A win is a win, and joy is unconfined; a loss is a loss, and sorrow knows no bounds. A tie, though, is ambiguous; a tie is unresolved, open, an unanswered question that leaves infinite room for interpretation.

It’s only been a few hours since Portugal rescued a 2-2 draw against the USA with the last move of the match, since Varela snuck in behind a coasting Geoff Cameron to head home the equalizer, and there’s still no defining the result. We won’t actually know until Thursday morning, when the USA plays Germany and Ghana plays Portugal, and we find out whether tonight’s final whistle doomed the USA to come up just short of qualifying for the knockout round, or whether it represented the point that America needed to go through.

The USA was supposed to lose to Portugal. A point was supposed to be a victory. The Americans confirmed it when they went down 1-0 after five minutes, thanks to Cameron somehow contriving to kick the ball 180 degrees opposite of where he was aiming to kick it, thus giving it to Nani in a spot where he could not have failed to score. And for ten minutes following the goal, Portugal took it in turns to pass the ball around every American defender, a calm game of keepaway that seemed destined to again land the ball in the USA net.

It is ultimately a credit to the USA that they not only picked themselves up off the mat, but played one of their best games ever as a team. At one point in the first half, the USA had barely a quarter of the possession; by halftime, they’d managed to turn that around to 55%. They ended the game with more shots than Portugal, and except for the first fifteen and last ten minutes, outplayed the side that was ranked #3 in the world.

Michael Bradley, restored to his normal self and driving the USA attack forward, should have scored ten minutes into the second half. Jermaine Jones, once again immense in midfield for the Americans, did score six minutes later, bending in a cannoning shot that left Portugal keeper Beto flat-footed, with no chance to reach the ball. And with ten minutes to go, a scramble in the Portugal area suddenly left Graham Zusi wide open on the left, where he could cross for an unmarked Clint Dempsey to gut the ball home for a 2-1 lead.

2-1. Against Portugal. After trailing 1-0. In the rainforest heat in Manaus. With a win – an impossible win – meaning that the USA could qualify for the knockout round after just two games.

Is it any wonder that all thoughts of a positive draw were forgotten? That one point suddenly went from one more than we hoped, to two too few?

We will remember this game for the USA’s comeback performance, for Jones’s screamer, and for the joy of going 2-1 up when it seemed for an hour like there was little chance of even getting back to 1-1. We will also remember it for Cameron, who gifted Portugal their first goal and who failed to track Varela on the last, for perhaps the most horrific defensive performance in USA World Cup history. He certainly wasn’t all bad, but his lapse at the end of the game cost the USA two points, and his clearance at the beginning of the game ranks up there with Jeff Agoos’s own goal twelve years ago as one of the most stunningly terrible defensive moments ever for the USA.

This may also go down in history, though, as the day that American fans began to love Jurgen Klinsmann, **who completely outcoached Portugal. The Americans, without their best option up front, simply put Dempsey up front as a striker and overran Portugal in the middle of the field. Jones was everywhere, and **Kyle Beckerman was wonderful again, playing defensively in front of the center backs. The Americans even made Portugal pay for including a clearly injured Cristiano Ronaldo on the left wing; Ronaldo basically stood completely still when not attacking, leaving right back Fabian Johnson free to play effectively as another winger.

By the time Klinsmann was inserting Deandre Yedlin to play right wing and switching Zusi to the left, we were done questioning him. Is it any wonder that it was Yedlin whose run created the second USA goal? For the second straight match, Klinsmann substituted one of the players that many thought shouldn’t be in the team’s 23-man squad, and that player created a goal for the US. We can only assume that Julian Green will score against Germany on Thursday.

The USA were 30 seconds away from making it to the knockout round; now, they must wait until Thursday. A win against mighty Germany will put them through, of course; a draw will do the same (and with Germany in the same boat, many have speculated that a draw is what we’ll see.) Depending on the other results, a loss might be enough as well; if Portugal and Ghana tie, the USA could lose 15-0 to Germany and would still move on to the next round.

