Park Ji Sung scored a goal against Portugal that allowed the U.S. to advance out of its group in 2002.
Alex Smith quarterbacked Utah to an undefeated season in 2004, under Coach Urban Meyer.
BYU-Utah is a surprisingly intense rivalry in college football not always grasped by "outsiders" who fail to the see the difference. With Japan represented by BYU, South Korea gets Utah. The Utes, are also known as the "Running Utes" and the Korean team does plenty of running as well. The "Taeguk Warriors" typically play an attacking style with high-pressure defense.
Utah and South Korea are both elite at lower levels of competition and ordinary at higher levels. South Korea has won 2 Asian Cups and qualified for every World Cup since 1986, but they've advanced out of the group only twice-- a Round of 16 appearance in 2010, and a 4th-place finish as one of the co-host nations in 2002. Similarly, Utah advanced to the 1998 NCAA title game in basketball and had an undefeated football season in 2004 as a member of the Mountain West Conference. Since joining the Pac-12, however, they've struggled in both major sports.
The Taeguk Warriors seemed to have a good chance of adding to their knockout stage experience this year, given the general weakness of Group H. Unfortunately, having drawn Russia and fallen behind Algeria, the Koreans' odds of advancing are now quite long, even with Belgium-- their last group opponent-- having already qualified for the next round.
Cristiano Ronaldo, in one of his typically dramatic poses
Alexander Ovechkin, Ronaldo's NHL analogue
If you wrote a script for a Hollywood sports movie with Cristiano Ronaldo as your main villain, they'd say his character was too unrealistic. Imagine a cross between Ivan Drago and Kanye West, throw on a few metric tonnes of hair product, and you more or less have "CR7." Ronaldo is a preternaturally gifted footballer, blessed with an exceedingly rare combination of size, speed, and technical ability that leads one to believe he may have been engineered in a Soviet sports lab like Drago. He also has a penchant for ostentatiousness and self-aggrandizement that makes Kanye almost seem humble by comparison. In addition to his attention-seeking antics on the pitch (which often involve removing his shirt), Cristiano models his own underwear line and dates Russian supermodel Irina Shayk off it. He won the Ballon D'Or this year, breaking Lionel Messi's streak of 4 consecutive wins, as he became the first player to ever "campaign" for the honor. He built a museum dedicated to himself in his hometown on the island of Madeira that displays all the awards he's won and conspicuously leaves space for more. To be fair, Ronaldo has also donated millions to charity and paid for sick children's medical treatment. Wilt Chamberlain once said "nobody likes Goliath," and Ronaldo-- perhaps deservedly-- receives the same anti-Goliath bias that athletes like The Big Dipper and Eric Lindros once experienced and that LeBron James and Alexander Ovechkin have now. (Cristiano looks particularly Goliath-esque when compared to the 5-foot-7, 140-some pound Messi, who is also much "quieter" both on and off the pitch.) Ovechkin doesn't have the same preening prima donna aura about him that Cristiano does; if anything, his off-ice persona is endearingly goofy. (On the ice / pitch, however, both Ovechkin and Ronaldo have been known to dabble in the dark arts.) However, Ovechkin has been unable to turn his remarkable individual talent into team success. In 3 Olympics with Russia, he has never won a medal of any color; and he's never led the Capitals past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Unlike Ovechkin, Ronaldo has won several major titles at the club level with Manchester United and Real Madrid; but he has been unable to get over the hump with Portugal. In fairness, ever since the retirement of Luis Figo and his "golden generation" after Portugal's run to the 2006 World Cup semifinals, the team has depended singularly on Ronaldo as heavily as the Capitals rely on Ovechkin and as the Cleveland Cavaliers once relied on LeBron. Joao Moutinho is a quality central midfielder, and Portugal are usually strong defensively, but they have no truly elite players beyond Cristiano. These Ronaldo-centric Portuguese sides have only one knockout stage victory in 4 games, but they have advanced out of the group in every major tournament they've contested (Euro 2008 and 2012; World Cup 2010). That streak, however, is in jeopardy after losing to Germany in a 4-0 blitzkrieg last week. Ronaldo entered this tournament with major questions about his health. He battled knee and hamstring problems in the later part of this past club season and has been limited in practice since joining up with the national team. The entire team was so outclassed in the Germany match that, while Ronaldo made no impact, it's hard to assess his fitness based on that. Cristiano's health and the effect of the weather conditions in Manaus are two major variables heading into tonight's match between Portugal and the U.S. that will go a long way toward determining the outcome. If Ronaldo is not close to 100%, then Portugal becomes a very ordinary team, especially with their back line decimated by the injury to Fabio Coentrao and suspension of Pepe (who's certainly no stranger to red cards with Real Madrid) they suffered in the Germany match. If C.R. is healthy, the American defense will probably face a long night. Then again, the weather conditions in Manaus could have any number of effects. Win, lose, or draw, the story line in Portugal will be all about Cristiano Ronaldo; and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Valencia Midfielder Sofiane Feghouli is Algeria's top talent.
