Klinsmann Debut Yields Slivers of Future Hope
The Americans battled Mexico to an unexpected draw thanks to the infusion of youth in the lineup...Preempted by Little League baseball, I turned from ESPN2 to Univision to watch the beginning of the showdown between the United States and Mexico in Philadelphia. It was the first opportunity to atone for the come-from-ahead loss to the Mexicans in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. It was also the inaugural game for the Americans after Jurgen Klinsmann took... Read More
Yanks To Take Different Path, Not Necessarily Correct One
There will be few tears shed by American soccer fans after the men’s national team released head coach Bob Bradley from his duties on Thursday. Seen by many as the second- or third-choice option when he was initially hired in 2006, Bradley was unable to turn the ever-growing expectations of the rising soccer power into concrete advancement. After a CONCACAF Gold Cup in which the U.S. men appeared to take one step forward two steps backward,... Read More
NTSF 112: Misadventures in the land of the Giants
So I spent the weekend traveling into the land of the Giants. As Dickens said, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Hell, I’ve taken trips to Vegas that wound up being less eventful than this weekend. It was my first trip ever to San Francisco, coming three weeks on the heels of my first time in the Bay Area when I was confined to the north in San Rafael. My wife was the kickoff speaker at the GreenFestival, a sustainability... Read More
FIFA puts credibility at risk with December’s 2018 and 2022 World Cup vote
Blatter took the first step, apology, but had no follow-through to remedy his blunder... It’s not something you’re apt to see every day — FIFA president Sepp Blatter expressing regret for a decision he has made. But Blatter apparently recognizes that it was a mistake lumping together the bidding process for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Despite his admission that keeping the 2018 and 2022 bids together caused more harm than... Read More
Copa Libertadores: A Champion is Crowned
Internacional came into the second leg of the 2010 Copa Libertadores final with all the advantages. The Brazilian side had earned a hard-fought, come-from-behind first leg victory over Chivas Guadalajara on the road in Mexico. But despite the two away goals in hand, they could not afford to even lose the second leg of the home-and-away final 1-0 — the Copa Libertadores does not permit the away goals rule to serve as a determining factor in breaking... Read More
