LIVE VIDEO: New York City Throws Ticker Tape Parade For World Cup Champions

USA Wins Women's World Cup, Champion Abby Wambach Rushes To Kiss Her Wife

Via SB Nation: "For the first time in her career, Abby Wambach is a World Cup winner. And after the final whistle blew in the United States' 5-2 win over Japan, she sprinted over to the stands to find her wife, Sarah Huffman, who was sitting in the front row with the rest of the American supporters."

FIFA Official: Yes We Took Bribes

LA Galaxy Sign Out Soccer Star Robbie Rogers To Multi-Year Contract Extension

Via press release:

The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has signed defender Robbie Rogers to a multi-year contract extension. Rogers, an MLS veteran and former U.S. Men’s National Team member, joined in Galaxy in May 2013 and has made 30 appearances and 22 starts as a member of the Galaxy. “We are excited that Robbie will remain a part of our organization going forward,” LA Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena said. “He has proven to be a dynamic player in our League and an integral part of our success this year. We look forward to his continued contributions in the years to come.” Rogers, 27, has made 15 appearances for the Galaxy this season in addition to recording two assists. After making the move to defense full-time with a start against Chivas USA on June 8, the Galaxy have gone 10-2-7 in all MLS competitions in which Rogers appeared, including MLS Cup Playoffs.

(Tipped by JMG reader Benjamin)

RELATED: Last month ABC green-lighted a sitcom based on Rogers' life. The show is tentatively titled Men In Shorts.

Germany Celebrates World Cup

And That's The End Of That

Ann Coulter: Immigrant Soccer Fans Are Leading America Into Moral Decay

"Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation's moral decay. Individual achievement is not a big factor in soccer. In a real sport, players fumble passes, throw bricks and drop fly balls — all in front of a crowd. When baseball players strike out, they're standing alone at the plate. But there's also individual glory in home runs, touchdowns and slam-dunks. In soccer, the blame is dispersed and almost no one scores anyway. There are no heroes, no losers, no accountability, and no child's fragile self-esteem is bruised. There's a reason perpetually alarmed women are called 'soccer moms', not 'football moms.' If more 'Americans' are watching soccer today, it's only because of the demographic switch effected by Teddy Kennedy's 1965 immigration law. I promise you: No American whose great-grandfather was born here is watching soccer. One can only hope that, in addition to learning English, these new Americans will drop their soccer fetish with time." - Ann Coulter, in today's syndicated column. (Tipped by JMG reader Will)

World Cup Open Thread

Judging by Twitter, many of the nation's offices have suspended work to watch the USA vs Germany match. If you're among those folks, here's an open thread to weigh in, at least on the hotness of the players.

UPDATE: The USA has lost.

FIFA Bans World Cup Biter

Pro Soccer 2013 MVP Player Mike Magee Responds To Hateful Tweet, Gets Apology

Magee plays for the Chicago Fire and was the 2013 MVP for Major League Soccer. SB Nation has the story. (Tipped by JMG reader Brian)

Tweet Of The Day - Anton Hysen

Hysen came out in 2011 and is one of only two openly gay professional soccer players in the world. (The other is American player Robbie Rogers.) Hysen has spent the last couple of hours dealing with angry fans. Last year he became the first openly gay winner of Sweden's version of Dancing With The Stars. (Via Gay Star News)

Soccer Association Demands Clarification From Russia Regarding 2018 World Cup

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has asked the Russian government for "clarification and more details" regarding the "homosexual propaganda" ban.  FIFA's World Cup is set to be hosted by Russia in 2018.

"Russia has committed to provide all visitors and fans with a warm welcome and ensure their safety" during the monthlong tournament," FIFA said, adding that "FIFA trusts that the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosts will deliver on this promise."  FIFA has a direct link to the Russian government, as Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko serves under FIFA President Sepp Blatter on the football body's 27-member executive board. Still, Mutko has said that Olympic athletes would have to respect the country's laws the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games, and that international reaction needed to "calm down." FIFA noted that its statutes "foresee zero tolerance against discrimination."

Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup in 2010.

Robbie Rogers On Coming Out

Robbie Rogers Takes Soccer Field As First Out Male Professional Sports Player

Via the Advocate:

Robbie Rogers made history on Sunday as the first openly gay man to play in a game in U.S. professional sports. If there was any concern about whether fans would be supportive, it was eased as the crowd stood and cheered wildly when Rogers took the field during the second half of the L.A. Galaxy's 4-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.  This might forever become a tricky piece of sports trivia. The NFL's Jason Collins is the first male pro athlete to come out while still an active player, but Collins' season was already over.

The New York Times has more:

The crowd was typical — close to capacity, but still with room to seat several thousand more. The news media turnout was nearly normal — no local columnists and scant national presence. Only the presence of the celebrity and gossip Web site OMG appeared out of place at a soccer match. There were no discernible signs of support (or dissent) for Rogers until he stepped on the field. To some, an M.L.S. public service announcement that flashed along the stadium signage boards may have carried more resonance on this night: “Unity. Equality. Acceptance. Respect for Fair Play. Don’t Cross the Line.” “We were talking about it earlier: this is a historic night, kind of like Jackie Robinson,” Vince Grant, a Galaxy fan, said as he enjoyed a pregame beer and meal with his uncle Mike Callahan and a friend, Aaron Rice. But for a number of Galaxy fans, there seems to be less concern with the historical implications than how the acquisition of Rogers cost Los Angeles its leading scorer, Mike Magee.

VIDEO: Rogers takes the field about one minute in.  The clip ends with a post-game interview.

