World Cup: Triangle Offense, Indy Week

Brazil 2014: Looking back, looking forward, going nowhere

Chris Gaffney — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:03:00 -0400

RIO DE JANEIRO—The 2010 World Cup is history. Spain were deserving winners over a preternaturally violent Dutch side that should have been sent to Robben Island for a week of rock breaking.…

In defense of Dutch thuggery

Brian Fobi — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:06:00 -0400

As soccer pundits put together their post-mortems on this World Cup, media around the world are piling on the Dutch for their tactics in the Final. From every sports page across the world have come lamentations and protestations that Holland did not play the game the right way; they did not play the beautiful game.…

The art of the 1-0

Thad Williamson — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:58:38 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—At least it all ended with a perfectly good goal. No question about offside (Dutch whining aside in the immediate aftermath), no controversy—and also, importantly, no flukes, and no ridiculous Forlan/Jabulani special strikes from distance.…

A short history of the Dutch in South Africa, 1652-2010

Thad Williamson — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:10:00 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—The Dutch East India Company established a small settlement at what is now Cape Town in 1652. The initial purpose of the settlement was to provide a rest stop and supply station for trading vessels making the long journey from Europe, around the cape of southern Africa, and on to India and other points eastward.…

Here's hoping the World Cup Final ends in penalty kicks

Brian Fobi — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:10:00 -0400

As the World Cup Final looms, there’s no clear consensus on who will win it all. What people seem to agree on, though, is that they hope the match will be decided before it comes to a penalty-kick shootout.…

World Cup 2010, by the numbers

Thad Williamson — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:24:39 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—So it is Spain and Holland in the final of the World Cup—a worthy matchup. Spain would have been in almost anyone's list of the top two teams in the world headed into this tournament, and Holland have a perfect six wins from six in South Africa.…

Impossible Germany, not-so-unlikely Spain

Thad Williamson — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:51:51 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—Is it possible for a English-language sportwriter to write an article about the German national soccer team without any reference to World War I, World War II, any past national leaders, any references to "efficiency," or any references to the words "blitzkrieg" and "Aryan?"

I don't know, and it's obviously too late for this article to accomplish that feat. But let's pretend for a moment that the German national side that has now dismantled England and Argentina in four-star fashion were actually from California (where former legend Jurgen Klinsmann sometimes resides).…

Semifinals begin today: Previewing Uruguay—Holland (and why Uruguay shouldn't apologize)

Chris Gaffney — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:28:10 -0400

RIO DE JANEIRO—There are 3,510,386 Uruguayans living in Uruguay. As with 21 of the 23 players on the Uruguayan roster, some three million more Uruguayans live and work outside of the República Oriental del Uruguay.…

Reading the newspapers in Cape Town; rooting for Ghafana Ghafana

Steve Schewel — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:13:29 -0400

CAPE TOWN—It's a joy reading the vibrant, provocative Cape Town press. The Cape Times today leads with a mammoth headline—"Cup gets 9/10 from tourists," and I believe the headline is not far off.…

Brazil play beautiful football and lose to the Dutch; the conspiracy theories mount

Chris Gaffney — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:51:41 -0400

RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil were brilliant for 53 minutes. Holland were terrible for 75.…

When cynicism succeeds: Deliberate handball lifts Uruguay over Ghana

Thad Williamson — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:27:55 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—Let me first state that there has been much to admire about how Uruguay has played this World Cup. They are worthy semifinalists, and might yet win the tournament.…

Dutch delight, Brazilian breakdown

Thad Williamson — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:04:04 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—Sir Alex Ferguson is capable of making some remarkably biased comments whenever Manchester United or its nearest rivals are involved, but the veteran manager (and ex-Scotland boss) is generally well worth listening to when discussing football in general. Fergie was quoted by FourFourTwo magazine as saying World Cups don't really get going until the quarterfinal stage.…

Five reasons why you shouldn't join the Brazil bandwagon in this World Cup

Brian Fobi — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:41:00 -0400

When the clock read 120 minutes at Rustenburg, U.S. fans were naturally crestfallen. Americans drawn to soccer for the first time by the spectacle of the World Cup will, I imagine, mostly stop paying attention now that they do not have a national rooting interest.…

