Letting the expletives fly ...
As well as the urine bags, the batteries, the rocks and maybe even a little bit of acid for good measure.
ESPN.com's Wayne Drehs follows up on a point made quite well by a recent Gatorade ad: when it comes to playing in hostile environments, no other team in the world has it as bad as the U.S. soccer team. It's a compelling article.
Ironically, all that anti-Americanism that gets spewed at the team probably has the opposite effect. It tends to build the team's chemistry by fostering an us-against-the world mentality that is very real. And it toughens them up. Think any "Yankee go home!" chants in Germany are really going to faze these guys? I doubt it.
Now, stopping the Czech forwards? That might be considerably tougher.
But the U.S. did get this bit of news which could be potentially huge. If Pavel Nedved isn't good to go on Monday, then the U.S.'s chances suddenly get a whole lot better.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=370304&cc=5901
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/soccer/specials/world_cup/2006/06/08/bc.eu.spt.soc.wcup.czech.ap/index.html
Comments (3)
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Apparently you have to be an ESPN.com "Insider" to read Drehs' column. Thanks for teasing us non-members, Jim. Maybe it's elitist, members-only web sites like ESPN's that compels Europeans to hate us. No, wait, that doesn't make sense. Could any continent be any more elitist than Europe?
Posted on June 9, 2006 4:07 PM
What makes you think that we have more Anti-American hate than others?
Why don't you report about the facts? Those are:
First of all US Soccer fans are extremely welcome:
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/262-guide.html
Second, US Soccer players received a great reception:
"Dignitaries milled about the Grosser Festsaal, or great reception hall, in Hamburg's Rathaus, or city hall, on Wednesday. On a temporary stage, about 40 German teenagers sang American gospel tunes, all without the slightest hint of a German accent. The American flag shared space with the flags of Germany and Hamburg in the front of the room.
The festivities were to welcome the U.S. World Cup team to Germany's second-largest city"
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/azetc/articles/0609wcupfeature0609.html
Soccer-World-Tight security for U.S. team in Hamburg | World Football | Reuters.co.uk
"The class of small German school children carrying tiny American flags watched with their mouths wide open as security frisked their teacher and then rummaged through their own backpacks for any possible dangers.
It was a blunt welcome for the suburban children to the high-security world of the U.S. soccer team, who were holding a public training session on Tuesday, as they entered the bubble that surrounds the most protected squad at the World Cup."
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=2006-06-07T094650Z_01_L07561697_RTRIDST_0_SPORT-SOCCER-WORLD-US-SECURITY.XML
Most American Blogs write CONSTANTLY about Anti-Americanism in Germany. Why can't you guys write anything positive about Germany? Isn't your bias close to Anti-Germanism?
Posted on June 11, 2006 6:34 AM
Joerg brings up a good point and perhaps I should ellaborate on what I was referring to with the U.S. and it's tough road games.
Principally those games come when the U.S. plays its other teams in North America. I think it has something to do with the U.S.' big brother status in this hemisphere, as well as the fact that the U.S. is actually one of - if not the best - soccer teams in its North American qualifying group.
When the U.S. plays in Europe, the anti-Americanism is much more benign. Sure, plenty of Europeans aren't happy about George Bush, Iraq, etc. but the U.S. is still not perceived as a true soccer threat. It's sort of like the reception Clemson gets when it plays a road game in ACC basketball.
When the U.S. plays Guatemala? That's more like what Duke faces on the road.
Minus the urine bags, of course.
Posted on June 12, 2006 11:55 AM