7.9.14
ASN Morning Read: Contextualizing the USMNT
The Morning Read is a little different today. Five outtakes from five stories we liked. Well, actually, that's pretty much what it always is, isn't it? Whoops. Read it anyway?
BY
Noah Davis
Posted
July 09, 2014
8:55 AM
Tim Howard, in context: "So, comes now Tim Howard, who plays for an American team that is more authentically an underdog than almost any other American team you can name. (An American team, I would note, the new coach of which marked the beginning of the tournament by explaining how his team didn’t have a chance in hell of winning the thing.) Howard not only was a part of that team, but also its unquestioned star, the man of all the team’s matches. He was the unquestioned star, and the man of all the team’s matches, while playing the most easily understood position on the field. This is how a soccer player gets people wanting to name airports after him, and how he and the condition he has overcome with no little courage wind up symbolizing … something."
Mix Diskerud's future, in context:
Harry Shipp, in context: “'I’m five-foot-nine and weight less than 150 pounds, and not fast,' Shipp said bluntly. 'I wasn’t blessed with athletic ability and natural ability. For me it’s just working hard and developing technical skills. When I was younger, I was always the smallest kid. I was five foot in high school and probably weighed 100 pounds. It was one of those things where I was never picked for youth national teams because I just didn’t have the physical abilities that other kids had.'”
The Alexi Lalas-Geoff Cameron feud, in context: "I love the fact that, in this case, Geoff Cameron took issue with me. I’m not sure exactly what the issue was. In fact, I’ve been a great supporter of Geoff Cameron. But the fact that he wanted to stand up for himself, I love that. I’d want to play with someone like that. And whether it’s him or anybody else, whether it’s social media or anything like that, people talking about this game, people arguing about this game, people disagreeing about this game, that’s what soccer nations are about. And if we ever hope to be like any other countries, this type of discussion has to be fostered and encouraged, obviously with respect. I’m a big boy. Geoff’s a big boy. And I wish him well as he goes on and plays. If he ever wants to talk to me, he can certainly talk to me."
Germany, in context we suppose:
