Aram Gumusyan

As England struggled to break down Estonia’s defense on Sunday, Wayne Rooney was once again a central figure for all the good and bad moments. Like many other games with England, Rooney struggled in the final third. He missed chances, wasted crosses, showed a poor first touch and lacked control in crucial moments. Yet, just […]

NBC’s Hollywood Game Night. Pleated Dockers khakis. The Chevy Tahoe. Maroon 5’s music. David Cameron’s hair. People magazine. The new Wembley Stadium. Each the pinnacle of blandness in its field, and to these we can now add Major League Soccer’s new logo. MLS can call upon graphic design’s best and brightest, yet the chosen […]

For Premier League fans, like James Bond in The World is Not Enough, Christmas comes twice a year. First, when August brings a three-week tease of action, and then again when the Prem triumphantly returns replete with new transfers after a torpid international break. Before Saturday’s slate, let The Sweeper fill you in on some […]

Exhale. Savor summer’s few remaining days. Fire up the grill. Slither down a slip n slide. Lay back in a hammock while cradling a watery beer. It’s the September international break, and with options like Finland v Faroe Islands, Denmark v Armenia, and Bolivia v Ecuador, the emphasis is on “break.” But before you take […]

Before we throttle into another action-packed weekend, let The Sweeper, a new World Soccer Talk feature, take you back through the week that was for some of the stories from around the web that you may have missed. 1. “Christmas in August.” The transfers are flying fast and furious as the September 1st deadline nears which […]

What happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas for Arsenal star Jack Wilshere as he was recently caught smoking a cigarette while partying poolside. He duly apologized, saying “Of course I regret it…I have kids myself and I don’t want them growing up to think their dad smokes and it’s ok for a footballer to […]

The sky above Pasadena was still bright blue as a red sea of Manchester United faithful filled the Rose Bowl to see their recast club face the L.A. Galaxy on a sultry Wednesday night. The 86,432 who packed into L.A.’s historic college football venue, greater than any UCLA Bruins crowd last season, endured a half-hour […]

Germany may have triumphed on the pitch, but today we’re concerned with crowning the champion of a more esoteric field. Which World Cup country wore the best crest? The criteria for ranking each nation’s badge of honor is the quality of graphic design, uniqueness, suitability for sport, its rendering on the shirt, and how well […]

After a month of World Cup action, facing this week’s matchless void was like stumbling out of a bar and into the blinding sunlight. And if the USMNT’s addictive run was your first taste of the sport then you may be feeling like Lindsay Lohan sitting poolside at the Château Marmont right now – despondent […]

World Cup Final day finds the two nations’ newspapers in different moods. German newspapers express a brazen confidence while underdog Argentina harps on hope, prayer, and dreams. Frankfurter Allgemeine (above) has the most distinctive front page of the day. No words are necessary, just a closeup of the national teams shirt bearing a crest ringed by four […]

Yesterday Germany got their revenge for 2002 World Cup Final loss to Brazil in spades. Today we get a rematch of the 1978 Final between Holland and Argentina. Their newspapers today reveal two nations focused on different emotions; the Dutch are joyful but nervous while the Argentines are reveling in schadenfreude at their neighbor’s nadir […]

It’s 2002 all over again today as Brazil and Germany meet for the first time since Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” was scorching the summer twelve years ago. Both countries are predictably consumed by today’s semi-final, so let’s take a look at how their newspapers are amping up. “Somos todos Neymar” (“We are all Neymar”) has […]

Three-time World Cup loser Netherlands is the only outsider in a final four that features three of the most successful sides in history. Still, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany, despite having won more than half of all the World Cups played, have their own reasons for angst. Here then are each semi-finalists narrative along with the […]

As painful as America’s World Cup exit was, its supporters must now pick themselves up from the mat as there are only a precious few World Cup matches to indulge in. At first blush it may seem difficult to find a new side to root for. But there’s a nation out there worthy of our […]

Most newspapers flooded their front pages with pictures from the many joyous public gatherings that turned massive scenes of disappointment. None did it better than the Las Vegas Review-Journal (see above). The juxtaposition between the fan looking left while the glasses fan looks right in utter agony is absolutely brilliant. The Oakland Tribune was one of the […]