World Cup
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
As you may have heard, FIFA is sending a delegation to to the United States next week to tour some of the U.S. World Cup bid sites. Although the delegation will not visit Philadelphia, a group representing Philadelphia will be meeting with the delegation at a reception in New York next Monday.
Here are the members of the Philadelphia group:
Richard Groff, U.S. Soccer Federation Board of Directors
Melanie Johnson, City Representative, City of Philadelphia
Larry Needle, Executive Director, Philadelphia Sports Congress
Bernie Prazenica, President and General Manager, WPVI-6
Nick Sakiewicz, Chief Executive Officer and Operating Partner, Philadelphia Union
Don Smolenski, Chief Financial Officer, Philadelphia Eagles
The reception will include representatives of all 18 cities currently in the bid package, and it will be the delegation's first event after arriving in the United States Monday evening. The delegation is led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, head of the Chile Football Association, and Danny Jordaan, CEO of South Africa's World Cup organizing committee.
Mayne-Nicholls and U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, who also chairs the USA Bid committee, will meet the media on Tuesday morning in New York. They will then tour the Javits Center, a proposed site for the Preliminary (i.e. qualifying) or Final (i.e. the tournament itself) Draw.
The group will then cross the Hudson river and visit Red Bull Arena, a proposed training site; and the New Meadowlands Stadium, which will be one of the match stadiums in the bid. The Meadowlands is one of the leading candidates to host the Final.
After that, the delegation will fly to Washington (no taking the train for this group), where they'll visit George Mason University, a proposed training site. Tuesday evening will feature a dinner with local soccer and political leaders, which could be an interesting scene since the District is right in the middle of a mayoral election.
The dinner will take place exactly a week before the Democratic primary, and D.C. is just as heavily Democratic as Philadelphia. I wonder what current mayor Adrian Fenty, who has been no friend of D.C. United's quest to build a soccer-specific stadium, will say to the FIFA delegation.
The FIFA delegation will start Wednesday by visiting the Washington Monument, which is a proposed Fan Fest site. Certainly, having huge viewing parties on the Mall would produce an electric atmosphere. It makes you wonder where Philadelphia's Fan Fest would be: on the Parkway in front of the Art Museum, perhaps? How about Independence Mall?
From downtown D.C., the delegation will head east to visit FedEx Field, one of the proposed bid stadiums. Then it's back to the airport for a quick trip to Miami, where the delegation will visit Sun Life Stadium and the Miami Beach Convention Center. The latter site is a proposed venue for the Final Draw.
At the end of Wednesday, the delegation will rack up some more frequent-flier miles with a trip to Dallas. On Thursday, they'll visit the Dallas Convention Center, a proposed FIFA Congress site, and Cowboys Stadium. Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington could host the tourmanent's opening match, and potentially the Final - though you would think New York makes the most sense for the latter game.
Then it's a flight to Houston to visit Reliant Stadium, which will surely see a lot of action because it's air-conditioned. That means it can host mid-afternoon games in the peak of summer, which will make European television stations very happy. The last stop will be the George R. Brown Convention Center, a proposed site of the International Broadcast Center, where Mayne-Nicholls and Gulati will hold another press conference.
It's a whirlwind trip, but that's the way this stuff always is. And you know they don't fly coach. The big questions will probably center around transportation issues, because the stadiums will surely speak for themselves.
If you want to learn more about the U.S. bid package, there's a summary of the Bid Book here. You might have heard some of this stuff already, but if not, here are a few interesting highlights:
- The average stadium capacity is 76,000. The largest stadium is 91,000-seat FedEx Field, and the smallest is 63,400-seat University of Phoenix Stadium.
- All 18 stadiums currently in the bid package are accessible by mass transit, at least to some degree. The final bid will have around 12 cities.
