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Conservative columnist Ann Coulter has been shown a red card for her controversial comments criticizing the World Cup and calling soccer a girls’ game. On the eve of the United States game against Belgium, Coulter has been blasted by fellow conservatives who have scoffed at her claim that "any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation’s moral decay," Politico reported. On Fox & Friends, host Brian Kilmeade attacked Coulter, saying, "I will outline what she said and try to find anything factual in it. That will be an interesting little exercise." And Fox News host...

SAO PAULO – Lost amid all the talk about the World Cup making soccer grow in popularity within the United States is one very real and unexpected development taking place right here in Brazil. The United States is growing in popularity within soccer. Don't look now, U.S. men's national team, but you are increasingly becoming the second favorite team for a lot of folks from other countries, including the host nation. "Brazil is falling in love with the U.S.," said Brazilian businessman Mario Ribiero, who partied with American supporters in Recife last week. "It is seen as something new and...

SALVADOR, Brazil — Every four years, soccer cleans its slate and allows nations to reinvent themselves. Forgotten teams resurface. Small programs make big strides. Champions uphold their legacy or, in the case of Spain this summer, show their age. For the second consecutive World Cup, the United States is in position for a breakthrough, a fresh narrative, a defining moment.[From Fancy Stats: How the United States can beat Belgium | What to expect from U.S.-Belgium (not much scoring) ]Four years ago in South Africa, the Americans won their first-round group in a heroic manner but lost to Ghana on an...

ESPN has been hyping the World Cup for weeks, showing video from venues across the country where large crowds have gathered to watch the US play. But it's a mirage. Only about 17% of Americans are showing interest in the World Cup soccer matches as opposed to 12% who are following the IRS lost emails story and 26% following events in Iraq. Pew Research: So far, the growing crisis in Iraq has not drawn strong interest from the American public. As Sunni militants extend their control of large swaths of Iraq, 25% say they are paying very close attention to...

SALVADOR, Brazil – The eyes of two nations will be glued to it no matter what happens, but statistical history from this World Cup suggests that the United States' round-of-16 showdown with Belgium on Tuesday could turn into a high-scoring classic. Because if you want to see goals galore, you'll see them in Salvador. The previous line was more than a terrible attempt at rhyming. A genuine trend has seen 21 goals rattled in over the course of just four games at Arena Fonte Nova. Forwards such as U.S. captain Clint Dempsey, who has already struck twice in the tournament,...

Uruguay forward Luis Suarez admits deep regret for the incident that led him to being sent home from Brazil, but no reference to Liverpool increases chance of Barcelona moveThe Uruguayan and Liverpool striker has appealed a four-month ban from football following the incident in his country’s final group game and this is the first show of contrition for his behaviour. In a statement released via his Twitter page, Suárez said: “After several days being home with my family. I have had the opportunity to regain my calm and reflect on the reality of what occurred on during the Italy-Uruguay match....

... The actor was responding to KLM’s tweet on Sunday, which saw the airline post the message “Adios Amigos!” alongside a photo of a graphic depicting a serape, sombrero and moustache beside an airport departures sign. The airline has said the posting was “meant to be a joke,” according to KLM spokeswoman Lisette Ebeling Koning, adding that the airline never intended to offend Mexicans, which it serves via a daily direct flight between Mexico City and Amsterdam. “But there was too much negative reaction.”...

Having survived the “Group of “Death,” Jürgen Klinsmann is now aiming to make the United States the last country standing at the 2014 World Cup. Klinsmann was criticized by many for stating ahead of the competition that it was unrealistic for the U.S. to leave Brazil with the World Cup trophy. While the reaction to his largely innocuous comments was overblown, there's certainly a greater air of positivity as the team prepares for its Round of 16 match with Belgium. And rightly so. When the draw was made for the World Cup in December, few gave the U.S. a chance...

... Belgium coach Marc Wilmots is sweating injuries to two of his four starting defenders – captain Vince Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen – and holds out hope that a weekend of rest will allow the two to recover in time to face the U.S. at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador.

Suarez, who has been banned from all soccer activities for four months, missed the adoring crowd after his private flight home from Brazil was delayed.Luis Suarez may have been banned from the World Cup but Uruguayans don’t seem to mind - in fact he’s being hailed a national hero. Suarez won’t be on the pitch when his home country takes on Colombia Saturday in the knockout round, but it seems his sacrificial bite was enough to earn him an increased celebrity status. “With the world against him, we want him to know that Uruguayans are for him,” student, Clara...

