A bit of a non-World Cup announcement this morning. Today – last night, really – marks the official launch of SB Nation Minnesota, which is part of the SB Nation network’s nationwide stab at local sites. They’ve always had great team-specific sites – Twinkie Town, Canis Hoopus, Hockey Wilderness, Daily Norseman, and the Daily Gopher are the blogs of interest to local fans – but now the network is launching sites that cover an entire area. Minnesota’s just the latest of a bunch of them.

I already write for two of the aforementioned sites, and now, I’ll be contributing at the local site as well, with one feature a week, plus other random commentary. My first feature went up last night – an opinion piece about the fans who are always calling for the coach’s head.

I’ve also written a number of other short posts over there, all of which you can see here. But really, just read the whole site: http://minnesota.sbnation.com .

As I’ve done for Twinkie Town and Canis Hoopus, I’ll post the links to the longer features here as well. I hope you’ll check out the new site – it should be fun.

(On the subject of Twinkie Town, I wrote something about Drew Butera on Monday. Suffice it to say that the title is “On Futility.”)

What a strange, low-scoring tournament. Another 1:1 today, another 0:0 as well. Maybe we’re learning something about the futility of international soccer rankings. For all of the hype and all of the collections of superstars on display, these teams haven’t played very many games together, even in qualifying. Even the teams with the most firepower – Brazil, Portugal, et cetera – aren’t set to blow opponents away.

Notes on the matches today – which were exciting, if not in the traditional goals-for-all way:

New Zealand 1:1 Slovakia</p>

</span>Ah, my second-favorite type of goal: the late equalizer! My favorite is the late winner, of course – but for New Zealand, a tie has to feel a little bit like a win. The “All Whites” (kind of an unfortunate nickname for a tournament in South Africa, really) were said to be the weakest team in the tournament; in their one previous World Cup experience, 28 years ago, they’d lost all three matches. And after 90 minutes had gone from the clock, they looked to be continuing that record, thanks to a Robert Vittek header for Slovakia early in the second half.

With one of three added minutes to go, Shane Smeltz picked up the ball on the left wing for New Zealand. He dipped left, as if to head towards the end line, then cut back onto his right foot, as if to drive to the middle of the field – then swung a perfect ball in to the middle of the penalty area. The Slovakian defenders somehow got caught flat-footed, leaving Winston Reid alone in the middle of the penalty area.

What must that moment have been like, for Reid – to see the ball floating in his direction, to know that all he had to do was turn it on goal” I can only imagine. Reid won’t have to; he headed the ball just inside the post, turned, and sprinted for the stands, waving his shirt above his head, having scored by far the most exciting goal of the 2010 World Cup thus far.

Ivory Coast 0:0 Portugal

It was the match with the most hype today – the first clash in the Group of Death. Brazil, Portugal, the Ivory Coast, and (the afterthought) North Korea enter; only two can survive. With Brazil, as always, picked by everyone to advance, a winner from this match would have the early edge on qualification from the knockout round. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Didier Drogba! What a show!

In the event, both keepers were hardly tested. Ronaldo hit the post early on, but also dived about ten times and was openly mocked by announcer Ian Darke for his lightness on his feet. Drogba came on late, and had a chance in injury time, but managed to drag his shot from six yards away about forty yards wide of goal (it wasn’t even moving in the same compass direction as the net). And we got a draw that settled nothing, and that could mean that the question of qualification between these two nations is settled based on their results vs. North Korea.

Speaking of whom…

Brazil 2:1 North Korea

For all of the jokes about the North Koreans, and the fact that their only fans are paid Chinese volunteers, and the fact that they tried to slip in an extra striker as a goalkeeper… okay, they’re sort of a joke. But they’re not a bad team. They held Brazil scoreless in the first half, and were only undone in the second half by a goalkeeping error (not covering his near post) and a beautiful goal (which happens to everybody who plays Brazil.) Meanwhile, they scored one of their own late in the second half, and had a few slight chances for more.

At the very least, they looked as good or better than another certain team which faced the Brazilians in South Africa.

The North Koreans got stuck in the hardest group of all, and they may very well end up with zero points in this World Cup. But they don’t look like the pushovers that everyone assumed them to be.

Another 1-1 draw today at the World Cup – but at least one decent upset, at well. A few notes from the fourth day of World Cup 2010:

HOLLAND 2:0 DENMARK

This match was at 6:30 this morning, so I taped it, then rushed home to watch it after work. In 2006, the Dutch were far and away my favorite team to watch, playing more or less entirely like the Germans did last night. Tie game? Attack! Up two goals? Attack! Behind? ATTACK HARDER!

