Germany beats U.S. 1-0 but both go through.

United States' Matt Besler walks past as Germany's
Thomas Mueller, third from right, celebrates scoring
the opening goal during the group G World Cup soccer
match between the USA and Germany at the
Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, Thursday, June 26, 2014.

A 55th minute Thomas Mueller goal gave Germany a 1-0 win over the United States on Thursday but the result allowed both teams to progress to the second round of the World Cup.

Germany top Group G and will face the runner-up in Group H while the United States finish second and will face Group H's winner. Portugal who beat Ghana 2-1 are eliminated with the Africans.

The Germans dominated the game with Juergen Klinsmann's team, with their backs againt the wall, creating very few chances.

The breakthrough came when Tim Howard parried out a Per Mertesacker header but Mueller collected the loose ball on the edge of the area and superbly side-footed into the bottom corner.

America can advance, even with a loss. 

But a win would be hugely significant.

In the wake of the U.S. team’s heartbreaking come-from-ahead draw against Portugal in the World Cup on Sunday, soccer analysts and Twitter users scrambled to figure out the many ways the U.S. can still get to the next round.


With a three-point lead over Portugal and Ghana in Group G, the Americans can advance even if they lose their match against Germany at noon Eastern today, depending on the outcome of the Portugal-Ghana game played at the same time.

Deadspin has one of the better graphical breakdowns of every potential scenario for the U.S., including the dreaded drawing of lots.

All the focus on permutations and goal-differential scenarios has undercut the importance of today's game for American soccer. There’s not as much at stake, goes the implication, because we can move ahead even if we lose to Germany.

But this is about more than getting to the next round. This is an opportunity for the U.S. to face one of soccer’s elite teams on the biggest stage and prove it can hang with—even beat—any country in this World Cup.

Before the tournament, most people thought it would be an unlikely success for the U.S. just to get out of the so-called Group of Death and to the Round of 16.

Now, after beating Ghana and dominating much of the game against Portugal, the U.S. can dream bigger. Beat Germany, and America wins its group for the second straight World Cup, a result nearly unthinkable when the draw was announced in December.

Beat Germany, and the U.S. secures a favorable Round of 16 match most likely against Algeria or Russia, rather than a trickier faceoff with sneaky-good Belgium.

Just as important, a win would mean that the Americans have defeated one of soccer’s oligarchs at a World Cup, with both sides trying their best for a victory. That by itself would be a precedent-setting result. The U.S. is 3-6 against Germany since that country became unified in 1990, and 0-2 against it in the World Cup, including a 1-0 loss in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. Of the U.S.’s five World Cup wins since 1950, only one has come against a European team, a 3-2 triumph over Portugal in 2002 that ranks among the greatest accomplishments in American soccer history.

So even though Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad could manage to advance in defeat, a win (or well-contested draw) would be a big deal. Unlike the Ghanaians or the Portuguese, talented but flawed teams whose weaknesses can be exploited, the Germans lord over the soccer world, the second favorites to win this World Cup after the host Brazilians. Germany's talent reserve is so deep that offensive wizard Miroslav Klose, whose equalizing touch against Ghana tied him for the most career goals in World Cup history (15), has been used as a second-half substitute. The top German player, young striker Thomas Muller, recorded one of two hat tricks in the World Cup thus far with three goals in Germany’s 4-0 shellacking of Portugal.

Germany is one of a very small handful of countries, along with Brazil, Argentina, and already-eliminated Spain (and potentially France and The Netherlands), that will consider anything less than a World Cup victory a disappointment. They occupy the space that many American soccer fans dream of seeing the U.S. enter in their lifetimes: perennial favorites. And the only way for the U.S. men to ever get there is to beat the best teams when it counts the most.

America's team is objectively worse than Germany, to be sure. Though Clint Dempsey has been a beast spearheading the American offensive attack and midfielder Jermaine Jones has emerged as a legitimate star, the U.S. has struggled to maintain possession at times and is vulnerable to counter-attacking plays like the one that led to Portugal’s last-minute equalizer. Striker Jozy Altidore, who strained his hamstring against Ghana, will miss his second game in a row.

