62614_teddywill_isi_usmntjt062514221 John Todd/isiphotos.com
6.26.14

ASN Morning Read: Great Odin's Raven, It's Gameday

Will Ferrell and Teddy Roosevelt had a chat last night about the United States' chances against Germany on Thursday afternoon in Recife. We hear the results were inconclusive.
BY Noah Davis Posted
June 26, 2014
9:29 AM
  • This is the best United States Germany preview that you'll read: "Both sides will struggle to fashion many clear-cut chances in the first half, and the game will head into halftime scoreless. The U.S. will strike first through Johnson in the 64th minute, which will wake the Germans from their slumber. Germany will steal first place in the group with an 85th minute goal from Klose, and then both sides will exchange an elaborate series of winks and knock the ball around in midfield until time expires. Meanwhile, Ghana will beat Portugal 4-1, but thankfully, the U.S. will have done enough to earn a July 1 date with Belgium."

  • Okay:
  • Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants, then immediately donned his American jersey.
  • In many one-sentence paragraphs, Jonah Freedman argues that the U.S. has a chance to prove it can be in the top 10 by getting a result against Germany: "There’s a lot more work to do that goes far beyond results, style and overturning history. And maybe that won’t happen in Brazil. Maybe it won’t happen in the 2018 cycle, either. But on Thursday, the USMNT has a chance to put everything it has accomplished over the past 35 months into one tidy little package by taking matters into its own hands. A win would be great. A tie would do. Leaving it to chance would work, too, as long as the results work out. But that’s not progress. That’s a reversion to the old ways. If this truly is the beginning of a new era for the USMNT, it’s time roll up the sleeves and get the job done on our own. That’s something that’s quintessentially American. But it’s also what the best teams in the world do. We’ll see if we’re there yet."

  • Travel day
  • The Ghanaian federation is flying $3 million to Brazil to pay its players for their World Cup efforts. That dissension has to help the U.S., right?

  • Plenty of soccer players have brothers. Gwendolyn Oxenham tracks down a few including Clint Dempsey's older brother and Matt Besler's mate, and talks to them about growing up and playing the game.

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