DEVELOPING: US Stoned Twice In World Cup Bidding

Qatar was selected as host of the 2022 World Cup, beating out a bid by the United States to bring the competition back to America for the first time since 1994.

FIFA's executive committee choose Qatar over the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea in a secret vote Thursday.

Russia was announced as host of the 2018 tournament. It was chosen over England and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium.

Here's the presentation that put one of the world's hottest nations over the top...
HH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser is at the podium..
((HT: MalaysiaQatar))


All the HQ can say is: There better be AC in the building...

And, more importantly, what does this say about the stroke the US has in the world sports theatre...???

Jus' axin'...

BREAKING: Octopus retires...wants to keep perfect record...

There is no truth to the rumor that Mercury Morris put pressure on him, but it is true. Paul the Octopus...he of the perfect prediction record in this years World Cup...has quit after going 8-0.

Though he did not succumb to the pressure of his fellow Germans for picking against them in the semi-finals...there have been many rumors circulating he wanted to step down as....wait for it...THE KING...King Paul.

((Paul//Courtesy: The Local))

We breathlessly await the press release from Jim Gray and/or ESPN to announce that the KING will get an hour of airtime on Thursday night. Thus far, we cannot confirm that he is leaving the prognosticating game to join Ringo Starr and his band of All-Stars on tour through Europe either. Though we would enjoy the duo singing "Octopus's Garden in the shade".

We give you more from Germany's The Local RIGHT HERE

Yes, King Paul, the king of Octopi Prognostication, is moving on. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what's next in his career? Since he is a "psychic" King...does he already know what is next?

For those unfamiliar with the musical reference...we happily will provide you with the song being performed by the aforementioned Mr. Starr...just imagine the dream team with him and Paul...if only George and John were around to see it!

Thanks You Tube:

Do Not Touch The World Cup Trophy Or Suffer The Wrath Of Security

Or a gentleman in a dark suit will pop you with a straight right...
From diarioelheraldo and a twit pic of theirs...


Grant Wahl from SI done seen the whole thing...

Dude running onto field got punched/flattened just as he was about to do something to the World Cup trophy.

Sepp Blatter and his hairdo will have none of your human rights-based shenanigans.

The HQ is fairly certain the level of awesomeness revealed here is nothing short of Penthouse-Level Awesomeness...

This is so much better than Spain playing the soccer version of "Four Corners."

Absolutely epic-and-a-half against your iron-on printing t-shirt and conflicting toque...

Carry on...

Second South Africa Soccer Semi: Spain Wins 1-0

Carles Puyol popped in a header in the 73rd minute Wednesday to send Spain to its first ever World Cup final with their 1-0 win over Germany.

In a rematch of the 2008 European Championship final that Spain won by the same score, Puyol leapt up high in the center of the 6-meter box to send in the corner kick from Xavi.

Spain's best previous World Cup finish was fourth in 1950, when the final round consisted of a four-team round-robin format.

Spain meets the Netherlands Sunday- neither squad has ever won the tourney.

Here's the header... while it lasts...
((HT: ESPN/FIFA/SkySport24HD))

One South African Soccer Semi-Final Down: A Dutch Treat

Dutch stars Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben scored three minutes apart in the second half as the Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2 Tuesday night to advance to its first championship match since losing in 1978 to Argentina.

Sneijder's fifth goal of the tournament came in the 70th minute after his shot deflected off Maximiliano Pereira. Robben headed in a Dirk Kuyt cross three minutes later to make it 3-1.

But Pereira scored in injury time and the Dutch had to hold on as Uruguay put on the pressure.

"We are so close," Sneijder said. "There is nothing bigger than the World Cup."

The Oranje will face either Germany or Spain in Sunday's title game at Soccer City in Johannesburg. The Netherlands lost its other appearance in the final, to West Germany in 1974.

Here's your first-half goals before they get pulled...
((HT: FIFA/ESPN/cooldude1697))


And here's Ruud Gullit, still giddy, analyzing with Mike Tirico and Steve McManaman
((HT: ESPN))

More South African Soccer Quarters: So Much For Maradona

((HT: FIFA/ESPN/annakiral58))

Diego Maradona is, if not anything else, eccentric, demanding, and emotional.

All his histrionics got Argentina to the quarter-finals of the tournament in South Africa, but no further.

Klose scored twice and the Argentinian defense was not what the country and its fans expect. The Germans advance to the semi-finals with a 4-0 win over Maradona.

Here's your highlights... for now...


The other quarter had Paraguay not scoring and keeping Spain from the same for 83 minutes. David Villa decided to finally get in the scoring book again after a shot hit the post and the rebound came to his right foot for the game-winner.

Here's part of the game with David Villa not scoring... before he actually did.
((HT: FIFA/ABC/2010WorldCupHD))


The winners meet Wednesday...

South African Soccer Quarters: Uruguay Escapes, Brazil Upset

Let's go backwards...

Uruguay breaks the hearts of an entire continent with a 5-3 win in penalty kicks over Ghana. The Black Stars had their shot at putting the game away with, literally, no time on the clock in the second 15-minute overtime.

