NATION capitals are very often not the seat of power in football – London, for example, has enjoyed periods of domination, but over the course of the past 50 years, Manchester and Liverpool have been England’s dominant cities as far as the beautiful game is concerned. Across Europe, a similar tale is told – Germany, […]
On one hand, people want Lionel Messi to cement his place in footballing history as one of the true greats with a World Cup win, on the other, those that value the qualities of teamwork will want Germany to lift their fourth title on Sunday. While Brazil showed us what happens when a team degenerates […]
In the Bible, the locust is a symbol of bad luck or punishment, or so they say. Was the appearance of a huge cartoon-like locust on James Rodriguez’s shoulder a sign that good fortune was about to run out on the host nation? With Thiago Silva and Neymar now sidelined, it would seem that Brazil […]
The nerves are starting to show in Brazil. Scolari looks like he’s getting hot under the collar, Neymar’s fitness becomes national news and there’s the omnipresent threat of violence if things go horribly wrong for Pentacampeões against Colombia. Having predicted that Chile would beat Brazil in the last 16 – actually, they very nearly did […]
And so, two weeks into the greatest show on earth, 16 teams have gone home and the rest go into the business end of the competition. It’s been a good World Cup so far, not a great one, despite the plethora of young hacks claiming it’s the best since 1970 and in their lifetime. It’s […]
“And remember, expectation is low,” said one of the BBC pundits – I think Gary Lineker, before England ran out against Italy. Five days later, the chickens came home to roost, probable elimination at the group stage. So why the long face? It’s not the end of an era, because there was never an era […]
Spain’s tepid defence of the World Cup signaled the end of an era for the global game. Like all playing systems, the time of “tiki-taka” has probably come to an end. Or has it? Was it just that too many of Spain’s team have been around for too long? I like to think it is […]
England are currently trying to convince themselves that they can still qualify for the next round of the World Cup, and of course, they can. But the odds are stacked against them, because in almost every case, a team losing its first game does not get through to the knockout stage. In 2010, only one […]
Seeing Luiz Felipe Scolari in charge of Brazil is a reminder that he has happily rebounded from his short and very unproductive spell with Chelsea. Ironically, four of Scolari’s squad, on which the fate of the nation depends, were Chelsea players last season: Luiz, Ramires, Willian and Oscar. When Scolari arrived at Stamford Bridge, he […]