But the U.S. has the self-belief of a winner, as it showed when it overcame Ghana’s late tying goal to win, and when it rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit against Portugal. That, plus Klinsmann’s familiarity with the German squad he coached in the 2006 World Cup (with current German coach Joachim Low as his deputy),gives the U.S. a real chance to shock the soccer world.

A U.S. fan holds a scarf during the 2014
World Cup G soccer match between
Portugal and the U.S. at the Amazonia arena in Manaus June 22, 2014.

This crucible moment for U.S. men's soccer comes as Americans are tuning in to support the team in record numbers.

More than 25 million people watched the U.S.’s draw against Portugal, far more than saw the NBA Finals or the World Series (and that figure does not completely account for the millions of people watching in bars and outdoor communal areas nationwide).

While the noon Eastern starting time against Germany may hurt viewership, millions of working Americans will undoubtedly be calling in sick, taking a long lunch, or playing hooky to watch the match.

A loss, even if the U.S. advances anyway, would confirm for many first- or second-time soccer viewers that America has an above-average squad who can’t hang with the greats.

A draw could potentially be chalked up to wink-wink collusion because both Germany and the U.S. will advance if they tie, despite both sides vociferously denying that they will play for a draw.

But a win, no matter how it happens, would be a watershed moment for the American team and open up the real possibility of a deep run in the knockout stage. Regardless of what happens in the rest of the tournament, the U.S. would return home having won the Group of Death by beating its deadliest team, announcing America as a soccer force to fear in the future.

U.S. women's soccer team goalkeeper Hope Solo has entered a not guilty plea following her domestic violence arrest at her sister's home in suburban Seattle. (June 24)

Thanks to the 2-2 draw between the United States and Portugal on Sunday, FIFA faces its nightmare scenario: two teams needing a draw in their match to ensure progression into the knockout round.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann and German coach Joachim Loew were both on the German staff in 2006. Klinsmann says there won't be any funny business in Thursday's match.

Cynically, all the United States and Germany need to do in their Group G clash on Thursday is sit down, pick some grass, have a nap, and do absolutely nothing. A 0-0 draw would see both teams through to the knockout round, no matter what Portugal or Ghana do in their match.

It’s a scenario FIFA has done its best to prevent, after the infamous farce in Spain 1982 that saw an 80-minute kickabout between West Germany and Austria, sending Algeria home and bringing shame to both sides. Knowing a one-goal West German win would see both sides through, both sides sat on the ball after the goal was scored, despite the growing jeers from angry fans.



The “Non-Aggression Pact of Gijón,” as it’s known in Germany, is seen as one of the lowest points in World Cup history, making a mockery of the competition and depriving the tournament of seeing the underdog Algerians make history.

It was the catalyst that sparked FIFA to schedule the final slate of group matches to be played simultaneously, so outcomes aren’t clear until the very end.

But the specific series of events that could render that system moot have happened in Brazil. Germany and the U.S. both sit on four points, while Ghana and Portugal both have one. If Germany and the U.S. tie their match, it is impossible for Ghana and Portugal to catch them.

Immediately after the Portugal-United States match, the questions began to swirl — will we see a repeat of 1982? Will U.S. manager and former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann collude with his friend, German manager Joachim Löw?

For Klinsmann’s part, he isn’t biting.

“You’re talking about a game that is decades away in its own part of German history and is not part of the United States,” he told reporters.

“The United States is known for giving everything they have in every single game. If you look in the past, we make things happen. Otherwise Mexico wouldn’t be here.”

Klinsmann is referring to the Americans’ final match against Panama in World Cup qualification, a meaningless tie for the U.S., but crucial for Mexico. The Americans saved Mexico’s World Cup hopes with two goals in injury time, allowing El Tri to clinch a playoff with New Zealand.

