World Cup

Ryan Appell stood on an isolated stretch of highway on the outskirts of an old South African mining town dressed like Betsy Ross' worst nightmare. He wore a bandana and a scarf made from a U.S. flag, had a flag tied around his neck and carried another in his hands. "This," he says with a smile, "is me." Apparently, it's a lot of other Americans, too, because the U.S. soccer team's fan base, which once consisted primarily of friends and family members, has swelled into one of the largest contingents at this World Cup. According to FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, only South Africa bought more tickets to this World Cup than the U.S. And while some of the 136,500 tickets sold in the U.S -- more than the number sold in Germany, Italy, France, Mexico and Brazil combined -- were undoubtedly purchased by fans who came here to root for one of the 31 other teams in the tournament, Appell was hardly the only American fan who made the difficult trip halfway around the world.

Animal Kingdom's career is once again on hold. Last year's Kentucky Derby winner came up lame -- with soreness in the same leg that required surgery last June -- during a training run in Florida according to his Maryland-based trainer, Graham Motion. "Disappointed for everyone involved," he wrote on Twitter, "especially the horse. Hope to get him back on the track. " Motion and Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin had planned for Animal Kingdom, who had run in just one race since being hurt in the Belmont, to run in the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31. “This is a crushing blow for our company and our partners as well as our trainer, who has done such a great job getting the horse back to this point,” Irwin said.

The World Cup usually offers some post-colonial story lines, but with three rounds yet to play this one has already been particularly rife with historical subthemes. Some are obvious. In a matchup of two of the best sides in the entire tournament, Brazil and its former colonizer, Portugal, drew to a scoreless tie Friday in the final game of Group G. Both teams advanced to the final round of 16 and could meet again in the final. The first match in Group C for the United States was a much-anticipated rematch 60 years in the making against none other than England.

Glenelg Country School junior Tala Ahmadi visited Spain with family last year while that county's national soccer team played in the FIFA World Cup championship — and to the surprise of many locals, she could hold a conversation about the team with its most ardent fans. "They were like, 'Oh, these Americans do not just know football and drink beer. They actually know something about soccer,'" said Ahmadi, 16, an avid soccer player who knows perhaps more than most Americans about the sport's ability to unite people of different racial and cultural backgrounds.

Colin Barclay spent much of the early summer of 1994 in the basement of his family's Annapolis home, glued to the television with his older brother Devin watching the World Cup. Unable to get tickets themselves, they were searching for channels showing the world's biggest soccer event being played in the United States for the first time. The Barclay boys, then 9 and 11, sons of a former college soccer player, were so fixated on the game they videotaped any match they could find.

Kathrin Zettel of Austria won Sunday's women's World Cup slalom in Maribor, Slovenia, for her second victory in as many days. Maria Riesch of Germany took the overall lead from Lindsey Vonn by finishing third. Vonn struggled throughout the first leg, losing the ideal line several times and never threatening to equal the pace of the leaders. She finished 4.55 seconds back in 46th place. The American star, who won three straight races last weekend, has now failed to score points in three straight races.

Rising into the pre-dawn African sky, long before the sun Friday morning, came the sound of the vuvuzelas. They signaled the beginning of a historic day, the day when much of the sporting world's attention — even in the U.S. — was focused not on the NBA Finals, not on baseball's pennant races, not even on the Chicago Blackhawks' celebrations of winning the Stanley Cup. Instead, eyes were turned to a soccer game being played in...

Dutch finally arrive Bob Foltman Chicago Tribune The safe pick would be Spain. It's hard to go against the reigning European champions, who also were one of the favorites heading into the tournament. Spain also has turned around an image of not showing up for big games. So Spain would be the easy pick, which is why I'll back the Dutch. The Netherlands knocked off Brazil in the quarterfinals and a determined and organized Uruguay in the semis. The Spanish have done the minimum to get through, posting three straight 1-0 scorelines.