Bruce Gradkowski starred at QB for the Rockets while having the most Toledo-ish name ever.
I feel like I've seen Algeria somewhere before...
You'd be forgiven for thinking that Algeria's national team should be renamed "France B;" 17 of the 23 players in this year's squad were born in France. As a former colony, there's obviously a rather complicated history there. The best Algerian players choose to play for Les Bleus, leaving the "Fennec Foxes" with mostly overlooked and unheralded leftovers. Algeria has never advanced out of the group stage at a World Cup, and they've just one major title to their name (the 1990 African Cup of Nations). Similarly, Northwest Ohio's close relationship to Michigan leads many of its best high school football players to play for the Wolverines. The rest typically play for the Buckeyes, leaving only the less regarded local products for the Rockets. Despite that, they've been one of the better programs in the Mid-American Conference over the years, and their accomplishments include 4 undefeated seasons (most recently in 1995 under Gary Pinkel's leadership) and a smattering of bowl game victories. In 2010, Algeria set up in an extremely defensive posture. They did not score a goal in the tournament, but they frustrated England into a 0-0 draw and would have done the same to the U.S. but for Landon Donovan's stoppage time goal. In their first match of 2014, the Foxes were a better side than favored Belgium for large stretches. They carried a 1-0 lead into the 70th minute before Belgium rallied for the win. With neither Russia nor South Korea setting the world on fire thus far, the Algerians could have a path through to the next round if they can duplicate their effort from the Belgium game against the group's lesser lights.
Andrey Arshavin, sadly not part of Russia's team for World Cup 2014
Russia's national animal is the bear, and during the Cold War, Americans viewed the Soviet Union as the pre-eminent symbol of evil in the world. (And some of that perception has returned under the reign of Vladimir Putin.) There is no more evil group of bears in American sports than the Bruins, a team that both takes cheap shots with intent to injure opponents and dives with a brazenness that would make the worst floppers in the World Cup blush. The antics of Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic, and the rest of the Bruins' merry band of goons fill some fairly long Youtube compilations:
Not only are the Bruins vile on the ice, a too-large segment of their fans are even more disgusting. When Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban, who is black, scored an overtime goal to beat the Bruins during this past season's playoffs, the N-word trended on Twitter in Boston. And that wasn't the first time something like that happened. Despite Boston's regrettable history regarding race relations, only Bruins fans manifest this sentiment in significant numbers when it comes to Boston's sports scene. Russia's fútbol team plays like the current Bruins, minus the cheap shots, but their results in tournaments more resemble the pre-2011 Bruins. Under Italian manager Fabio Capello, the Russians unsurprisingly play tough defense of the kind Zdeno Chara would appreciate. In 10 World Cup qualifying matches, they conceded only 5 goals. However, Russia also has a habit of underachieving at major tournaments. They've only won one title in their history, as the Soviet Union at the inaugural European Championship in 1960. They failed to even qualify for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, missing out on the latter because they lost a UEFA playoff to Slovenia. At Euro 2012, they led their group heading into the final match, needing only a draw to advance. They went out of the tournament after losing to Greece in a game they largely dominated. This pattern continued somewhat in their first game this year; Russia controlled play for the most part against South Korea but only got a draw, thanks to a horrible gaffe by goalkeeper Igor Akinfayev. Russia are probably the 2nd most talented side in Group H, even with midfield leader Roman Shirokov missing the tournament due to injury. Will they be able to get the results they need against Belgium and Algeria to advance to the knockout round? P.S. Longtime talisman Andrey Arshavin did not make the squad for this year's World Cup, and social media is poorer for it.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. According to official Iranian government
records, he is the national team's all-time leading scorer.
