Who will be the more motivated side tomorrow? http://t.co/hsDUIFqkbS #BRA #NED pic.twitter.com/LfTlCdOcnm
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 11, 2014
THE #WORLDCUP FINAL: #GER and #ARG will meet in the Maracana for the Final on Sunday #GERARG – http://t.co/aSdMWIK6x1 pic.twitter.com/JxNjnadfxw
— FIFAWorldCup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 10, 2014
The final, all-new episode of #Inside. Relive the @ussoccer's #WorldCup journey in Brazil. Watch now ->
http://t.co/AOO6prhFl9
— ESPN Films 30 for 30 (@30for30) July 10, 2014
With 35.6 million Tweets, #BRA v #GER is the most-discussed single sports game ever on Twitter. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/pRjssAZmhg
— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) July 9, 2014
#BRA v #GER: replay Germany’s dramatic victory over Brazil with our #animap #WorldCup
LINK: http://t.co/CanCwQAyZM pic.twitter.com/SxYhHhsc0T
— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) July 9, 2014
The Tuesday midday game was watched on ESPN and Univision by a combined average audience of 12.4 million making it the most-viewed World Cup semifinal ever in the U.S.
It was also the highest-rated World Cup game not involving the U.S. ever on ESPN, where records were also set earlier in the tournament for the U.S.-Portugal contest.
Curiously, viewership actually increased as the 7-1 blowout went on making it more like a car wreck on the freeway than a soccer game.
Los Angeles was the eighth highest-rated market in the nation for ESPN, while even more viewers were watching on Univision in LA.
Details of Lionel Messi v Arjen Robben #WorldCup matchup today. #teamadidas #allin or nothing pic.twitter.com/17IblQFQx3
— Michael Ehrlich (@adidasUSPRGuy) July 9, 2014
A game preview is here.
“@nikesoccer: Dare to be Brasilian. #riskeverything pic.twitter.com/FvKHajSv4Q” Dare to have. Bad timing @nikesoccer
— Nick Green (@LAsoccerblog) July 8, 2014
Ooops.
It was that kind of day for Brazil (and its sponsors).
Experience the collective sadness of a mortified nation here.
Notable: online sports book Bovada.lv observed today that “70% of of the betting money was on Germany to win in regulation and 75 percent was on Germany to advance to the final.”
Odds on a score of Germany winning 7-1 were not offered (who would take that)? It was 250-1 for Germany to win 6-0, though.
Finally, what’s worse than being Brazilian and seeing your nation humiliated before a worldwide audience like that? How about being Brazilian and having a whole lot of World Cup-related merchandise to shift? Sales coming soon, I presume.
Here’s Ana Imbriale of Brasil Mania in Old Torrance (her young son, wearing a Neymar jersey, declined to appear on camera):
Speaking of bad timing: who will go to this event in Carson on the eve of the World Cup final now?
My wife has been fascinated by the televised art of arm-folding before World Cup games.
Turns out the folks at Slate were too and filed a blog post complete with hilarious GIFs.
Check it out here.
Omar Gonzalez suffered a twisted ankle. in the U.S. defeat to Belgium in the World Cup and might not be able to return to the field when the Galaxy take on Real Salt Lake Saturday at StubHub Center.
“It was a pretty good injury there. I’m still feeling it,” Gonzalez said. “I still don’t know if I’m up for playing against Salt Lake. I’m practicing here but pretty limited right now.”.
Omar Gonzalez is back to his day job as a defender for the Galaxy, but after Tuesday’s training session, he met with the media to share is experiences with the U.S. in the World Cup,
Gonzalez said the team was not affected by Coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s pre-tournament assertion that “We cannot win this World Cup because we are not at that level yet.”
“I tried not to pay attention too much to the media and how they can take things people say and flip them and things like that,” Gonzalez said. “Would I have liked to say, ‘Yeah we can get as far as we can.’ Maybe it could have been worded differently. I think that’s all it is.
“From inside the locker room he was nothing but supportive. He was probably our biggest cheerleader. He might have said that, but when we were interacting with each other, there was no doubt that he believed that we could do it.”
Very Much Looking forward to the semis already;) pic.twitter.com/ya47iHLev3
— The Beautiful Game (@iWorldCup) July 8, 2014
#GER #GER #GERBRA #Germany pic.twitter.com/S0Z4Rw4eZ1
— Ris. (@_AhmadFariss) July 7, 2014
Suggested reading:
Here’s my take on the tournament so far in this week’s soccer column.
Here’s more on the game from our sister newspaper the San Jose Mercury News.
The statistically most successful Mexican striker in Major League Soccer history is not Luis Hernandez, Carlos Hermosillo or Cuauhtémoc Blanco.
He is a young striker deemed surplus to requirements at Chivas Guadalajara who has now scored more goals in MLS than any other Mexican striker in history; Cubo “Erick” Torres, who is now the second most prolific scorer in MLS this season.
He was voted the MLS Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters after scoring two goals that propelled Chivas USA to two 1-0 victories, defeating the San Jose Earthquakes and Montreal Impact.
And he has done so largely ignored by fans of his same heritage; just an announced 4,201 took in the last Chivas USA game over the holiday weekend.
“He’s got a quality you can’t teach,” Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy said recently. “His focus is just superb and for his age, it’s hard to believe what he can come up with and pull off. The goal tonight reminded me of that bicycle kick in Vancouver last year, where it’s just something out of nothing.”