Alex Johnson never questioned that his honeymoon in Jamaica had to end on Friday, because he knew that come the next morning, he'd be parked at his favorite pub in Fells Point. The U.S. was set to play his beloved English national team in the World Cup, and that's not something you mess around with if you're one of the regular patrons at Slainte, where the bar motto proclaims, "Soccer is religion!" "I'll put it this way," said Johnson, a native of Sheffield, England, who moved to Baltimore four years ago. "I'm way more nervous about this than I was about my wedding."

A huge hit last year, and with the prospect more interest thanks to the World Cup, international soccer will return to Baltimore this summer when Italy power Inter Milan takes on England's up-and-coming Manchester City in an exhibition match set for July 31 at M & T Bank Stadium. Last July 25, a sellout crowd of 71,000 fans packed M & T Bank Stadium to watch Chelsea play AC Milan, which showcased two of the most storied franchises as well as Baltimore's passion for soccer. With this year's World Cup set to begin in June in South Affrica, the soccer buzz should help bring another sellout crowd for the July's friendly in Baltimore.

The Rugby World Cup, a 48-match quadrennial tournament that drew 1.4 million fans in New Zealand over six weeks, ended in late October with the host All Blacks outlasting France, 8-7. But even though rugby has stepped off its biggest stage, the sport remains a unifying presence around the world — both in places where the game is established and in places where it's scratching and clawing to gain a foothold, including U.S. college campuses. The Maryland Rugby Club is one of many university teams notable for its international diversity.

The women's pro soccer team in South Florida employs several of the U.S. stars from this summer's World Cup, including Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, but the figure who has drawn much of the attention this season has been its owner, Dan Borislow. As magicJack - which is named after Borislow's broadband telephone device - enters the Women's Professional Soccer playoffs this week, a cloud of contentiousness and uncertainty hovers over the club. The team was formerly known as the Washington Freedom before the 49-year-old entrepreneur purchased it from Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks last fall and moved it from Maryland SoccerPlex in Montgomery County to near his Palm Beach home.

It was long overdue Brant Parsons Orlando Sentinel If U.S. Soccer wanted to be rid of Bob Bradley, it should have done so after a disappointing 2010 World Cup. When most national teams would have switched managers, the U.S. extended Bradley's contract through 2014 and must have expected a different coach. Instead, Bradley stuck to his practices of depending on his guys and the same conservative strategy that produced a few great moments — beating Spain — and way too many defeats — losing to Mexico in June.

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It seems Baltimoreans fell in love with the United States women's national team during its run through the World Cup this past month. According to Mac Nwulu, a member of ESPN's public relations team , Baltimore had the highest overnight rating for any U.S. city during Sunday's title game, when the United States fell to Japan in penalty kicks, 3-1, after ending overtime tied at 2. Baltimore (12.3) was nearly four points higher than the national overnight rating of 8.6. The rest of the top-five markets were San Diego (11.8)

Despite a driving rain and chilly temperatures at the Women's World Cup semifinal in Monchengladbach, Germany this week, the victory of the American team over the French sent rays of hope to serious and occasional soccer fans around the nation. On Sunday, the American women will play the Japanese team for the World Cup championship. If the Americans are victorious, they will match the accomplishments of the 1999 team, which captured the nation's imagination with its dominant run through the tournament and its exciting final.

Juan Calcagno was hoping that one of his favorite players, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez, would be coming to Baltimore on Saturday with Manchester City to play Inter Milan at M&T Bank Stadium. But Tevez is at home, resting after Argentina's run to the World Cup quarterfinals earlier this month in South Africa. Though disappointed that his countryman won't be playing, Calcagno is planning on driving up from Bethesda with his son, Santino, to see the game. "My 6-year-old got totally crazy about this World Cup. He didn't know anything about the game before that.

Want to see World Cup soccer played in Baltimore? Sign the city's online petition at . Civic leaders are hoping a heavy cyber turnout this week will boost Baltimore's chances to host either the 2018 or 2022 games. Though a long shot, the city is one of 27 U.S. venues, from Boston to San Diego, competing for the World Cup. As of Thursday, Baltimore ranked near the bottom in petition signatures with nearly 3,200. Seattle led with more than 19,000. The USA Bid Committee said it will begin to pare that list to 18 cities this month.