Nike CEO Phil Knight, the Supreme Leader of Oregon athletics.
Credit goes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for being the first to notice the connection between Iran and the Ducks:
The Oregon Ducks don't have nuclear weapons (that we know of), but they did spark an "arms race" in college sports, thanks to the gazillions of dollars that Nike CEO Phil Knight has donated to their athletic programs in the last 2 decades. "Uncle Phil's" fortune built various new facilities and amenities for Oregon football and basketball players that gave the Ducks a recruiting advantage over other teams. Those teams, in turn, built their own new weight rooms, locker rooms, video game systems, waterfalls, etc. Then Uncle Phil gave the Ducks more shiny new toys. Lather, rinse, repeat. Oregon and Nike (which are really one and the same) are also responsible for the "proliferation" of horrible uniforms that has taken over college sports. Dozens of teams have adopted garish, gimmicky designs, and/or dumped their traditional colors for black or silver (or some variant thereof), and/or been forced to change their names for no reason (GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!). We have the Ducks' constantly shifting wardrobes to thank for all of it.
Doesn't making 100 new uniforms every week go against the environmentalist / sustainability values that the Pacific Northwest is known for?
Yes Duck fans, you're right, what I think doesn't matter. Players like the uniforms, and a great many have chosen to play for Oregon at least in part because of them. Give the Devil its due. Oregon and Nike found a creative way to exploit a loophole in the NCAA's system of bullshit amateurism to acquire a competitive advantage. Bravo. That doesn't mean I have to like the abominations you have inspired across the country. Anyway, getting back to the World Cup, Iran resembles the hapless Oregon football teams of the 70s and 80s as opposed to the Nike-fueled juggernaut of recent vintage. The "Princes of Persia" (yes, that is one of their official nicknames) are one of the weakest teams in the field. They already surpassed many people's expectations for this tournament by nicking a point from Nigeria in their first game. Midfielder and Captain Javad Nekounam played with Osasuna (more or less the Buffalo Bills of La Liga, who were relegated after the just-concluded season) in Spain from 2006 to 2012. Midfielder Ashkan Dejagah has played for top division teams in Germany and England for the last 10 years (although his Fulham team was just relegated). Defender Steven Beitashour was born and grew up in San Jose, California, the son of Iranian-American immigrants, and plays in MLS. (Beitashour was called up by the US team once for a friendly in 2012 but did not play. More than a year later, he accepted his first call-up for Iran, at the age of 26. It does not appear that the US was ever terribly interested in him.) Other than that, their squad is a lot of largely anonymous jobbers who mostly toil in very low level leagues. Under former Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz, they play a system that consists of parking every bus in Persia in front of their own net and sucking the life out of games. It worked against Nigeria, but Argentina (and then Bosnia) will present a much more formidable challenge.
Midfielder Victor Moses. Can he lead Nigeria to the promised land?
QB Randall Cunningham, sporting a better looking uniform than what the Eagles wear now.