The result is hilarious – an image of the most recognisable face on the planet stuck on the side of a mug in amongst the rest of the Three Lions Brazil 2014 squad. The mistake has made it impossible to sell the 2,000 mugs featuring the faces of the England team, who are already out of the competition. As a result, the mugs have now been handed to a wholesale company to try and get rid of them, the UK’sIndependent newspaper reports. Karl Baxter MD for Wholesale Clearance told the Independent: "The Dorset company in question was given the seemingly...

June 28th, 2014 Brazil vs Chile 12:00 PM EDT Colombia vs Uruguay 4:00 PM EDT June 29th 2014 Netherlands vs Mexico 12:00 PM EDT Costa Rica vs Greece 4:00 PM EDT

Liverpool fan Harvey Eaglen apparently got in trouble in Lowestoft, Suffolk, after seeing the Uruguay striker try to take a chunk out of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini A child of seven faces being expelled from primary school for copying Luis Suarez’s World Cup bite attack, it was reported last night (FRIDAY). Liverpool fan Harvey Eaglen apparently got in trouble in Lowestoft, Suffolk, after seeing the Uruguay striker try to take a chunk out of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini. The bite-sized youngster is said to have sunk his teeth into a classmate’s wrist as they played football in the playground. Harvey...

... In other injury updates, U.S. Soccer announced that Jermaine Jones, in fact, had suffered a broken nose in his second-half collision Thursday with teammate Alejandro Bedoya. Jones, like Dempsey, will not wear a mask to protect his face for the next match.

I think the points have been made: — Soccer is largely a tedious game featuring long stretches of uneventful play punctuated by the all-too-rare moment of scoring; — The clock concept is infuriating. We love the 45-minute halves with no commercials, but then the arbitrary one or three or six minutes of “extra time” violate every concept of precision that a clocked sport should have; — Soccer has its fan base, and it is not small; but the pressure on America to embrace it to some far larger degree is absurd. We simply never will as long as we...

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter believes that the country’s growing interest in soccer – fueled by Team USA’s success in the 2014 World Cup - is a sure sign of America's ‘moral decay.’ Coulter’s reasons for hating soccer include that individual achievement is not a big factor, it isn’t rough enough, and the fact that ‘it's foreign.’ As a conservative she argued that liberals only love soccer - and the metric system - because they're both 'European.'

The shockwaves will have been felt from the Maracana in Rio, to Melwood back in Liverpool, as Luis Suarez received a four-month ban from all football-related activity and was suspended for Uruguay's next nine matches. Uruguay's talisman has been removed from their World Cup reckoning for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini and Liverpool will be without arguably the Premier League's finest player until November. Fifa needed to act swiftly and decisively and has done so on an unprecedented scale at a World Cup.

FIFA have yet to tell the Reds whether suspension for biting prevents striker Barcelona now hope to buy on the cheap from training at Melwood Liverpool have joined the Uruguayan FA in considering legal action against Fifa after it hit Luis Suarez with a four month ban from football for his biting shame. Suarez's Liverpool career is in the balance after he was punished for his bite on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini. The striker was due back in Uruguay this morning, after being told to leave his team's World Cup base. Liverpool are furious that Fifa included a four month ban...

RECIFE, Brazil — The U.S. national soccer team advanced to the next round of the World Cup on Thursday, thanks in part to a handsome and talented chap playing 850 miles away. While the Americans failed to control their future, losing to Germany, 1-0, at soggy Arena Pernambuco, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late goal to all but end Ghana’s hopes of catching the United States in the Group G standings.The Americans (1-1-1) finished second in the so-called Group of Death, even on points with Portugal (1-1-1) but well ahead on the first tiebreaker, goal difference. The United States...

President Obama watched some of Thursday’s World Cup match in which Germany defeated the U.S. 1-0 while flying to Minnesota aboard Air Force One. Photographers traveling with the president were ushered back into the conference room to catch a glimpse of Obama and other senior staff members watching the game. Presidential advisers Valerie Jarrett and Dan Pfeiffer were at the table, as were press secretary Josh Earnest and staffers Anita Decker Breckenridge, David Simas, and Dag Vega. The presidential watch party didn't prove good luck for the men's team, but the U.S. still advanced to the next round of the...