We’re down to the last few days of the monthlong soccer party that is World Cup South Africa 2010, and we have certainly learned a few things along the way. Among them: * England is only good at soccer played in England. * Having the best player in the world doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t do the one thing you ask him to do. * African...

Ready for more World Cup? Team USA is in the Knockout round and faces Ghana at 1:30 p.m. Our Allen Vaughan will be Live Blogging all of the action.

There are celebrations and then there are CELEBRATIONS. When Team US beat Algeria, TAGsgf.com staffer Brett Johnston exploded — all the way to NYTimes.com.

3:28 p.m.: Stats: Shots on goal: England 16, U.S. 11. Fouls: U.S. 14, England 12. Possession: England 54 percent, U.S. 46 percent. FIFA Man of the Match: United States keeper Tim Howard. Damn right. Well, time to tab out. Thanks for reading. We’ll be back here for the next USA match against Slovenia on Friday, June 18. 3:25 p.m.: That’s it. The game...

3:26 p.m.: Stats time. Uruguay, you got owned. Shots on goal: France 12, Uruguay 6. Fouls: France 20, Uruguay 13. Possession time: France 53 percent, Uruguay 47 percent. Both teams accumulated three yellow cards, but the red card against Lodeiro will take him out for the next game. They had better hope that doesn’t burn them against South Africa next...

11:00 a.m.: A quick look at stats: Goals – Tshabala for South Africa in the 55th minute, Marquez in the 79th minute for Mexico. Shots on goal: Mexico 12, South Africa 9. Fouls: South Africa 16, Mexico 13. Possession goes 58 percent to Mexico and 42 percent to South Africa. FIFA’s Man of the Match: Siphiwe Tshabalala. Now, if you’ll excuse me,...

Shakira, The Black Eyed Peas and a few other music artists sang and danced on worldwide TV earlier today and South Africa declared World Cup 2010 officially open. It was not quite the check-out-our-explosions-and-interpretive-dancers kind of event the Olympics put on, though; mostly just hip shake. More importantly, it means tomorrow morning there will be soccer...

We are just days away from a surprisingly en vogue event in American sports culture: the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa, which starts Friday and continues through July 11. The World Cup has come to the United States just once, in 1994, and while soccer’s profile has steadily grown in America in the years since it has remained something of a...