Maybe I went into the match with my expectations too high, or maybe the Danes were just organized enough to disrupt the Oranje, but this one wasn’t particularly great. Holland scored via an own goal and a rebound off the post – a far cry from the super-exciting soccer that I expected. Holland certainly looked good, even dominating for stretches, but nothing like the team I remember from four years ago.

Then again, last time around they fizzled out, so maybe that’s a good sign for them.

JAPAN 1:0 CAMEROON

Allow me to sum up the Cameroonian offensive strategy:

1. Line up four players along the edge of the opposition penalty area.
2. If one of the other seven players should get hold of the ball, boot it in the general direction of the first four.

By the middle of the second half, I was wondering things like, “Do they have passing in Africa?” and “They know that they can kick the ball along the ground and nothing bad will happen, right?” Frustrating to watch, especially from a team nicknamed the “Indomitable Lions,” which is the greatest nickname ever.

As for Japan, they got a goal from a guy named Honda, which sounds like something out of a game designed by mid-80s American Nintendo game designers.

DESIGNER 1: What should we call the Japanese players for our game, Nintendo World Soccer?
DESIGNER 2: (dismissively) How about Honda, Honda, Toyota, Sushi, um… Yokozuna?

Much was made out of this being Japan’s first World Cup win outside Japanese soil. I thought this was cute. Then I remembered that the USA has a grand total of five, two of them in 1930. Then I stopped feeling superior.

ITALY 1:1 PARAGUAY

To be honest, I love cheering against Italy. They’re well-known divers and cheats, they tend to play boring and defensive soccer – and they won last time, so this makes it more fun. And so I was quite pleased when Antolin Alcaraz rose highest to head Paraguay into the first-half lead.

Of course, after that, Italy dominated the game, and they certainly deserved Daniele de Rossi’s equalizer in the second half – even if de Rossi was the jerk who tried to elbow Brian McBride‘s nose up into his brain in 2006. Italy may be the oldest team in the tournament, but they’re not tired yet, and though some are still predicting they won’t get out of Group F, it’s pretty inconceivable that they wouldn’t make it to the knockout round. They will find a way. It will be dive-filled and argument-with-the-referee filled and it will not be fun to watch, but this is the Italian way.

Sunday was Day 3 of the 2010 World Cup, and so, what better time to get back into the running diary groove. Group D looked to be one of the more hotly-contested groups in the tournament this year; with Germany, Serbia, Ghana, and Australia thrown together, some were saying that you could pick any two to qualify.

Ghana beat Serbia early on Sunday; I chose to watch 2006 semifinalists Germany take on Asian champions Australia, live from Durban. Martin Tyler and Ally McCoist called the match.

PREGAME – In the ESPN studio, Jurgen Klinsmann says, “I think Germany’s always ready.” Frightened yet, Polish people?

Speaking of scary, Tyler leans in to the camera to shout something about German klaxons. He’s terrifying up close. One presumes children are sobbing across America.

Also speaking of scary: The German national anthem, everyone! On the flip side, Australia’s fans just belt out their anthem, which is always nice to hear. Well done, Aussie fans.

0 – For the 45th time, Tyler mentions that this is the youngest German team in 76 years, while Australia is the oldest team at the World Cup. We get it. Please stop.

1 – Miroslav Klose is about ten yards offside for Germany. Tyler makes a “Klosing in” joke. He needs better writers.

2 – Germany’s wearing white and black. Australia, which always wears green and yellow, is wearing… dark blue and light blue. I don’t get it.

3 – The Germans are using zonal marking on corners, covering space instead of players. This never ever works for anyone. I don’t know why they’re doing it. It nearly leads to a goal, as Richard Garcia‘s swiveling shot is denied from five yards out.

7 – After sitting back for a few minutes, the Germans come absolutely swarming forward. They would do this a lot. Their plan: long pass up the middle from a defender, followed by an immediate pass to a darting forward, or an immediate pass wide to a streaking winger. It’s like the hook and ladder every time, and it works every time, as all of the passes are timed to perfection to beat the offside trap. Who said Germany wasn’t a favorite? Anyway, this time Klose is through on goal, but can’t finish.

8 – Here they come again, and this time, the finish is good. Lukas Podolski blasts a shot off of keeper Mark Schwarzer‘s hand and into the back of the net. Germany 1:0 Australia Quite a good-looking goal.

12 – In the category of “Not good-looking,” Mesut Özil gets booked for one of the most outlandish dives you’ve ever seen. We should all get to run on the field and punch him in the shoulder. Germany doesn’t need that – why, Mesut, why?