Pregame service
From Center City
| Market East | Suburban | 30th Street | Chester |
| 4:04 p.m.. | 4:09 p.m. | 4:13 p.m. | 4:44 p.m. |
| 4:22 p.m. | 4:27 p.m. | 4:31 p.m. | 5:00 p.m. |
| 4:45 p.m. | 4:50 p.m. | 4:54 p.m. | 5:23 p.m. |
| 5:04 p.m. | 5:09 p.m. | 5:14 p.m. | 5:34 p.m.* |
| 5:09 p.m. | 5:14 p.m. | 5:18 p.m. | 5:47 p.m. |
| 5:33 p.m. | 5:38 p.m. | 5:42 p.m. | 6:13 p.m. |
| 6:03 p.m. | 6:08 p.m. | 6:12 p.m. | 6:47 p.m. |
| 6:28 p.m. | 6:33 p.m. | 6:37 p.m. | 7:10 p.m. |
From Newark, Wilmington, Marcus Hook and Chester
| Newark | Wilmington | Marcus Hook | Chester |
| ----------- | 4:44 p.m. | 4:56 p.m. | 5:02 p.m. |
| 4:46 p.m. | 5:06 p.m. | 1:47 p.m. | 5:24 p.m. |
| ----------- | 5:50 p.m. | 2:48 p.m. | 6:08 p.m. |
| 5:43 p.m. | 6:02 p.m. | 6:14 p.m. | 6:20 p.m. |
| ----------- | ----------- | 7:02 p.m. | 7:08 p.m. |
Postgame service
To Center City
| Chester | 30th Street | Suburban | Market East |
| 11:06 p.m. | 11:33 p.m. | 11:38 p.m. | 11:43 p.m. |
| 11:45 p.m. | 12:10 a.m. | 12:14 a.m. | 12:18 a.m. |
| 12:45 a.m. | 1:10 a.m. | 1:14 a.m. | 1:18 a.m. |
To Marcus Hook, Wilmington and Newark
| Chester | Marcus Hook | Wilmington | Newark |
| 11:03 p.m. | 11:09 p.m. | ----------- | ----------- |
| 12:03 a.m. | 12:09 a.m. | ----------- | ----------- |
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Before we get to the ratings, a few minor news items.
First of all, there was some discussion on Twitter yesterday about the current Major League Soccer attendance table. The Union currently rank third, with an average of 20,346 per game. Obviously that number will fall as the season progresses, because the average is skewed by the two games at Lincoln Financial Field. But there is a legitimate chance that the Union finish fourth in the table if the PPL Park average remains near the venue's 18,500-seat capacity.
That would be below Seattle, Toronto and Los Angeles, all of which have larger stadiums. But it would quite noticeably be above New York, which like the Union opened their own new facility this year.
Second, the U.S. World Cup bid committee released its latest round of petition signing stats, and Philadelphia ranks sixth among the 18 markets in the current bid package.
That's not an unreasonable position for this market, but it doesn't look so good when you consider the top three markets on the leaderboard: Houston, Miami and Tampa Bay. I think we can safely say that those cities aren't as well-known for stuffing the ballot box.
You can add your name to the petition by going to the bid's official website.
Finally, a small Union news item: the kickoff time for the game at Colorado on September 29 has been pushed back half an hour to 9:30 p.m. As of now, there is no television broadcast information for the game on the Union's website. This might be because the game was rescheduled from July 21 because of the Manchester United friendly.
Now to your player ratings for the Union's 2-0 loss at D.C. United this past Sunday. The best comment of the week comes from Sons of Ben president Bryan James. It wasn't about any particular player, but rather about the Union's performance as a whole this past Sunday:
ugh
And so it goes. Here's what the rest of this week's voters had to say, along with their player ratings. I suppose I should have mentioned somewhere along the way that the ratings are basedon a scale of 1 to 10 points, with 1 being the worst.
If you'd like to participate, just email me and I'll add you to the next ballot.
Goalkeeper
Chris Seitz: 4.87
- "Seitz didn't have a great game, nor a poor one for that matter. Nothing much he could've done on those 2 goals." (Andrew Dillon)
- "Cost one goal, and nearly a huge collision with Gonzalez on another occasion. If you can't communicate in an empty stadium, you have no shot when there are fans there." (Dan Gontkof)
Defenders
Juan Diego González Alzate: 4.80
- "On another team, the moment when Gonzalez tried to get fancy and wound up giving United a corner kick would be embarrassing. On the Union, it's better-than-average defense." (Anonymous, though I think I know who it was)
Danny Califf: 3.53
- "It must've been Allsopp's birthday yesterday, with Califf giving him a nice giftwrapped present and all." (Andrew Dillon)
Believe it or not, Allsopp's birthday is August 10. So that's not to far off.
Jordan Harvey: 3.93
- "Needs a game off, looks sluggish and provides no service as a left flank player" (Jeff P.)
Michael Orozco Fiscal: 4.20
Midfielders
Eduardo Coudet: 4.73
Fred: 4.80
- "I think we are seeing why he is considered one of MLS's most overpaid players, as he has had little impact this season." (Jeff P.)
I'm not sure I agree with that one, but I think it's fair to say he hasn't quite lived up to expectations.
Sébastien Le Toux: 5.93
Justin Mapp: 4.87
- "The only thing thinner than the Union defense is Justin Mapp's hair." (The aforementioned anonymous voter)
Stefani Miglioranzi: 5.07
Kyle Nakazawa: 4.53
- "Confused by his substitution on. Like him as a player for the future, but if he isn't there to take free kicks, then why bother?" (Dan Gontkof)
Nick Zimmerman: 4.62
Forwards
Alejandro Moreno: 4.37
- "Slow and hurt and falling down. Seems he is falling apart faster then RFK." (Dan Gontkof)
Danny Mwanga: 5.33
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
I made my main point from Saturday's game in my postgame writeup. But I do have a few other things to put out there, especially in light of Sunday's World Cup championship game.
