First thing that went through my mind when the winning penalty of the Fifa Women’s World Cup went in: “Well, good for them.” Japan’s 11 played their hearts out. They showed incredible resilience up to and through the final, when they twice overcame a United States lead. It was a bitter disappointment for the Yanks, […]

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This is supposed to be a walkover. The United States is ranked No. 1 in the world and has won two previous Women’s World Cups, as well. The Yanks have never lost to Japan, not in 25 games. Japan had never gotten past the quarterfinals of the World Cup … until last weekend. So, who […]

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That was the least inspiring/assuring 3-1 semifinal victory in the history of soccer. The United States was outplayed by France (!) for about 70 minutes, showing no imagination, an inability to hold the ball for three consecutive passes and almost zero tactical awareness as the French cut up their defense … but the Yanks got […]

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We are living in the age of the Fading Yank Athlete. Suddenly, none of the world’s top golfers are Yanks. Men or women. No American got past the quarterfinals of Wimbledon or the French Open. Our women’s soccer team is a little shaky, remarkable when you think of how many American girls and women are […]

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Well, so much for the Fabio Cannavaro experiment. He arrived in the UAE about a year ago to much excitement and acclaim, and with a two-year contract. But his playing career in the country appears to be over, unless Al Ahli, the Dubai club that recruited him, trades him — which seems quite unlikely, given […]

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Let’s be honest: Not many soccer games happen in North America that anyone is all that crazy to see, in person. The occasional Mexican League game. The rare Major League Soccer game. Some of the World Cup qualifiers. And we’re about done. It’s not like the Old World, where every country has a national league […]

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The rumors had been that Fabio Cannavaro might be one-and-done as a player in the UAE’s Pro League. The man may have been Fifa Player of the Year as recently as 2006, but the little Italian looked pretty much done this year while playing for the Dubai club Al Ahli. He wasn’t awful, exactly. He […]

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After another day of Fifa madness, including the Jerome Valcke e-mail (Qatar “bought” the 2022 World Cup), a Sepp Blatter press conference at which he barely kept control over surly and mocking journalists … and Sepp’s assertion that “Fifa is not in a crisis” … Well, any reasonable observer would have to say that he/she […]

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I suppose that is not nearly specific enough, as a headline. First question is, “Which scandal?” In this case … talking about today’s. What happened? Fifa has suspended two of its six continental federation chairmen (and executive committee members) as the ethics committee prepares for a full investigation into charges of bribery … and one […]

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I wasn’t sure we would get the Champions League final in Abu Dhabi. Seems like we don’t get all that much on TV, sports-wise, without paying lots of dirhams, and we didn’t do that with our TV package. But we did get it, on three Al Jazeera sports stations, and it was fascinating to watch […]

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