I have no idea what we’ll see that day. It could be a boring, results-oriented 0-0 draw; it could be a wild 4-4 slugfest. We could see the USA that struggled but won against Ghana, or the USA that outplayed but drew with Portugal. They’re the same team, yet different; the same players, but not. We have seen two games that appeared to come from different teams in different tournaments. Thursday, however, will determine whether this tournament is over – or keeps going for at least one more game.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

Sometimes at the World Cup, teams come back in their second group match of the tournament to erase the memory of a disappointing first game, to prove that they weren’t the team that we all saw in the opening round. There were six games on Wednesday and Thursday, though – and not one team managed to turn things around. To wit:

• Croatia 4, Cameroon 0: Cameroon are still terrible, I mean really terrible, at soccer.

• Netherlands 3, Australia 2: The Dutch are still wildly entertaining, especially when they’re endeavoring to fall behind 2-1 in the second half, then coming back with two goals in short order to win. And Australia is still wildly overmatched in Group B.

• Chile 2, Spain 0: It is hard to describe how bad Spain were. It’s hard to describe how easy Chile made it look to out-work and out-play them. Spain, who famously love to keep the ball, could hardly string passes together. When they did manage to create a chance, they screwed it up themselves. For every Spain attacker, there were three Chilean defenders, somehow; the Spanish were swarmed wherever they went on the pitch. Spain deserve to lose. They were rotten in their first game and they were rotten in this one, and if there is any justice, Australia will beat them in their final group game, and they will go home winless.

• Japan 0, Greece 0: Greece haven’t scored a goal in this tournament, and don’t look like they have much of a chance to score one, or even look that interested in scoring one. Greece looks like they would be happy if nobody scored ever again and it was always raining and everyone watching got a paper cut. Their highlight was probably their captain, Konstantinos Katsouranis, getting sent off in the first half for a pair of challenges in which he missed taking the ball by roughly five feet.  Japan, meanwhile, worked hard, but missed a couple of golden chances and now need to depend on an improbable set of circumstances to get through their group.

• Colombia 2, Ivory Coast 1: Never bet against South American teams at a World Cup in South America, we guess. All six may yet go through; Colombia was the second to officially qualify for the knockout round, after Chile, and they did it with a couple of quick-fire second-half goals in front of what sounded like 300,000 Colombian fans. Playing in Colombia must be terrifying. Playing against them in Brazil looks like it’s hard enough.

• Uruguay 2, England 1: Oh, England. Two goals from Luis Suarez were enough to doom the English to their second 2-1 defeat of the tournament; they remain not terrible, but not good either. They’ll need a minor miracle to make the knockout round now; a draw today between Italy and Costa Rica would be enough to confirm their demise. On the flip side, Suarez was wildly emotional after the game, tearfully speaking about how he dreamed scoring twice, to overcome all the criticism he has faced. Let me remind you that this criticism was for blatantly cheating in the last World Cup, for racist taunts against Patrice Evra, and for biting another player during a game, and use all of that to remember that Luis Suarez is still an enormous idiot.

We shall see if any other teams remain in form today. It begins with Italy and Costa Rica in half an hour, and if they match their stereotypes, Costa Rica will enjoy themselves and Italy will do everything in their power to make the game tough to watch.

*NOTE: This also appeared at SoccerCentric. *

We’ve now seen each of this World Cup’s teams on the big stage; Brazil and Mexico have played a pair of games apiece to boot. I think that’s enough information for us to rank all 32 World Cup teams.