Aaron Hernandez's attorneys on Monday sought to have a murder charge dismissed, saying prosecutors don't have enough evidence to tie the former New England Patriots' star to the murder of a semi-professional football player.

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Aaron Hernandez, left, talks with one of his defense attorneys, Charles Rankin, during a hearing at the Bristol County Superior Court House, Monday, June 16, 2014, in Fall River, Mass.

Prosecutors countered that they can show Hernandez was with Odin Lloyd when he was shot and that Lloyd's killing was part of a pattern of Hernandez committing acts of violence following nightclub disputes.

Also Monday, the former tight end pleaded not guilty to charges that he attacked a handcuffed inmate and threatened to kill a guard and his family while at a county jail in Dartmouth.

Hernandez faces murder charges in Lloyd's June 17, 2013, slaying, as well as a separate case in which he is accused of gunning down two men in Boston in July 2012. He has pleaded not guilty in each case and is being held without bail.

Judge E. Susan Garsh will rule at a later date on the motions to dismiss the Lloyd murder charge and to suppress certain evidence gathered by the state, including cellphone records and surveillance video from dozens of cameras at Hernandez's North Attleborough home.

The judge on Monday also floated a possible trial date of Oct. 6, and she set a July deadline for the New England Patriots to respond to the defense's requests for access to the football team's personnel records.

Hernandez defense attorney James Sultan called the prosecution's evidence "woefully lacking" and maintained that the state has yet to suggest a specific motive for Lloyd's killing.

"There's certainly a lot of what I would call smoke. No doubt about it," Sultan said. "But you can't throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and say, 'Well, that's good enough.' That's not probable cause that he committed the crime."

Prosecutor William McCauley countered that the state has "powerful" evidence against Hernandez.

In what amounted to a preview of the state's arguments, he said toll booth, surveillance, GPS and cellphone records clearly place Hernandez in the car with Lloyd at the time of his murder.

McCauley said the state's evidence also shows Hernandez had the "presence, knowledge and intent" to see the murder to its completion.

Prosecutors also suggested incidents in Boston, Providence and Miami show a "common pattern" of violence by Hernandez following disputes at nightclubs.

But Hernandez's lawyers pushed back against that notion, saying it was part of a persistent attempt to trash Hernandez's character. They criticized prosecutors for their focus on his "affinity for guns," his drug use and past run-ins with law enforcement.

Lloyd had been at a Boston nightclub with Hernandez and others days before his bullet-ridden body was found about a half mile from Hernandez's North Attleborough home.

Prosecutors in Boston have said a spilled drink in a nightclub led Hernandez to kill two people in a drive-by shooting.

Another Hernandez associate, Alexander Bradley, has filed a civil lawsuit alleging Hernandez shot him in the face on Feb. 13, 2013, after they argued following a visit to a Miami strip club.

Dressed in a blue blazer and khaki dress pants, Hernandez sat passively through Monday's nearly three-hour court hearing, one of the longest since his arrest last year.

His mother and other supporters sat in the audience, as did Lloyd's mother and others.

Aaron Hernandez's attorneys on Monday challenged the evidence in one of the former NFL star's murder cases, arguing at a pretrial hearing that prosecutors have not established probable cause in a semi-pro football player's slaying.

Prosecutors countered that they have powerful evidence against Hernandez and that Odin Lloyd's shooting followed a pattern of Hernandez committing acts of violence following disputes at nightclubs.

Also during Monday's court hearing, Hernandez pleaded not guilty to charges that he attacked a handcuffed inmate and threatened to kill a guard and his family while at a county jail in Dartmouth.

Hernandez faces murder charges in the June 17 slaying of Lloyd as well as a separate case in which he is accused of gunning down two men in Boston from inside a SUV in 2012. He has pleaded not guilty in each case and is being held without bail.

