http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/grant_wahl/news/2002/09/19/wahl_mailbag/ my favorite part of the article... 4. My favorite quaint World Cup moment: Standing in the hotel elevator with Tony Sanneh's mother (wearing her SANNEH jersey) and a Portuguese fan wearing a FIGO jersey. "My son was marking your son in the last game," Mrs. Sanneh proudly told the bewildered Portuguese guy, not realizing that in other countries people besides family members actually wear soccer players' jerseys.
That is funny stuff. Great Idea: "Schedule a home-and-home with England. It's about time....Not only would it would provide great buzz for soccer in the States ... we could even inaugurate some sort of trophy for the winner. Call it the 1776 Cup." Makes too much damn sense. "And while we're at it, let's revive the 1950 U.S. shirts with the red slash down the front as a third kit. How cool would that be?" Come on Nike. Show some frigging imagination. Great column.
Man, I would love to watch the US games (except maybe the US/Poland match) with the British commentators. Where did Wahl get those tapes?
If he was indeed drinking pints while watching those back to back I can understand why we haven't seen a column from him in awhile. Yes, bring on the Brits! They would probably not admit to it but those new FIFA rankings have to rile them up a wee bit.
I know there was an England/US friendly in 1994...I'm thinking it was either September or October. I wonder if that is no longer being considered in the ranking's formula. As usual, great read from Grant.
US VS ENGLAND I think we were (US) beaten 2-0 by a couple of Shearer goals at Wembley the last time we matched up with them. I thought is was more towards the 98 build-up, I could be wrong.
Fighting Mexicans against Cobi Jones? Now that line was classic. Damn Brits, you gotta lov'em and hate'em. Yep, bring the Limeys out west. Good job Grant, keep it up.
Great, great, great read. I love the idea of a expanded "America's Cup" to replace the Gold Cup/Copa America but then how are we going to figure out who goes to the Confederation's Cup?!?
I think the reason the Mex's were so rough on Cobi is that they were trying to provoke him since he lost his temper and got red-carded in a previous WC Qualifier.
"I think the reason the Mex's were so rough on Cobi is that they were trying to provoke him since he lost his temper and got red-carded in a previous WC Qualifier." they were trying to end his carreer cant you see?
Great article, sucks that we have to wait 2 weeks for another edition. He's like the Sports Guy with good tastes in sports. Grant is actually how I found BS, when he wrote about looking for a US viewing party through BS.
I wonder how our friend Graham Jones at the LA Times took the news of USA being ranked higher than the Brits?
Awesome article. How about a biannual "English" Cup? You know, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada, the United States, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England. Two groups of five, round robin, four advance to the knockout rounds, winner gets bragging rights -- knowing that all the other countries can read all about it without the aid of translators! U.S.A., Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, Wales. England, Australia, Canada, Scotland, Northern Ireland. Dude, that's so good, it's sick. Frankly, that's a tournament I'd pay to watch every two years. How about it, at least once!?!
What is El Bruce smoking! How can he not sing the praises of Twellman at the top of his lungs?? Then he slaps Twellman in the face with the comment that he doesn't know how Taylor's play will translate into the international game! Twellman is literally tearing up the league and is by far the most Dominant American player in MLS this season and Arena totally pooh poohs what in my opinion is an incredible effort. I really believe Arena is an ignorant SOB and how in the heck he says what he says is beyond my comprehension. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Twellman earn the Silver Boot Award in the most recent Youth National Worlds under 20 Tourney he participated in? Then he slaps Twellman again with the nod toward Ruiz. Ruiz has had an awesome year in my opinion but his play although great is well behind Twellman's simply due to Twellmans Revolution supporting cast is far less talented than the Galaxy's. In addition Twellman's heroics are being performed under tremendous pressure in do or die situations for weeks now and Arena fails to acknowledge the brilliance of the kids play besides Twellman is an American and Ruiz is a foreigner and Arena should be doing everything he can to build up the confidence and swagger of the players in the National team pool at his disposal. Please Bruce do NOT mess up Twellman as you have messed with so many other players! Arena is the biggest ego maniac I have ever observed! 1. Bruce Arena Unplugged! Spoke on the phone Tuesday to Il Bruce, who had a few takes on the MLS season. For starters, when Taylor Twellman was at Maryland, Arena never thought he would have the impact he's having on MLS this season. "Definitely not," Arena says. "How that translates to whether he can play international soccer remains to be seen. But give him credit: He's the second-most valuable player in the league." Arena's MVP? "[Carlos] Ruiz. Los Angeles isn't the most dangerous attacking team, but this guy is getting all the goals." On MLS's decision to allow green-card holders not to count as international players: "The green-card ruling is not in the best interests of the national team. Look at Dallas. How many of those guys are Americans? But that's life."
Maybe he paid attention to what happened to Clint when he was sanctified. Damn that Bruce for not being clairvoyant!! No he's not. We'll never succeed in the World Cup with Arena leading us. Fire Bruce NOW!!!
I think Mr. Jones knows that "the Brits" aren't in the rankings. This also isn't the first time the USA is ranked ahead of England. The USA was ahead of England after Copa America 1995 and also as recently as February 2001, the USA was 16th and England 17th.
Two words: Jason Kreis. Some players just can't take it to the next level. Some, like Hejduk and possibly McBride, really hit their peak, much more so for country than for club. "C'est la vie."