While the content here at The Yanks Are Coming is nothing short of top-notch, we want you to know it’s OK to venture elsewhere in the blogosphere. To spare you from reading hours and hours of worthless crap, we present you five of the best stories of the week from other sources. Excuse us while we pat ourselves on the back. The Rundown 5. Dirty Tackle: Stoke fans induce the wrath of JT with inflatable doll Starting off The Rundown, we offer a hilarious… Read more
This is The Yanks Are Coming’s second USMNT player power rankings list – our definitive compilation of who we think should be joining Bob Bradley in South Africa come June. And this time around we’re turning the focus of the list to the best tool for each player (yes, we’re baseball fans too). We’ll highlight that tool, as well as giving it a grade on the 20-80 scouting scale – where 20 is the worst, 80 the best and 50 average for the entire… Read more
I’m sick and tired of defending Major League Soccer. In conversations pertaining to athletics, most people lose faith in my sports knowledge when I even casually mention the word “soccer.” Soccer? You’re joking, right? At this point, my buddies take a good three to four minutes to bash the game they don’t fully understand. It’s boring. There are not enough goals. The players dive all over the field and shy away from contact. I’d rather… Read more
Before every World Cup, nations dare to dream. Plucky minnows relish the prospect of taking a big scalp. More established countries seek to bring honor to their flags. And some nations dream of taking home the trophy itself. That optimism though, carries with it the weight of expectation, a weight that can be a burden. Some teams thrive under pressure, but others buckle. Here are four teams who disastrously underperformed at the World Cup England -… Read more
Number 18: Diego Forlán Country: Uruguay Position: Forward Club Team: Atlético Madrid American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: “Sugar Shane” Mosley, Welterweight Boxer Contrary to what you might have heard from Manchester United supporters whenever his name is brought up, Diego Forlán is no bum. Not only is he a financially well-off homeowner who’s had success (almost) everywhere he’s played, but Forlán represents his home… Read more
Welcome to the third edition of Faces in the Crowd where The Yanks Are Coming profiles fans of the USMNT. This month we have Kirsten from Ohio, who is a self-described HR vixen, mother of two and East Coast transplant. Getchya popcorn ready and get comfortable, it’s time to meet our March Face in the Crowd… Q: How’d you become a soccer fan? Kirsten: For this I must thank my father. He played soccer at Washington College in Chestertown, MD and then… Read more
This is the second in a weekly series of World Cup history lessons brought to you by our very own “Professor” Guy Bailey. He is not actually a professor; the only professor on staff is Jamie Clary. Well. sort of. The 1934 World Cup The second World Cup was to be played in Italy after an efficient total of eight meetings of the FIFA Executive Committee, taken without a ballot of its members and at the expense of Sweden but Italy had the money to put on… Read more
As I told y’all this morning, I was also writing a more in-depth look at the match with regard to the midfield. What happened and what “switch” flipped that made us competitive during the last 15 minutes of the game when we were seemingly getting dominated for the first 75? Let’s back up to the beginning. For most of the game, I was very frustrated. We could not maintain possession and our offensive tactics were juvenile much like the offensive… Read more
Trying to defend against the Dutch is like trying to catch a bullet with your teeth. With Penn and Teller not in our Starting XI, the US succumbed 2-1 to the Clockwork Orange in front of 46,630 packed into the Amsterdam ArenA. Starters Howard: 7. Unlucky to give up goals by PK and deflection. Great positioning, such a good read on the game. Brilliant save late showed his shot-stopping class. Bornstein (85): 3.5. Silly foul to give up PK. Robben was… Read more
That game was interesting, and it goes to demonstrate how we could potentially beat England in the first round. What struck me as particularly relevant about the match is that there is an argument to be made that we should have won. Our performance, although not spectacular, was competitive enough to get a W or at least a draw under hostile conditions against one of the best teams in the world. Why then didn’t we win? We are talented enough to win; the last… Read more
Senior writer Neil W. Blackmon will be taking your questions during the duration of the US/Netherlands match starting at 2:30 p.m. He’ll be talking about who’s on the plane to South Africa, who needs to play well today and why Sacha Kljestan is the man. Ask away! Click… Read more
Fitting that only days removed from the heartbreaking defeat of U.S. Hockey in the gold medal game (I thoroughly appreciate the Facebook-suggested National Hate Sidney Crosby Day, and no, I still do not want to talk about it), the U.S. Men’s National Team would take to the field in the final match it will play before the Yanks coaching staff selects the twenty-three men who will represent the Stars and Stripes in South Africa this summer…. Read more
