We have reached the quarterfinal stage of the World Cup, which is when it transitions from being a worldwide celebration of soccer to being the European championships, with special guests Brazil and Argentina. This is the ninth men's World Cup since the fall of the Iron Curtain and
"Oh, he's just having an off day." This is one of those things that happens in every single sport, and probably every human endeavor. Anyone who's ever bombed a test in school or snapped in a meeting at work knows the feeling. And for
Maybe it's for the best that the USA's 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina happened the way it did. It is, after all, the way we like it. The Americans were up 1-0 at halftime and it pretty easily could have been 3-0; Bosnia
(Editor's note: we are switching to Ghost instead of Substack because we want to be like Stu. I am hoping you will not see a difference and you will receive this email as normal, but if there are any growing pains, let me know.) We're done
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On the cruelty of disappearing joy.
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A blue-and-yellow party in Seattle sends the Bosnians through to the next round.
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With 32 teams in the knockout round, it's hard to get eliminated from contention early.
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In which I watch the World Cup at Seattle Center with one billion of my closest friends.
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Those ticket prices? They aren't coming down.
Soccer and Minnesota United FC... and more.
Belgium 1:1 Egypt, and what it was like to be in Seattle for the game.
Today's the day that I'm finally in the crowd for a World Cup game, and I'm trying to explain - almost to myself - why this is such a dream.
The USMNT starts the tournament off on not only the right foot, but a better foot than they've ever put forward before.
It's harder for me to hate Mexico the way I used to, as the southern neighbors kicked off the tournament with a CONCACAF flair.
32 years later, the World Cup returns to the USA, where it all began for me.
One final Star Tribune article for 2025, to set up where the Loons offseason is headed.
Your intrepid reporter was there, peering through the smoke from the press box.
Minnesota isn't playing well since the summer transfer window - but they've moved on in the playoffs anyway.
The league is at pains to convince Loons fans that not that much will change.
A 3-3 draw, a 7-6 penalty shootout, a game that had everything.
It's a winner-take-all Game 3 for Minnesota United on Saturday.
Minnesota began its playoff run with a scoreless draw, and a shootout victory, for the second year in a row.
