2010s In Association Football

"They don't get the throw-in, that's it. It's game over and they're chasing Mark Geiger. That's not good. That's a, no. That's going to really, really put this game on an uglier note than we already have. You cannot charge the referee like that. Cannot. Tough, tough ending."

"I don't know what everybody back home is like watching this, but I'm very tense. I'll tell you that."

"If that was Tim Howard's last World Cup game, what a way to go out! He was phenomenal. Most saves by a W.C. keeper in 50 years."

"Clint Dempsey off the post and again, and he's missed the rebound! Absolute agony for the USA!"

"It just takes one moment to make the difference here for the USA of staying in this competition or leaving it."

"Will the goal never come?"

"Oh! What an error! What an awful moment for Rob Green and for England!"

"Played in, and it comes out into Landon Donovan, who strikes again. What a golden goal for the USA, if you're just joining us? There it is, the moment. Deep, deep into the match! To give the USA surely, a place in the last sixteen. It is breathtakingly exciting!"

"It is over! The USA have made it, in a Hollywood-style finish!"

"Now, van Bronckhorst with pace! Oh, it is an absolute firecracker from Giovanni van Bronckhorst! One, nil! Holland!"

"It's a really good ball, it's Tshabalala! Goal, Bafana Bafana! Goal for South Africa, goal for all Africa! Jabulela, rejoice! Bafana Bafana have popped the first cork of their day of days! Siph Tshabalala!"

"You couldn't look away. Not even for a second. You were locked in, panicked. Scared stiff. Agony and angst at levels you never knew you had. It was near physical pain. But, in a blink? It was truly agony, to ecstasy."

"Pick yourself up and dust yourself off and back in the saddle You're on the front line Everyone's watching You know it's serious we're getting closer, this isn't over"

"For us, it's been about a common goal. Not an automatic pass for a pack of superstars, and while our team is the U.S.? Today, you can call them "us". Because they've truly taken America along for the ride."

"Four minutes of added time. That might lift the United States, that's time enough. Dreadfully negative, really. From the Algerians, they're looking for things on the break. I suspect they'll get a chance or two, on the break. Ghezzal, that's a good ball he's found there to Guedioura who plays it deep. Saïfi, with a header. Howard, gratefully claims it. Distribution, brilliant. Landon Donovan. Oh, are things on here for the USA? Can they do it here? Cross, and Dempsey is denied again, and Donovan has scored! Oh, can you believe this? Go, go, USA! Certainly through! Oh, it's incredible! You could not write a script like this!"

"Oh, and Rob Green's let it in! It's a howler!"

"The fireworks began at dawn. All around this city, loud pops and bangs rang out as men and women and children, so many dressed in yellow, set off flares and beeped car horns. It was supposed to be a magical day. The Brazilian national soccer team, playing at home, was one game away from a World Cup final. No one could have guessed the tears would come before halftime. No one could have imagined there would be flags burning in the streets before dinner. Certainly no one could have envisioned that any Brazilian fans, watching their team play a semifinal in a celebrated stadium, would ever consider leaving long before full time. It all happened. The 2014 World Cup, first plagued by questions about funding and protests and infrastructure and construction, then buoyed by scads of goals and dramatic finishes and a contagious spirit of joy from the local residents, will ultimately be remembered for this: the home team, regarded as the sport’s superpower, being throttled like an overmatched junior varsity squad that somehow stumbled into the wrong game."

"Dempsey, great start here. Can Clint Dempsey score? He has! The U.S. ahead! Incredibly, within seconds! Now that, is dreamland! Clint Dempsey becomes the first American to score at three different World Cups!"

"The dynamic of the group changes totally if the U.S. can hold on here. Gyan with a lovely ball, though. André Ayew, equalizes! It's a superb goal, to break American hearts! The resistance is broken!"

"Zusi to take it, and there! It's there! What about that? It's John Brooks! It's John Brooks! For the USA! Have they stolen it? Quite incredible, he couldn't even have dreamt that."

"Payback, for the USA!"

