The announcement was inevitable. Seeing Landon Donovan score against Bayern Munich in a meaningless game somehow signified a type of finality reserved for movie scripts. When Donovan announced his plans to retire…
THINK OF AMERICAN SOCCER the way people viewed cars and technology in 1950s science fiction mail-order catalogues. Everyone thought we’d have our flying car by now, right? In essence, the quandary morphs…
This feature is part of The Masterminds GOOD FOOTBALL TEAMS require direction and leadership. The captain functions as the on-field general, rallying the troops in the heat of competition. The manager is…
WHY HASN’T THE UNITED STATES produced a world-class player in the men’s game? That question might as well read like Enrico Fermi’s intergalactic quandary, “Where is everyone?” I imagine physicists and astronomers…
‘That was Cruyff’. So many things in football are indeed Johan Cruyff. Senior TFT writer Jon Townsend, a man heavily influenced by Cruyff as a player and now coach, looks back in celebratory fashion at the beautiful gifts the Dutch legend left behind.
SOME PLAYERS HAVE what is referred to as “it” – the gusto, the stuff, the goods, the flair, the swagger – whatever you want to call it, when you see it, you know…
This feature is part of The Masterminds FOOTBALL CAN BE APTLY be described as a simple game made complex. It is about the goals and entertainment and the social function it affords its…
The feature is part of The Masterminds GREAT MANAGERS HAVE A WAY WITH WORDS AND WIT. They are governed by a sense of honesty to put their craft and players before all…
This feature is part of The Masterminds The only way to simplify football is to make it complicated. As such, understanding who Brian Clough was and his impact on football seems appropriate for…
MY FIRST FORAY INTO A TRUE BRAWL DISGUISED AS A FOOTBALL GAME was when I was 16-years-old. I had been “recruited” by a group of stockyard workers from Eastern Europe to play in…
NEUER, VALDÉS, MENZO, GATTI AND JONGBLOED all mastered the art of the sweeper keeper; proactive goalkeepers that charge out of their box to intercept through balls from attacking teams, clearing the ball…
Kenny Dalglish wasn’t the most skilful player, nor was he blessed with blinding pace or immense strength, but scenes of a stealthy and intelligent Scot with straw-like hair and ice-blue eyes cutting defences…
Stylish, flamboyant and a free-kick master. A wonderful range of passing, a quick decision maker, creative, patient and composed. Such superlatives could be about any number of brilliant players throughout football’s history. Perhaps reading…
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity Football is a game that can be summed up in two words: ‘what if?’ As if the fates conspired – as they tend to…
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity A SINGLE SNAPSHOT of a player often reveals much more than the football they play. The way they carry themselves off the ball, how they…
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity EVERY MAN WANTED TO BE HIM and every woman wanted to have him. Few players are capable of not only existing, but thriving on…
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity Imagine a striker tall in stature but with lightning-quick feet, a velvety deft first touch, the explosiveness of a coiled spring, the flexibility and acrobatic…
FOOTBALL IS A GIFT to each culture that embraces the sport. Separated by thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, South America and Europe have a symbiotic relationship in football so much…