Wisconsin Soccer Central

2010.12.07 11:13:02

Eric Anderson

I missed this ESPN Deportes blog post from October, in which John Sutcliffe reported that he heard the U.S. national team could face Mexico in a friendly in February in Milwaukee or Green Bay. (Thanks to Wisconsin Soccer Central reader and Watertown boys soccer coach John Von Klopp for bringing it to my attention.)

Lambeau Field has been mentioned as a possible site for a national team match before, but the playing surface is too narrow – FIFA's regulations call for a minimum of 115 yards long by 75 yards wide; the maximum width at Lambeau is 66 yards, 2 feet.

The Milwaukee venue that came to mind was Miller Park, which has started to play host to more non-baseball events in recent years. 

But, I checked with the media relations departments at the Packers and Brewers and both said they hadn't heard a thing about any potential match. The Brewers spokesman said Miller Park could play host to a friendly with a pitch slightly smaller than regulation size.

The U.S. men's national team has played in Wisconsin just once in its history, a 2-1 loss to East Germany on July 28, 1990, at the old Milwaukee County Stadium.

USMNT | National | Lambeau Field | Miller Park

2010.06.26 03:43:25

Eric Anderson

So where were you when Landon Donovan scored his stoppage-time goal to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory over Algeria on Wednesday morning?

Most likely, watching it somewhere.

The dramatic match was watched by nearly 6.2 million people on ESPN, making it the most-watched soccer game in the network's history, and another 2.2 million watched in Spanish on Univision.

Records also were set online, with 1.1 million viewers watching on ESPN3.com, the ESPNRadio.com stream hitting a peak of 180,000 listeners and the ESPN GameCast attracting 1.7 million viewers – breaking its previous high by 42 percent.

As we look ahead of Saturday's Round of 16 match against Ghana (1:30 p.m. on ABC), here's a great compilation of how U.S. fans across the world celebrated Wednesday's win:

• Additionally, legendary Argentinian announcer Andres Cantor – known for his long-lasting "Gooooooooooooool" call – got a little fired up about the goal. Check out his radio call here.
• And the Wall State Journal launched a neat way to follow all the goals scored in the World Cup.

Videos | 2010 World Cup | National | USMNT | Soccer on TV | Soccer on radio

2010.06.20 20:43:34

Eric Anderson

U.S. Soccer continues to deliver quality video content from South Africa, including plenty of coverage of defender Jay DeMerit (Green Bay).

The first edition of the two-part "Jay DeMerit Story" was included in Thursday's episode of "Studio 90." Here's the segment:

• The Americans' 2-2 draw against Slovenia on Friday was the most-watched soccer match in ESPN history, drawing 3.9 million viewers.

Soccer on TV | Jay DeMerit | USMNT | National | 2010 World Cup | Videos

2010.05.11 09:58:36

Eric Anderson

The 2010 World Cup kicks off a month from today in South Africa, and the 32 teams must file their provisional 30-man rosters with FIFA today.

Teams will have to trim seven players from those rosters to get to the final 23-man squads for the tournament.

Defender Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) is expected to be part of the U.S. team named by coach Bob Bradley at 1 p.m. on ESPNews.

While you're waiting, check out this excellent BBC promotional spot for World Cup coverage.
 

Jay DeMerit | 2010 World Cup | USMNT | National | Videos

2010.04.09 04:02:53

Eric Anderson

Juice Groove Films released the first part of its "One Goal: Road to South Africa" documentary about U.S. national team fans on YouTube earlier this week.

Five more installments will be posted on the group's YouTube channel, which also has some other American national team videos. Updates on the project also are available through Twitter and Facebook.
 

Soccer movies | National | USMNT | 2010 World Cup | Videos | One Goal