July 11, 2010: The Battle of Soccer City

Andrés Iniesta with the World Cup

July 11, 2010: The World Cup Final is held at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, it is known as First National Bank Stadium, or FNB Stadium. But since the World Cup prohibits corporate names on stadiums, it was referred to as "Soccer City." It was built in 1989, on the edge of the Soweto township, a key location in black South Africans' struggle for equality. It is also the home of one of the country's top soccer teams, Kaizer Chiefs.

ABC broadcast it in America, including the constant annoyance of the fans with their native musical instrument, the vuvuzela. Given the countries competing in the game, it should have been a beautiful Final for the world championship of what Pelé called "The Beautiful Game": Spain vs. the Netherlands.

It wasn't. It was the ugliest Final in World Cup history, even more so than the tainted Final of 1978 in which Argentina, on Fascist-controlled home soil, beat the Netherlands.

The Spain side was managed by former Real Madrid boss Vicente del Bosque, and was dominated by 2 of the most-cheating teams in soccer, brought together for a common purpose: Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. From Real Madrid came goalkeeper Iker Casillas (Captain of club and country), defenders Sergio Ramos (maybe the dirtiest player in the sport at the time), Raúl Albiol and Álvaro Arbeloa; and midfielder Xabi Alonso.

From "Barça" came defenders Carles Puyol (their Captain), a dirty tackler, and Gerard Piqué, a notorious diver; midfielders Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández (known by just his first name) and Sergio Busquets (another diver); forward Pedro Rodríguez (also known by his first name); and backup goalkeeper Victor Valdés.

From Valencia CF came forward David Villa; midfielders Juan Mata (yet another diver) and David Silva; and defender Carlos Marchena. From Villareal CF came defender Joan Capdevila. From Sevilla FC came midfielder Jesús Navas. From Athletic Bilbao came forward Fernando Llorente and midfielder Javi Martínez. And 3 players came from England's Premier League. From Liverpool FC were forward Fernando Torres and goalkeeper Pepe Reina. And from North London team Arsenal FC was former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fàbregas.

And the Dutch? This was not your father's Oraanje. No Total Football, no brilliant passing, no stylish goalscoring. They were more like a sledgehammer. They were managed by Bert van Marwijk, who once managed Rotterdam side Feyenoord. As usual, the Dutch team was dominated by players who had come from the Netherlands' "Big Three" Feyenoord, Amsterdam team Ajax, and Eindhoven team PSV. But, as the Dutch top league, the Eredivisie, doesn't pay as well as the leagues of neighboring countries like England, Spain, France and Germany, not all of them had stayed with those teams:

From Ajax: Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg; defenders Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga (then with Liverpool team Everton FC); midfielders Demy de Zeeuw, Nigel de Jong (then with Manchester City), Wesley Sneijder (who had played with Real Madrid, but was then with Internazionale Milano) and Rafael van der Vaart (then, ironically, with Real Madrid); and forward Ryan Babel (then with Liverpool).

From Feyenoord: Defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Captain); and forwards Dirk Kuyt (then with Liverpool) and Robin van Persie (then with Arsenal).

From PSV: Defender André Ooijer; midfielders Ibrahim Afellay, Mark van Bommel (who had played for Barcelona, but was then with Bayern Munich); and forwards Arjen Robben (who had played with Real Madrid, but was then with Bayern) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (who had also played for Ajax and Real Madrid, but was then with AC Milan).

From AZ Alkmaar: Defender Joris Mathijsen (then with Hamburger SV); midfielder Stijn Schaars.

From Enschede side FC Twente: Backup goalkeeper Sander Boschker; defender Edson Braafheid (then with Glasgow, Scotland team Celtic); and forward Eljero Elia (then with Hamburger).

From RKC Waalwijk: Defender Khalid Boulahrouz (then with VfB Stuttgart).

From FC Utretcht: Backup goalkeeper Michael Vorm, who led to the soccer-themed pun: "Vorm is temporary, class is permanent."

