team he can continue that form. Wilfried Bony is not a bad back up to have in case Drogba tires out. Columbia might have won the group but without Falcao it will be tough for them. Greece and Japan are not the strongest opponents out there but they can pack a punch every now and then.

Group D is a very interesting group with three teams that really feel like they have something to prove. One of those teams being England. I like England a lot and I think they have some great talent, but their problem is that they always do not use their talent to their full potential. Unfortunately I do not have the English advancing. Italy wins the group with Uruguay battling hard for second. Italy is another team I like. If Balotelli doesn't lose his mind and the rest of the Italian team plays to their full potential, they will impress. Uruguay is playing on South American soil and will need to play smart to advance in this group. England will make it hard for them but with players like Cavani and Suarez (Suarez could miss one or two games) along with Forlan and Godin I think Uruguay can pull off the second place "prize".

France should handle Group E easy. Playing against the Swiss, Honduras, and Ecuador should not be a test for them at all. They have looked great in friendlies and have two very good strikers in the Arsenal man, Giroud, and the Real Madrid man, Benzema. Ribery will miss out on Brazil which is deeply saddening to see a player with his quality get injured. The back line for France also has some key players like Koscielny and then Lloris in goal. Switzerland will finish second in the group but Ecuador could surprise them.

I expect great things from Argentina in Brazil. In group F they do not have a tough challenge. Nigeria might bother them a bit, along with Bosnia, but they should advance easily. The second place prize in this group will be awarded to Bosnia- Herzegodzeko. They are an underdog really but they could be very surprising. There is really no pressure on them because no one knows who they are. When they put a few up on Nigeria and Iran the world will definitely know who they are. Along with the star stirker from City Dzeko, the Stoke giant Begovic guards his goal like an oven door guards freshly baked cookies. Also look out for the St. Louis native Ibisevic.

Group G is what my country will be watching with hope. The USA got pretty much the worst possible group they could get. Their old foes from Ghana will be their best chance to get 3 points. After that it just gets harder and harder. Portugal and Germany will be next to impossible to beat and maybe even to tie. THE USA WILL NOT GET OUT OF THE GROUP  STAGE! Germany and Portugal on the other hand will. Many people have the Germans lifting the trophy in Rio, and they will win the group, possibly with 9 points. Their squad is just too good and full of talent, although Reus is out. I really like Reus and he is a fun player to watch so I'm sad he won't be there. The group will be a little harder for Portugal but they should advance.

Finally, Group F. This group should belong to the Belgians and the Russians. Belgium has a squad overflowing with talent, but lacking in experience. Some people are picking them to go very, very far in the tournament. Their lack of experience could hurt them in the later rounds but having a group with Russia, Algeria, and South Korea should guarantee them a spot in the next round. Russia will finish second in the group. Although Russia is not as strong as they once were, they got a nice draw so they should slide into the next round.

Well that's it for tonight. Tomorrow I will tell you what will go down in the knockout stages, and of course, who will lift the world's biggest prize in Rio. Come back and read please.

Well 4th place trophies aren't everything...

Okay, its been awhile since I wrote. But now it is summer and you know what that means, or what it should mean. More time to post. The last time I wrote was May 4th and since then many things have happened. Trophies have been distributed, injuries have happened, and a witch doctor from Ghana has affected the world cup.

WOO! That is right people... SUMMER! First off, lets get out of the way what happened last month. Although Arsenal did win another fourth place trophy, we actually won a real trophy too, the FA Cup. After we got down 2 nil in the first 9 minutes I thought we had blew another chance to lift the silverware, but with an excellent free kick from Santi Cazorla the rally started. Koscielny, who doesn't score a lot of goals but when he does they're big, scored another goal late on to send it into extra time. "HE'S BETTER THAN BALE, HE'S BETTER THAN BALEEE, AARON RAMSEY, HE'S BETTER THAN BALE". Ramsey scored off a fantastic strike off an even better pass from Giroud to let Vermaelen undeservingly lift the cup at Wembley. Vermaelen played like 3 minutes the whole season but since he's the "captain" I guess he has the right to lift the trophy.

On a much sadder note Atletico did blow their chance at trophy, the champions league trophy. After getting ahead 1-0 over their cross town rivals they just could not hold on in stoppage time. They ended up losing 4-1. But Atletico fans should not be disappointed with their season, or really the past few seasons at all. Winning the Copa Del Rey last year and the WHOLE LEAGUE this year, I would be very proud of a team that used to live in the shadows behind Barca and Real. By the way, those horrible guys on ESPN FC (not all of them are horrible, just most) said that the way Simeone ran on the field twice just ruined everything he had achieved the past few years. That might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I'm sure people will always remember him as a great coach and still love him.

Now that the most important stuff from the club season has been covered, it is time to switch our focus to Brazil. The World Cup that is. The most popular sporting event in the world. There has already been plenty of drama leading up to the world cup, which unfortunately I haven't written about at all. From Donovan getting left behind, Marco Reus getting injured, to Ronaldo getting injured due to some crazy magic, the build up to the world cup has been very exciting. Come back and read over the next few weeks... it is going to be fun.