The New Republic

Now how predictable was that! All the paeans to Maradona for his non-existent coaching skills (see Rob Hughes’s open letter in the NYT today) have proved to be, well, embarrassing. With no tactical flexibility, let alone a Plan B, the Argentines in the second half kept pushing through the German middle and running, time after time, into Schweinsteiger and Khedira. READ MORE >>

I apologize in advance to all Manchester United fans, including, but not limited to, my brother, his son, Alex Ferguson, and the majority of the 79,005 people on the last day of July, 2003, who traipsed to the hateful Giants Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, to watch the Reds play Juventus in a pre-season friendly. I apologize because I’m about to state that the best player in this South African World Cup—and the best player by far—is none other than Diego Forlan. READ MORE >>

I will admit under the cover of darkness, with a long head start from those who might disagree, that I supported Uruguay against Ghana.  Beirut had been gutted by the Brazilian loss in the afternoon (and here there are the Brazilians and there are the Germans, all else being commentary), so all that was left behind was a sense of solidarity for the little guy, for Africa, for the Third World, for the poor… READ MORE >>

Bill Simmons: 20 Questions for the World Cup Ghana and pan-Africanism Raphael Honigstein: how Germany reinvented itself The World Cup and tunnel vision READ MORE >>

To be very honest, Brazil’s defeat did not surprise me. From the very beginning, I found the team rigid, overly physical and lacking in authentic creativity. It tells you something abut the Brazilian team that everybody’s been gushing about Lucio and Juan and the rest of Dunga`s defensive set-up. All of a sudden, it was wonderful that both central defenders weren’t “shy about advancing of the field”, as my very esteemed colleague Aleksandar Hemon put it. Well, yes. It’s always nice to see defenders willing to attack. READ MORE >>

It turned out that discipline made the difference between Holland and Brazil, but it was Brazil that lost their nerve and fell apart. I guess Robben got to them--he did not have a single shot at the goal, did not pass a single ball into the box and generally did very little other than flopping and annoying the Brazilians. And in that way, he did his job. I bet his own teammates despise him, grateful though they may be. READ MORE >>

The once-great Maradona wants everyone in the world to know, just in case there was any doubt, that he’s not gay. No sirree, he certainly is not. He likes women. He really likes women. He’s fucking pretty Veronica. READ MORE >>

Like Satan, Sodomy and Socialism, Soccer begins with an S. Obviously, then, it's un-American and likely to corrupt these great United States. Hats off to Marc Thiessen for scrawling the most absurd anti-soccer nonsense of the World Cup. At long last we have a winner: READ MORE >>

The worst refereeing performances in World Cup history Zonal Marking: Ghana-Uruguay preview How the quarterfinalists line up (including a heavy dose of 4-2-3-1) READ MORE >>

Nike's cursed "Write the Future" advert, re-edited Jonathan Wilson: Brazil vs. the Netherlands a potential classic READ MORE >>