Here we go, here we go, here we go ... it's the WORLD CUP! (soccer)

[Andy105]

Come on Uncle Sam - show Fritz how it's done!

Yeah, in the rain too!

[Burnsey]

Adios, Suarez. Out for nine games for biting like a school girl. They should remove his teeth, as well.

Fined $ 112k as well.......what a sleaze ball....

[wa3zrm]

Sleep well, America: Obama reveals U.S. foreign policy derailed by World Cup soccer

Tensions between China and Japan escalated on Wednesday when the Philippine government endorsed Tokyo’s assertive military posture in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has laid claim to a variety of disputed islands. Elsewhere, Iran and Syria violated Iraq’s airspace as ISIS fighters seized oil fields and attacked airbases. In Europe,
The fragile post-Cold War global order is rapidly collapsing, threatening to draw the world’s last remaining superpower into a number of expanding conflicts. Fortunately, the President of the United States is on the job.
En route to Minnesota on Thursday for a campaign-style rally, Barack Obama took the time to brief ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on the state of America’s global diplomatic offensive.
Okay, maybe not.
“We had elements — which I won’t detail — of our foreign policy that have been shaped around the World Cup,” Obama revealed. “Phone calls meetings initiatives we had to think about.”
The president went on to share his thoughts on the Cup and how the American team was faring. “The U.S. exceeded expectations,” the president said.
“We’re not Germany yet or Italy or France or Argentina or Brazil,” he said. “But we’re now in the mix.”
Well, that’s comforting. Some have suggested that that the president was merely joking, but ABC did not report his statements as jokes. Nor was the president talking about himself, it would seem, but a variety of unnamed world leaders who may have been sidetracked by the global sporting event.
Even if he wasn’t referring to himself and his own interest in watching the World Cup rather than attending to America’s interests overseas, at least his hand was not long off the tiller.
When Obama touched down and the games were over, surely Obama got right back to the hard work of statecraft…

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...

[alopezg1]

hey ! no derailing the thread with anti Obama business!

[alopezg1]

i tell you what Colombia are looking dangerous

[squeezyjohn]

Columbia were magnificent! Uruguay looked lost without Suarez ... serves them right for defending the indefensible ... Uruguay have always been a dirty team and they don't deserve to do well - at one point it looked like they'd boil over and break some legs tonight. Columbia have all the flair without the nastiness.

[alopezg1]

Viva costa rica viva costa rica

[alopezg1]

little Joel Campbell , he's an Arsenal boy

[Burnsey]

Viva costa rica viva costa rica

I was glad they won, but hate these games decided by penalty shots.

[squeezyjohn]

That Costa Rica vs Greece game was one of the dullest football matches I've ever watched ... and I've watched a lot!

[joserra]

5 minutes, only 5 minutes left...

The grief is too much right now

[Burnsey]

5 minutes, only 5 minutes left...

The grief is too much right now

My condolences......that was a heart breaker!

[alopezg1]

5 minutes, only 5 minutes left...

The grief is too much right now

Bloody Arjen Robben diving ... ruined it for everyone . What a dissapointment. Mexico deserved to go through

[Crow]

Soccer (Football) in America: Plenty of growth, plenty more to go

The play of the US in the World Cup has heightened debate over whether this could signal soccer’s “arrival” in this country’s mainstream. By the most important measurement — the almighty dollar — it isn’t there yet. But there are signs of gradual gains.

Former major league baseball infielder Jack Wilson says he’d likely have chosen a different career 20 years ago if soccer in this country was like it is today.

“It was probably the hardest decision I ever made, to be honest,’’ said Wilson, a high-school star in soccer and baseball in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in the early 1990s. “My passion for baseball was good but it was nothing compared to my love for soccer.’’

But Major League Soccer didn’t exist yet, leaving few professional goals for teenage players to aspire to the way others dreamed of playing in a World Series or Super Bowl. There were no youth development programs run by pro teams to encourage a homegrown player like Seattle native DeAndre Yedlin, a Sounders FC defender playing for the United States in this year’s World Cup.

And soccer’s biggest boosters say that kind of development is key to some day rivaling mainstream U.S. pro sports like football, baseball, basketball and hockey. That Yedlin’s generation was raised with an enhanced awareness of soccer, that will eventually lead to greater interest in and commercial success for a sport that’s yet to permeate American culture the way many have long hoped.

Continued...

[Crow]

5 minutes, only 5 minutes left...

The grief is too much right now

That felt as tense as our game against Portugal... My condolences.