Daily Archives: June 12, 2010

England 1-1 United States (USA) – Video Highlights and Recap – World Cup – 12 June 2010

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“One of the most anticipated 2010 FIFA World Cup Group Stage matches took place on Saturday, June 12, 2010 as England faced the United States. The only other time the two teams met in the World Cup was in 1950 when the USA upset England 1-0.” (The 90th Minute)

England 1-1 USA
“England goalkeeper Robert Green suffered a World Cup nightmare as they were forced to settle for a disappointing draw in the opening game of their campaign against the United States. Steven Gerrard gave coach Fabio Capello the perfect start to this South African mission when he slid Emile Heskey’s pass beyond Tim Howard after only four minutes. And while England rarely hit the heights, they were maintaining their advantage in relative comfort until five minutes before half-time when West Ham United’s Green suffered the lapse that will haunt him.” (BBC)

Goalkeeping blunder hands U.S. hard-earned point vs. England
“Clint Dempsey scored on a blunder by goalkeeper Robert Green in the 40th minute, and the United States came from behind to tie England 1-1 in the Americans’ World Cup opener Saturday. Steven Gerrard put England ahead in the fourth minute, blowing past Ricardo Clark to beat goalkeeper Tim Howard from short range.” (ESPN)

Argentina 1-0 Nigeria – Video Highlights and Recap – World Cup – 12 June 2010

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“Argentina began their first World Cup under manager Diego Maradona. They had a poor qualifying campaign but are one of the most talented sides in the entire tournament. Nigeria are a team with talent as well but will be the underdogs against Argentina.” (The 90th Minute)

Argentina 1-0 Nigeria: Maradona’s men dominate but fail to convince
“Eight years ago, Argentina started with a 1-0 win against Nigeria and then crashed out before the knockout stages. You wouldn’t bet on the same thing happening again, but this performance didn’t suggest that Argentina have the ruthlessness needed to win the trophy.” (Zonal Minute)

South Africa/Mexico: A Game of Nerve

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“There is not much for me to say about today’s match: it has already been said, not even an hour after the match’s conclusion. We even broke Twitter, twice the whole network seized up – too many of us telling each other all about it. It was a game of two halves, and two nervous teams. Throughout the first act South Africa was afraid to attack, and the whole side seemed to play stopper.” (From A Left Wing)

Best Football Books in English

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“Your first book is Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, about an obsessive Arsenal fan. Isn’t it a bit depressing? It’s not depressing! It’s very funny and was also almost the book that started this all off. Actually, the book that started it all off was Pete Davies’s All Played Out. That came out in 1990, and has been called the John the Baptist to Nick Hornby’s Jesus. Because when Pete Davies’s book did well, publishers realised there was a literate football fan audience out there, and then Nick Hornby came and proved it with a vengeance in 1992.” (Five Books – Simon Kuper)

2010 World Cup: Fighting AIDS

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“An American soccer star joins the TRIAD Trust using the game to educate children and young adults about how to protect themselves from contracting H.I.V.” (NYT)

Condoms for the World Cup and other ways to keep HIV at bay
“In three months hundreds of thousands of soccer fans are expected to descend on nine South African cities for the 2010 World Cup. But for so many visitors going to a country where more than 10 percent of the population is estimated to have HIV/AIDS, many public health experts are worried that the event will kick off a spike in transmission. South Africa, in turn, has responded by requesting one billion condoms for the year (many of which will be supplied by the U.K.)—more than twice as many as usual, the BBC noted.” (Scientific American)

South Africa 1-1 Mexico: a fair result but neither side will be happy

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“An entertaining game that finished with a fair result, a point apiece. Both sides will be relatively disappointed to come away from the opening game with just a draw, and the match demonstrated the faults of both sides more than it did their qualities.” (Zonal Minute)

Uruguay 0-0 France: no cohesion in attacking zones from either side
“Group A is wide open after the first round of matches, after a draw in both games. The earlier game was open and exciting throughout – this one started well but faded badly as the game went on. Uruguay’s expected 3-5-2 became a 3-4-1-2 with Ignazio Gonzalez pushing forward to play just behind Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez. Mauricio Victorino came in on the right side of defence, and Egidio Arevalo took the midfield role requiring the most positional discipline.” (Zonal Minute)

Cometh the Hour

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“The winds are howling and the world’s shaking itself loose; at least it feels that way. The night scratches its back against our houses, the heat of the day falls away like a dream; and then the cycle reverses, unpredictably, tapping out weird rhythms of hot-cold that upset our animal patterns over the days of this tense spring. There is a feeling of unrest in the Land of the Free, a disquiet. The feeling is immanent and of the time. It has been here before and will be again.” (Run of Play)

England beware a steadily advancing USA

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“Two weeks ago in Philadelphia, at the half-time stage of the United States’ final send-off friendly, home fans could have been forgiven for a sense of deep pessimism about their country’s chances of making an impact in South Africa. West Ham’s Jonathon Spector had just been thoroughly tormented by the gifted young Turkish forward, Arda Turan, who had scored to give the Turks a 1-0 lead, but it could easily have been two or three more. Having already lost 4-2 to the Czech Republic four days earlier, the US team’s official, Nike-generated slogan of Don’t Tread On Us was looking as hubristic as it did four years ago when they left Germany with just one point and two goals.” (WSC)

South Korea 2-0 Greece – Video Highlights and Recap – World Cup – 12 June 2010

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Cape Town
“Two teams who will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage met on Saturday, June 12, 2010 as South Korea faced Greece. Argentina is highly favored to win the group so the two teams would need a win as a loss would probably end their hopes of getting to the next round.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup 2010: South Korea 2-0 Greece
“Statistics are often as misleading as they are informative. On one hand this game is between the 2004 European Championship winners and the 2002 World Cup Semi-Finalists. Another way of describing the game is between a side whose World Cup finals record outside their own country is just one win in seventeen games (and that over African minnows Togo) and the only European nation ever to play at a World Cup without scoring. At the outset, that may be harsh, as the South Koreans are showing that the co-hosting of the Cup in 2002 has been beneficial in the long-term as the 1994 World Cup was for the United States.” (twohundredpercent)

Lights, Camera, Action

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“Back in December, when England and the United States were drawn in the same World Cup group, an instant thought went round my head: This might just revive my flagging career as a Hollywood movie star. Six decades before Saturday’s clash in Rustenburg, the two nations met in Brazil in what turned out to be the biggest World Cup upset of them all. The shock 1-0 victory for the US was immortalised in film a few years back, with yours truly playing the part of the BBC radio commentator in order to help tell the story. The movie, released in 2005, was initially called The Game Of Their Lives, although it was later retitled The Miracle Match for DVD.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

Family of 1950 hero vs. England has high hopes for Jozy Altidore (Video)

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“It is the dream of Joe Gaetjens’ surviving family that U.S. striker Jozy Altidore score against England with a diving header. Poetry of this measure would live forever. A Haitian soccer player and later a political victim of former Haitian president Francois Duvalier, Gaetjens scored the winning goal for the United States in a 1-0 victory against England in the 1950 World Cup.” (mlive)

Five Things To Watch For In The England v USA Match

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“The United States and England will begin their 2010 World Cup with a match against each other in Saturday, June 12, 2010. The winner of this match will be the favorite to win the group so it could be a very crucial match when it gets to the knockout stage. So, what will be the major points of the match and what will determine the match? Which players will be crucial to England and the United States? Who has to play well for both sides to get a result?” (The 90th Minute)