- If Howard Webb had been the referee, the Union would have won. This was Abbey Okulaja's 97th Major League Soccer game in the center circle, and it certainly was not one of his best.
I am willing to give Okulaja some benefit of the doubt for playing advantage when Danny Mwanga's shorts were grabbed as he broke towards goal. I'm not saying I agree with it, because at a certain point you have to step up and give the foul - especially when it's a last-man-on-goal situation as this was. But Mwanga was able to keep going and get through the contact.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Time: 2:30 p.m. EST
Venue: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenberg, South Africa
Television: ABC (Ian Darke and John Harkes) and Univision (Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes)
ARLINGTON, Va. - Greetings from one of the truly legendary gathering places for American soccer fans, Summers Restaurant. It won the first ever U.S. Soccer Best Soccer Bar competition, and it hasn't changed a bit since. I spent many weekend afternoons at the long table in the back when I was in high school.
I had to come to Washington today for some stuff I scheduled before the World Cup started, so I knew this was the place to be. I got in early enough to get a table, and I might have been the last one to be so lucky. They stopped letting new customers in well over an hour before kickoff.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
There is a reason why journalists are referred to as professional cynics.
It's not just that we're supposed to do the best we can to view the world objectively. More than a few people in this line of work are naturally inclined to be pessimistic about things.
I'm sure you've figured out by now that I'm one of those people. So it won't surprise you that I was very much fearing the worst for the U.S. national team coming into yesterday morning.
One of my oldest friends in soccer, Aaron Stollar of BigSoccer.com, wrote a blog post before the game titled "All we can do now is believe."
And yet, when I stop thinking about 2006 and 1998 and that same awful look of fear and cowardice we've grown to dread out of this team on the big stage, all I can think is... holy [manure], there is a very good chance that not only will the US get out of the group stage, but they could well win the group. That could very well actually happen.
I couldn't get there. I tried, but it just didn't happen. Not just because of the collapse in 2006, or the complete flameout in 1998. The 2002 group stage was also on my mind, even though the U.S. made the quarterfinals that year.
It was early in the morning at the ESPN Zone in Washington, and I was covering a viewing party for the U.S.-Poland game hosted by the U.S. Soccer Foundation. The United States gave up two goals to Poland in the first five minutes, and the place was in utter shock.
All the progress made in the win over Portugal and the draw with South Korea was gone, eviscerated before anyone could even finish a glass of orange juice.
There was an eruption of joy and relief when Park Ji-Sung scored the goal that knocked Portugal out, and qualified the U.S. for the second round instead. But despite the history that was made thereafter, the U.S. still needed serious help to make it out of the group.
Until today, the U.S. had never reached the knockout round of a modern World Cup on foreign soil with a result of its own making. That sentence may sound like it has a lot of caveats, but you get the idea.
Another way to construct the situation is like this: The U.S. had lost all six of the third group stage games it had ever played, going all the way back to 1950.
1950: Chile 5, United States 2
1990: Austria 2, United States 1
1994: Romania 1, United States 0
1998: Yugoslavia 1, United States 0
2002: Poland 3, United States 1
2006: Ghana 2, United States 1
There were plenty of reasons to believe that this year would finally be different. But there was also a hell of a lot of history to overcome.
I blogged this morning's game on only three hours of sleep. As I've said many times before, I work a night shift editing Philly.com's sports page. So I was in a little bit of a haze for most of the game.
When Rafik Djebbour smashed a shot off Tim Howard's crossbar in the sixth minute, I was spooked - but I did wonder if it might finally be the break the U.S. needed. I really thought so when Clint Dempsey scored, but the goal was wrongly annulled for offside.
Then came the kind of moment I was really afraid of: Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore both tried to shoot the ball on an open net at the same time, and it sailed over the bar. A golden chance had gone begging.
From then on, every time Algeria launched a counter-attack, I thought it would result in the goal that would knock the United States out of the World Cup. But somehow, either the U.S. defense made a stop or Algeria turned the ball over every time.
The clock kept moving. At around the 83rd minute, I looked up at the TV and started to worry that there wasn't going to be a goal. England had a 1-0 lead, and that would be enough to put them and Slovenia through. I figured Slovenia knew that.
Still, I thought it was more likely that Slovenia would score than the United States. Slovenia played with a lot of pride and passion in this World Cup, and surely they would enjoy the praise that would come with sending mighty England home.