The Netherlands slogged through their Group, winning all 3 games, but not particularly distinguishing themselves in any of them, beating Denmark 2-0, Japan 1-0, and Cameroon 2-1. Spain opened their run by getting upset 1-0 by Switzerland, but rebounded to beat former colonies Honduras 2-0 and Chile 2-1.

In the Round of 16, the Netherlands beat Slovakia, 2-1 in Durban; while Spain beat neighboring Portugal, 1-0 in Cape Town. In the Quarterfinals, 2 goals by Sneijder turned an early 1-0 Brazil lead into a 2-1 Dutch win in Port Elizabeth; while Spain left it late, with Villa scoring in the 83rd minute, to beat Paraguay, 1-0 in Johannesburg. In the Semifinals, the Netherlands hung on to beat Uruguay, 3-2 in Cape Town; while Spain got a goal from Captain Puyol in the 73rd to beat Germany, 1-0 in Durban.

The referee for the Final was Howard Webb, the English former police officer infamous for his bald head and his apparent favoritism for Manchester United. To be assigned as the top official for a World Cup Final should be the greatest honor any sports official can ever receive, but Webb did not live up to the distinction. To say that he lost control of the match would suggest that he even tried to exert any control. The 14 yellow cards he gave out -- 9 to the Netherlands, 5 to Spain -- were more than double the previous record.

Howard Webb

Spain had the 1st serious chance of the game just 5 minutes in, when Stekelenburg made a diving save of a Ramos header. Shortly thereafter, the Dutch had their 1st chance, but Casillas saved from Kuyt. Heitinga deflected a Ramos shot over the crossbar in the 11th. Casillas stopped a screamer of a free kick from Sneijder.

In the 28th minute, with Webb having already given each side 2 yellow cards, de Jong kicked Alonso in the chest. For this, Webb should have shown him a straight red card and sent him off, but he only gave de Jong a yellow. As if the match wasn't rough enough, Casillas did Spain no favors by colliding with Puyol and injuring him in the 33rd. Puyol was able to carry on. Just before halftime, Casillas saved a shot by Robben, and it remained 0-0.

In the 50th minute, Spain did what Barcelona usually do when they think they should be awarded a penalty, and surrounded the ref in an attempt to intimidate him. Webb, used to such behavior from Premier League teams Man United and Chelsea, refused to give in. Two minutes later, Casillas saved a van Persie shot.

Heitinga was booked for a foul on Villa in the 56th. In the 62nd, Robben had a one-on-one with Casillas, but shot too low, and Casillas deflected it. In the 70th, Villa had an equally good chance, and an equally bad shot, deflected by Stekelenburg. Ramos had a great chance in the 77th, but fired over the crossbar. Casillas made a brilliant stop on Robben in the 83rd. Regulation play ended with the game still scoreless.

On to extra time. In the 92nd, Xavi went down a little too easy after a collision with Heitinga, and, again, the Spaniards demanded a penalty. Again, they didn't get it. Apparently, their reputation preceded them. Fàbregas had come on as a substitute for Alonso, and had a shot in the 95th, saved by Stekelenburg. In the 101st, Navas fired a shot that had the stadium roaring, thinking it was a goal, but it only hit the side netting. In the 104th, Fàbregas just missed, slightly wide of the goalpost. Still 0-0 as the match headed into the 2nd half of extra time.

In the 109th, Xavi was brought down by Heitinga. This earned him a 2nd yellow, equivalent to a red. Neither of his yellow card offenses was especially bad, but there were 2 of them, and, given the rules, he, rather than the much rougher de Jong -- or any of the Spanish players -- was off, and the Dutch were down to 10 men.

In the 115th minute, Webb made a call that may have changed the outcome of the game. He rightly awarded the Netherlands a free kick, which Sneijder took, and Casillas tipped it behind the goal. That should have resulted in a corner for the Netherlands. Instead, Webb awarded Spain a goal kick.