Openly Gay Pro Soccer Player Robbie Rogers To Join Los Angeles Galaxy

In February pro soccer player Robbie Rogers simultaneously came out and retired from his sport.  But in the wake of the coming out of NBA player Jason Collins, Rogers has reconsidered. This morning USA Today revealed that Rogers has signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

He told the world in February that he is gay and at the same moment said he was leaving soccer. Now, Rogers is reversing field and has agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Galaxy, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. Both spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the Galaxy has not announced the deal. Rogers will be the first active openly gay player in Major League Soccer. He also hopes to play for the U.S. national team in the 2014 World Cup — and to be the role model for gay teens that he wished he'd had.

Rogers says his epiphany came after speaking to an LGBT youth group in Portland.

"I seriously felt like a coward," he tells USA TODAY Sports in an exclusive interview about his return. "These kids are standing up for themselves and changing the world, and I'm 25, I have a platform and a voice to be a role model. How much of a coward was I to not step up to the plate?" And so, newly turned 26, he will step onto the pitch again. He couldn't imagine such a thing when he told his secret in February, writing an open letter on his website and linking to it with this pithy tweet: "Just getting some sh*t off my chest."

ESPN covered the news this afternoon.

OREGON: Portland Timbers Pro Soccer Fan Club Display Denounces Homophobia

On Sunday the fan club for the Portland Timbers pro soccer team created the above display in support of the International Day Against Homophobia, which is this Friday. From the Major League Soccer site:

Sometimes, supporters groups' tifo displays are designed to look really cool, to recognize a player's career-long contributions to the club or even to intimidate that day's opponent with a massive pregame display that covers the entire end of a 70,000-seat stadium. And other times, the displays transcend the sport of soccer altogether, making a statement about life in general. On the same day a match in Italy – one that happened to involve United States national team midfielder Michael Bradley's club team, AS Roma – had to be momentarily halted because of racist chants aimed at opposing AC Milan players, the Timbers Army chose to spend their Sunday afternoon taking a stand against another sensitive social issue in the sports world: homophobia. The 5,000-person section used roughly 4,500 colored cards to create the display, according to Timbers Army 107 Independent Supporters Trust board member Abram Goldman-Armstrong in an e-mail exchange with MLSsoccer.com on Monday.

The article adds: "The Timbers Army will be the first of many independent supporters groups across MLS to lend their support to the 'Pride, Not Prejudice' cause this week."  Very, very cool. By the way, the Timbers won their game. (Tipped by JMG reader Lance)

Gay Soccer Player May Return To Game

In February pro soccer player Robbie Rogers came out and announced his retirement on the same day.  But hang on, Rogers was spotted training with the Los Angeles Galaxy this week.

The 25-year-old, who has 18 caps for the U.S., accepted an invitation from Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena to train with the team, which posted pictures of Rogers in action on their social media sites. Californian Rogers made his name in MLS with the Columbus Crew but under league rules, his rights would be held by the Chicago Fire if he was to return to play. Chicago head coach Frank Klopas told the team's website on Tuesday that they would be interested in signing Rogers. "The only thing I can tell you is he's a very good player and the first option is to always look to bring him to our team if he decides to play," said Klopas. "It's great that he's back into it. He's a young man with a lot of years left and it's something he loves doing. You can never get that back when its past."

It's not clear if Rogers' possible return to the sport has anything to do with the positive public reaction to the coming out of Jason Collins.

NEW YORK CITY: Gay Councilman Slams Queens Park Giveaway To Leader Of Anti-Gay Arab Nation

"I was shocked to read in the New York Times that the Bloomberg Administration is negotiating to give NYC parkland away to Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, an oil billionaire that helps rule a country where gays or lesbians is a crime punishable by death. This is outrageous. This is also a country where gay and lesbian people could be subject to chemical castration. It is totally unacceptable. I urge my colleagues in the City Council and elected officials across the state to join me in saying that New Yorkers won’t do business with a murderous regime and we won’t sell, trade or giveaway our public assets to those who discriminate and participate in human rights abuses." - New York City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens), on the plan to build a pro soccer stadium in Flushing Meadows.

The sheik, who is worth an estimated $5B, is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Gothamist has more on the story.

Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is close to paying $100 million to bring professional soccer to Queens.  The Times says, "The prospective owners are willing to pay a $100 million expansion fee for the league’s 20th team, which could be called New York City F.C. and begin play in 2016, the two people said. That would more than double the expansion fee of $40 million paid by the Montreal team that entered M.L.S. in 2012." If the deal goes through, MLS will take 13 acres in Flushing Meadows Corona Park—and this is contingent upon the City Council and State Legislature okaying it— with the league replacing the 13 acres of parkland to the community at a location yet to be identified.

German Soccer Fans Protest Homophobia

Holding rainbow placards above their heads, this weekend thousands of German soccer fans participated in a stadium protest against homophobia in sports. Via Pink News:

Fans of the St Pauli football squad demonstrated during a game against Paderborn, and were coordinated by Alerta Network, which describes itself as an “antifascist movement”. The Alerta Action Day saw fans holding rainbow signs emblazoned with the words “Alerta Network”, as well as larger banners with images of same-sex couples, and messages of solidarity against homophobia.

Soccer Stars Rally For Robbie Rogers

Professional soccer players have poured onto Twitter to express support for Robbie Rogers, who yesterday came out and announced his retirement from the sport. The New York Times has posted a lengthy recapping of the messages to Rogers, whose number of Twitter followers swelled by the tens of thousands following his announcement.

RELATED: Some of the messages to Rogers express hope that he returns to professional soccer.  Rogers' contract is currently owned by the Chicago Fire and yesterday their head coach issued this statement: "Yesterday I thought he was a very good player and I still think that today. Should Robbie want to return to the game, we would still be open to him being part of the Fire."