1. Germany. Destroyed Portugal, looking – as Germany always seem to do in the opening game – like they are totally unbeatable. Generally this lasts right up until the semifinals, so get used to some German wins.
2. Netherlands. Spain have won two European Championships in a row. Spain won the last World Cup. Spain has lost one non-friendly match – ONE – since losing its first game of the 2010 World Cup. And the Dutch made them look old, slow, and terrible.
3. Chile. You know, maybe their plan to play ten strikers and a goalkeeper can work after all.
4. Colombia. Somehow it feels like they have qualified already, after only one match.
5. Argentina. They haven’t even made the semifinals since 1990; this has to be the year, right?
6. Brazil. They probably would have been higher until they couldn’t find a way past Mexico. On the bright side, they pummeled Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa, which is always fun.
7. France. Won 3-0 and there was no hint that the squad is about to go on strike, which is an improvement from previous years.
8. Switzerland. Found a way past Ecuador, one of the few South American countries to disappoint, but it’s France next for Europe’s dark horse contender.
9. Ivory Coast. The only African team to win its first game. They have to play Colombia next, but they get to finish with Greece.
10. Mexico. 0-0 draw with Brazil bumped them up the charts. They’re (probably) a result against Croatia away from qualifying; knowing Mexico, this will also be a 0-0 draw.
11. USA. This seems about right, somehow, though if my passport didn’t say “United States of America” on it, they might be about ten spots lower.
12. Belgium. Came from behind to beat Algeria, and as a USA fan, I can vouch that it’s always fun to beat Algeria.
13. Costa Rica. They won! At the World Cup! In what was basically an away game against Uruguay! Granted, they now have to play Italy and England, so it’s not easy, but why not the knockout round for Los Ticos?
14. Italy. They won, but they’re still hard to watch.
15. Russia. Drew with South Korea.
16. South Korea. Drew with Russia.
17. Ecuador. The whole country is still wondering how they managed to lose to the Swiss.
18. Spain. Seriously. They allowed only three goals in eight WC qualifying matches. They won Euro 2012. They lost to Brazil at the Confederations Cup, but losing to Brazil in Brazil is no crime. So when, oh when, did the entire roster hit 49 years old?
19. Ghana. They weren’t bad; they just lost.
20. Croatia. It would have been interesting to see how their game against Brazil had finished, had the ref not ruined it, or if Croatia had brought a goalkeeper who didn’t resemble the Tin Man.
21. Bosnia and Herzegovina. They’re at the World Cup for the first time ever, and they outscored mighty Argentina 2-1, except one of their goals was in their own net.
22. England. Are they good? I can’t tell.
23. Algeria. Maybe Africa’s best team, but we’ll see if they can right the ship after losing to Belgium.
24. Uruguay. Losing to Costa Rica, basically at home, is pretty embarrassing.
25. Australia. The Soccerroos would like to extend a hearty Australian middle finger to the World Cup draw, which stuck them in with Spain and the Netherlands and threw in Chile for good measure.
26. Japan. Get to play Greece next, which is always helpful.
27. Portugal. If any team can lose 4-0 and somehow make it seem even worse than the final score, it’s Portugal.
28. Iran. Everybody is mad at them for playing an awful, boring game.
29. Nigeria. Was also involved in awful, boring game.
30. Honduras. In case CONCACAF was getting cocky: France 3, Honduras 0.
31. Cameroon. Not good at soccer.
32. Greece. Not as good as Cameroon.

I hope that this objective and scientific breakdown has made the World Cup much easier for you.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

Minnesota United are currently promoting their “Summer of Soccer”, including friendlies with Swansea City and the Mexico U-21 team. Throw in their league game at TCF Bank Stadium, and it’s an important summer for the club from a marketing standpoint – but on the field, the most important game of the summer might be tonight, against Sporting Kansas City in the US Open Cup.

Friendlies are fun, but by the end of the year, it’ll be tough to remember whether United won or lost against either Swansea or Mexico’s youngsters. And while the game at TCF Bank Stadium will take place on a bigger stage, it’s still just a regular league game.

Win tonight, though, and the Portland Timbers come to town next week. Win tonight, and Minnesota will be the team that beat the MLS champions. Win tonight, and the transformation from plucky underdogs – “the team that nobody wanted” – to a force to be reckoned with will be, in some ways, complete.

“It’s become even more important because we have a club that expects us to get silverware,” said United head coach Manny Lagos. “The US Open Cup means potential credibility at a different level. Teams are taking it particularly seriously, because winning it gives you a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, which is coveted nowadays.”

For Lagos, though, the US Open Cup is no longer about proving yourself. “I feel like that storyline is a couple of years ago,” he said. “The guys on the team feel like they should compete against any team in North America right now.”

It’s that chance to compete that is most exciting for the players on the club. “This is a big one,” said defender Justin Davis, who spoke about wanting to prove that NASL teams could beat MLS teams. “KC being geographically close to us, it’s one of the bigger games for the club for sure. We’re going to go in there like it’s a cup final.”

