Soccer birthdays: Wherever French midfielder Samir Nasri finds himself in the world today – the man is on vacation now, having been dispatched from Euro 2012 Saturday – let’s hope he’s forgotten about things, about the flat French finish at this tournament, and hope he’s just enjoying his 25th birthday.
Ahead on the blog today*: A little video on the U.S. women’s soccer team (since we’re about a month out of the official start of the London Olympic games), some thoughts on Portland and coach John Spencer and the weekly MLS rankings.
Big Important Story of the Day: And all four quarterfinals are up tonight in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
What we should all watch on TV:
Never mind today, just get your schedule sorted out for the next couple of days: two dandy Euro 2012 semifinals are on deck for Wednesday and Thursday. (Yes, we said the same thing Monday; it’s THAT important.)
RASNoD (Random American Soccer Name of the Day): Tisha Venturini-Hoch
Twitter daps:
ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman), wondering about the curious and potentially damaging scheduling at Euro 2012: Good Morning. #Euro2012 returns tomorrow at 2pm @espn with #SPAvsPOR great scheduling once again from #UEFA #SPA with 48 hrs less rest #POR
U.S. under-23 and Hoffenheim midfielder Joe Gyau (@JoeGyau36), who has resumed workouts with his German club: Training so much.. I don’t even know the date lol
PST background noise while blogging today: Happy music from the iTunes roter; I need some music to sooth the hurt of a three-week, whirlwind relationship that’s approaching its termination point. I can already feel it slipping away. I miss you already, Euro 2012! I miss you already. (Yes, I said almost same thing Monday; it hurts THAT much.)
We’ll leave you with this: It is what it is, but I find it a darn shame that more of us aren’t talking about the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals today.