The former New England Patriot sat passively in a blue blazer and khaki dress pants as his attorneys argued that the charges in the Lloyd slaying should be dismissed because prosecutors have failed to show convincing evidence. Defense attorney James Sultan said the prosecution has enough to prove Hernandez was with Lloyd the night he was killed, but he argued that does not make Hernandez culpable.

"You can't throw a bunch of stuff at the wall. That's not probable cause," Sultan said.

Prosecutors said their evidence includes a flurry of phone calls and text messages among those involved and the fact that Lloyd's body was found about 1,000 yards from Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, where Lloyd didn't know anybody but Hernandez.

Aaron Hernandez

Prosecutor William McCauley also said the state's investigation into incidents in Boston, Providence and Florida show a "common pattern" of allegations of violence against Hernandez following disputes at nightclubs.

An associate of Hernandez, Alexander Bradley, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Hernandez shot him in the face in Florida after they argued at a strip club.

A tentative trial date of Oct. 6 has been set in the Lloyd murder case. The judge did not immediately rule on the motion to dismiss the murder charge.

FIFA WCup Investigation Completed by Next Week.

 FIFA's investigation into the World Cup bids from Russia and Qatar will be completed by next week, the chief investigator said Monday amid fresh corruption allegations against the Gulf nation.

The integrity of Qatar's winning bid for the 2022 tournament has been repeatedly questioned since FIFA's vote four years ago. The Sunday Times newspaper in Britain reported that it had obtained millions of pieces of evidence detailing irregular payments.

Mohamed bin Hammam, a Qatari former member of FIFA's executive committee, was accused of giving football officials payments totaling $5 million to build support for the bid. Despite Bin Hammam's high profile role at the time of the bid as head of the Asian confederation, Qatari World Cup organizers on Sunday insisted that he "played no official or unofficial role" in the work of the big-spending committee.

By July, FIFA's ethics investigator Michael Garcia, a former U.S. Attorney in New York, is set to have delivered his verdict on both Qatar and Russia, host of the 2018 World Cup.

"After months of interviewing witnesses and gathering materials, we intend to complete that phase of our investigation by June 9, 2014, and to submit a report to the adjudicatory chamber approximately six weeks thereafter," the investigatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee said in a statement. "The report will consider all evidence potentially related to the bidding process, including evidence collected from prior investigations."

Four members of FIFA's 24-man executive committee were banned or resigned following allegations of rule-breaking by bidders and favor-seeking made during bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Garcia was appointed in July 2012 as FIFA's independent ethics prosecutor.

Bin Hammam challenged Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in June 2011 but withdrew his candidacy days before the vote after being implicated in trying to bribe Caribbean voters. FIFA expelled Bin Hammam in 2012.

The son of Brazilian football legend Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in jail for laundering drug trafficking money.

Edinho admits he is an addict and bought drugs from a cartel, but denies working with them.

He is a retired footballer who played for Pele’s old club, Santos, in the 1990s.

He was first arrested in 2005 and has served a sentence for drug trafficking offences and links with a notorious drug dealer in the city of Santos.

Este domingo se juega el encuentro final del campeonato de fútbol profesional de México, pero independientemente del resultado muchos ya saben quién ganó: el empresario Carlos Slim, copropietario de los dos equipos que se disputan el campeonato, León y Pachuca.

Y es que más allá del ámbito deportivo, lo que en realidad está en juego es la participación de uno de los hombres más ricos del mundo en un negocio que genera cientos de millones de dólares al año y que durante décadas ha sido controlado por las dos principales televisoras del país, Televisa y TV Azteca.

El primer encuentro de la final, realizado en León el jueves 15 de mayo, fue transmitido por la cadena Fox Sports y las televisoras de paga Dish y Uno TV, vinculadas con Slim. Y la señal del partido de vuelta este domingo estará a cargo de TV Azteca, que tiene los derechos del equipo Pachuca.

Así, es la segunda ocasión consecutiva que Televisa se queda fuera de este evento, pues en el torneo anterior –que ganó León- el contrato de transmisión del último partido se fue para Fox.

