Ladies and Gentlemen, the invasion may have begun. This summer, soccer has received more media attention and ESPN coverage than ever in the United States. Between the US’s World Cup Qualifying, the Confederations Cup, and the Gold Cup, the USMNT has been on tva lot. Now add in all of those friendlies between various American clubs and the superpowers over in Europe. Real Madrid, AC Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea, and Inter Milan all drew HUGE crowds in stadiums across the country and ESPN televised every game. And at least once a week, if not more, ESPN showed an MLS game. Soccer was more prominent in the United States than ever before during this Summer.
Now, the step is even bigged. ESPN is showing the Premier League and La Liga matches every weekend. That is a MASSIVE step. A lot of the reasons why American don’t follow soccer is that it’s tough to watch the games and to follow the sport. Well now, every weekend morning you can wake up to the best teams in the world playing live, meaningful games on a common station. For soccer fans living in the US, this is extraordinarily exciting. For me, I get to watch my favorite team, Real Madrid, every Sunday morning. Of course, I watched them before on other networks, but watching on ESPN adds so much more. Continue reading “Soccer, Soccer, Soccer”
The United States Men’s National Team needed an improbable 3-0 victory over Egypt and for Brazil to beat Italy 3-0 last Sunday afternoon. It happened. This time, all the US had to do was knock off #1 ranked Spain, who had not given up a goal all tournament, had won 15 games in a row, and had a 35 game unbeaten streak. They did that as well, beating the Spaniards 2-0 and advancing to the finals of the Confederations Cup.
Danny Vinik 