Video of the Week: Jon Stewart tackles "futbol"

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This week's Video is 10 times as long as our typical clips, and infinitely funnier. On June 30, Jon Stewart broadcast a "special futbol edition" of The Daily Show, and thanks to his background as a winger for William & Mary, Stewart certainly had enough expertise to fill a great half-hour.

The first segment, "You're Welcome", is some of the Daily Show's more absurd humor, but focuses more on political jokes with a World Cup background. If you're looking for more soccer-related humor, skip to the second segment, the latest in the show's "Vuvuzealots" reports. The piece is a hilarious look at soccer fanatics, drinking and hooliganism, so any American soccer will definitely laugh out loud.

However, the best segment is saved for last: Stewart's interview with Landon Donovan and Bob Bradley. The interview is an incredibly interesting take on not only U.S. Soccer, but also the perspectives of Donovan and Bradley.

I'll leave most of the video for you to judge, but am I the only one worried that Landon et al are acting like we accomplished something great? True, the World Cup was a milestone for America's soccer attention, but the team led for 3 minutes and struggled mightily to advance from a fairly weak group. Landon's gotta do the talk show circuit after the USA's (and his personal) epic World Cup, but I'd be reassured of the team's ambitions if he seemed disappointed at least once.

Oh, and if you haven't realized it yet, you're crazy if you think I'm not gonna write about the Algeria and Ghana games. More to come.

Video of the Week: "Oh Africa!"

This week's Video continues the trend of great World Cup commercials, and I think this one's my favorite. Can't even do it justice with a description, just an awesomely cheerful commercial marrying football and Africa. You really should watch this, all 2+ minutes.

Side note: Funny how the best World Cup commercials are from non-sponsors of the tournament: Pepsi beats Coke, Nike over Adidas, etc. (Though their Star Wars ad is worth a look, if you somehow missed it.)

Video of the Week: A Nation's Expectation

Our Video of the Week is this awesome segment on the USA, part of ESPN's "32 Teams, 1 Dream" series summarizing each country at South Africa 2010. The piece shows just how far we've come as a footballing nation: not only do we hope for the U.S. to advance, we are expecting it. What a tribute to the USMNT. (To see segments for the other 31 nations, search "32 teams, 1 dream" on ESPN's YouTube page.)

Say what you will about ESPN's journalistic practices, but they are absolutely the single biggest factor in promoting American enthusiasm for the game. Check out the huge difference between the USSF's World Cup commercial and ESPN's two build-up commercials, all aired during the warm-up match against the Czech Republic. ESPN's are just flat out funnier, and their TV expertise makes them second to none at getting an audience's attention. For soccer to continue its growth in America, the game needs the continued support and reach of the ESPN family of networks.

Video of the Week: Glory

Simply put, if you don't like our Video of the Week then you have no soul. In 10 days, England-USA. 1:30 PM. World Cup 2010. It's gonna be a hell of a show.

Article to follow this week.

Video of the Week: "WRITE THE FUTURE"

The Searching Cross is back for the World Cup! Expect this page to showcase frequent updates on South Africa 2010, as we all witness the greatest sporting event in the world. (And follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates!)

Our latest Video of the Week is Nike's World Cup ad, which has been getting lots of mainstream airtime as we get closer to June 11. Superstars such as Drogba and Ronaldo take center stage, capturing many of the purest emotions we feel when watching the beautiful game. Lesser luminaries like Ribery and Landon Donovan appear in cameos that make you simply go, "That was awesome." Even non-soccer icons like Roger Federer and Homer Simpson make appearances, showing how the World Cup gets the whole world's attention. I could go on and on, but if you haven't seen this commercial yet, or even if you want to bask in its awesomeness again, you owe it to yourself to take a look. Nike really outdid themselves this time.

And for those of you who dislike Nike's domination of world soccer, here's a lesser-known Puma commercial that focuses more on Africa. Just as awe-inspiring, and it really captures the spirit of African soccer. Plus, it shows off the sweet "African unity" jersey that they've made for the continent's first ever World Cup. Check it out:

Video of the Week: Ref knocked unconscious

In Morocco this week, a referee was knocked into a coma after this shot hit him square in the head. He was out cold immediately after being struck, and is currently in a hospital in Casablanca. Rough luck for this guy, best wishes for a quick recovery.

In other news, I regret to say that The Searching Cross is taking a hiatus until the summer. My class load is heavy this semester, so I can't follow the soccer scene as intensely as I'd like. Rather than bore you with uninformed articles, I'll be taking a break from writing until the month before World Cup 2010. However, you may see the occasional Twitter post, so definitely subscribe to the feed. See you all in May!

Video of the Mid-Week: Drogba is an immovable object

Kun Aguero's fantastic goals took most of the plaudits in the 2-2 draw between Atletico and Chelsea, but Drogba showed with this goal why Chelsea is so dependent on his form. Bulling through three Atletico defenders, Drogba looked like an unstoppable force as he persisted to score his second goal.

Chelsea have a top-of-the-table clash with Manchester United this Sunday, and if this kind of form is any indication, Chelsea must be considered the favorites in the match, as well as for the title.

Video of the Week: Barcelona run rampant over Zaragoza

Barcelona put on a show at the Camp Nou on Sunday, beating Real Zaragoza 6-1 as the side beamed with pure class. In one of the finest collections of goals you will ever see, Seydou Keita scored an unlikely hat trick, while Ibrahimovic powered home two goals and Messi brilliantly chipped the keeper for one.