Four MLS teams have gone down already. New York lost to their crosstown neighbors, the Cosmos, in a 3-0 beating that had the Red Bulls’ fans incensed about coach Mike Petke’s cavalier attitude to the competition. Carolina, always tough at home, beat floundering Chivas USA on penalties, and Atlanta won 2-1 against Real Salt Lake, to make a trio of NASL teams already into the fifth round. DC United also lost to third-division Rochester. Seven other MLS teams have already gone through to the next round as well, two of them over NASL sides; Minnesota has a chance to keep the league’s winning record against MLS intact.

That said, beating Kansas City is a much taller order; for one, the team is unlikely to throw out a half-strength team. “I know the coaching staff there very well,” said Lagos. “They’re going to take the game very seriously.”

Not only are KC the reigning MLS champions, but they play a high-pressing style that has troubled Minnesota in the past. The Cosmos did the same to Minnesota earlier this year, and United went about the first hour of the game seemingly without completing a pass or putting together anything organized offensively. Sporting is well known for doing the same, and it concerns Lagos, who says he’ll have to treat this different than a normal NASL game. “‘d be a little naive if I didn’t think about it differently, particularly against Kansas City, which has developed a style that’s different than some other MLS teams,” said the coach. “We’re going to have to absorb a different type of tempo than we’re used to, a different type of pressing, a different speed of play. I think even teams in MLS have to deal with that when they play Sporting KC.”

Both teams will have to deal with the heat, as well; temps will reach the 90s in Kansas City today, and while kickoff isn’t until 7:30 – you can see the game on sportingkc.com – it’ll still be plenty warm.

It’ll be a tall order for United. Whatever the team might say, they are underdogs this evening, on the road in one of America’s toughest places to play. If they can come through with a win, the rest of the summer – despite the marquee games – might pale in comparison.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

The 2010 World Cup started on June 11. Both games that day were draws; South Africa drew 1-1 with Mexico, and neither Uruguay nor France could score a goal.

It was June 13 before a team scored more than twice in a match. It was June 15 before both sides scored in a match that didn’t end as a 1-1 draw. Just 18 goals were scored in the first four days, and four of those goals were from Germany; the other 21 teams in action couldn’t even manage a goal apiece. Nine were blanked entirely, and six more were involved in 1-1 draws with each other.

Now, let’s look back at four days of soccer in 2014. Every match save Mexico-Cameroon has featured at least three goals, and Mexico had two wrongly called back for offsides against a rather weak Cameroonian side. The Netherlands scored five. Karim Benzema had a hat-trick for France. Haris Seferovic scored for Switzerland in the third of three stoppage-time minutes, to snatch a 2-1 win against Ecuador when the South Americans appeared set to themselves steal victory. There hasn’t been a single draw. There have been 37 goals, in 11 games, and by one count there have been eight more that were disallowed for one reason or another.

Sure, the goalkeeping has been terrible, with Spain’s Iker Casillas and Croatia’s Stipe Pletikosa leading the Wall of Goalkeeping Shame. Some of the defending has been terrible, as well; many of the goals were reasonably simple headers from unmarked players in the penalty area, generally a good sign that things aren’t right defensively. And a few defenders are getting into the spirit, if on the wrong end; Brazil and Bosnia-Herzegovina have both scored upon themselves in this tournament.

Still, it’s been undeniably fun to watch. Five of the eleven games have featured one of the teams coming from 1-0 down to win, and we surely can’t be far away from a two-goal comeback win.

Now then. On to more important things – specifically, the first USA match of the tournament. It’s at 5:00 tonight, on ESPN, and as our friend Michael Rand once said, if you’re not planning on watching, then you might as well turn in your passport.

The game is in Natal, which has seen such rainfall that the city is on flood alert. More showers are forecast for tonight, along with dew points in the 70s, which here in Minnesota – where the dew point is in the 70s for only a couple of hours in a normal summer – is the point at which it becomes so humid it is no longer possible for humans to breathe.

