IT WAS A GOAL THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE, the kind of high-level showboatery that’s worth the price of admission alone. On a misty January evening inside t...
Illustration by Federico Manasse
There may never be another footballer as supreme as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. The argument of who tru...
On 6 June 2014, Marco Reus’s professional life plunged into darkness. Darkness often touches professional footballers, but for this exceptionally blessed German...
At the end of the sublime, cinematically perfect 2008/09 season, Barcelona stood apart from their rivals. La Liga champions, Copa del Rey winners and Champions ...
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity
Imagine being billed as the next superstar of German football. Imagine the sheer immensity of the pressure, the...
This feature is part of The Masterminds: 10 Under 45
Vincenzo Montella is not entirely dissimilar to Roberto Mancini. Like the former Inter and Manchester ...
This feature is part of The Masterminds: 10 Under 45
On 25 February 2015, Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim arrived at the Emirates Stadium with a plan. That plan ...
As featured on Guardian Sport
Some footballers have the privilege of working under gifted tacticians and thoroughbred winners during their careers, but it’s ...
This feature is part of The Masterminds: 10 Under 45
When Eddie Howe announced his retirement from football at the age of 29, he wasn’t certain what fate had...
On 24 May 2009, Ewood Park was awash with a colour not normally associated with Blackburn Rovers. Instead of the traditional blue and white associated with the ...
There’s a wonderful simplicity that characterises Jermain Defoe’s career: a love of playing and a love of scoring goals. It sounds faintly ludicrous – a Premier...
I once heard a joke involving Owen Hargreaves when the midfielder was a Manchester United player. The joke went along the lines of ‘Hargreaves ruled out for a f...
Sometimes in football, it's difficult not to feel sorry for goalkeepers. Yes, in the modern game they may be protected species, but they're still faced with the...
This feature is part of The Masterminds
The press conference was an explosive three minutes, leaving a cluster of Germany’s top journalists stunned and bewilde...
This feature is part of The Masterminds series
Some football managers find it difficult to build one truly great team. Sir Matt Busby built three. At Old Traff...
This feature is part of The Masterminds
In 1974, Argentine football had unquestionably seen more prosperous days. The national side had just been dumped out of...
This feature is part of The Masterminds series
If trophies are your thing, let’s start with them. Marcello Lippi, the grandfather of modern Italian football, w...
This feature is part of The Masterminds series
"Every manager dies a little during a game. I’d rather die in a dug-out than moulder away in a director’s box." ...
