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Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas held a clean sheet and was nothing short of brilliant for 90 minutes Friday against powerhouse Brazil. Unfortunately for the Ticos, the beautiful game can be awfully cruel at times, especially that pesky old stoppage time. In the blink of an eye, the scoreboard...
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For what it’s sometimes lacked in competitive matches, Group A has made up for in scoring — well, at least when the hosts play. With every squad having two matches in the books, there’s yet to be a single draw or upset. It’s been all chalk across the board...
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If you’ve followed international soccer for any stretch of time, you’re probably familiar with the FIFA World Ranking system. This list, calculated and maintained by FIFA, attempts to quantitatively determine which teams are the best in the world. They’ve been around in some form since December 1992, and have...
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Saturday’s World Cup action illustrated that Group C will be an enjoyable bracket to watch. The combination of the four styles left a feeling of satisfaction, and there will not be a comfortable rival as public opinion expected. France vs. Australia There were plenty of expectations about the game...
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In Part II of our breakdown of every country’s 2018 home and away World Cup kits, the panel sizes up the threads of Groups E through H. Brickyard Battalion board member David Strange guests as the lads pick their favorite kit in each group before rattling off their overall...
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While we at Soc Takes were discussing our World Cup content, I came up with a few different ideas I thought might be interesting: a piece comparing the two common international ranking systems and what the differences are, a piece looking at what leagues and teams are most represented...
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Some of the World Cup’s groups have a colloquial or implicit name given by the audience determined by the quality of the teams that compose them. In this case, Group C is baptized as the dynamic group. France, Denmark, Australia and Peru are attractive teams to watch with a...
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There are positive starts to the World Cup, then there’s what host country Russia did to Saudi Arabia on Thursday in the 2018 World Cup opener, which could only be described as a thrashing. The hosts opened the scoring early on a 12th-minute strike by Yuri Gazinskiy and never looked back....
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The panel, with the help of Brickyard Battalion board member David Strange, goes off the pitch to analyze the World Cup kits of every single team in the tournament — the good, the bad and the ugly. The panelists select a favorite kit in each group before picking their...
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It’s been a long way. In four years, an unnumbered amount of situations in my life are subjected to change, but not my emotions upon the World Cup’s arrival. I can assure you that I don’t remember the last time a colossal amount of excitement invaded my system. I’m...
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Who is in Group B? Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran. Who are the favorites to go through? Portugal and Spain are heavy favorites in this group. GROUP B TEAM PREVIEWS Portugal – The reigning European Champions possess a team full of recognized names such as defenders Pepe and Jose Fonte,...
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In October 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced a temporary suspension of Peruvian captain Paolo Guerrero after confirming that he tested positive of Benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine. “In reality, we don’t know,” Guerrero told BBC journalist Paul Harris when asked how the substance got into...
Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas held a clean sheet and was nothing short of brilliant for 90 minutes Friday against powerhouse Brazil. Unfortunately for the Ticos, the beautiful game can be awfully cruel at times, especially that pesky old stoppage time. In the blink of an eye, the scoreboard...
For what it’s sometimes lacked in competitive matches, Group A has made up for in scoring — well, at least when the hosts play. With every squad having two matches in the books, there’s yet to be a single draw or upset. It’s been all chalk across the board...
If you’ve followed international soccer for any stretch of time, you’re probably familiar with the FIFA World Ranking system. This list, calculated and maintained by FIFA, attempts to quantitatively determine which teams are the best in the world. They’ve been around in some form since December 1992, and have...
Saturday’s World Cup action illustrated that Group C will be an enjoyable bracket to watch. The combination of the four styles left a feeling of satisfaction, and there will not be a comfortable rival as public opinion expected. France vs. Australia There were plenty of expectations about the game...
In Part II of our breakdown of every country’s 2018 home and away World Cup kits, the panel sizes up the threads of Groups E through H. Brickyard Battalion board member David Strange guests as the lads pick their favorite kit in each group before rattling off their overall...
While we at Soc Takes were discussing our World Cup content, I came up with a few different ideas I thought might be interesting: a piece comparing the two common international ranking systems and what the differences are, a piece looking at what leagues and teams are most represented...
Some of the World Cup’s groups have a colloquial or implicit name given by the audience determined by the quality of the teams that compose them. In this case, Group C is baptized as the dynamic group. France, Denmark, Australia and Peru are attractive teams to watch with a...
There are positive starts to the World Cup, then there’s what host country Russia did to Saudi Arabia on Thursday in the 2018 World Cup opener, which could only be described as a thrashing. The hosts opened the scoring early on a 12th-minute strike by Yuri Gazinskiy and never looked back....
The panel, with the help of Brickyard Battalion board member David Strange, goes off the pitch to analyze the World Cup kits of every single team in the tournament — the good, the bad and the ugly. The panelists select a favorite kit in each group before picking their...
It’s been a long way. In four years, an unnumbered amount of situations in my life are subjected to change, but not my emotions upon the World Cup’s arrival. I can assure you that I don’t remember the last time a colossal amount of excitement invaded my system. I’m...
Who is in Group B? Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran. Who are the favorites to go through? Portugal and Spain are heavy favorites in this group. GROUP B TEAM PREVIEWS Portugal – The reigning European Champions possess a team full of recognized names such as defenders Pepe and Jose Fonte,...
In October 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced a temporary suspension of Peruvian captain Paolo Guerrero after confirming that he tested positive of Benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine. “In reality, we don’t know,” Guerrero told BBC journalist Paul Harris when asked how the substance got into...