Americans will be worried about Ghanian striker Asamoah Gyan, who you might remember from 2010, when he scored in extra time to eliminate the USA in the first knockout round. You may also remember him from Ghana’s match against Uruguay in the following round, when Gyan missed a penalty with no time left at the end of extra time, after Luis Suarez had been sent off for this piece of blatant cheating. Gyan scored 40 for his club team in the UAE this year, has scored twelve in his last 19 matches for Ghana, and figures to be the most dangerous presence tonight for the USA back four to deal with.

So too will America worry about do-everything Ghanian midfielder Michael Essien, who will likely be the main force attempting to blunt USA midfielder **Michael Bradley’s **creativity. If Essien gets the best of Bradley, it could be a disjointed night for the Americans.

On the flip side, Ghana will worry about – actually, no one, really. All noises from the Ghana camp seem remarkably unconcerned about a USA team that the Africans have beat at two consecutive World Cups. Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew said, in a press conference, “If we’re all fit, if we’re all 100%, there’s no way we don’t win this game.” While it seems like overconfidence, it does appear to be the attitude of the USA’s opponents – and to be fair, they have had the Americans’ number.

It’s a game that is remarkably important for both teams’ potential fortunes. With games against Germany and Portugal remaining, a loss would probably end the hopes of either to qualify, and a draw wouldn’t go much further. Anything less than three points will be a disappointment in both camps.

Like we said: 5:00. ESPN. If you haven’t planned ahead already, then plan now.

NOTE: This also appeared at SoccerCentric.

Coming into the World Cup, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was quoted in several periodicals, saying that he wanted to change the USA’s style of play to a more “American” style. “American nature is to take the game to our opponents,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “We don’t want to just react to them.”

Perhaps not, but against Ghana on Monday night, the USA played the way that American teams usually play: mostly on defense, and with only a vague sense of how to get the ball to a teammate, yet with an against-the-odds, never-say-die attitude. More than anything, it’s that attitude that has infected the team’s fans with a sense of optimistic enthusiasm that is, perhaps, the most American thing of all.

Few American fans have any real illusions about the team’s talent level, but most of them have grown up with a USA team that exceeds all expectations, that qualifies for Italy ’90 against the odds, and beats Colombia 2-1 in ’94, and leads Portugal, mighty Portugal, 3-0 in the first half and hangs on for a win in ’02, and comes back from 2-0 down and dead and buried in ’10 against Slovenia, and scores in stoppage time against Algeria to go through the same year. This is the USA we learned to love.

Tonight, Clint Dempsey scored after 34 seconds, and thereafter, the USA deployed the bend-but-don’t-break defense that has occasionally carried them through against better opponents. This involves an enormous amount of running and a lot of adversity to overcome, mostly, and there was plenty of adversity.

Jozy Altidore pulled his hamstring early and was carted off. Matt Besler did the same and limped off at halftime. Alejandro Bedoya limped through most of the second half, before finally being replaced. And in their place came Aron Johannsson, John Brooks, and Graham Zusi – World Cup novices, all, and Brooks and Johannsson barely out of the youth game, to boot.

Johannsson disappeared for most of the rest of the game. Brooks settled down eventually, but at the beginning, appeared set for one of the classic defensive blunders that so plagued the Americans at the last World Cup. And meanwhile, everything else was going wrong; Dempsey got booted in the face and bled everywhere, while American talisman Michael Bradley developed a strong case of Cherundulitis, a terrible condition, the main symptom of which was every pass he attempted landing twenty yards behind or beyond his target, and occasionally in the tenth row of the stands.

By the second half, I was counting American passes to see how many they could string together; I gave up, discouraged, after the team seldom got beyond two. Ghana ended the night with nearly 60% of the possession and with 21 shots, most of which thankfully sailed high and wide, or were stopped by Tim Howard.

When Andre Ayew scored in the 82nd minute to level the game at 1-1, though, it felt like the floodgates opening. The USA, tired from chasing the ball all night, appeared ready to sag defensively; ESPN commentators Taylor Twellman and Ian Darke began to openly sandbag from the commentary box. “A draw’s not a bad result,” cried Twellman, desperately hoping that the USA could somehow hang on to a point, knowing that they needed at least one to stay in competition for a place in the knockout round.

