Few men have changed calcio like Gianni Brera. The journalist was a controversial figure but a genius who invented the modern lexicon of Italian football
In many ways, Iceland have no right to feed at the top table of world football. A nation of just 325,000 people marooned on a volcanic island in the North Atlantic, miles…
This feature is a part of Hot Bovril and Cold Terraces, a series looking at first-hand memories of football before the flash. If there is one single item that screams World Cup…
Illustration by Federico Manasse Italian football is first and foremost defined by defence and tactics. No player in the history of calcio more closely defines these ideals than Franco Baresi of AC…
Illustration by Federico Manasse Saturday 19 May 2012, the Allianz Arena in Munich – home of Bayern Munich. The Champions League final looked as if it was going to be a victory for…
AS WE WALKED into the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia on 29 July 2007, expectations were not high, but at least we had an exit strategy in place. Having taken…
This feature is part of The Masterminds: 10 Under 45 In 560 BC, the mathematician Pythagoras lived in a small village in what is now known as Calabria, the southern part of…
This feature is part of The Masterminds: 10 Under 45 If Italy is the great training ground for great European coaches, Argentina must be considered its equal in the pressure cooker of…
AS I SAT watching the Iceland under-17 national side at Egilshöll – a massive indoor football hall in Reykjavik, Iceland – a side under the masterful tutelage of Selfoss native Halldór Björnsson, I…
WHILE THE WORLD was in the death grip of the worst economic depression in history in the summer of 1934, fascist Italy hosted the second FIFA World Cup in what remains the…
This feature is part of The Masterminds THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL has seen a litany of great managers come from the Italian peninsula since the earliest days. These strategic thinkers and innovators…
It’s 15 May 2016 at the Friuli stadium in Udine, and the final match for Antonio Di Natale after 438 outings and 226 goals for Udinese. The prince of calcio is leaving…
WHEN VALENTINO MAZZOLA rolled up his sleeves on the pitch, it signalled to the rest of the team that he was about to take over, that the greatest player of calcio was about…
IN 1973, a tall, handsome Swede bought the Villa Boemia estate in the Monferrato hills in the Asti region of Italy. A verdant area known for its fine wines and amazing vistas, this…