World Cup reveals "hopefulness, a newness, a sense of progress" in South Africa

Steve Schewel — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:34:00 -0400

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — Cape Town, June 29, noon, and the streets are filling up with fans of Spain and Portugal wearing their scarves and wigs and jerseys, the national flags draped across their backs, faces painted. The vuvuzelas already blare, as they do almost every moment.…

What is justice? Blown call in England-Germany game shows need for goal-line video

Thad Williamson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:49:33 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—There are only certain conditions under which all of a soccer ball crossing all of a white line painted on a patch of green grass has any significance whatsoever. But Frank Lampard and England had every right to believe that the ball he struck from about 20 yards out over German keeper's Manuel Neuer's head met all of the relevant conditions:

A competitive soccer match was under way, the ball was in play, no foul was committed, no one was offside and the ball hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing at least a yard behind the line.…

England v. Germany: Tale of the Tape

Thad Williamson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:46:29 -0400

World Cups Won All Time: Germany (W. Germany) 3, England 1
Head to Head Results at Knockout Stage: Germany 2 wins (1970, 1990), England 1 win (1966)

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Win as a Country, Lose as a Country

Thad Williamson — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:56:29 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—The United States will not be the world champions of soccer over the next four years. Ghana probably will not either.…

Previewing Brazil-Portugal; racism in Brazilian media

Chris Gaffney — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:06:00 -0400

RIO DE JANEIRO—It’s pretty amazing that Brazil, year after year, Cup after Cup, is always the team to beat. It’s hard for Brazil not to be in the group of death, because they are death to opponents.…

Reflections on watching Brazil with Brazilians

Chris Gaffney — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:06:00 -0400

RIO DE JANEIRO—The Rio de Janeiro FIFA Fan Fest (FFF) is a textbook example of how space can be manipulated to create and reproduce socio-economic hierarchies, cultural value systems and accelerate patterns of consumption. Watching Brazil versus Ivory Coast there on Sunday afternoon was a strangely unemotional experience in a country and city that prides itself on stopping everything for the national team.…

Preview day 14: Who else will join us (U.S.) in the knockout stages?

Joe Schwartz — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:39:47 -0400

One game changes everything, the saying goes. For the United States it was more like one kick, a single Landon Donovan tap in propelled the Americans from elimination to winning a group for the first time since 1930.…

USA! USA! USA! Late Donovan goal saves World Cup dreams

Thad Williamson — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:06:00 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—It was shaping up to be the Year We Got Robbed, the moment the American soccer-interested public lost faith in the game's underlying propensity to justice and, worse yet, the moment folks stopped reading World Cup blog postings.

Instead, a clutch goal capping a well-worked team move in injury team has sent the U.S. through to the second round, and sent throngs of jubilant soccer fans into ecstasy around the country.…

Hosts bow out with dignity intact; France not so much

Thad Williamson — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:03:34 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—The usual cliches about a side "crashing" out of a competition in no way apply to South Africa's exit from this World Cup. Bafana Bafana put together not just a spirited but a technically excellent performance over the first hour of today's match vs. France, taking a two goal lead and very nearly going up 3-0 early in the second half when Katlego Mphela's close range effort hit the post.…

Africa on the brink as final games of group stage commence

Thad Williamson — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:13:42 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—Believe it or not, after 11 days of non-stop soccer, one-half of the World Cup is complete. Starting Tuesday, the tournament kicks up a notch with the final day of group play, as nations will begin to exit stage right en masse.…

Over-Rated!

Thad Williamson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:01:29 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—Insipid, lacking belief, out of ideas, toothless, timid. All those words at the moment appear to be the answer to this riddle: what happens when you cross a bunch of English soccer players with Italian "tactical guile"?

Merry old England made a mockery of Henry V, St. George and for that matter Bobby Charlton and Stuart Pearce with a frankly sad display against Algeria, hardly mustering a meaningful strike at goal over the 90 minutes.…

Referee! Dodgy officiating is a World Cup tradition

Thad Williamson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:27:00 -0400

RICHMOND, VA—The biggest shame of the seemingly inexplicable decision by Malian referee Koman Coulibaly to disallow Maurice Edu's apparent winner for the U.S. against Slovenia today may not have been the fact the U.S. did not grab all three points. Rather, it's that we will be talking about the referee and not the fact that for the first time in my life, I saw a U.S. soccer fan crying at a match, after Michael Bradley's goal to tie the game at 2.…