And then, the substitutes made their presence felt, if for a moment. Johannsson, with the ball at the edge of the Ghanian penalty area, attempted to find right back Fabian Johnson rushing around the edge of the Ghana defense. Johannsson weighted his pass too strongly, but Johnson – attacking after being pinned back by Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan for most of the night – managed to hook his foot around a defender at the end line to challenge for the ball, and in the confusion, the Ghanian defender ran the ball out for a corner.

It was Zusi who took it. And it was Brooks who found it with his head, flicked it downwards to the center of the goal. Brooks, the 21-year-old, born and raised in Berlin, lumped in with Julian Green by many as a scholarship player, his inclusion geared for the 2018 World Cup, unlikely to see the field in Brazil, merely one of Klinsmann’s German-American favorite sons, primed for the future.

The ball ricocheted off the turf and into the top of the net, and America let loose a joyful, primal scream.

This, then, is Klinsmann’s America: an Icelander passing to a Munich native, who wins a corner that the American places perfectly on the head of Berlin’s favorite son. And the red, white, and blue all go crazy.

There will be other nights for American soccer; Sunday against Portugal, and next Thursday against Germany, for two. There will still be time Klinsmann’s critics to come to the fore, and time for American soccer to adopt their coach’s vision, or fail trying.

For this night, though, it’s probably best to let the thousands of American fans in the stands have their say, and to use the words of the chant that they repeated, incessantly, throughout the game, the words of optimism in the face of looming disaster that are the most American of all.

I believe that we will win.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

It has not been a good World Cup so far, for the conventional wisdom.

Conventional wisdom: Especially in the first week, everyone is still getting into the swing of things; look for a lot of low scores and draws.

What has happened: Every game has had a winner, and with the exception of Mexico beating Cameroon 1-0, every winner has scored at least three goals.

CW: Spain plays so well as a team that the Netherlands, who generally spend the lead-up to every major tournament getting in fights with each other in training, have no chance. And besides, Spain just play such pretty soccer.

Happened: Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie scored twice apiece and blew the doors off Spain, 5-1, including at least three of the type of goals that just make you happy to be alive, and one that made Spanish keeper Iker Casillas look like he’d been selected from the stands at halftime to play goalkeeper. Meanwhile, Spain’s only goal was a questionable first-half penalty.

CW: Uruguay are dark-horse tournament favorites; they’ve got a strong team, they’re playing next door to home, and they have Luis Suarez.

Happened: Uruguay led at halftime, but three second-half goals from Costa Rica – who hadn’t won at the World Cup since 2002, and have reached the knockout round once ever, in 1990 – put Los Ticos on top, improbably, in Group C.

CW: Greece may be having a little difficulty scoring lately, but they’re almost impossible to score against. Besides, Colombia are missing striker Radamel Falcao, and who knows who will pick up the slack?

Happened: Colombia was ahead 1-0 after just five minutes, and added a pair in the second half for a 3-0 win.

CW: Uh… Australia have no chance?

Happened: At least the conventional wisdom was right about this one; Chile beat the Socceroos 3-1, and now the Australians have to play the Netherlands and Spain.  That said, while Chile led 2-0 after 14 minutes, the ageless Australian Striker, Tim Cahill, brought his team within 2-1 before halftime. It took Chile until stoppage time to get a third.

CW: I’m not doing so well.

Happened: There’s a lot of time left; things could be worse.

CW: At least I know for sure that England-Italy, which is taking place in the jungle, will be a boring 0-0 draw.

Happened: It’s 1-1 and there have been two goals in the last four minutes.

CW: Ah, pickles.

*NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.
*

Brazil beat Croatia 3-1 to kick off the 2014 World Cup, in a game that had everything – an own goal, a penalty awarded to Brazil that made everyone wonder if the referee was match-fixing, and two other Brazil goals that made everyone wonder whether Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa was match-fixing.

It was, in short, not a great game.

Marcelo kicked off the scoring for Brazil after just 11 minutes, except he did so by scoring into his own net. Croatia had several decent chances early, as Brazil appeared to be only vaguely aware that the game had started, and finally a cross deflected onto Marcelo’s toe and into the back of his own net.

Brazil were back to level at 29 minutes, though; all-World forward Neymar rolled a long shot off the post and in, a tame-looking shot that Pletikosa appeared to react late to. I looked it up, expecting to find that Pletikosa is 59 years old, but in truth he’s only 35; his reaction time in this match was glacial, at best.

