There is no such thing as an English footballer playing abroad at the peak of his powers today. Scour the globe in search of an Englishman plying his trade on foreign soil…
Month: November 2018
When a nation is as obsessed with football as Scotland, there is always a searchlight pointed towards the horizon in search of tomorrow’s stars. Whether cribbed from Football Manager or tipped off…
Japan is an intoxicating blend of the traditional and the futuristic. It is a unique culture, with a prevailing attitude of respect and deference that underpins its society and shapes its values,…
In football’s most potentially divisive moment, could a utopia of sorts possibly be found? The growing shadow of a European Super League is gradually creeping across the sport, with the gap between…
In early November, the whistleblowing German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed talks had taken place amongst Europe’s top football clubs, with the topic of discussion the long-mooted formation of a breakaway European Super…
On 4 April 1970, Eddie Gray scored, just maybe, the two greatest goals of his career. Sixty-one minutes apart, the first, after 10 minutes, was a looping left-footed 40-yarder; some inexplicable floating…
Despite injuries wrecking the latter stages of his career, Kompany has overcome so much to stake a place as one of Manchester City’s greatest players
The whole of the Shed End at Tannadice held its breath as the ball sailed through the air, Andoni Zubizaretta in the Barcelona goal only watching as the net rustled behind him.…
The first stanza of the Argentine national anthem had barely concluded on a balmy summer night in Rome when the camera panned to Diego Maradona. “Hijos de puta,” Argentina’s captain uttered in…
When the camera panned over to Mats Gren on the evening of 1 October 2018 at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, IFK Gothenburg’s sporting director held a solid and steely gaze. His…
There is a pervading sentiment in football that Red Bull is a force for bad. Their involvement, from Salzburg and New York to Brazil and Leipzig, is often talked about with a…
In the summer of 2002, Asian football was thrust into the global spotlight thanks to a highly successful World Cup in Japan and South Korea. The entire planet sat back and revelled in…
It was in November 2017 at the famed San Siro in Milan that Italy suffered one of their most humbling defeats. The scoreless draw in a World Cup qualification playoff, after a…
There exists a very simple equation that goes a little something like: Football + Cartoons = David Squires. Or perhaps it’s David Squires + Football = Cartoons. Or … Squires x Cartoon?…
Jean-François Larios: laconically stylish footballer, indomitable presence and effortlessly cool in possession of the ball. An excellent penalty taker, he was the free-moving but often deep-lying springboard of the late 1970s and early…
Nestled between the industrial Milan and the rolling landscapes of Florence, Parma sits peacefully in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Red and beige-hued bricks form its Romanesque buildings while breathtaking frescos…
As Moestafa El Kabir loops over Harun Tekin to make it 3-0 to Ankaragücü, on the touchline Philip Cocu surely knows. An audible wall of boos ring around the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium,…
Despite its relative success, it’s fair to say that Celtic fans don’t look back as fondly on Gordon Strachan’s stint as manager as they do on Martin O’Neill’s five-year tenure. O’Neill put Celtic…