"I think he was greeted when he arrived at the hotel in Brazil by a topless model and a guy dressed as Donald Duck."

"Andre Almeida. Back in, by Veloso. Oh, it's a miscue to Nani! Oh my goodness, me! The USA pressed the 'self-destruct' button there! A catastrophe in the U.S. defense."

"He comes late, corner wouldn't drop to a white shirt. Now it has, Jones. Oh, yes! Jermaine Jones, what a cracker from him! USA level! Simply, sensational strike."

"Nicely measured. Jones to Yedlin. Really, it nearly got to him! He has got to Bradley, and then Zusi, and Dempsey! Is he onside? He is! It's two, one! To the U.S.! 'Captain Marvel', again!"

"Can they do something here? It's Cristiano Ronaldo. Oh, it's a great cross! And it is an equalizer, from Varela! USA denied, right at the death! And you have to say, this is a terrific goal."

"Goes a long way, and there's Howard with the save to deny Mertesacker, and this time Germany do score, it's Thomas Müller! It is one, nil. To Germany. Him again, and now the tension is racked up."

"The U.S. have no choice, other than to gamble. Which could mean they'll be hit by another counter or two. Bradley. Chipped forward, and look at this! It's Julian Green! Would you believe it? The youngster, gives the U.S. hope! Extraordinary! Two, one! The teenager comes up trumps!"

"I think he's saying there should be more than a minute."

"USA valiant effort, but no hard luck story. Better team won. Last 16 is about as good as U.S. are, but well respected team now."

"Oh, talk about lightning striking twice. Another goal scrubbed out for the United States."

"USA thoughts must turn to rebuild. By 2018, Dempsey is 35, Jones, Beasley and Beckerman 36, and Howard 39. All magnificent servants of U.S."

"Thank you for many kind comments on the USA games coverage with Taylor Twellman. Very much appreciated. But stay tuned; World Cup goes on."

"Here's Toni Kroos. Sami Khedira. Now Müller. Free kick's going to be given Brazil's way; this is turbocharged."

"Klose, with a corner. Goes a long way and a goal! It's him again! Thomas Müller with his tenth World Cup goal in history, to put the Germans ahead! Well Brazil were behind in their opening game of the tournament against Croatia and came back to win. But, it might be a much harder job. Chasing Germany, of all the players."

"Oh, Kroos. Here's more problems here, it's Klose! The history man, he's done it! Two, nil! And that's the goal that puts him in the record books, forever! Brazil being taken to the cleaners, so far. Sixteen goals, an all time World Cup record. And this is his twenty-third World Cup appearance. The tears of Brazil, and that young lady not the only one spilling tears around this nation at the moment. But, wait a minute! Here's Bernard! Can he do something to get Brazil back into this?"

"But, it isn't working. They're two down. Lahm, this time. Müller missed it! And that's three, Toni Kroos! Germany are running riot! They cannot believe it! Splendid hit, from Kroos. You've got something on that, as well. With Julio Cesar, couldn't keep it out. And Toni Kroos marks his fiftieth cap for Germany, with a goal. And once or twice in there, it's just resembling a shooting gallery. Oh, and look at this now. This could get worse; Khedira plays it inside. Oh! It's four, nil! Unbelievable! Kroos again! And Brazil are just being played off the park! This is quite astonishing."

"Two in two minutes for him, and Brazil's World Cup is surely over. This is the first time ever, that Brazil have trailed by four goals in a World Cup match. Four-nil down, twenty-six minutes on the clock. Germany, just too good? This is Brazil, not so much without Neymar. But, without Thiago Silva. Organizing their defense, and this could get a lot worse. Yeah? Unless this team tightens up somehow. Terrible mistake by Fernandinho on that last goal."

"Look at this, again! Khedira plays it wide, Özil! Khedira again! Five, nil! This is utterly, beyond belief! Where is this goal scoring going to end? Well, if this was boxing? The referee would be stopping it, to save Brazil from further punishment. Five goals in the first twenty-nine minutes from a rampant Germany; Brazil have simply unraveled. Fred, here's Luiz Gustavo. Marcelo. Just need something, anything. To lift their confidence, but."

