“Obama We Are Sorry”
Courtesy of the blog From a Left Wing, here’s some engaging footage of the celebrations in Ghana after the World Cup victory over the U.S.
Category Archives: United States
This Sporting Life
My colleague at Duke University, Wayne Norman, has written some great material reflecting on the place of soccer in the U.S., available here. Peter Alegi, meanwhile, offers up this nice ode to the recent World Cup, via the blog Football is Coming Home:
Watching Ghana Beat the U.S.A., in Johannesburg
Well, being on a different continent certainly changes things. After the epic flight from the U.S. to South Africa — 16 hours, including the required putzing around on the tarmac in Atlanta — I arrived just in time to catch the U.S.-Ghana game at a restaurant here in Melville, Johannesburg. I watched with Simon Kuper,… Read More »
Bliss, and a Belgian Spared
It has been a beautiful day. It was a perfect match, offering up everything that draws us to football. The devastation of the goal-that-was-not, the relief as the team, rather than fumbling into frustration, kept carefully building up excellent plays, defending beautifully, and pushing, pushing, pushing. Raïs M’Bohli, the Paris-born Congolese/Algerian goalkeeper — who, I… Read More »
Referee Bashing 101
Paul Kennedy recently noted at Soccer America that we owe a big thank you to Koman Coulibaly, the suddenly world-famous referee who made a controversial call against the U.S. a few days ago. “He accomplished what no one else could in more than 100 years. He made Americans care passionately about soccer.” Indeed, I may… Read More »
Facing Algeria
Since last December’s World Cup draw, the Algerian team has been, to my mind, underestimated. They’ve certainly had their ups and downs, and the coach has taken risks by incorporating some new players who weren’t present in qualifying. And the goalie who played so well against England, Raïs M’Bohli, did so during his first full… Read More »
USA-Slovenia: When referees play karma
“After the USA-Slovenia rollercoaster ended Friday afternoon, our entire nation seethed at one man alone. Koman Coulibaly’s phantom call was inexplicable at the time, and it still remains mystifying no matter how many times you replay the free-kick itself: no offsides, no fouls (aside from the slew of Slovenian ones), nothing at all. It was,… Read More »
The Toughness Game: An American Style of Soccer
At its best, the US team plays a Joe Dimaggio game Pete Rose tough. Soccer is the middle class’s way of making their boys into men.
Remembering 1999 in 2010
Ryan Brown, a Duke University student currently writing for Salon.com, has just published an excellent piece urging us to remember that the U.S. has already won a World Cup. As she provocatively concludes: “This summer, though, all eyes will be on the men’s team, and I for one am cheering for them, hoping that one… Read More »
A Frown and a Smile
I found this image, up at Obstructed View, particularly delicious, though it’s apparently photo-shopped! (Maybe that makes it even funnier?) It’s also up at New York magazine.