Torres took the kick, took the ball up the pitch, and passed it to Fàbregas, who passed it to Iniesta, who scored. His goal in the 116th minute remains the latest ever scored in a World Cup Final. The Dutch complained to Webb about his decisions, both the awarding of the goal kick and his failure to call a foul on Elia. Mathijsen slammed the ball on the grass in anger, and Webb booked him instead. But Spain held on for the 1-0 win.

Two days later, on July 13, Spain held its World Cup celebration in the capital of Madrid. Barcelona players pull an FC Barcelona shirt over the head of Fàbregas, calling him "The future of Barcelona, the future of Spain," as if he were only on loan to Arsenal, and that he had to be sent back to his boyhood club.

He did not immediately remove the shirt and tell his national team mates to respect his contract. A year later, he proved that he didn't respect his contract, either: He went on strike and faked an injury. Soon, he was sold back to Barcelona.

Had I been the manager of Arsenal, I would have sold Fàbregas to Real Madrid, Barcelona’s arch-rivals, the next day. For one pound. It would have sent multiple messages. To Fàbregas: You are a traitor, and are being punished for it. To Barcelona: Do not mess with The Arsenal. To the Arsenal players: No one is irreplaceable. And to the Arsenal fans: I know you love him, and that I didn't get any money for him, but there are things more important than money. Alas, the manager of Arsenal was Arsène Wenger, and he had too much class to do this.

Howard Webb retired from refereeing in 2014. In 2022, he was named the head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) is the body responsible for refereeing games in English soccer. He replaced Mike Riley, who had also been known for calls favoring Manchester United, both as a referee himself and in upholding the calls and cards of the referees he governed.

An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 17th, citing the rough play, the cheating, and those damn vuvuzelas.

*

July 11, 2010 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher. Marcus Thames hit a home run. Mark Teixeira went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Derek Jeter went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-5.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0 at Citi Field. Johan Santana allowed 5 hits over 7 innings, and Bobby Parnell and Francisco Rodríguez completed the 5-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Cole Hamels allowed 6 hits over 7 2/3rds innings, and José Contreras, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge finished the 6-hit shutout. The only run came in the 3rd inning, when Jimmy Rollins singled Carlos Ruiz home.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals, 6-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. David Ortiz * and Darnell McDonald hit home runs.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Jason Bartlett singled Carl Crawford home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 15-5 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-7 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. How many Marlin pitchers does it take to pitch an 8-hit shutout? This time, 6: Alex Sanabia allowed 5 hits over 3 1/3rd innings, Burke Badenhop none in 2/3rds of an inning and credited as the winning pitcher, Brian Sanches none over 2, José Veras none in 1, Clay Hensley 2 in 1, and Juan Carlos Oviedo 1 in 1.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Vicente Padilla allowed 2 hits over 8 innings, and Hung-Chih Kuo completed the 4-hit shutout.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

July 8, 2010: "The Decision" Airs On ESPN

July 8, 2010: The Decision airs on ESPN. LeBron James had played out his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Where would he go? The New York Knicks? The Chicago Bulls? The Los Angeles Lakers? Surely, it would be one of the big-market teams.

(The idea that he would go to one of the "little brother franchises," the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets or the Los Angeles Clippers, was ludicrous. Thanks to Kyrie Irving with the former and Kawhi Leonard with the latter, it is not ludicrous anymore.)

But there was also talk that he would join Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat to form a "superteam." And, yes, Miami is a big market, if not as big as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago.

ESPN reporter Jim Gray pitched the idea of a show covering James' choice to the network. Interviewing James himself, it was essentially the pregame show for the next phase of James' career. He said, "In this Fall, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach, and join the Miami Heat."

Heat fans -- the ones who supported the team before this, and soon found themselves outnumbered by people who were merely LeBron fans -- were ecstatic. Everybody else felt betrayed:

* Knick fans couldn't figure out why he wouldn't want to play in New York, "The Greatest City in the World," in Madison Square Garden, "The World's Most Famous Arena." (James Dolan was running the Knicks, that's why.)

