Starting Eleven Football Blog Roundup

I do like one thing about the Confederations Cup: it's a bitchin' trophy; a lot better than the wimpy World Cup. Now, personally, I'm into trophies. There's nothing better than the Stanley Cup. That thing is big, shiny and perfectly symbolizes a championship. It's something tangible to play for.

The World Cup, yeah yeah it's OK and I'm sure it's worth a fortune. But my God, it's the size of a 12-inch ruler, and if you're not watching closely when it's presented to the winning captain, you'll totally miss it. The Stanley Cup, for instance, when you bring that sucker out, it gets a red carpet, introduction and a standing ovation; a guy in a three-piece suit carries it out wearing white gloves, it's so awesome.

The World Cup? It's already there on a podium with its gold leaf texture and naked lady holding up the world. Eh, doesn't exactly move me. And with Brazil winning it five times already, it blends in with those yellow jerseys and, ah, forget it. It's ugly. And never mind that IT'S NOT A CUP!!!

Now the Confederations Cup, that's what the World Cup wants to be when it grows up. It looks like a stick-shift on a gold pedestal. Someone's gonna drop that bad boy into their '65 Mustang and zoom off into the sunset.

Would have been so cool to see the U.S. win it yesterday. White jerseys, gold trophy. American muscle cars. Awesome.

But they had to go and blow it. That game was a total hot-chick tease: build you up big n' stiff by halftime only to let you down with a 20-minute threesome with somebody else. Ugh.

Now on to this week's jaunt around the football blogosphere:

• Reuters Soccer Blog says Brazil restored order by winning the tournament; um OK
• MatchFitUSA, quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs, puts the U.S. performance into perspective and cautions that now expectations will be a lot higher for the U.S. of A. And he's right. Only way to go now...
• Want a rollercoaster of emotion? Skim through Unprofessional Foul's live blog of the match.
• Did you know Dunga means Dopey in Portuguese? I didn't. Two Hundred Percent did.
• Soccer Training Info finds the silver lining in the loss; I'm not buying it.
• Ives Galarcep has a thoughtful review of the game and points out that while the core of the U.S. roster was pretty solid, overall, there wasn't much depth and in the end it cost them.
• Original Winger has some snapshots from the final.
  
• Check out Kartik's comprehensive work on the Confederations Cup at Major League Soccer Talk; probably the most comprehensive package of coverage you'll find out there.
• Jack Bell at the New York Times, yes Jack Bell not Jeffrey Marcus, puts up his player grades from yesterday's match. I would have gone higher with Howard and DeMerit, and not so high with Onyewu.
• And finally, Cristiano Ronaldo's six-year deal at Real Madrid was finalized. Bryan Robson says CR7 is irreplacable.
  

Subscribe to Starting Eleven