But then this happened...
((HT: FIFA/ESPN/SnowyDesserts))


Both squads go to PK and it's all done...

The first game was a surprise to some as a Clockwork Orange squad of the Netherlands/Holland upset 5-time champs Brazil 2-1 after being down 1-0 after only ten minutes were gone on the clock...

Here's your highlights...
((HT: FIFA/DeutscheWelle/94Terror))


Now, these two square off in the semis, and Ruud Gullit is still partying.

Texas Toddler Killed Over USA-Ghana Match

Just when you thought people couldn't get any more stupid...
Or, as we'll say sometimes at the HQ- "stupider..."

A man accused of beating his two-year-old stepdaughter to death has been charged with capital murder- as he should be...

The stepdaughter's crime- not stopping crying during the USA-Ghana soccer match... and the guy actually said this to investigators.

McAllen ((TX)) Police Sergeant Joel Morales says 27-year-old Hector Castro was charged Monday night after being arrested Saturday night. Morales says Castro is being held on $1 million bond.

Unless, someone can thrown him under the jail fairly quickly without being seen...

McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez says the child was severely beaten and suffered several broken ribs. It was also revealed that a screw or a bolt of some kind was stuck in the little girl's throat to make it look like she choked to death.

Absolutely ridiculous...

Here are the highlights, thanks to our friends at KRGV-TV in the Rio Grande Valley

More Hypnotic Lego Football

((HT: Legofussball.eu))

Wouldn't you know that the USA-Ghana match had to be their next production...???
Here's their look... and, no, the result doesn't change...

Do Not Interfere With An Argentine Celebration...

Or you get slapped...

Just ask Gabriel Heinze... or the guy with the steadycam...
((HT: ESPN/FIFA/volound))


Argentina plays Germany next...
Commence drooling...

Another Day Of Controversy In South Africa, Two More Goals That Weren't...

Two more reasons that some, any, kind of video replay should be used at the soccer championship that's held every four years, but this time is in South Africa...

Counting backwards...
First, Carlos Tevez's goal for Argentina in the first half against Mexico
((HT: BBC/FIFA/rbyrne1000))


Then, the Lampard goal in the 4-1 Germany drilling of England...
It would have made it 4-2 in the end, but, hey there's that whole momentum, thing...
((HT: BBC/FIFA/OfficialVideoPremier))


If this doesn't mandate that there's some kind of video assistance that is needed to fix all this nonsense, the HQ doesn't know what will. But FIFA being FIFA, the HQ also knows this will never happen.

((Insert divine being here)) knows it really should...

US World Cup Run Ends In Extra Time Vs. Ghana

Gyan's goal in tyhe third minute of extra time gave the Ghana National Squad a 2-1 overtime win over the US Men's National Team in Rustenburg, South Africa Saturday afternoon ((Saturday evening local time)).

The USMNT gave up another goal in the first five minutes of play, but Landon Donovan's penalty kick in the 62nd gave the teams a 1-1 draw leading into the OT.

Ghana now gets Uruguay in the Elite 8...

More when we know more...

Here's the PK that tied it...
((HT: ABC/FIFA/soccerman123123))

The Andres Cantor Looped Donovan Call...

((HT: Deadspin/Jalopnik-Golson))

Just when you thought you heard every version of the Golden Goal, Deadspin hooked up with Jalopnik's Jordan Golson...

And this is priceless...
((HT: FIFA/ESPNDeportes/ESPN))

Donovan Goal Saves USA In Group Play

In what would have been a US catastrophe had they not made it out of group play, Landon Donovan temporarily cemented his place as the United States' premier soccer star.

His goal in injury time against Algeria gives the Stars and Bars a game against either Ghana or Serbia in the knockout round for the Soccer World Championships currently being held in South Africa.

((The HQ doesn't know if we can identify the contest by its actual name without drawing the ire of the folks overseas))

As a country collects his collective breath, here's the goal...
((HT: ESPN/FIFA/hineighbor))

French soccer has tail between legs...

The misery that is French soccer is over...for now.

The team that refused to practice on Sunday and had one of its best players sent home and its captain sitting on the bench, bowed out of the World Cup 2010, after losing to your gracious hosts from South Africa, 2-1.

It gets better.

After becoming not just a national, but an international punchline in the past few days, they had to fly back to the motherland...in coach.

Yeah, you heard me, coach.

Apparently they were on a no-frills charter, heading home shortly after today's defeat. Yahoo Sports has more RIGHT HERE
((Pants on the ground....Dijbril Cisse's pants on the ground//Courtesy: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images))

We can only imagine the indignities that they will suffer upon their arrival home, the only question is who's going to be the first one thrown under the bus. Our money goes on coach Raymond Domenech, though several of his players probably won't be far behind.

We think we have found the absolute best video that summarizes our thoughts on this right here. Enjoy its awesomeness!!!!
Thanks You Tube:


But then, of course, is the directness of what happened...
Bob Ley was interviewing L'Equipe's reporter for the ESPN Programming of the World Cup and we got a direct quotation of the Anelka-Domenech confrontation...
Expletives included...
((HT: Fanhouse-Brinson))


Ah, you gotta love the French...

