Another day, another traditional European power sent packing. And another day of rejoicing here at BtM headquarters. Reigning world champions Italy crashed out of the World Cup yesterday, and with them go the biggest cheaters on the world stage today. Enjoy your delicious wine, amazing food, and beautiful women, Italy. The rest of us will enjoy these videos of full grown men falling down and acting like they've been horribly injured.
And lastly, an instructional video. Remember to always look incredulous after diving.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Today's Awesome Soccer Videos - June 24
Ahhhhhhhhhh. Let us all take a moment to bask in the glory of what went down yesterday.
Everyone feeling good? Here's the best part: now we get to rub it in France's face that we advanced and they, well, crapped the bed. Let's all stand up and pay some respect to the good people who brought us wine and Tony Parker.
Alright, now that we've paid respects properly, let's watch what SHOULD be the French national anthem.
Glorious. How about a video recap of France getting spanked by their former colony, Senegal, at the 2002 World Cup? Oh, by the way, France got bounced in the group stages then, too.
Continuing on to Germany '06, here's the first time a Frenchman actually was aggressive (although Zidane was born in Algeria).
Good freaking times. Although the end result of that incident was Italy winning the WC, so I guess France can't even deliver an awesome headbutt without screwing the pooch.
And, just so you don't think I'm doing this solely out of dislike for France, here's how they "qualified" for this year's WC - at the expensive a bunch of hard-working, hard-drinking Irishmen.
And finally, one of my favorite videos of all time because it is embarrassing not just for two Frenchmen, but for two Arsenal players as well. Enjoy the farce as Robert Pires and Thierry Henry show you the absolute worst penalty kick in the history of the time-space continuum.
Anything I miss? I'm always willing to admit a mistake if it means denigrating France some more.
Everyone feeling good? Here's the best part: now we get to rub it in France's face that we advanced and they, well, crapped the bed. Let's all stand up and pay some respect to the good people who brought us wine and Tony Parker.
Alright, now that we've paid respects properly, let's watch what SHOULD be the French national anthem.
Glorious. How about a video recap of France getting spanked by their former colony, Senegal, at the 2002 World Cup? Oh, by the way, France got bounced in the group stages then, too.
Continuing on to Germany '06, here's the first time a Frenchman actually was aggressive (although Zidane was born in Algeria).
Good freaking times. Although the end result of that incident was Italy winning the WC, so I guess France can't even deliver an awesome headbutt without screwing the pooch.
And, just so you don't think I'm doing this solely out of dislike for France, here's how they "qualified" for this year's WC - at the expensive a bunch of hard-working, hard-drinking Irishmen.
And finally, one of my favorite videos of all time because it is embarrassing not just for two Frenchmen, but for two Arsenal players as well. Enjoy the farce as Robert Pires and Thierry Henry show you the absolute worst penalty kick in the history of the time-space continuum.
Anything I miss? I'm always willing to admit a mistake if it means denigrating France some more.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Today's Awesome Soccer Videos
Welcome to the inaugural post on Bossing the Midfield, as well as the inaugural edition of Today's Awesome Soccer Videos.
In honor of the pending match between the United States and England, today's video theme is "America is AWESOME."
At journalism school, they taught me to always lead with your strongest . . . thing. I think. I don't know, I never actually went to journalism school. But I would argue that the 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2002 World Cup is the greatest moment in American soccer history. Sure, we got lucky and beat England that one time a million years ago, but this was the first moment where Project 2010 stopped sounding like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie and starting sounding like a realistic plan.
(I reserve the right to remove that last sentence pending the results of Wednesday's games)
Another US-Mexico game? Yes. And while not as significant as the first video, there's more to this goal than meets the eye.
The victory over Mexico in the finals of the Gold Cup was nice because we got a big, shiny trophy, but it was more than that. This was the first major tournament for the USMNT after the travesty that was Germany 2006, and it was important to see the US bounce back from a disappointing WC performance. This was also the showcase for the next generation of American soccer; not just new players, like goalscorer Benny "I'm Technically Brazilian but America is Awesome" Feilhaber, but a new coach. Bruce Arena stepped down after the '06 World Cup, and after months of speculation and hope that a fancy-pants European (like Jurgen Klinsmann) would take the helm, Bradley's appointment as head coach was, well, anti-climactic. Another American coach who had made his bones in the MLS? I, for one, was skeptical. The win in the Gold Cup showed that he was legit - at least against CONCACAF opposition.
This last video is long, but worth it. Another victory over Mexico, this game was played in February of 2001 as the U.S. marched towards the 2002 World Cup (see first video). Columbus, Ohio, my home town, hosted the game Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium in the country. Columbus was selected not only for the stadium, but for the fact that the weather in Columbus was quite different than in Mexico City. Referred to as "La Guerra Fria" (the Cold War) the memory of this game still stings Mexican fans.
Plus, James and I were there, and it was incredible. Cold, but incredible.
Hope you enjoy the videos and they get you pumped up for the USA-Algeria game today. Any other videos you'd like to see? Let us know in the comments!
In honor of the pending match between the United States and England, today's video theme is "America is AWESOME."
At journalism school, they taught me to always lead with your strongest . . . thing. I think. I don't know, I never actually went to journalism school. But I would argue that the 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2002 World Cup is the greatest moment in American soccer history. Sure, we got lucky and beat England that one time a million years ago, but this was the first moment where Project 2010 stopped sounding like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie and starting sounding like a realistic plan.
(I reserve the right to remove that last sentence pending the results of Wednesday's games)
Another US-Mexico game? Yes. And while not as significant as the first video, there's more to this goal than meets the eye.
The victory over Mexico in the finals of the Gold Cup was nice because we got a big, shiny trophy, but it was more than that. This was the first major tournament for the USMNT after the travesty that was Germany 2006, and it was important to see the US bounce back from a disappointing WC performance. This was also the showcase for the next generation of American soccer; not just new players, like goalscorer Benny "I'm Technically Brazilian but America is Awesome" Feilhaber, but a new coach. Bruce Arena stepped down after the '06 World Cup, and after months of speculation and hope that a fancy-pants European (like Jurgen Klinsmann) would take the helm, Bradley's appointment as head coach was, well, anti-climactic. Another American coach who had made his bones in the MLS? I, for one, was skeptical. The win in the Gold Cup showed that he was legit - at least against CONCACAF opposition.
This last video is long, but worth it. Another victory over Mexico, this game was played in February of 2001 as the U.S. marched towards the 2002 World Cup (see first video). Columbus, Ohio, my home town, hosted the game Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium in the country. Columbus was selected not only for the stadium, but for the fact that the weather in Columbus was quite different than in Mexico City. Referred to as "La Guerra Fria" (the Cold War) the memory of this game still stings Mexican fans.
Plus, James and I were there, and it was incredible. Cold, but incredible.
Hope you enjoy the videos and they get you pumped up for the USA-Algeria game today. Any other videos you'd like to see? Let us know in the comments!
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