The second half plodded along at 1-1 before Brazilian striker Fred pulled off one of the most blatant dives in World Cup history, throwing himself backwards and his hands into the air at a slight touch from a Croatian defender. Somehow, this moment of terrible acting was enough to deceive referee Yuichi Nishimura, who pointed to the spot without hesitation. Neymar converted the penalty – off Pletikosa’s gloves and in – to make it 2-1.

Oscar finished off the scoring for Brazil in second-half stoppage time, scoring a goal so soft that two Croatian defenders screamed at Pletikosa for allowing it in.

The win puts Brazil, who have only games with Cameroon and struggling Mexico remaining in the first round, basically already into the knockout round. Croatia, meanwhile, are faced with a loss that had four goals, none of which they scored, and a goalkeeper who appears to need someone to follow him everywhere with an oil can.

The good thing, I suppose, is that the World Cup is back. Tomorrow, Mexico starts their campaign against Cameroon, and Spain and the Netherlands face off in the first test of whether the Dutch players can stop punching each other long enough to actually play some soccer. The night gets wrapped up with Chile playing Australia, which we’re calling the Countries That Can Wave At You If You Are In Antarctica derby.

Despite the oddity of Game 1, we look forward to Day 2.

NOTE: This also appeared at SoccerCentric.

When the Minnesota Vikings announced what they termed a “broad strategic alliance” with soccer event management company Relevent Sports, I was quick to assume that – given Relevent’s MLS ties – the partnership would include the Vikings’ effort to bring an MLS team to Minnesota. As it turns out, that is not the case.

At a press conference on Wednesday to promote ticket sales for the August 2 soccer doubleheader at TCF Bank Stadium, Vikings VPs Kevin Warren and Lester Bagley and Relevent CEO Charlie Stillitano were all quick to stress the close relationship between the Wilf family and Stephen Ross, who owns both Relevent Sports and the Miami Dolphins. However, Stillitano was very blunt when asked what his company’s relationship with the Vikings’ MLS push is. “I wouldn’t overstate our position working with the Vikings,” he said, in the Q&A portion of the press conference. “I think you would more put us as consultants on the soccer side to bring international events here.”

While Stillitano was happy to enthuse about helping the Vikings, he also noted that he’s really only focused on the possibility of playing these types of big international games in Minnesota. “Our relationship and our agreement is really one of collaboration and marketing. Our commitment is to bring as many international games as we can bring here.”

Stillitano did his best to not downplay the impact that these big international games can have on a market. The Relevent CEO also noted that he has worked to bring international events to cities that later got MLS franchises, like Toronto and Seattle. “It seems like wherever we go, an MLS team follows,” he said. “We test the market.”

The Vikings’ involvement with the game on August 2 should give them more insight into the local soccer community, which is certainly important for a group that’s in some ways starting from scratch on building those relationships. However, it also puts them in the awkward position of promoting an event that has their rivals for an MLS bid, Minnesota United, playing in the second half of a doubleheader.

This is not to say that the Wilfs and the Vikings aren’t serious about acquiring an MLS franchise. du Nord Futbol Show co-host and sometime SoccerCentric guest columnist Wes Burdine (@MnNiceFC) was nice enough to send me a clip of a conversation he had with Bagley, following the press conference, and the Vikings VP quoted a number of statistics that indicate that the Vikings have done a fair amount of research on MLS ticket sales, both from talking to other MLS teams like Seattle and Kansas City, and from surveying their own season ticket holders.

That said, the Relevent partnership appears to be set mostly to extend only to games like the Manchester City-Olympiakos tilt, and not to that MLS effort. The Vikings will have to continue to work on their relationships – both with local fans, and with the league itself – from the ground up.

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.

All it took was one sentence in a press release to send the Minnesota soccer community into a tizzy. The release, announcing a press conference this afternoon, included a tidbit from the Minnesota Vikings that the team had formed a “broad strategic alliance” with marketing company Relevent Sports, as part of their efforts to acquire a Major League Soccer franchise.