14 – The Germans are supposed to be efficient and clinical, but instead, they’re just playing incredibly attractive soccer. Every pass is right on the money, every run is timed perfectly. It’s quite beautiful. Where are the steely-eyed Germans who will out-efficient you to victory?

17 – We finally get a clip of the coaches’ celebration following the goal. Klinsmann, the team’s coach in 2006, set the bar pretty high for unintentionally-hilarious celebrations, but new coach Joachim Löw is no slouch. KARATE CHOP CELEBRATION!

21 – Just noticed that everybody on both teams is lily-white, which I think we can all agree is a little strange for South Africa. Tim Cahill, for Australia, is half Samoan; he’s about all we’ve got right now. Weird.

24 – Klose, wide open ten yards from the goal, blasts one wide. Aye yi yi.

26 – Making up for it, Klose beats Schwarzer to a cross and finds the back of the net. Germany 2:0 Australia Boy, the Germans are good. Though Klose is about 1-for-3 so far in unmissable chances.

29 – Turns out the Aussies didn’t allow more than one goal in any of their qualifying matches. Baptism of fire here for the “Socceroos,” as Tyler insists on calling them.

31 – The Australian defenders are constantly convinced that the German forwards are offside. They have been wrong every time, except for a few instances in which Klose was terrifically offside by ten or twelve yards.

37 – Germany’s had the possession by a count of 60-40. Though they don’t show the stat, they also have more completed passes, by a score of 1379 – 8.

40 – “Ze Group of Death? FOR YOU, MAYBE! WE HAVE WAYS OF MAKING YOU LOSE!” My German accent needs work, I discover.

41 – McCoist and Tyler discuss whether Australia is to blame for this. Honestly, the main thing they did wrong was showing up for kickoff; Germany’s been that good.

HALFTIME: GERMANY 2 AUSTRALIA 0 – I am left to contemplate. How can we all learn to be more German? These guys were supposed to be young and inexperienced, yet they’re absolutely playing Australia off the field.

46 – About ten seconds after the second half starts, Aussie defender Lucas Neill gets carded for what appears to be a rugby tackle. Something bothering you, Lucas?

48 – Germany gets away with a blatant handball in the box. McCoist says it wasn’t deliberate, so it’s not a penalty. Either I don’t understand this rule, or McCoist doesn’t. Lucky for Germany? They just seem ready to sit back for this half.

53 – After a tic-tac-toe circus move from Germany that should have been accompanied by calliope music, Thomas Müller drives just over the crossbar. Never mind what I said about sitting back.

56 – Whoops – Tim Cahill just got sent off. Replays show is was a bad tackle, deserving of a yellow card, but hardly a red. Now Australia’s really done for. They’ve been complaining about the linesmen and the referee the whole game; this won’t help.

59 – Schwarzer turns away a blast from Özil. This has the potential to get ugly.

60 – Klose and Sami Khedira contrive to miss from about six feet away. I can’t see how that was physically possible.

62 – This game could be 5-0 at this point. Equally, though, if Schwarzer stops the Podolski shot (he did get a hand to it), and gets the cross that Klose scored on (he should have got there), it could still be 0-0. Strange how these things work.

64- Nikita Rukavytsya comes on for Australia. In case you’re wondering, like I was, Rukavytsya was born in Ukraine but moved to Australia at the age of 14. I’m not sure what the classic Australian name is, but “Nikita Rukavytsya” isn’t it, I don’t think.

66 – I think Tyler has said of Klose, “He should have scored,” at least four times. Yikes.

68 – Germany 3:0 Australia – It’s Muller this time, wide open to ricochet a shot off the post and in. Germany has been very good, but Australia’s defending has been bad, bad, bad.

69 – Klose is substituted. Does he have a little, um, German-esque upper-lip fuzz? Not a good look for a German to be sporting, Miroslav.

By the way, German’s three subs today are named Cacau, Mario Gomez, and Marko Marin. Go ahead and try to pick out the native-born German from that group, I dare you. Answer later.

70 – While we ponder that, Cacau scores on the break to make it Germany 4:0 Australia. This is getting hard to watch. Painful for the Aussies. I feel bad for them.

72 – “It’s a spanking for the Socceroos,” says Tyler. Naughty.

77 – Tyler and McCoist somehow begin discussing rugby. Tyler says, “Anything that’s oval I’m not very comfortable with, I’m afraid. Except perhaps a boiled egg in the morning.” Martin Tyler has now officially stopped making sense to his American audience. Congrats, Martin!

80 – The Australian players are yelling at each other. Guys, you’re down 4-0. It’s a little late for that.