Barcelona looks stronger than ever, as Ibrah's pure strength has added needed muscle to their intuitive passing game. Teams like this are the stuff of legend, so don't sleep on watching the best team in Europe.

Video of the Week: Rene Higuita's famous "scorpion kick"

NOTE: For those having trouble with the embedded video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCxe4r6SjH0 to watch the clip.

Earlier this week, Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita was honored with a Golden Foot award, given by an independent commission to players whose whole careers have been devoted to excellence and entertainment. Higuita captivated the world with a style as eccentric as it was successful, as he scored 33 goals over his career for club and country.

This video highlights possibly the most famous moment of Higuita's illustrious career, the "scorpion kick" that he executed in a friendly against England in September 1995. I could try and explain it, but just watch the video to see why the name "Higuita" was once synonymous with footballing entertainment.

Video of the Week: Martin Palermo saves Argentina, then applies for AARP

Argentina is quite lucky to be in 4th in CONMEBOL's World Cup Qualifying, judging by the number of times this ball bounced around the box. Receiving his 10th cap less than a month before his 36th birthday, Martin Palermo scored a 94th minute winner to vault Argentina into an automatic qualifying place. To keep that spot, they will have to avoid defeat on Wednesday in a do-or-die match against 5th place Uruguay.

The goal, by the way, was immediately upstaged by coach Diego Maradona's absurd sliding celebration, also shown here.

Video of the Week: Well, this is awkward...

Before United's match against Wolfsburg this past week, Sir Alex Ferguson thought he might play matchmaker by urging Jonny Evans to propose to his girlfriend, who was one of the reporters in the conference room that day.

Fergie's stated before that he wants his players to have stable personal lives, but this is just ridiculous. (And hilarious, for that matter.)

Video of the Week: Individual brilliance in Russia

Rarely does a game showcase three goals of extraordinary individual skill, but it happened today in Moscow, in the 2-1 game between CSKA and Besiktas. Alan Dzagoev and Milos Krasic scored for CSKA, before Ekrem Dag struck a last-minute goal for Besiktas.

These encounters rarely get shown to American and English audiences, because these teams aren't considered very glamorous. It's truly a shame, because the Russian and Turkish styles are so intriguing and distinct from the rest of Europe. Hopefully these three goals will give you some sense of that.

Video of the Week: Messi and Barcelona seem unstoppable

In this week's (very late) video, Lionel Messi goes on one of his mesmerizing signature runs before lacing the ball beautifully into the top corner.

In contrast to big-spending but defensively challenged Real Madrid, Barcelona is steamrolling every opponent without letting up any easy goals. At the moment, they have to be the clear favorites in La Liga.

(Also, apologies for the lack of new material lately, midterms have been crazy the last two weeks. I have a piece going up soon that's been in the works for awhile, so stay tuned.)

Video of the Week: Amazing free-kick in WCQ

This week in World Cup Qualifying, Bosnian midfielder Sejad Salihovic scored a fantastic dipping free-kick to level matters against Group 5 rivals Turkey.

This crucial goal kept Bosnia-Herzegovina comfortably in second place behind already-qualified Spain. Barring a total meltdown, they'll soon clinch the group's playoff spot.

For anyone that's interested, this goal by Samuel Eto'o came in a close second.

Video of the Week: Kakha Kaladze scores twice... on his own team.

Italy were fortunate to have a double agent playing for Georgia in this week's Video, as Georgian captain Kakha Kaladze scored two own goals to hand Italy a 2-0 victory in World Cup qualifying.

In all seriousness, you have to feel bad for the man. He's just come back from 7 months of knee repair hell, he steps onto the field against players he knows quite well (since he plays for AC Milan), and this happens to him. Terribly unfortunate.

(And apologies for the weird language in the video. Best I could find.)

Video of the Week - Drogba saves Chelsea

This week, Drogba scored dramatically in injury time, saving Chelsea from an embarrassing draw with Hull.

Drogba has looked unstoppable in preseason, and judging from this precise shot from a tight angle, he's not going to stop anytime soon. Chelsea fans should hope that he isn't the only one to step up though, since these two teams are likely to finish at exact opposite ends of the table, and 1-1 would not have been a great way to start the season.

Video of the Week: "Arshavin... YES!"

In this week's Video, Andrei Arshavin scores an inconceivable goal, and proves that he's one of the best reasons to watch the Premier League this year. He's going to be a superstar, and Gunners fans better thank Arsene Wenger for spending the money to put him in an Arsenal jersey.

Video of the Week - Ray Hudson

For this Sunday's Video of the Week, take a listen to Ray Hudson, the most entertaining color commentator anywhere. It's great that ESPN now has coverage of La Liga, but if that means we hear less of Ray Hudson on Gol TV, it'll be a shame.

Video of the Week - Ronaldinho red card?

Starting a new feature here on The Searching Cross, we have the Video of the Week! Every Sunday, the Video of the Week will shine the spotlight on a goal, player, or event that made waves in the last week.

This one was just plain hilarious, during the scrimmage between AC Milan and Inter Milan on Sunday in Foxboro, MA. There was nearly a mass riot before the referre corrected himself, but the crowd ended up laughing it off with Ronaldinho. Great to see that the bucktoothed genius just might be back to his old self.