Nigeria wears green, and their nickname is the "Super Eagles." They've also shared their Philadelphia counterparts' propensity for disappointment and underachievement in recent years. The Philadelphia Eagles have consistently made the playoffs over the years. However, they've never won the Super Bowl and have only played in it twice, despite their long history, large market, and die-hard fan base. The Super Eagles have now qualified for 5 of the last 6 World Cups; but the farthest they've advanced is the round of 16, and they haven't even got that far since 1998. Similar to Mexico, they've been unable to capitalize on a massive population advantage despite little competition from other sports. Nigeria's population of more than 173 million is the largest in Africa, roughly double the 2nd largest (Egypt), and is the 3rd largest of countries who qualified for this World Cup (behind only the US and Brazil). Both Eagles had successful 2013s that gave their notoriously skeptical fans reasons for optimism in 2014. Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in nearly 2 decades, and Philadelphia won the NFC East in Chip Kelly's first season as coach. But then things got rocky (and not in the Balboa sense). The "Iggles" lost their first round playoff game to New Orleans and made the wrong kind of offseason headlines recently when they released Pro-Bowl receiver DeSean Jackson for unspecified off-the-field issues. Meanwhile, Nigeria looked poor in their pre-World Cup friendlies and stumbled to a 0-0 draw with lowly Iran in their first group match. The Nigerian Eagles would feel super again if they defeat Bosnia today, a match that looked like the battle for 2nd place in Group F as soon as the draw was announced. A loss to the Dragons, however, would all but eliminate Nigeria; and even a draw puts them behind the 8 ball since they still have to face Argentina. Nigeria will likely go as far as Chelsea midfielders John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses can take them. Even if it doesn't work out for them this year, though, Nigeria's future looks promising. Only 3 outfield players in their team are older than 27.
Asamoah Gyan takes his ill-fated penalty against Uruguay.
Gordon Hayward: In Hollywood, his shot against Duke would've gone in.
In 2010, the Bulldogs and the Black Stars both eliminated my favorite team in their respective sports, then came heartbreakingly close to accomplishing something no team from their continent / conference ever had before. Butler defeated the "Shut It Down" Syracuse team ("What if Arinze Onuaku doesn't get injured in 2010?" is the 2nd most painful "what if" question in recent 'Cuse history, behind only "What if Fab Melo doesn't get suspended in 2012?") on its way to an appearance in the national championship game against Duke. Most people (myself included) expected Duke to crush Butler in this David vs. Goliath match-up, but the Bulldogs scrapped, clawed, and hung around all game. They even had a chance to win it on Gordon Hayward's half court buzzer beater, which came oh so close to going in!
The Bulldogs got all the way back to the title game a year later despite Hayward leaving early for the NBA draft. But the sequels to almost Hollywood sports movies are also never as good as the original. This time, UConn beat them convincingly. Last summer, Coach Brad Stevens, the architect of Butler's unprecedented success, left to coach the Boston Celtics. It remains to be seen what the Bulldogs can accomplish without him.
Ghana, meanwhile, eliminated the USA from its second consecutive World Cup in 2010 (I'm convinced that Ricardo Clark was a Ghanaian double agent.). They then faced Uruguay in the quarterfinals, with the chance to become the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal. Then, this happened:
Asamoah Gyan missed the ensuing penalty, and Ghana lost in the penalty shootout. Some called this a cruel twist of fate, others called it karmic payback for Ghana's cynicism and gamesmanship in their two matches against the U.S. (Lookin' at you, Emmanuel Frimpong!) Since then, Ghana has seen the players who formed the nucleus of its successful 2006 and 2010 teams either age out of the squad entirely or lose their effectiveness; and many of its younger players have not developed as hoped. The Black Stars are now in serious trouble after the U.S. avenged their past defeats in the first game. If they lose to Germany today, Ghana will have the slimmest of chances to advance, needing to beat Portugal in their final group match and receive a lot of help. With the likes of Gyan, Kevin Prince-Boateng (who will be extra motivated facing Germany and his half brother Jerome), Kwadwo Asamoah, and others, Ghana has the talent to potentially pull an upset. They were a little unlucky against the U.S. (though not as unlucky as some would have you believe), but they'll need to be a lot more fundamentally sound to have a chance against the Germans.