Portugal skunks North Korea...reaction forthcoming....

The only explanation for this is that there was a cell phone tower outage. You'll need to refer to this story we did last week on the North Korean soccer team CLICK HERE...to understand why we say this.

It's the only logical explanation...isn't it?

Portugal pretty much put North Korea out of their collective misery today, by beating them...7-0 and returning them to the past glory of their 105th ranking.

Here is a brief article (the only one we could find other than the 4-letter) from noted soccer website current-movie-reviews.com CLICK HERE

((One of seven celebrations in the game//Courtesy: Oleg Popov/CSMonitor.com))

The barrage took a few minutes. Portugal actually only led 1-0 at the half. That's why we think the cell phone thing is the only explanation. The Portuguese went all Man-o-war on them in the second half, scoring 6 goals, with a crazy goal by star Christiano Ronaldo and two from Tiago (of the one name only Tiago's).

We would say we shudder to think what fearless leader Kim-Jong Il (Al Davis) is going to do to the national team of North Korea after this, but really we don't. Of greater concern is what did the 1000 paid actors playing North Korea fans do for the whole game? As we all know, actors don't sit still very well. Though we guess if we think about this....hmmmm...that would explain why the only story we could find at 9:45am eastern was from a Movie web site. Okay, maybe there is a strange conspiracy here. If the cell phone outage story is true (we hope so...even if we did make it up), then perhaps there was a reason that North Korea forgot there was a second half....

The video here isn't great, but it is as close as we are going to get for highlights of the massacre right now. Hopefully the link will stay up. Watch from darrenmong101 and You Tube:

The French Soccer team....Insert joke here....

For those of you following the World Cup, you may have heard about the bit of "Internal" strife that has overtaken France's soccer team.

Not that the land of fine food and fine wine has played very well, they haven't. But....they are making a name for themselves, not for their fine "vino", rather there "Whine". In no short order, they've dismissed their best player, the captain had to be restrained from the coach and the team themselves boycotted practice on Sunday.

More on the rolling over of the soccer team from the Wall Street Journal RIGHT HERE

((Your 2010 French National Team//Courtesy: AFP/Getty Images))

The amount of jokes generated by their refusal to practice and arguing with the coach has even NBA Basketball players laughing. No, there isn't any truth to the rumor that Allen Iverson's comeback will be with the French either.

Maybe on the good side, they are almost through with the opening round matches and the team can go home. Heck, they'll have 4 more years to get it right. Sadly, at one time, they were one of the better international soccer teams. Now, just wait until Monday, when Jon Stewart, David Letterman and all the other comedians on TV get a hold of them.

Here they are losing to Mexico a few days ago. Enjoy the narration. Thanks You Tube:

DEVELOPING STORY: USA Soccer Screwed in 2-2 Draw

Just when you thought international conspiracies of sport were on the DL for a while, we get another one for the United States in South Africa...

After falling behind 2-nil to Slovenia on goals from Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley evened the score at twos in the 82nd minute.

Maurice Edu appeared to put the U.S. ahead in the 86th, putting home a 12-yard shot after Jozy Altidore headed Donovan's free kick to him. But the goal was disallowed by referee Koman Couilibaly of Mali, apparently for a foul before Edu got the ball.

"I still don't know why the goal was disallowed," Bob Bradley said after the match.

Neither does the rest of the Free World- unless you want to get into conspiracy theories about an African lead official trying to keep another African nation, Algeria, alive in Group play.

But that would never happen...

Here's the Bradley goal that squared the match...
((HT: FIFA/ESPN/Robfactory))


Now, all that's left is a match with Algeria and a lot of hope for the stars and bars if they are to advance to the knockout round...

Here's the screwjob in question... thanks, Jason...
((HT: FIFA/ESPN/thebiglead))


The jokes are already starting: People are wondering when Bret Hart suited up for the USA and, yes, Senator Joe Barton (R-TX) has already apologized to FIFA for Michael Bradley's shakedown of the lead official, Koman Couilibaly.

The Swiss go all Neutral vs. Spain....

Who says that the World Cup can't have unfathomable upsets. Most who follow soccer and in particular the World Cup pegged the team from Spain as the favorites. The guys who in the end would be your World Cup champions.

Well, that might not happen now. You see, the Spanish guys forgot that they needed to take care of business. They got beat. They got beat...by Switzerland, 1-0. Yes, that's right. The country known mostly for cheese, Roger Federer and their neutrality.

The only goal of the game. Scored in the 52nd minute by Gelson Fernandes. The Spaniards, they got nothing. No goal. No 2 points. And now no undefeated streak against the Swiss either.

For your game summary, we give you the Miami Herald RIGHT HERE

And for your video highlights, instead of the blathering on ESPN, we give you TECHNO-HIGHLIGHTS. Courtesy of the You Tube:

USA-England Lego Style

As Team USA prepares for its game against Slovenia, everyone is playing the USA-England game over and over in their minds and in their toy sets...

Like Legos...
Here's a representation of the game- and the tournament's seminal moment through the eyes of our friends at leedsunitedninetytwo and The Guardian
((HT: legofussball.eu))


Good to know the result didn't change...
Absolutely gorgeous...