Posts by Noah Davis

October 17, 2013
We Went There: Wales-Belgium World Cup Qualifier

In retrospect, I should have seen the warning signs. The mission didn’t seem difficult: Watch Belgium play among a mass of cheering, flag-waving, jersey-clad Belgians. I was going to be in Belgium, after all, which is in Europe, which means — rash generalization — people love soccer. But I saw more Los Angeles Lakers hats […]
October 10, 2013
There Are 23 Plane Tickets to Brazil: Predicting Which USMNT Players Are Getting Them

Why, hello there. The United States men’s national team qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil thanks to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in Columbus, Ohio. The win means that the American fan base can stop panicking about whether the Stars and Stripes will reach the world’s richest soccer tournament (which, let’s be honest, […]
September 11, 2013
We Went There: USMNT Beats Mexico in Columbus, Qualifies for World Cup

Crew Stadium just north of Columbus, Ohio, is something out of a bygone era in American soccer. When it opened in 1999, no one knew if Major League Soccer would survive. As a result, Corna Kokosing Construction Company built the country’s first pro soccer–specific stadium for just $28.5 million. Fourteen years later, the aging venue […]
September 9, 2013
Questions and Answers Surrounding the USMNT's Loss in Costa Rica and Upcoming Clash With Mexico

So, the United States men’s national team went to another tiny Central American nation in World Cup qualifying and lost, falling 3-1 to Costa Rica on Friday night. I thought we were done with this type of ridiculousness. Short answer: no. Medium answer: Welcome to CONCACAF. Longer answer: It meant more to the Ticos, and […]
August 29, 2013
Does the USMNT Have an Injury Problem?

Steve Cherundolo, Tim Howard, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu, Brek Shea, Herculez Gomez, and Josh Gatt. These are members of the United States men’s national team who missed time recently because of injury. Some of the afflictions are serious, requiring surgery and months of rehab, while some are less dire, but these are all players who […]
August 22, 2013
Q&A: Gridiron Editor Matthew Sherry on (NFL) Football in the U.K.

The National Football League is big business, which is a stunningly obvious, relatively unhelpful thing to write, unless you’re talking about the NFL in the United Kingdom, where Roger Goodell and the owners are making a conscious effort to expand the game. There are the matches at Wembley Stadium, the talk of a team based […]
August 14, 2013
The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of the Young American Striker

On November 17, 2010, 17-year-old Juan Agudelo made his debut with the United States men’s national team, wearing the no. 17 shirt and scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over South Africa. Four months later, the teenager found the back of the net in a 1-1 draw against Argentina, and U.S. fans were […]
July 31, 2013
We Know What the USMNT Did This Summer

The United States men’s national team played 11 games in June and July, winning all of them. Along the way, the squad took home its first Gold Cup since 2007, had 15 players score a combined 35 goals, posted five shutouts, and conceded more than one goal only once. While Jurgen Klinsmann’s side had some […]
July 23, 2013
Jurgen Klinsmann, Fashion Icon

Jurgen Klinsmann drew criticism for using 26 different starting lineups in his first 26 matches as head coach of the United States men’s national team. But let’s talk about more important matters, namely that he sported just as many outfits while smiling and scowling on the sideline. Whereas his predecessor Bob Bradley favored casual tracksuits […]
July 17, 2013
The USMNT Gets a Brek, Advances in Gold Cup

The United States men’s national team only needed a tie against Costa Rica at East Hartford’s Rentschler Field, but did one better as a late goal by second-half substitute Brek Shea gave the Americans a 1-0 victory in their third and final group stage game of the 2013 Gold Cup. The win was the squad’s […]

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