81 – The answer: Cacau was born in Brazil, Marko Marin in Bosnia, and Mario Gomez in Germany. How someone named “Mario Gomez” was born in Germany remains a mystery to me. “Dieter Gomez,” I could believe.

86 – Nothing entertaining happened here, but I feel the need to update.

91 – Corner for the Aussies! Whoo! And another! Wheee! (As you might expect, this game got a bit boring once Australia went down four goals.)

92 – Now Cacau is booked for another horrible dive. Guys. Knock it off. You Germans played such wonderful soccer, I want to like you – but not if you’re going to keep flopping around like a bunch of Portuguese players.

FINAL: GERMANY 4, AUSTRALIA 0

And just like that, the Germans go from “Hey, maybe they won’t get out of their group!” to “Hey, the Germans look like the best team in the tournament yet again!” They beat Costa Rica 4-2 in their opener in 2006, Saudi Arabia 8-0 in 2002; somehow, they always come to play.

I think it’s important to start with this: England has still never beaten the USA at the World Cup.

Pre-match, ESPN asked its analysts for match predictions. Ruud Gullit, the only level-headed one of the bunch, predicted a 1-1 draw. Alexi Lalas, ever the unrepentant homer, predicted a 2-1 USA win; Steve McManaman, ever the England homer, predicted a comfortable 3-1 win for England. I was thinking along with McManaman; in today’s RandBall post, I predicted at least two horrid USA defensive errors. I was thinking 3-1, maybe 3-0, and consoling myself with the upcoming chances the USA will have against Algeria and Slovenia.

Barely three minutes in, it looked like I and McManaman would be right on the money. Both Ricardo Clark and Carlos Bocanegra stood around and watched Steven Gerrard nip in and score. I’d say I was surprised, but it was in every way exactly like so many other goals that the American team has allowed, right down to Tim Howard screaming at his defenders. At that point, it looked to be a long, long afternoon – much like the opening game against the Czechs four years prior.

What I forgot is that England – no matter who’s in charge or who’s on the field – will always find a way to be ordinary, no matter what. Usually this means they lose on penalties; that wasn’t an option this time, so instead, Robert Green helped out by dropping a Clint Dempsey shot directly into the goal.

A friend gave me a plant as a housewarming gift today. This plant has now been named Robert Green, in the honor of a true hero to America and to USA fans everywhere.

A few sites claimed that England “dominated”, but really, both teams had chances for a winner. Emile Heskey was alone against Howard, but hit his shot straight at the American keeper; on the other end, Josy Altidore drove a prospective second-half tally off of Green’s hand and the post. Though England had more possession at the end, either team might have claimed the winning goal.

Most English newspapers I’ve checked seem to be putting a brave face on things – there’s still plenty of time to win the group and qualify for the knockout round – but this is truly a great result for America, and a disappointing one for England. The USA might well have expected to be on the bottom of Group C after tomorrow’s Algeria-Slovenia match; now, they could well be tied for the top of the group. For England, the pre-match talk was about whether the Three Lions could breeze through the group with three wins; now, they’ll sweat their own results against the two other Group C teams.

This was a good day for American soccer fans – something that we couldn’t have said at this point in 2006.

Well, I suspect that no new soccer fans were created today, except perhaps in South Africa. Notes from the first day of the 2010 World Cup:

SOUTH AFRICA 1-1 MEXICO

Certainly the better of the two games today, the South Africans took the lead via a counter-attacking strike from Siphiwe Tshabalala, who might have the single best name of any World Cup goalscorer ever. Unfortunately for American fans, Mexican defender Rafael Marquez popped up late in the match to equalize for the visitors. Katlego Mphela hit the post in the final minute of regulation for South Africa, but the hosts were denied the victory. Too bad, for all those of us who were rooting hard against Mexico.

Perhaps the main talking point of the match was an offside goal scored by Carlos Vela for Mexico, in which the striker was clearly behind the second-to-last defender, thus making him offsides. Somehow, ESPN commentator Martin Tyler declared this goal to be clearly onside, despite Vela being completely offside (Tyler was confused since, in this case, the second-to-last defender was the goalkeeper). Tyler has been the lead Sky Sports commentator in England for years and years; how is it possible for him to so completely bungle the offside rule, after seeing all that soccer?

This match was treated as somewhat of an upset, but South Africa – especially at home – is not as bad as their ranking makes them out to be. They’ve gone 13 matches now unbeaten, and remember, they finished fourth at the Confederations Cup last year; Brazil needed a late goal in the semis to beat South Africa, and Spain needed two goals in the final five minutes of regulation AND an extra-time winner in the third-place game.

