World Cup 2010: Brazil v. North Korea

North Korea will probably try to pack the back, but it won’t matter. Whatever the benefits of Communism, creating a soccer team capable of beating Brazil probably isn’t one of them. I mean we’re talkinga bout a country that can’t mass produce a...

World Cup 2010: Portugal v. Ivory Coast

I’ll be frank: If I’m Ivory Coast, I’m putting somebody on Christian Ronaldo and playing with 10 men. He’s the class of the Portuguese side, and if you take him out of the equation, you’ve got a much better chance of pulling a draw or...

World Cup 2010: New Zealand v. Slovakia

Nobody in their right mind wakes up in the early AM to watch two soccer teams going nowhere else you’ve got a certain affinity for the game. Or brain trauma. Good morning. It’s a fairly open game to start which helps the neurons start firing. I’m not...

World Cup 2010: Italy v. Paraguay

Perennial floppers Italy in their first World Cup match since Zidane head-butted his way into infamy and handed the title to the Azzurri in 2006. As a long time hater of teams that fake injury to fouls on their opponents, I’ve long loathed Italy’s style of...

World Cup 2010: Japan v. Cameroon

Finally in the 38th minute Japan makes Cameroon pay for a poor defensive decision and takes a 1-0 lead. Looked like the back defender didn’t trust the central defender to clear the cross—turns out he was right about that—but when the ball went by both of...