The forecast is for light snow when the USA hosts Costa Rica on Friday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. You’d think such conditions would work against thevisitors from Costa Rica, where temperatures are in the mid-80s these days, but many of the Ticos are used to playing in cold weather. […]
World Cup Watch
Posted inStory, World Cup Watch
Spain on edge before key qualifiers
Winner of the last two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup, Spain finds itself in the unusual position of being on edge. Its 1-1 tie with France in Madrid — a match Francecould have won — has amped up the pressure of Vicente Del Bosque’s squad ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier at the […]
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Beckenbauer: Brazil will have huge advantage
Rio de Janeiro recently hosted the Laureus Sports Awards and provided a forum for World Cup legends to discuss the World Cup in 2014. Former Dutch captain RuudGullit, 1966 World Cup champion Bobby Charlton, Marcel Desailly of the 1998 French World Cup team and the GermanFranz Beckenbauer, World Cup winner as both a player and […]
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FIFA nervous about Maracana for Confederations Cup
Two days before Thursday’s scheduled visit to the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke expressed about concernsabout it readiness to host Confederations Cup matches in June. “The city I’m traveling to in two days is the one which is causing FIFA the most concern,” he told reportersduring a trip […]
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Hexagonal: Honduran star Costly ready with 'knife between his teeth'
Carlo Costly knows what it’s like to play the United States. The 30-year-old forward is one of only three starters left from the Honduras team that playedthe USA in the 2009 Hexagonal. The Catrachos lost both games — the first after Costly put them ahead at Chicago’s Soldier Field in the 5th minute — and […]
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Hexagonal: Tico fans on the move for another campaign
Everyone talks about the USA-Mexico rivalry, but the biggest rivalry in the Hexagonal — at least in terms of traveling fans — will be Panama-Costa Rica. About 4,500 Ticos areexpected to cross the border at Paso Canoas and travel to Panama City for Wednesday’s game. Eleven buses carrying Costa Rican fans crossed the border on […]
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Hexagonal: Panama's attention turns from baseball to soccer
Panama is the only the team in the Hexagonal that has not played in the World Cup, but that doesn’t stop Blas Perez from believing. “We know wehave a great team, a great group of players,” says the FC Dallas striker. “We just have to show it on the field.” This is only the second […]
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Hexagonal: Name cards needed for Reggae Boyz's gathering
Name tags will be needed when Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz assemble at their Mexico City hotel for Wednesday’s Hexagonal opener against Mexico. Five Englishmen are joining the team for thefirst time, all signed up following a recruiting trip Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss Horace Burrell and Coach TheodoreWhitmore took to England last fall. Their targets? English […]
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Hexagonal: Mexico's Tri temporarily brought down to earth
Following its gold medal in men’s soccer at the 2012 London Olympics, Mexico is being trumpeted as a favorite to win the 2014 World Cup, but that’s getting ahead of the game. Since1994, El Tri has qualified for the every World Cup and advanced to the knockout phase only to lose in the round of […]
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Poster evokes Brazil's soccer and rich flora and fauna
Brazil unveiled the official poster for the 2014 World Cup on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro. Former Brazilian world champions Amarildo, Carlos Alberto (of New York Cosmos fame), Bebeto and Ronaldo and women’s star Martatook part in the ceremonies that were postponed from Monday following the nightclub fire in Santa Maria that killed 235 people […]