Relevent Sports is probably best known locally as the group that’s putting on the Manchester City – Olympiakos match on August 2 at TCF Bank Stadium, but they’re also a company whose CEO, Charlie Stillitano, is a former MLS general manager who still has strong ties to the league. With Vikings VP Lester Bagely reiterating once again the team’s desire for MLS, the Vikings’ soccer groundswell has started to feel a little more like a tidal wave.

That said, it’s worth mentioning that, despite the hype, the Vikings don’t have much to show for it. Bagely noted that the Vikings met with MLS Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott on Monday, to update him on the team’s stadium situation – but he also admitted that the team currently does not have a specific plan in place to outfit the new stadium for soccer.

Across town, meanwhile, Minnesota’s already-existing soccer team was celebrating. NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson gathered with United coach Manny Lagos, team president Nick Rogers, and fullback Justin Davis to hand off the spring championship plate. The United fans in attendance cheered, and later posted pictures of themselves imbibing from the plate in celebration.

United is touting their upcoming schedule as the “Summer of Soccer” in Minnesota. The team has a US Open Cup match against MLS champions Sporting Kansas City next week; if they can beat KC, they’ll host the next game of the competition the following week, one that is almost certain to be against the Portland Timbers. They have a friendly with Premier League side Swansea City, a July 4 game against the Mexico U-21 team, and are playing their August 2 home match at TCF Bank Stadium following the aforementioned Man City-Olympiakos tilt.

Throw in the team’s regular league schedule, which begins again on July 12, and the team’s efforts to organize World Cup-watching parties around town, and the Twin Cities market isn’t exactly hurting for soccer, no matter what the Vikings’ hype says.

It was a picture of the interesting dichotomy between the two soccer groups in town. On the one side is the Vikings, who have a stadium and are loudly hyping their MLS desires. On the other side is United, who actually have a team, fans, and a history – and who are determinedly staying quiet about all things MLS-related, including their desire to potentially acquire a stadium of their own.

At the moment, it’s the stadium issue that is the wild card in the whole process. It’s the one thing that United is missing; it’s the only thing that the Vikings have going for them. While an NFL stadium isn’t necessarily ideal for an MLS team, Seattle and Vancouver have made it work, and the new Atlanta franchise is set to do the same. And given that January and February were the only two months that didn’t see an MLS match in 2013, having an indoor stadium in Minnesota might not be the worst idea in the world, even though it would be painful to watch a game inside on a gorgeous summer evening.

United are rumored to be working on a stadium plan of their own, potentially in tandem with the Twins, potentially at the Farmer’s Market site just behind Target Field. At the moment, though, any United-led stadium plans are nothing more than rumors, and the team refuses to speculate on partners, timelines, or locations.

It’s also worth mentioning Bagely’s comment that the Vikings would have to build “fan by fan.” It was the allusion to the beginning of an effort by the team to appeal to the grassroots soccer fans in Minnesota, one that the team has hired local PR / marketing firm One Simple Plan to assist with.

The strangest thing about that comment, though, is that the Vikings have long ignored opportunities to get involved with soccer in Minnesota. United was on the market for two years before Dr. Bill McGuire bought the team; the Vikings could very easily have a team and a fanbase of their very own, and could currently be following the path to MLS that Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, and Montreal all took before them, and that Orlando is scheduled to take next year, by jumping to MLS from a lower league.

Instead, United – which dates back (in some ways) to 1990 – nearly folded before being rescued by McGuire. And now, the Vikings talk about building fan engagement, while soccer fans show up at Brit’s Pub in the middle of a Tuesday to applaud United and drink beer out of their newly-won trophy.

With the two groups competing for MLS, it’s difficult not to write about the situation as a horse race. Ultimately, though, the decision only rests with Major League Soccer itself. While Minneapolis is rumored to be the front-runner, the league could still choose to go elsewhere with its next franchise. If they do pick the Twin Cities, though, who do they opt for? Do they go with the Vikings, with their settled stadium issue and the financial security that goes hand-in-hand with an NFL franchise? Or do they go with the group that’s focused on local soccer, but doesn’t have the resources or the under-construction stadium to match the Wilfs?

It’s a battle over the future of professional soccer in Minnesota. Where will it end up?

NOTE: This appeared at SoccerCentric.