Scroll Down To Order
Scroll Down To Order
A flicker of hope
is all that stood
. . . against barbarism.
Another outbreak of such a crisis of madness
[meaning the First World War]
would necessarily involve the destruction of
society in the public order. June 1, 1933
People cried out
for a better future.
Germany neither intends nor wishes
to interfere in the internal affairs
of Austria or to conclude an Anschluss. May 1935
If the problem is solved,
there will be no further territorial damands
in Europe by Germany. Sep 1938
CASTLES OF THE MIND ... VENTURE ACROSS ALL BRIDGES
Strongly recommended. Found in every supermarket; mainly in color.
On this web page, I would like to share my thoughts on our U.S. team. (Press on the additional colored words which are links.) In the United States, our football is not the same as what the world calls football. Technically, I say it should be called soccer-football, but I will just use the word soccer. The tournament will end on July 15. It begins on June 11 with a crucial World Cup openier of Mexico vs South Africa. Time not to chicken out, pout, or be fearful--pick yourself up. It is getting closer. You got to have passion despite all the knuckleheads who will try to rip you off with loony ticket prices. Young and old. We can have fun together. Read about past games and players in this PDF written by the author Robert C. Valentine mainly on 2022.
The world will come to us in 2026 when the World Cup will be played in the American hemisphere.Team USA has dared to venture in 2026, with passion and skills. The U.S. team when they played Senegal in the first half on May 31, 2026, has shown fluidity of passing and a spark to get the ball wide to Pepi, McKinnie or Pulisic, guys with awesome speed. But, it is not just speed. They can demonstrate, what is called an instinct of what to do next. One must remember, some have come a long way since 2022. When I was a frosh in high school, I knew beans about soccer, and we did not win a single game. In my junior year, after I had come from the hospital, I winded up one of the highest scorers on the team, and in my senior yr with 3 games left, our coach told us, we are in a 3-waytie for first, and one team has a lot of tall nordic guys, and they are super tough. No loses or ties allowed or we wind up by a percentage point in 2nd. The clock ticked to 55 seconds. Then 52, then I took a long, long shot from over 40 yards away. It sailed and sailed in the air. I thought it would fail, Oh my God, then it curved like if held by an invisible angel and dropped into the upper corner of the net, beyond the reach of the goalie. He could not stop it. Our last three games we won, with my teammates who in each game we had a hero in each battle, there was Witold Dudzinski and David Montoya. Teamwork is important. The same thing goes for team USA. Never give up till the final whistle blows.
Out of the ashes of two World Cups ago, however, a new chapter can be written, as long as our Defensive tactics do not mess up. If the U.S. does not advance beyond group stage, they are a bunch of dunce dumkoffs. You got to feel it when you are on the frontline, and got to believe that there will come a time coming up, all eyes will be on you, and you got to deliver the best you can offer. The whole country has confidence in the guys of 2026, we are all watching to see you do your best for America, and not be a dumkoff.
Let's Go beat the others 🙃
The first game for the U.S. is on Friday, June 12 versus Paraguay, in Los Angeles with an expected temperature between 76-79˚F. The stadium is not far from LAX and the Pacific Ocean.
The reigning World Cup champion is Argentina. The last World Cup was seen by four billion people, and this is not an AI generated fact. AI says a lot of people attended that last World Cup: 3,404,252 spectators saw the games in person, and, approximately 1.5 billion watched the 2022 FIFA Final. On the web, it is shown that 1.1 billion saw the 2002 World Cup on TV, when the U.S. last time advanced to the World Cup Quarterfinals. [The world population was 6 bill in 2002 and in 2022 the pop was 8 billion, let us see what jump in stats will watch the Final in 2026. But, for your added information, the # of people who saw the World Cup of 1994, the last time the USA hosted the World Cup, had a phenomenal 3.5 million spectators—the all-time attendance of all the FIFA World Cups in history, when tickets ranged between $74-$125, adjusted for inflation. However, as of June 5, 2026 with ticket prices commanding exorbitant prices thanks to a greedy FIFA, it is doubtful that record will be broken, unless a miracle is performed and the prices come down to normal.]
The U.S. Team led by manager Mauricio Pochettino, has a veteran U.S. World Cup team with extraordinary speed with a mix of speedier young men who if they play like the way they did on Sunday May 31, especially how Ricardo Pepi made a pass zinging with electricity to Christian Pulisic to score in a game against Senegal, then watch out. Unlike the past, this team has depth, with the defensive formation described as a shape-shifting hybrid, as opposed to a simple 3-man backline. With the exception of the 2002 magical squad, the defense has usually been America’s weakest point. The U.S. 2002 team in Korea reached the quarterfinals under Bruce Arena. It may look if the U.S.A. advances from the first round in 2026, it may play Egypt, which would be nicer than nice. But first, they must not freak out in any of their next group matches, namely Paraguay, Australia and Turkey.