* Bulls fans couldn't figure out why he wouldn't want to play on the team of Michael Jordan. (Jordan's shadow, maybe? After all, everything LeBron had done, and has gone on to do, has been measured against Jordan's career and life. Or maybe the Ohio native was just tired of the cold Midwestern weather.)

* Laker fans couldn't figure out why he didn't want to play for, if not the historically most successful (2nd only to the Boston Celtics), then certainly the most glamorous franchise in the NBA.

Did it work? Sort of: LeBron was with the Heat for 4 seasons, and reached the NBA Finals all 4 times -- but only won 2 of them. Then he finished that contract, and went back to the Cavs, and led them to the Finals 4 straight times, all against the Golden State Warriors, but only won 1 of them -- but it was still the title they had waited the team's entire existence for. Then he finished that contract, and went to the Lakers, leading them to a title in 2020, but that was in a COVID-interrupted season and an entire Playoffs in a "bubble," so Laker haters tend to put an asterisk on it. Otherwise, with the Lakers, he has fallen short.

The Decision showed that, unlike every other league, the NBA was now player-driven, not coach-driven, owner-driven, or even TV-driven. LeBron was driving TV. He had become the most influential figure in the league, more so than Commissioner David Stern and his eventual replacement, Adam Silver. The NBA was now The LeBron Show, with hundreds of supporting characters.

*

July 8, 2010 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. The Yankees trailed 1-0 going into the 8th inning, but tied it, and won it in the 9th on a 2-run single by Alex Rodriguez against the team with whom he came up. This made a winning pitcher out of Andy Pettitte.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Brian Schneider won it with a home run in the bottom of the 12th.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Washington Nationals, 9-1 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. Roy Oswalt allowed a single to Neil Walker in the 1st inning, and no more hits the rest of the way, although he walked 2 batters and hit another. Lance Berkman provided all the scoring with 2 solo home runs for the Astros.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 1-0 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago. The only run of the game came on a sacrifice fly by Paul Konerko in the bottom of the 1st inning. John Danks pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins, 10-4 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves, the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland Athletics were not scheduled to play.

The 2010 World Cup was also nearing its conclusion in South Africa. The Semifinals had been held: On July 6 in Cape Town, the Netherlands beat Uruguay, 3-2; and on July 7 in Durban, Spain beat Germany, 1-0. In the Final on July 11, Spain beat the Netherlands, 1-0 in extra time in Johannesburg.

June 23, 2010: The Landon Donovan Goal

June 23, 2010: Landon Donovan scores the most famous goal in the history of American soccer.

* More famous than Joe Gaetjens' goal to allow the U.S. national team to beat England in the 1950 World Cup, because nobody was watching on television.

* More famous than any goal ever scored in the North American Soccer League, during its run of 1967 to 1984.

* More famous than any goal ever scored in Major League Soccer since its debut in 1996.

* And more famous than the goals scored by Brian McBride and Donovan himself in the 2002 World Cup "Dos a Cero" win over arch-rival Mexico.

On that occasion, Donovan was 20 years old, and already the winner of an MLS Cup with the San Jose Earthquakes. He would win another with them, and then win one for the Los Angeles Galaxy. And he would help the U.S. team win 3 CONCACAF Gold Cups. He would also play for the U.S. in the 2006 World Cup, a disappointment for the team. And he had played in Germany's Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

The 2010 World Cup was held in South Africa. The U.S. team, led by Donovan and Clint Dempsey, was placed in a Group with England, Slovenia and Algeria, and it was expected that the 1st 2 games would be lost, and the U.S. would fail to qualify for the Knockout Stage.

But goalkeeper Rob Green's mishandling of a Dempsey shot gave the U.S. a 1-1 draw with England in Rustenberg. And they dominated Slovenia in Johannesburg, and should have won, but a goal, a Maurice Edu volley off of a Donovan pass, was wrongly disallowed, leaving a 2-2 draw, with Donovan and Marcus Bradley scoring the goals.

