"Clint, Tim?" "Hello Mr. Jeremy Mathieu Jersey . President, hows it going?" The US World Cup campaign formally ended Wednesday with a cosy two minute chat on the phone between the President, the captain and Americas latest superhero. The team might not have scaled 2002s quarterfinal heights, but they leave Brazil with something not even Qatari petrodollars could buy. They have changed the conversation with how old football perceives soccers new frontier. No one connected with the United States Soccer Federation could have dreamt that. Or for that matter Major League Soccer. Especially when you factor in they were drawn in a group with a nation thats made it through to 15 straight quarterfinal appearances, another still smarting from how extremely close they got in 2010 to finally become Africas first ever semi-finalist and Ronaldo who proved in the playoffs one player could indeed carry a nation. How very American of him. Bookies in London had the US at even money to finish bottom of the group. Defy those odds they certainly would. It was one thing to target victory in their opening fixture and quite another, the manner in which they achieved it. Ghana should have been home and dry well before John Brooks Jr. popped up on the edge of the six-yard line in the 86th minute. Then to discover afterwards Brooks had disclosed to a couple of team mates on the eve of the match he dreamt hed score the winner was that Hollywood moment all of America could relate to - underlined by a visit to the victorious locker room by none other than Vice President Joe Biden. On to the Amazon Rainforest and that much anticipated date with Ronaldo was next on the agenda. The drama that unfolded that particular prime time Sunday evening was watched by over 25 million. To put that into a clearer sporting perspective last falls World Series averaged just a shade over 15 million whilst the NBA Finals averaged 15.5 million. Speaking to the beautiful games growing stateside support that 25 million viewing audience represents a 20 per cent leap on the number which watched the US v England match at South Africa 2010. Going into the tournament it was well established that outside of Brazilians, the US was the second largest ticket buying nation with close to 200,000 tickets purchased from US Zip codes. What that figure didnt tell us was what percentage of those 196,000 were immigrants who would be in Brazil to cheer on their nation of birth. That question was answered by the pictures we witnessed on match day and did not go un-noticed by the English media in attendance for US games. Back home in the living rooms and pubs in cities right across the US it reinforced the message of soccers growing appeal and allure. Come Tuesdays round of 16-match against Belgium viewing parties stretched right across the MLS landscape. Fabled NFL stadiums Soldier Field and Cowboys Stadium drew crowds of 25,000 and 20,000 respectively. As Barrack Obama and his 200 strong staff settled in to watch the game at a White House viewing party workers across the country went on a collective dental appointment which according to Yahoo Finance would cost the US economy over $700 million. These types of things were only supposed to happen in Asia, Europe or South America. With the USs World Cup over, as MLS players return to their clubs and European based players finally get their delayed vacations now comes the hard work to ensure those part time fans become connected to soccer year round. Just because someone will willingly don the stars and stripes in support of their nation doesnt mean theyll automatically transfer that emotional connection to Major League Soccer. Certainly as in previous World Cup cycles MLS and its clubs will register an uptick at the box office and the merchandise store. This will be especially so for the clubs who had players who featured in Brazil. A nice problem MLS faces will be keeping hold of the players whose stars shone in Brazil. An entirely different one stems from yesterdays France v Germany quarterfinal. Listening into ESPN Radio a tweet was read out from a listener saying, "Im enjoying your commentary whilst spraying my corn in Alabama. Last time I checked Alabama doesnt have an MLS franchise, and yet here was a soccer diehard listening on the radio whilst working on a Friday afternoon. The defining image for me of the US World Cup wasnt a Tim Howard save, Demspeys or Julian Greens goals. Or even Jürgen Klinsmann berating the fourth official in his best Anglo-Saxon when only one minute was added to the end of extra time in the Belgium game. Instead it came from the twitter account of Major League Baseball. "Looks like @ussoccer is the only thing that matters right now," was accompanied with various images from MLB Stadiums of players watching the big screens as they took in the action of the US v Belgium during batting practice ahead of that evenings MLB games. Bill Clintons Soccer Mom has evolved into Barrack Obamas Soccer Sophisticats. [email protected] @TheSoccerNoel TSN Radio is an official licensed radio broadcaster of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Brazil. Check www.tsn.ca/radio for the broadcast schedule in your home town. Lionel Messi Barcelona Jersey . Scrivens stopped 48 shots and captain Andrew Ference scored in overtime as the Oilers pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Jeremy Mathieu Barcelona Jersey . Marcus Olsson, 23, joins Blackburn on a free transfer from Swedens Halmstads. He made 139 appearances and scored 17 goals in his four years with the club. He earned his first caps for Sweden this month, featuring against Bahrain and Qatar.San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Antti Niemi made 25 saves and six different Sharks scored as San Jose used a five-goal second period to ease past the Anaheim Ducks, 6-3, on Thursday. Patrick Marleau, Barclay Goodrow and James Sheppard each tallied a goal and an assist and Brenden Dillon, Matt Irwin and Joe Pavelski also scored for the Sharks, who have won seven straight home games against the Ducks. Andrew Cogliano, Patrick Maroon and Matt Beleskey all lit the lamp for the Ducks, who had their six-game winning streak come to a screeching halt. Ilya Bryzgalov gave up all six goals on 25 shots and Frederik Andersen turned aside all eight shots fired his way in relief. If I made a couple of saves on some of those goals, it might be different, said Bryzgalov. The Sharks seized control with five goals during the middle stanza. Goodrow started the drastic momentum shift 2:15 into the frame as he shot the puck through Bryzgalovs pads and Marleau made it a 3-1 game four minutes later after he deflected Brent Burns point shot. Irwin stepped up into the slot and wristed a shot past a screened BBryzgalov at 12:37, Sheppard found twine with a wrister off the rush two minutes later and Dillon made it a 6-1 game after his cross-ice feed on a short-handed two-on- one went in off a sliding Beleskey with 3:53 left in the second. Sergio Busquets Jersey. Anaheim got one back after Beleskeys fluttering backhander fooled Niemi just 1:23 into the third and Maroon accounted for the final score with 1:10 to play as he took Hampus Lindholms cross-ice pass and ripped a wrister short side. Cogliano gave the Ducks an early lead after he deposited a rebound in front just 4:57 into the game. San Jose tied the game less than three minutes later as Pavelski redirected Joe Thorntons offering past Bryzgalov during a power play. Game Notes The Ducks last won in San Jose on March 19, 2012 ... Pavelski and Maroon each scored in a third straight game for their respective teams ... The Ducks suffered their first regulation loss when scoring first. They entered the game with a 23-0-5 record when doing so ... The Sharks improved to 3-1-1 on a seven-game homestand. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
