This feature is part of Virtuoso Some players go into major tournaments believing they are fated to play well, while others settle for just expecting to play at all. For some, however, there…
Month: November 2018
This feature is part of Virtuoso The Champions League is, without question, club football’s grandest stage, affording individuals talented enough, and those with the itch for greatness, the opportunity to strut their…
This feature is part of Virtuoso Occasionally in a footballer’s career you can pinpoint the exact moment the lightbulb went off in the public’s minds. When a fan doubts a player and…
This feature is part of Virtuoso The shootout was quickly becoming an unmitigated disaster. While Bayern Munich’s first two shot takers had executed their jobs to perfection, Real Madrid’s most trusted, Kaká…
This feature is part of Virtuoso The year is 1994 and the late-August sun gleams down on the Anfield pitch as Liverpool lock horns with a powerfully-constructed Arsenal side. On the day,…
This feature is part of Virtuoso The story of James Rodríguez’s career following the 2014 World Cup is an intriguing one. It’s a tale of an incredible talent ravaged by injury but…
This feature is part of Virtuoso Like many footballing institutions, Arsenal are not without their fair share of adulated alumni; an array of impenetrable defenders, a collection of tantalisingly talented midfield maestros…
This feature is part of Virtuoso The instructions from coach Jim Ryan were simple: the game’s buried, take it easy, we don’t need any more goals. That was in the 72nd minute,…
This feature is part of Virtuoso The birth of the Premier League acted as a new beginning for Manchester United as Alex Ferguson’s fledgelings finally come of age, setting about crafting an…
This feature is part of Virtuoso “Fackin’ hell,” came the unexpected salutation, uttered with the unique cadence only a cockney-imitating-Spaniard can. La Roja’s oft indomitable goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta had wasted no time…
This feature is part of Virtuoso After the game against Czechoslovakia in the group stages of the 1970 World Cup, when he audaciously tried to chip opposing goalkeeper Viktor from the halfway…
This feature is part of Virtuoso That Tottenham were placed in the same group as Internazionale in this season’s Champions League might seem more than just a mere coincidence. While the London…
This feature is part of Virtuoso “He was physical perfection. He seemed like a mythical figure. I love Messi, I played many times with Cristiano and I adored him, Neymar is outstanding,…
This feature is part of Virtuoso Way before Cristiano Ronaldo became a brand in himself, even before CR7 was dreamt up as a marketing ploy, the Portuguese player exposed serious shortcomings in…
This feature is part of Virtuoso Together, Arsène Wenger and Thierry Henry symbolised an era. For Arsenal, for English football, for all the game and every willing devotee of energetic, expressive, evocative…
This feature is part of Virtuoso For all of the guile and trickery that wingers and creative midfielders possess, there may be nothing more entertaining than a centre-forward at their absolute best.…
This feature is part of Virtuoso With such a vast and storied history, with legendary players and managers who achieved so much, to etch yourself into the folklore of a club like…
This feature is part of Virtuoso Few things in sport are as sad, are as poignant, as watching an adored individual or team suffer a historic fall. To this day, there persists…