Pete Sixsmith has been known to pooh-pooh women’s football, though not usually when Monsieur Salut’s football-playing daughter Nathalie is within earshot. But even he has been impressed by the superb efforts made by the Sunderland Women’s Football Club in recent years, many achievements crowned by overcoming outrageous FA obstacles to enter the Super League. So he went along to see them …
My electronic friend Fahim Officiel, the brains behind the Algerian top you see above or alongside these words, is ecstatic at his country’s progress from the group stage to the last 16 of the World Cup. He asks me to remind Salut! Sunderland readers of his original forecast that they’d reach the quarter finals though I am not sure this was a prediction that made it onto these pages.
It used to be said that football could never be popular in the USA because the country had no interest in a sport it couldn’t win. Has Brazil 2014 finally changed that? The fans in the stadiums and on social media are vocal enough but what about the broader picture? With a last 16 tie with Belgium looming, it would fascinating to hear from our Sunderland-supporting American correspondent Grant Tunkel how the team’s impressive progress is being received back home.
For now, he reflects on Jürgen Klinsmann’s success in leading the USA out of tricky group stage – a much tougher task than faced much-praised France – despite a narrow defeat to Germany. Cue a Jozy Altidore goal or two on return from injury to see off the Belgians? …
Let’s look forward to another of Grant Tunkel‘s fascinating descriptions of the USA (and Sunderland) supporter’s experience of World Cup joy.
The USA’s 1-0 defeat by Germany was probably about fair. But Portugal’s win against Ghana was the result that ensured American progress to the knock-out stages of the competition.
This should really have preceded Malcolm Dawson’s short, timely piece on the Luis Suarez biting incident. Monsieur Salut had assorted domestic crises, a heavy extractor fan falling in the middle of the night to smash the hob and my Mac’s refusal to accept the valid password for wifi access being only two of them. So here, out of sequence but welcome, are Jeremy Robson‘s thoughts on footballer’s teeth invading footballer’s flesh …
Malcolm Dawson writes….I have no sympathy for Luis Suarez. A serial biter deserves all he gets.
Even as he withdrew his teeth he fell to the ground hoping to fool the referee into believing he was the one sinned against. That’s the sort of behaviour you hope a four-year-old is about to grow out of.
I said in my last post that I’m not a fan of the World Cup. That’s true but I do …
With England out, the Salut! Sunderland readership choice of the USA makes them our Brazil 2014 team. Our US correspondent Grant Tunkel rode an uncontrollable rollercoaster of emotions, from hope to dismay to ecstasy to last-ditch disappointment to pride, as the USA recovered from a woeful start against Portugal, deservedly equalised, even more deservedly led and then suffered the cruel injustice of the loss of two points in the dying seconds. That man Ronaldo, mastered for huge chunks of the game, popped up with a magical cross and 2-1 was suddenly 2-2.
Progress can still be ensured by avoiding defeat in the last game of the group stage and Ghana have shown Germany can be matched. Now read and feel Grant’s report …
With all the, um, excitement of Brazil 2014, we have perhaps overlooked the pleasant duty of welcoming the three players …
Another Sixsmith – not our Pete, not even his Phil or Michael, but Andy, the television and events host (and son of Mike) – made several good points during the scintillating first half of France vs Switzerland.