Soccer for Moms Blog

Let the World Cup Quarterfinals Begin!

Kerrie Paige — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:10:55 +0000

Though our beloved US team was knocked out in overtime last week, we’re still excited for the World Cup to get back into action tomorrow with the start of the World Cup Quarterfinals.

The first two quarterfinal matches will be played tomorrow with Netherlands taking on Brazil at 10:00 am EST. With pre-tournament favorites Italy, England, and Portugual knocked out in the previous round, these are two of the top teams remaining in the tournament and it should be a really excellent game. My oldest son - a dedicated Netherlands fan - may not want to hear this, but I’m afraid that I have to say that Brazil are favored in this one. Either way, it should be fun to watch.

Tomorrow’s second match will be played at 2:30 pm EST by Uruguay and Ghana. Ghana has never advanced this far in a tournament before, and Uruguay hasn’t made it to a quarterfinal match since 1970. Both are dark horses to go on much further in the tournament, and I’m sure they count themselves lucky to still be alive. I don’t think there’s a clear favorite here, but I’m giving Ghana a bit of an edge as the last remaining African contender - it should make them somewhat of the hometown favorites.

Tomorrow- US Soccer's Moment of Truth

Kerrie Paige — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:51:36 +0000

Tomorrow’s another big day for US Soccer fans, perhaps the biggest one so far. By mid-day Eastern time, we’ll know whether US fans will have any further opportunity to cheer on their team in the 2010 World Cup.

Thanks to a great second half comeback against Slovenia a few days ago - and some help from a lack-luster English team - the US team can fully control its own destiny tomorrow. All they have to do is secure a win against Algeria and they will clinch a berth in the round of 16. (Still confused about how teams earn their right to continue? Read more about World Cup tournament structure here.)

But can they do it?

How Did They Get Here? World Cup Qualification and Tournament Structure

Kerrie Paige — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:11:52 +0000

Now that we are into the second week of World Cup 2010, you’ll start to hear a lot of discussion about which teams are poised to move on to the elimination round. You might be wondering what the elimination round is, and it is decided who gets to participate in it. Here’s a quick primer on World Cup tournament structure so that you can follow along with all of the speculation.

What to Watch Tomorrow - U.S. v. Slovenia

Kerrie Paige — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:30:35 +0000

With apologies to my international readers, this post will be a little biased toward US fans. The US team isn’t the best team in the 2010 World Cup, and they haven’t got much chance of cracking the upper levels, but they’re our team and they’ve come so far, so we cheer them on.

Tomorrow, June 18 at 10 am Eastern time, the US will take on Slovenia in its bid to make it out of group play**. It is an important game for both teams and should be a close one. Try to watch it if you can.

Switzerland v. Spain: The First Cinderella Story of the 2010 World Cup

Kerrie Paige — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:52:06 +0000

I, for one, was thrilled to finally see a truly interesting game this morning. With all of the low scoring games and ties, the 2010 World Cup was - I hate to admit it - kind of starting to look like a snooze fest. We’ve had an upset or two so far this World Cup, but Switzerland’s 1-0 win over Spain this morning was the first truly shocking result of the tournament.

Why do Brazilian Players Have Only One Name?

Kerrie Paige — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:10:42 +0000

In honor of Brazil’s World Cup debut today, I’ll try to tackle this perrenial mystery. A friend asked me this question tongue-in-cheek, but I think it is actually a common one.

Seeing Red ... and Yellow: All About Cards

Kerrie Paige — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:26:00 +0000

If you’ve been watching any of the World Cup games, you’ve surely seen referees pulling out the infamous red and yellow plastic squares. Though we are only 11 games into a 64 game tournament, as of the end of June 14, there have already been 4 red cards and 37 yellow cards issued. That’s a lot of cards. If they are going to be showing up with such frequency, I thought we might as well talk a bit about them - what they mean, why they are issued and how they came to be.

My Favorite World Cup Resources

Kerrie Paige — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:23:08 +0000

My goal is to be your guide for all things World Cup from a Mom’s perspective. But that doesn’t mean that I should reinvent the wheel. If you are looking for detailed, high-tech analyses of upcoming games or a really slick, efficient way to catch on games you’ve missed, there are some great options out there.

Here is a list of my favorite resources so far. I’ll keep updating it as I find new goodies.

Day Two - June 12, 2010: US v. England!

Kerrie Paige — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:10:26 +0000

I’ll have to keep this post short and sweet because my son graduated from high school last night and I’m throwing a party for 75 in a couple of hours. But even with all of that going on, we’ve planned thr party preparations around the US-England game today at 2:30 pm Eastern. If you are a US soccer fan, and you’re only going to watch one game during group play, watch this one. It is even at a civilized time and on a weekend. What more could you ask?

Day One Preview - June 11, 2010

Kerrie Paige — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:48:13 +0000

South Africa v. Mexico, 9:30 am Eastern on ESPN

The action kicks off for FIFA World Cup 2010 with host nation South Africa playing Mexico.

No one really expects South Africa to have much of a chance against the stronger Mexico, but SA will certainly be sentimental favorites. And you can’t discount the home team advantage, especially when there are 100,000 fans involved. If Mexico fails to finish (score goals) well, and South Africa gets enough of an emotional boost from their yellow-and-green clad fans, there could be a big surprise here.

Both teams are very offensive-minded, so it should be a fun game to watch. Keep an eye out for Reneilwe Letsholonyane (South Africa), Siphiwe Tshabalala (South Africa) and Giovanni Dos Santos (Mexico).

France v. Uruguay, 2:30 pm Eastern on ESPN

These two teams last met in the 2002 World Cup and played to a tie. France is favored to win this time around, but they come in amid a great deal of criticism. Some of the criticism is related to their shakey play of late, and some has to do with their coach, but much is left over from Thierry Henry’s infamous hand-ball against Ireland in qualifying matches. Henry clearly hit the ball with his hand (a big soccer no-no, obviously), which allowed him to keep control of the ball and set up a goal. Though Henry’s offence was obvious, the referee missed the call. In soccer, there is no instant replay and the referee’s on-field decision is final. So even though the foul is there on tape for all to see, the final result stood. It is only because of that one highly questionable goal that France is in the tournament at all. They have a lot to prove. It will be interesting to see how they come out in this first match. Many analysts think they’ll need a convincing win over Uruguay to get their confidence back.