So the game against Algeria, at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria -- named for the founder of organized sports in that city, and home of the historically black soccer team Mamelodi Sundowns and the traditionally white rugby team Blue Bulls -- was huge. A win would send the U.S. to the knockout stage. A draw might, depending on who won between England and Slovenia, and by how much. A loss, and we were definitely out.

Loftus Versfeld Stadium

Oddly, only 35,827 fans paid to see the game. Loftus Versfeld Stadium, built in 1923 and substantially renovated in 2008, has a capacity of 51,752. But ticket prices for this World Cup were very high, pricing poor black South Africans out, and there weren't enough people from other countries willing to pay.

After an early Algerian shot hit the crossbar, the American defense settled down. Jozy Altidore missed a sitter. Dempsey scored, but it was disallowed for offside. The joke went around the world: Now, the U.S. is a true footballing nation, because they've gotten screwed twice at one World Cup.

At the end of 90 minutes, it was still 0-0. But the final had come in: England had beaten Slovenia 1-0. England were in. If the U.S. could not score in stoppage time, they would finish 3rd in the Group to Slovenia's 2nd, and would be out.

Three minutes were added on. Goalkeeper Tim Howard, of North Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, threw an outlet pass to Donovan. He dribbled a bit, then passed to Altidore, who crossed to Dempsey. Raïs M'Bolhi, born in Paris but playing his national soccer for Algeria and his club soccer, at the time, for Slavia Sofia in Bulgaria, moved forward, and blocked Dempsey's shot.

But he only blocked it, unable to stop it. Donovan was moving forward, the ball came right to him, and he put it in the net. The social media reaction was delayed because fans all over America were pretty much still celebrating when the referee, Frank De Bleeckere of Belgium, blew his final whistle during the 94th minute. One-nil to the Stars & Stripes.

Those of us who are both Americans and Arsenal fans thought of the Michael Thomas goal that won Arsenal the 1989 Football League title against Liverpool, partly because that goal was also started by a goalkeeper's long throw, and was in the 92nd minute instead of the 91st.

Unfortunately, all the Donovan goal won was a World Cup Group. It didn't guarantee anything other than a place in the Round of 16. Although the U.S. held Ghana to 1-1 after regulation, with Donovan converting a penalty, they ran us ragged in extra time, and we lost, 2-1. Spain went on to win the World Cup, defeating Netherlands in extra time in the Final in Johannesburg.

Still, Donovan's goal, the win it secured, and the advancement that the win secured, was a huge moment for American soccer. The "Miracle On Grass" in 1950 was an anomaly: We didn't qualify for the Knockout Stage, and we didn't qualify for the World Cup again for 40 years. "Dos a Cero" in 2002 was a great moment, and we did advance to the Quarterfinal, but it had more of an effect on our reputation within the CONCACAF region (the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) than in the world at large. Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and even South America didn't particularly care that we embarrassed Mexico.

But 1950 was the dawn of the television era. It might have been different if the game had been covered on TV, but it wasn't. And 2002, while in the Internet era, wasn't in the social media era. In contrast, Donovan's goal was shared almost immediately. Almost: We did celebrate a bit before we tweeted about it. 

After the 2010 World Cup, Donovan won 2 more MLS Cups with the Galaxy, and 1 more CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also played in England for Liverpool-based Everton, and, with some irony, in Mexico with Club León. In 2020, the minor-league team San Diego Loyal was founded, and Donovan has been their manager ever since.

*

June 23, 2010 was a Wednesday. As I said, the other World Cup Group C game played that day was England's 1-0 win over Slovenia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

In Group D, Germany beat Ghana 1-0 at FNB Stadium, a.k.a. Soccer City, in Johannesburg; and Australia beat Serbia 2-1 at Mbombela Stadium in Nelsprit.