"Lahm, Khedira. Lahm, again. Trying to make sure, and they do make sure! Six, nil! You wonder where all this is going to end for Germany? Schürrle, getting in on the act. Well, they're really booing now. André Schürrle. Fred was booed off in the middle of all that. And Schürrle gets his second goal of the tournament, he got one against Algeria as well. Six, nil. Germany, really rubbing Brazil's noses in it."

"I think it's a sort of morbid fascination, for the Brazil fans now. They've paid a lot for their tickets, they're going to see it, whatever the story. I don't think they'll be watching a replay when they get home, somehow. How good are this German team?"

"Could be more, here's Schürrle! Once again, that's seven! An utter humiliation for Brazil, just got worse! Germany in seventh heaven! What a hit that is; nothing Julio Cesar could've done really. That was travelling at the speed of sound, a devastated Julio Cesar. A devastated Brazil; a devastated nation. Most goals ever scored in a World Cup semi-final by one team. The records are tumbling by the second, it seems here. Ramires. I think these players frankly would like to get off this pitch and go into a tunnel, that led to Tristan da Cunha or somewhere. Bernard's cross, Marcelo. There's not enough room on the caption. They've got roll it through, to get all the goal scorers on. Two goals for André Schürrle since coming on as a substitute."

"Brazil, in their famous history have allowed seven goals only one other time. That was in 1934, when they lost eight-four to Yugoslavia. Well, you and I are pinching ourselves. I think everybody here is. Seven, nil? Yeah, me too. You've got to say, as bad have Brazil have been? Germany have just been absolutely brilliant. Schürrle. Olés now, and I think the Brazil fans are starting to join with it. They're starting to applaud the Germans, what else can they do? Really? Well it's an embarrassment for Luiz Felipe Scolari, as the coach. Isn't he, is? Schürrle, to cut that one back. And you wonder what the? The reaction of the fans will be? We? We've heard about protests and demonstrations, people saying this World Cup wasn't worth the money that was spent on it because more should be invested in the infrastructure of the country. Will those protests come back again? Well, there's going to be a big clear-out isn't there? For certain, after this World Cup. Okay, they've got to the semi-final. That's no mean achievement; plenty didn't of course. Here's Lahm, he'll want to get on the act as well. Schürrle wants a hat-trick. Well, you're watching a game here that's going to go down as one of the most astonishing in the entire history of the World Cup. Bernard, Paulinho. Marcelo, they're trying to give the crowd something. Ramires, no. He's not in the mood for getting beaten."

"As quiet as a library."

"Here's Götze! It's Mario Götze! It's Super Mario! He might just have won the World Cup, for Germany!"

"One minute? Where the fuck does one minute come from?"

"What Tim played tonight was just phenomenal, outstanding. He kept us in that game for a long time. We are proud to have him with us. It was an absolutely amazing match tonight and you can give him the biggest compliment in the world. It's a bummer for us ending on the losing side after a game of 120 minutes that gave everything to the fans, a real drama, a thriller. We had enough possession to equalize that game at the end, but a big compliment to Belgium and congratulations to them. I'm very proud of our team. Every player on the field made their country proud with this performance in this World Cup. All of the players just went beyond their capabilities and I told them they should take a lot of very positive stuff back home with them."

"We're ten minutes into the game, nearly eleventh minute. There's lots of space already on the field. Brazil have to come a little bit tighter, Ian. They can't be so expansive, from back to front. Otherwise? The Germans will cut them to shreds."

"That's a Sunday morning goal; it's certainly Sunday morning defending. Simple as you'd like, thank you very much! What a present!"

"Certainly rolling the dice now. Bob Bradley as he had to, really. Here's his son, Michael Bradley. Decent effort. Donovan, the man whose goal has given the United States at least hope. Altidore to lay it down, Bradley! Bradley, has done it! USA are level! The comeback kings, strike again! Michael Bradley, for the USA! What a moment! "Thank you son", says Bob Bradley. And I think the whole of the United States of America, says "thank you" too to Michael Bradley."