Para algunos especialistas el tema va más allá de los estadios, pues forma parte de la disputa por las telecomunicaciones y especialmente la televisión de paga, donde Slim ya tiene presencia.

El fútbol es uno de los elementos centrales del negocio, no sólo por la audiencia que generan los equipos sino por la mercadotecnia que existe a su alrededor.

El equipo León, por ejemplo, genera ganancias por unos US$11,3 millones por campeonato. Y según especialistas, la participación de la selección mexicana en el Mundial de Brasil permitirá ingresos por US$1.000 millones a por ejemplo, restaurantes, empresas de publicidad o artículos deportivos y las televisoras que transmitan los encuentros.

Mensaje

En las próximas semanas el Congreso tiene planeado aprobar las leyes secundarias a la reforma en Telecomunicaciones, que entre otros aspectos definirán las reglas para quienes deseen participar en el negocio de la televisión.

Eso representa un nuevo escenario para el mercado donde Televisa tiene una participación de 70%, tanto en televisión abierta como la de paga. La empresa es además la principal generadora de contenidos en México y América Latina.

Durante décadas, Televisa restringió el acceso a sus programas que transmitía por señal abierta y cuando el grupo empresarial de Slim pretendió comprar alguno de ellos, la televisora estableció una elevada tarifa que hizo inviable la negociación, según dijo en su momento el consorcio.

El panorama empezó a cambiar recientemente, cuando el Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) obligó a Televisa y TV Azteca a entregar gratuitamente a las compañías de televisión de paga el contenido que se emite por los canales de señal abierta.

Slim, que cuenta con el canal de paga Uno TV y colabora en la comercialización de Dish, fue uno de los beneficiados con la decisión del IFT.

El empresario, dueño de Telmex y América Móvil, las principales compañías de telefonía fija y móvil del país, quiere ampliar su participación en el mercado de televisión de paga.

Así, su presencia en la liga de fútbol profesional –donde las principales televisoras controlan una gran parte del negocio- envía un fuerte mensaje, explica a BBC Mundo Víctor Edú, director del diario deportivo Récord.

"La llegada de Slim, además de la rivalidad empresarial, es la parte más mediática del conflicto, lleva a que los mismos empresarios se paren en los estadios ante millones de personas y hagan actos públicos. El fútbol tiene ese rasgo de impacto mediático que no lo tienen otros eventos".



Víctor Edú dice que Slim tiene capacidad económica de comprar toda la liga profesional del fútbol mexicano, pero ese no parece su propósito.

"No busca el mercado de fútbol, quiere presencia, fuerza, la parte mediática que representa el fútbol le otorga un empuje de imagen", explica. "Slim quiere convertirse en el hombre que logró romper un duopolio de muchos años".

Una imagen que parece percibir Televisa, el principal adversario empresarial del propietario de América Móvil.

En las finales del fútbol profesional la televisora suele desplegar una amplia cobertura acompañada de comercialización intensa, pero esta vez no fue así.

En los programas deportivos de Televisa la disputa entre León y Pachuca apenas fue mencionada. Según algunos especialistas, ésta ha sido una de las finales de campeonato con menos presencia entre los aficionados al fútbol mexicano.

Ayer Televisa concretó la venta del equipo de la liga de ascenso Necaxa a Ernesto Tinajero y Guillermo Cantú, por lo que ahora sólo ahora administrará a las Águilas del América.

Pese a que ya se concretó la venta Televisa continuará bajo la administración del Necaxa hasta el mes de mayo, fecha en el que termina el torneo Clausura de la Liga Bancomer.

Ahora los dueños de este equipo que milita en la liga de Ascenso del fútbol mexicano son Ernesto Tinajero y Guillermo Cantú, hombres con experiencia en este mundo del balompié.

El Necaxa juega en el estadio Victoria en Aguascalientes, y fue campeón en las temporadas 1994-1995, 1995-1996, y en el torneo Invierno 1998.