[TELEVISION WATCH] It comes as no surprise, given the hype and extensive promotional efforts surrounding the World Cup, that the early broadcasts on ESPN, ABCand Univision have drawn record ratings and viewerships. The USA-England game on ABC was the most-viewed first-round game ever with a 7.3 household rating and 12,956,000 viewers, based onfast nationals. It […]
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Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
My World Cup: Referees get it right
By Paul Gardner Half of the 32 World Cup teams have now strutted their stuff, and most of them have been singularly unimpressive. The awful truth behind thisdisappointment is that I am the one to blame for all the caution and the defensive play that we have — and hence the lack of goals. My […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bafana Bafana thrive under Parreira
[GROUP A] Of the six African teams at the World Cup, South Africa is the least Europeanized, but the Bafana Bafana’s local stars were a match for highly ratedMexico. As for France-Uruguay, who really believed it wouldn’t end 0-0? What we liked … — After a pitiful first half, South Africatook the game to Mexico […]
Posted inSpecial Edition, Story
Bafana Bafana come on strong
[SOUTH AFRICA-MEXICO REPORT CARD] South Africa held Mexico to a 1-1 tie in a thrilling World Cup opener, but Bafana Bafana will rue its failure to pull off theupset. After a shaky first half, South Africa came on strong after the break and had the Tri on the ropes after Siphiwe Tshabalala scored in the55th […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Pressure on host South Africa
[SOCCER AMERICA PREDICTIONS] The World Cup begins on Friday when South Africa hosts Mexico and France meets Uruguay in Group A. The pressure will be on BafanaBafana to extend the unbeaten record of the host nation in its opening game at the World Cup. France and Uruguay will try to make amends for an ill-tempered […]
Posted inStory
Toughest World Cup job: opening game ref
By Paul Gardner A week to go for World Cup kickoff. A time of mounting excitement — and a time of mounting anxiety and nervousness. Nowhere can those last twoqualities be more pronounced than among the World Cup referees, the 30 officials selected to take charge of the 64 games. For the moment, 63 of […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Big boost to Tri's confidence
[MEXICO] Against defending champion Italy, which was fielding close to what is expected to be its starting lineup at the World Cup, Mexico earned an emphatic2-1 win in Thursday’s friendly played before a pro-Italian crowd of 30,000 fans in Brussels. Giovani dos Santos set up Carlos Vela for the first goal and former MLS star […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Jose Torres makes East Texas town proud
[USA 23] On a Wednesday in May, the news arrived that Jose Francisco Torres of the East Texas town of Longview had made the U.S. World Cupteam. On Thursday, when Margaret Wright arrived to teach at Foster Henry Middle School, half her pupils announced they were related to Jose. “This is so huge here,” saidWright […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Jonathan dos Santos one of last cuts
[MEXICO] Jonathan dos Santos won’t be joining brother Giovani at the World Cup.The 19-year-old Barcelona midfielder was one of three players dropped to get Mexico’s World Cup squad down to 23 players. Mexico has played three games since heading to Europe. It willplay defending champion Italy on Thursday before heading to South Africa, where it […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chivas stars lead Mexico romp
[WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN] In its third match in seven days, Mexico beat Gambia, 5-1, in Bayreuth, Germany. The Tri got two goals apiece from Guadalajara teammatesJavier Hernandez and Adolfo Bautista. — In Coach Sven-GoranEriksson’s first game in charge, Ivory Coast blew a two-goal lead and had to settle for a 2-2 tie with Paraguay. “We lost […]