I don't plan on straying from baseball on this blog very often, but with the World Cup underway and all, I told myself I'd do something soccer-related if I saw 10 people wearing soccer jerseys in Manhattan today.
I did. I saw Italy, Brazil and even Ivory Coast, though no U.S. and no England--who face each other tomorrow at 2.
England will be gunning for a win; losing to the rebels would be unconscionable.
The U.S., on the other hand, is shooting for a "result."
In high-level soccer parlance, a result is a win or a tie--the two possible outcomes that would merit points in the standings.
Writes George Vecsey in the NY Times:
The Yanks have at least a chance to gain what soccer fans call a result — a draw or a victory, a point or maybe even 3, in the traditionally slippery first match of group play.
ESPN's SoccerNet sees it similarly:
...the U.S. knows it will have to play the perfect game (or something close to it) to get a result against England.
It's important that you know this because there's obviously a lot of talk about the U.S. trying to get a "result" tomorrow. ESPN was chastised in the last Cup for not having knowledgeable enough soccer commentators, so don't expect this Cup's crop of overseas pundits to dumb down the soccer-speak for the U.S. audience at all.
While some would say losing a match--and it's always "match," not "game"--would be considered a negative result, it's not considered a result in this context.
[image: NY Times]
* Sepp Blatter is the president of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA). But you knew that.
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