Zlatan Ibrahimović simply puts his hands on his head, while Andy van der Meyde drops to his knees in disbelief. It is the 94th minute of a Champions League group match between AC…
Once considered one of the world’s best young players, Anderson now finds himself in Turkey’s second tier with his career out of control
Football is an astonishingly straightforward game. Goals win matches, with those who score on a regular basis revered in the highest sense. The names of Frank Lampard, Ian Rush and Thierry Henry…
It is late March 2002 in Athens. Not far from the centre of town, at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, a Champions League second group phase match is unfolding between Panathinaikos and Real…
Every footballer reaches a time when they must make the difficult decision to hang up their boots and retire. Some choose to go out on top, leaving memories only of their greatness,…
This feature is part of Duology “Yorke, he’s skipped through, it’s Dwight Yorke! He’s brought down by Peruzzi … Cole will finish it off, full speed ahead Barcelona!” As Clive Tyldesley delivered…
This feature is part of Duology With their country failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2006, it signalled the end for the so-called golden generation, with the…
For the first time in 36 years, there was no African nation in the last 16 of the World Cup. It was a shock, perhaps, with star names such as John Obi…
It’s 9:45pm on a Tuesday in April, and a terrace in Kent is filled with Wrexham fans facing an arduous four-hour journey back to North Wales. Children goad the departing visitors by…
Now a 33-year-old winding down his career with Al Ahli, in 2010 Nigel de Jong was responsible for a moment that is as memorable as any associated with the World Cup final.…
Awaking across Europe on the morning of 1 July, fans were left to reflect on what would supposedly be a relatively calm day of World Cup action. Following the eliminations of Cristiano Ronaldo…
As the clock inside Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion ticked towards 11:15pm in the July night, the watchful eyes of some 65,000 people are witnessing a frantic World Cup semi-final. The 0-0 draw between the…
The closest Turkish Süper Lig title race in years came to a familiar conclusion in May 2018. Central to Galatasaray being crowned champions was the appointment of Fatih Terim for a fourth…
On the penultimate day of the Turkish 1. Lig season, a scoreboard in the western city of Manisa reads 0-3. It is a familiar sight for the fans of Manisaspor, once a…
It’s a warm afternoon in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Emerging from the metro station, an enveloping heat surrounds me as I take in the scattering of tables selling an eclectic…
Former Celtic managerJock Stein once remarked how football is nothing without fans. In times of money-spinning commercial interests and sponsorship deals, though, supporters are often left feeling increasingly distant from their clubs.…
AT THE AGE of just 19, where Kylian Mbappé will end up is a scary prospect. Already possessing a skillset many could merely dream of, he is rightly viewed as one of…
Owing to a knack of scoring late goals, Semih Şentürk is known in Turkey as “the lifeguard”. One particularly famous example of his match-saving efforts came in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals against…