One of the sadder realities of humanity is that a single human life rarely involves more than twenty World Cups. Without question, South Africa 2010 has been a memorable one, no matter how you feel about the hornet’s nest noise emanating from your television. As a blog, this is our first go round covering a World Cup, and we look forward to many more. A great reward that accompanied the hard work we’ve put into making this site a reliable, fun and… Read more
Now that I’m on the road to accepting what happened last Saturday and I’ve finally managed to crawl my way out of this empty bottle of whiskey, I guess I should go back to writing about the big worldwide soccer tournament which is apparently still taking place. Most readers of the most important blog of all time lost their biggest rooting interest when the Yanks were eliminated, or the next day when the Limey Wankers went down in TYAC writer Guy Bailey’s… Read more
Whilst tinged with regret and remorse, the USA has nothing to be ashamed about when reflecting on its performance at the 2010 World Cup, unlike it’s more feted and illustrious group-mates from over the pond. They battled hard as a unit, stuck to the coaches gameplans and with a bit of luck, could well have gone further. I will leave the post-mortems to far more qualified writers on this site but I do have one idea that refuses to go away concerning… Read more
Well that was rough. It seemed as if we had the kind of draw that comes once every three or four World Cups, a legitimate chance for the USMNT to get into the semis. It felt as if we would be able to ride the momentum of a last second goal all the way to the world’s version of the final four. Alas, it was not meant to be. The final African nation powered on by blasting plastic horns took down the Americans and we are left with our beers nearly empty and… Read more
Like an attractive older auntie who’s had too much yaegermeister at Thanksgiving, Group H is beginning to show a bit too much leg for everybody’s comfort. Firstly, the Rojas are still rocking at the top of the group as they came through their test against the suddenly serious Swiss. The 1-0 scoreline probably flatters the mountain men but the main talking point was the controversial sending off of Valon Behrami for a non-existent elbow on Arturo Vidal…. Read more
After seeing some of the comments on the site, and after hearing the rampant discussion concerning the lack of goals during the first round of group play, I understand that there’s a lot of confusion about the effects of new Jabulani ball. For those of you that have been living in a cave, essentially the argument is that the new ball is very different, and because of this, there haven’t been a lot of goals scored because players aren’t used to how the… Read more
A friend of mine said that she would be more excited about the World Cup if she knew who to cheer for among the 32 teams. My response was to tell her cheer for the U.S. and against everybody else. Upon further review, I realize that my directions are too simple. Most soccer fans have a secondary team and a handful of teams they would like to see lose badly every time they play. It’s like the bumper stickers in Tennessee: I have two favorite teams—UT and… Read more
Posted by Puck in June 2010
Argentina vs. South Korea This proved to be one of the more interesting matches of the World Cup thus far. Going into the match, everyone knew that the Argentineans were the favored side. However, South Korea’s pervious performance against the Greeks showed the world they were a much more formidable side than originally thought. Going down a goal early on was the beginning of the end for South Korea. Instead of staying compact, possessing the ball as much… Read more
It’s not as wide open as we thought it might be going into Tuesday’s final matches, but no team has guaranteed themselves qualification or elimination just yet. Essentially Mexico and Uruguay, both on four points after great wins, will be battling for group supremacy, but will they play for a draw? Meanwhile, France and South Africa will try and hammer each other to improve their goal differential and qualify for second place in Group A, always… Read more
The Rojas have arrived in Group H and as I exclusively predicted, took off like a rocket, even if the scoreline didn’t reflect their superiority against the game but limited Hondurans. Jean Beausejour (who sounds like he’d appear if you say his name three times) scored for Chile with a tap-in on 34 minutes and they squandered plenty of other opportunities to extend their lead and dominance. Their 3-3-1-3 formation cutting through the Hondurans at will who… Read more
Posted by Puck in June 2010
Match Day 1 has come and gone in Group B with an excellent match between Argentina and Nigeria, and an absolute trouncing of the Greeks. Here are my quick thoughts on the two matches. South Korea vs. Greece This game was a beating. Did the Greeks even know they were playing in a World Cup? They were awful all over the field. Shitty forward play, dismal midfield possession and a completely unorganized defense is all the Greeks had to offer. At no point… Read more
One point all around for the teams in Group A, and Wednesday kicks off a second set of compelling matches for the host country and guests. This group is still wide open obviously, and something tells me we’re going to see more than two total goals scored in this set of fixtures. So before we dig in for Uruguay v. South Africa and Mexico v. France, let’s look back at matchday one. Looking Back The South African goal was probably the most… Read more
Group E, for lack of a better term, is wide open. All four teams have a shot at making Round of 16. First, my previews, then my match-by-match predictions and predicted final table. Netherlands: Leading the way is the Dutch, who are the overwhelming favorites to both win the group and should definitely advance to the knockout stages. As always, the Dutch are trying to recapture the glory of Cryuff, and the glory of the lost 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals…. Read more
Number 2: Cristiano Ronaldo Country: Portugal Position: Midfielder/Wing Forward Club Team: Real Madrid American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees He may only be our number two player to watch at the World Cup, but Portugal’s most important man is without a doubt the most widely hated footballer on earth. How hated is C-Ron within the walls of The Yanks Are Coming home offices? Suffice it to… Read more