A few more minutes ticked away, and there was still no scoring in either game. Fabio Capello had already taken off Wayne Rooney, and then Jermaine Defoe was removed as well. It was time for England to sit on the lead and run the clock out.
Stoppage time arrived, and Algeria started another counterattack. A dangerous-looking cross was sent towards Rafik Saifi, but his header went straight at Tim Howard.
Then came the run to history.
In 12 seconds, the United States went from being toast at the World Cup to being the toast of the World Cup.
If you haven't seen the play yet, or if you want to see it again, the video is below.
It took 90 minutes and 45 seconds to crack Algeria's resistance. In soccer terms, that's a long time. But it took multiple decades to shed the burden of history that the U.S. national team has carried at World Cup.
Now, finally, that's all gone. The past is consigned to being just that. And for once, even the hardened cynics among us have reason to believe.
When Kirk Gibson hit that famous home run in the 1988 World Series, Vin Scully was moved to proclaim that "the impossible has happened."
This time, the possible has happened. It has been a long time coming, and the celebrations that erupted across the country today showed just how much American soccer fans have wanted a moment like this to savor.
It is quite a feeling to be on the good side of history for once.
Ian Darke's call on ESPN
Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes' call on Univision
The celebration at the famous Scots Club in Kearny, N.J., which produced former U.S. national team stars John Harkes, Tony Meola and Tab Ramos
The celebration at Lucky Bar in Washington, D.C. The guy with the soul patch and the blue U.S. jersey is an old friend of mine
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Does anything more need to be said?
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Eight years ago, South Korea's soccer fans exploded onto the international stage by willing their team to the semifinals of the World Cup on home soil.
Now in South Africa, the Red Devils are making noise again. Their 2-2 draw with Nigeria yesterday got them to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2002, and the first time ever on foreign soil.
One of our interns here at Philly.com this year, Esther Lee, is a huge South Korea fan. Her family is from there, and she's got a great handle on the pulse of the Korean community in Philadelphia.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
ESPN has announced which of its TV and radio announcer will call the last round of World Cup group games this week.
Ian Darke and John Harkes will call the U.S.-Algeria game. The other big news is the addition of a new announcer, Jim Proudfoot. He'll call the Paraguay-New Zealand match at Polokwane with Roberto Martinez, who has been a studio analyst so far.
Proudfoot has been at ESPN for almost a year now, and was a radio play-by-play announcer for English radio network TalkSport at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
Here's the schedule:
Tuesday, June 22
Mexico vs. Uruguay, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN, Univision): Martin Tyler and John Harkes, J.P. Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth
France vs. South Africa, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN2, Telefutura): Ian Darke and Efan Ekoku, Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino
Greece vs. Argentina, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN, Univision): Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist, Ross Dyer and Shep Messing
Nigeria vs. South Korea, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Telefutura): Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe, Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino
Wednesday, June 23
United States vs. Algeria, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN, Univision): Ian Darke and John Harkes, J.P. Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth
Slovenia vs. England, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN2, Telefutura): Martin Tyler and Efan Ekoku, Ross Dyer and Shep Messing
Ghana vs. Germany, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN, Univision): Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe, Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino
Australia vs. Serbia, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Telefutura): Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist, Ross Dyer and Shep Messing
Thursday, June 24
Slovakia vs. Italy, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN, Telefutura): Ian Darke and John Harkes, J.P. Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth
Paraguay vs. New Zealand, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN2, Univision): Jim Proudfoot and Roberto Martinez, Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino
Denmark vs. Japan, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN, Telefutura): Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist, Ross Dyer and Shep Messing
Cameroon vs. Netherlands, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Univision): Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe, Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino
Friday, June 25
Portugal vs. Brazil, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN, Univision): Martin Tyler and John Harkes, J.P. Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth
Ivory Coast vs. North Korea, 10:00 a.m. (ESPN2, Telefutura): Adrian Healey and Ally McCoist, Ross Dyer and Shep Messing
Chile vs. Spain, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN, Univision): Ian Darke and Efan Ekoku, Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino
Switzerland vs. Honduras, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Telefutura): Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe, Ross Dyer and Shep Messing
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Allow me to start this week with a good old-fashioned rant.
I have seen the U.S. national team get screwed by inexplicably pathetic refereeing more times over the last decade than I could possibly count. As a result, I have almost completely lost the ability to summon any measurable level of outrage when a demonstrably incorrect call or non-call affects a game.
But there is one thing that really gets me steamed, and it should have the same effect on you. Time and again, I have seen the U.S. give up the first goal in games of consequence. As great as the comebacks against England and Slovenia were, they were only the latest examples of a really worrisome trend.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Players watch Maurice Edu's header on goal that was later disallowed, resulting in the United States' 2-2 draw with Slovenia at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. (Luca Bruno/AP)
Anyone see a foul in that picture?
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