Can it be said the team of ’26 be the team that surpasses the golden soccer team of 2002?
But 2026, started horrific, pure horror not winning any game the first months of 2026, was like a great chastisement. Or, was it purification? During this period, many of our first stringers were in Europe, not released by European head honchos? Some say the same happened to the US when the three months before the World Cup in Qatar began, we were in the same fix. Correction, in our loss to Japan (2-0) in Sept. of 2022 for example, the U.S. lineup had 2 key forwards missing in the loss, Pepi and Pulisic. Yedlin for the back line was supposed to bolster the defense but he too did not play vs Japan. Until Sept, America had 7 wins when Pulisic wore the captain's armband. Starting forwards Josh Sargent, Timothy Weah incidentally did not play, nor did two other first stringers “Jedi" Robinson and Musah. That World Cup did not have Mauricio Pochettino at the U.S. helm. However, in early 2026 Christian Pulisic did play. In this period, our star, Pulisic could not even score one crummy single goal. In the game against Belgium, they murdered us 5-2. But, then the drought was over, when on May 31, in a game against a speedy Senegal squad with their first stringers, the U.S. won and Pulisic even scored (2-1).
Between 2021—when the discovery of the current batch of teamates began—til the last World Cup in 2022, America’s best spent a lot of time criss-crossing time, winning and loosing, and then flowed the next 3 years with a new coach who more often than not experimented with a new roster every other game. He is the $6 million dollar man who experimented using 61 different payers in 24 games. Will it pay off? At least our drought is over. This Saturday, the United States will face off against Germany in a Friendly. Let us see what turns up.
In 2026, if the U.S. advances past the quarterfinals, they might have to tackle Portugal first, assuming Portugal gets there, and then they will be surpassing the 2002 team—which was cheated out by the referee from Scotland who did not even bother to consult with his linesmen, who were closer to the scene where the German’s arm prevented the soccer ball from scoring. It was clear interference. But, he right away told everyone to scram, play on, play on with his whistle. {Look at the real video.} They got away with murder, but in other times during that game, when in other questionable calls, yep, you guessed it, he blew a whistle, stopped play and went to consult with the linesmen who were always closer to the far-away line.
There was no VAR in 2002. In the old days, regarding World Cups of the past, it was said, Europeans do not win in the Americas and non-Europeans do not win in Europe. . . unless you had Pele.
A blast from the past, present, and future?
3 yrs ago posted unforgettable, U.S. goals.
2002 USA 3-2 World Cup win vs Portugal June 5.
2002 USA captained by Claudio Reyna.
2002 USA and host South Korea tie June 10.
2002 USA defeats Mexico in World Cup June 17.
2009 Confederations Cup, US upsets favorite Spain.
2010 USA vs Slovenia June 18 ends in World Cup tie but
a goal in 87 min disallowed mysteriously by Ref
of Mali. The crooked punks did it again.
2010 Big in World Cup in Africa Waka Waka.
2015 USA surprises Holland June 5 2015.
Pele talked about us in 1994.
Pele, actually, agreed to come to the USA in
1975 under the old NASL, North American Soccer League and signed up with the New York Cosmos--and America went wild.
1994 Whitney Houston in the Closing Ceremony
when the USA last hosted the World Cup. This was attended by 94,194 soccer fans on July 17. That is my GI Joe in a past U.S. soccer team uniform. Brazil defeated Germany in the Final. Innaugural season of Major League Soccer (MLS): 1996.
La Copa De La Vida released in 1998.
Here is the final roster of America's talented Team.
Forward-midfield line (Strikers):
Christian Pulisic, 27, 5'8 (same height as Pele) hometown: Hershey, PA; Gio Reyna, 19, 6'1, hometown: Bedford, NY; Folarin Balogun, 25, 5’10, hometown: London, England; Ricardo Pepi, 23, 6’1, hometown: El Paso; TX; Tim Weah, 26, 6 ft, hometown: Rosedale, NY; Alejandro Zendejas, 26, 5’6, hometown: El Paso, TX; Malik Tillman, 24, 6’2, hometown: Nuremberg, Germany, recipient of PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year Award; Brenden Aaronson, 25, 5'10, hometown: Medford, NJ.