One other note: It was nice to hear Tyler all but openly mocking Cuauhtemoc Blanco for being fat. “The oldest, and probably the heaviest player on the field,” said Tyler of Blanco. WHO ATE ALL THE EMPANADAS?, etc and so on.

URUGUAY 0:0 FRANCE

I suppose French fans will do well to remember that, in 2006, France opened the tournament with an incredibly boring draw against Switzerland. They also drew with Korea and only scraped past Togo before making an improbable run to the final.

Nevertheless: boring draw. Uruguay was more than happy to keep eight or ten or seventeen defenders back at all times; most of their attacks consisted of Diego Forlan challenging for punts from the goalkeeper.

(An aside: I know he’s scored a million goals in various leagues in the intervening time, but it’s still shocking to me to see Forlan being used as a legitimate goal threat. Remember, this is the man that provoked mocking “I SAW FORLAN SCORE” T-shirts to be printed when he finally managed to find the net for Manchester United, way back when.)

So there’s Group A for you: two matches, two goals, one point for everybody, and no advantages gained or lost. You’d have to say that Mexico looks to be the favorite, even though they seemed to lose interest for long stretches against South Africa. Maybe if they play Blanco the whole time and put slices of pie on either end of the field to motivate him.

Other than Tyler’s offside gaffes, the coverage was honestly not bad. Ian Darke called the other game; Darke, like Tyler, is normally a Sky Sports commentator, and apart from his tendency to talk only about those players who he sees regularly in Premier League matches, he’s fine. He did mention that French players Abou Diaby and Bacary Sagna both play for Arsenal. About fifty times each. Given that French defender William Gallas is on his way out at Arsenal, and strikers Nicholas Anelka and Thierry Henry both formerly played for the English club, it was sort of an Arsenalesque day. Doubly so since France failed to score against a team that put all the defenders behind the ball.

A word of praise, too, for the ESPN3.com broadcasts, which trailed the cable broadcasts by only a split-second, and didn’t suffer from the connection and broadcast problems that one might expect for the first day of the biggest sporting event in the world. Well done, ESPN.

Tomorrow morning, South Africa kicks off against Mexico, and our four-year wait for the World Cup is over. For USA fans like me, in some ways it’s really an eight-year wait that’s over.

In 1990 and 1998, the Americans may have been the worst team in the tournament; in 1994, a shocking win over Colombia helped the home team to the knockout round. But in 2002, it seemed like maybe the USA was finally turning a corner on the world stage. A strong opening half lifted the USA over powerhouse Portugal, a Brad Friedel penalty save helped rescue a draw against South Korea, and even a bad loss to Poland in the final game of the group stage couldn’t prevent America from reaching the knockout round.

And the knockout round – well, I wasn’t alone in thinking that the script would be rewritten. The red, white, and blue waxed Mexico 2-0 in the first game. In the quarterfinals, America was cheated by a Torsten Frings handball that kept a sure goal out of the German net. Disappointing, for sure, but we American fans could only assume the team would be back to improve upon that showing in 2006.

As you know, that didn’t happen. The USA got slaughtered 3-0 by the Czech Republic in their first game, and never recovered; a wild, card-filled draw with eventual champions Italy ended up being the only point the Americans got. It was incredibly disappointing, especially since we fans had waited four long years for another crack at the tournament, and knew it’d be at least four more before we got another chance.

Four years have elapsed, finally, and now the USA is back with another chance. We’re in a group with Algeria and Slovenia, two of the weaker teams in the tournament – and we also have a chance to play England, and nothing’s more fun than a chance to cause our friends across the pond some serious consternation. Most pundits expect our team to qualify for the knockout round again, and while nobody’s picking us to beat England, the mere chance of causing the rending of English garments is, frankly, quite delicious.

Tomorrow morning, South Africa kicks off against Mexico. Tomorrow begins our chance to end eight years of waiting.

---

As in 2006, TNABACG will be more or less entirely a World Cup blog for the next month. I’ve got my list of games printed out, with 30 of the 48 first-round matches highlighted for viewing purposes. There are certain matches I won’t watch – anything with North Korea (communist jerks) or anything with Greece (the most boring, frustrating team to watch on the planet) – but other than that, I’m more or less willing to watch every match. Happily, thanks to the time difference, most of the matches are taking place in the morning or early afternoon, so I’ll be able to flip them on at work. It’s like March Madness, except the entire world is watching and it’s a month long. What could be sweeter?</p>

I’ll be doing a few random running match diaries, like 2006, and, otherwise be updating daily with World Cup thoughts. In ’06 I had random German blog fans popping out of the woodwork; if you’re back this year, folks, let me know.

Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the show. I couldn’t be any more excited for the World Cup to be here.