All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

Lyon, Lille and now Arsenal. No more French teams are left in the Champions League.

 

Arsenal's French?

 

Damn, how did I miss his Scottish accent?

Next time, I'm cranking up the volume to an acceptable level ... rest of the newsroom be damned.

 

Just because Thierry Henry is doesn't mean the whole team ... oh, never mind ...

 

That goal by Alessandro Mancini of Roma yesterday was the best since Maxi Rodriguez's volley in the World Cup...and I think Real Madrid got screwed on the hand ball call in the 90th minute.

Does anyone know the matchups for the quarters?

 

the draw for the quarters and semis will be announced on Friday

 

I thought that my joke was witty.

 

Agreed. The defender stayed with him until the last stepover and then got totally schooled.

 

It's a great fantasy, that may well come to fruition. But it's not like the women's world cup in 2003, which seems to be the main thing that has US fans and media so hopeful that a world cup can be shuffled here at the drop of a hat. That was of course when China had the SARS issues, and it came here, largely because we had just hosted the previous one. The women's cup has three-four nations that care, though. Once a men's cup is awarded, it would be disaster to move it.

I'll just repeat myself here:

Nations that can host a World Cup at the drop of a hat: The United States, Italy, England, Germany, France, Spain, Japan and South Korea just because they just did a lot of building for 2002. Now the maybes: Holland, Mexico, . . . um . . . . help?

Yet, South Africa will lose it over Blatter's dead body. The guy wants to be part of history, he wants to be The Guy Who Brought the World Cup to Africa. FIFA has a LOT of money, and that will go to helping South Africa get the stadia ready. Also, on e thing that has been forgotten in a lot of the discussion is the history for the nation of South Africa. 20 years after Apartheid was still a stain on the country, South Africa hosts the world's biggest sporting event. What a story that will be, about how they can at least present themselves as having come full circle.

The infrastructure . . . well, the US has solid travel. But following the World Cup as a foreign fan or journalist here would be a nightmare. In 1994, Italy started in New York, played in Foxboro and RFK before ending in the Rose Bowl. Brazil started in Detroit, went to Palo Alto, CA, then to the Cotton Bowl and finally to the Rose Bowl. Domestic fans (and likely journalists, considering the massive changes in the business since 1994) would not have an easy time either.

 

Hence cutting off my own lame attempt at a joke ...

 

It was. That's why no one here got it.
(Hey, I'm kidding).

 

The Arsenal v PSV match was the only one yesterday without an Englishman on the field. Just saying