IN RECENT years, the reputation of “football’s greatest-ever player” has been somewhat tarnished, and it is now widely pre-supposed that there’s nothing he won’t lend his name to, whether that’s FIFA’s improbably diverse list of the world’s greatest living players … Continue reading The greatest goal Pelé ever scored
IN 1977, Pelé predicted an African team would win the World Cup before the end of the 20th century. It was and remains a bold prediction: it wasn’t even until the following year that an African country, Tunisia, actually won … Continue reading Guest Slot: Why African football has flopped at the 2018 World Cup
WHEN Russia was awarded the hosting rights to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it wasn’t totally unfair to dismiss the reaction – particularly that of the English – as sour grapes. After all, there was a certain expectation among the … Continue reading Guest Slot: Should Russia be hosting?
IN THE first of a series of guest columns, Olaf Jensen writes on the often forgotten side of German football. In the 1920s and 30s, Germany threatened to be an important footballing nation, finishing third in the 1934 World Cup. In those days, they had a larger country from which to pick their talent – a far eastern province with a forgotten footballing history. In Germany there is a well-known sketch in which the comedian Peter Frankenfeld, acting as weatherman, takes viewers on a tour of the country’s accents. It is little more than a curiosity to the non-German, but … Continue reading Guest Slot: Olaf Peter Jensen on German football history