Midfield: Weston McKennie, 26, 6 ft, hometown: Little Elm, TX; Kellyn Acosta, 27, 5'9, hometown: Plano, TX; Tyler Adams, 27, 5'8, hometown: Wappingers Falls, NY; Sebastian Berhalter, 25, 5’9, hometown: London, England; Cristian Roldan, 31, 5'8, hometown: Pico Rivera, CA, this Californian held down Lionel Messi in last year’s Leagues Cup Final. The U.S. has new uniforms, one is like a wavy striped candy cane, home games. It is my understanding the U.S. men's team will wear the white-striped jersey vs Paraguay and Australia, with white shorts and white socks. (below, created by Nike dubbed the stars-and-stripes). The blue jersey with stars (away games) is against Turkey. They will be all navy blue. (below).
Defenders: Mark Mckenzie, 27, 6’, hometown: Bear, DE; Aaron Long, 30, 6"1, hometown: Oak Hills, CA; Alex Freeman, 21, 6'2, hometown: Plantation, FL: Tim Ream, 38, 6’1, hometown: St Louis, MO; Antonee Robinson, 28, 6 ft, hometown: Liverpool, England; Miles Robinson, 29, 6'2, hometown: Arlington, MA; Sergino Dest, 26, 5'8, hometown: Almere-Stad, Holland: Joe Scally, 23, 6 ft, hometown: Lake Grove, NY; Walter Zimmermann, 29, 6'2, hometown: Lawrenceville, GA. Chris Richards, 26, 6’2, hometown: Birmingham, AL, recipient of the U.S. Soccer’s player-of-the-year honor [not on 100% thrusters, ankle injury]; Max Arfsten, 25, 6’1, hometown: Fresno, CA; Auston Trusty, 27, 6’3, hometown: Media. PA. Three goalkeepers: Matt Freese, 27, 6’3, hometown: Wayne, PA, Harvard grad; Matt Turner, 31, 6'3, hometown: Park Ridge, NJ; Chris Brady, 22, 6’3, hometown: Naperville, IL, recipient of CONCACAF U-20 Champions Golden Glove in 2022. 13 players return from the 2022 World Cup (25 of the 26 in 2022 experienced their first World Cup.) The World Cup in Qatar became the first official World Cup that allowed 5 substitutes, female refs, and new technology that measured calling offside faster (theoretically 12 fancy new high-tech cameras per stadium.) May I make a suggestion on World Cup items, go to either ebay or here, at a site called Temu, for right now Temu has a June sale and, brother they have some of the lowest prices you can find anywhere, but it will not last long. The T-shirt sample below, I recently purchase on June 4, 2026, and its a beaut. Guess who is coming to dinner? For you diehards in the corner, Ivory Coast beat France in a so-called friendly.
We must be reminded that in 2026, there are eleven U.S. stadiums that will host the tournament, which has expanded from 32 to 48 teams. This will not be like 1994, when the United States last held it, things associated with the weather such as variables like the rising heat index, and unstable climatic junctions will make soccer events quite interesting. Stadium fans will have no protection from the Sun and other elements in these venues: Boston, NY-NJ, Philadalphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Monterey and Guadalajara (both Mexico), and perhaps Kansas CIty. The European teams--I believe--will suffer more as the mix of time and heat will take its toll on the Europeans that do play in any of the aforementioned stadiums. They will be at a disadvantage because they are used to cooler European climate, and this is something few soccer commentators talk about. As for those who play in other venues, they will be luckier. If a team from the southern latitudes are in more than able shape, they will have an eleventh 12th man. For a better description of the elements that weather can produce, see my Climate page. A recap of the four games the U.S. played in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
US vs Wales
US vs England
US vs Iran
US vs Netherlands
I had dreamed a lot of the World Cup coming to America, but I am not crazy. I may be a devoted fan of our U.S. teams, but based on the prices that FIFA, using their logic "aligns with U.S. standards", the heck with them: $400 for 1 ticket, a family of 4 = 1,600? Instead, I'll take them to Disneyland, enjoy games on our large screen TV or go to a block party with friends who are not millionaires. Thanks FIFA 4 being greedy and so anti-family to the world. A word of warning, FIFA will charge $75 for parking. Go here for a world bracket, courtesy of NBC. The fat cats of FIFA are only hurting themselves, and despite there being fire for the World Cup all over the world including North America, which will fill many hearts, I believe many feel the same way I do. While from the perspective of us who will cheer our Americans like in the movie The Avengers--who rose up to give Captain America help, our star Pulisic is Captain America--many from Coast to Coast will still cheer on our team. Have some fun, too, courtesy of NY The Athelete. There will be 104 matches. Don't forget to give a little prayer for your favorite.
