The last dance of Juan Carlos Valerón

Deep in the Barranco Seco, a light-hearted game of tag broke the morning sun. Pre-season in Gran Canaria’s capital was officially underway, while the promotion celebrations of June were finally put to an…

Ronaldinho and Messi: a relationship born out of genius

“We are a nation of 200 million Germans,” wrote Brazilian journalist Fernando Duarte, days before the 2014 World Cup final. ‘Brasil, decime que se siente, tener en casa a tu papá’ (Brazil, tell me…

The unforgiving rise of José María Giménez

FRIDAY JULY 12, 2013 – Istanbul, Turkey: José María Giménez was 24 hours away from the biggest game of his life to date – the under-20 World Cup final. After a host of…