American football was out of season. The basketball season had ended 6 days earlier, when the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA Championship by beating the Boston Celtics. The hockey season had ended 14 days earlier, when the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers.

These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Curtis Granderson won it with a home run in the top of the 10th inning, making Mariano Rivera a winner in relief of Javier Vazquez.

* The New York Mets beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-0 at Citi Field. José Reyes hit a home run, and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-6 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Tribe scored a run in the top of the 9th. But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Brian Schneider drew a leadoff walk for the Phils, and Jimmy Rollins hit a home run.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Washington Nationals, 1-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Brian Bannister and 2 relievers pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-0 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Matt Holliday singled home the only run of the game in the top of the 9th, making a winner of Chris Carpenter, who had pitched 8 innings of a 3-hit shutout, with Ryan Franklin allowing a 4th hit but keeping the shutout.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Mark Buerhle outpitched Tim Hudson.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13-3 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-6 at Coors Field in Denver. Ian Stewart and former Yankee Jason Giambi (with Clint Barnes on base) hit home runs of Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the 9th to win it.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat their regional rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Both of the Halos' runs were scored in part due to errors.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Johnny Cueto and 2 relievers pitched a 7-hit shutout.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

June 12, 2010: USA vs. England and the "Hand of Clod"

You've heard of "Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29"? Well…

June 12, 2010: Soccer's World Cup continues in South Africa. The U.S. team plays England at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. The teams had played each other in a few games of low meaning, but hadn't played in a game that truly mattered since 1950, when the U.S. shocked England in the World Cup in Brazil.

This time, the U.S. is better than it was in 1950, but this is England's "Golden Generation": Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Glen Johnson of Liverpool; Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole of Chelsea; Wayne Rooney of Manchester United; Ledley King, Aaron Lennon and Peter Crouch of Tottenham Hotspur; and former Liverpool star Emile Heskey and future Liverpool star James Milner, both of Aston Villa.

The U.S. have no chance. An English paper, The Sun, had described Group C as "EASY: England, Algeria, Slovenia, Yanks." (Hardly the 1st thing that rag got wrong.) On ABC, former Liverpool legend Steve McManaman says England will win 3-1.

Sure enough, Gerrard gives England an early 1-0 lead. But shortly before halftime, goalkeeper Robert Green of West Ham United mishandles a shot by Clint Dempsey, and the ball goes into the net, stunning everyone.

During halftime, Mike Tirico tells the audience that he'd just explained to McManaman who Bill Buckner was, referencing the most famous error in baseball history, in the 1986 World Series. The game ends "USA Beats England, 1-1."

Two different English newspapers, the Daily Mirror and the News of the World, did a takeoff on Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" cheat for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup: They called Green's howler the "Hand of Clod."

If, as the only saying from American football goes, "A tie is like kissing your sister," then, for the Americans, this tie was like kissing your sister's really nice-looking best friend; while, for England, this tie (they would say, "draw") was like kissing your sister's other best friend -- you know, the one with the "great personality."

Elsewhere that day, Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 at Johannesburg, and South Korea beat Greece 2-0 at Port Elizabeth.

The U.S. and England both advanced to the Knockout Stage, and both lost in the Round of 16.

UPDATE: They would play each other again in the 2022 World Cup, in Qatar, with England again favored. That would also be a draw, 0-0.

*

June 12, 2010 was a Saturday. American-style football was out of season. Hockey season had ended 3 days earlier, when the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the Finals to win the Stanley Cup. The NBA Finals were between Games 4 and 5, and the Los Angeles Lakers went on to beat the Boston Celtics in 7 games.

And these games, mostly Interleague, were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Houston Astros, 9-3 at Yankee Stadium. Javier Vázquez was the winning pitcher. Derek Jeter hit 2 home runs, and Jorge Posada also hit a homer.

* The New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Nationals, 7-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Kansas City Royals, 11-5 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Carlos Guillén win it with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-0 at Coors Field in Denver. Jason Hammel pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Manny Corpas finished the 4-hit shutout.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-4 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.