When Holland lost the 1974 World Cup final they become perhaps the greatest side to never lift the trophy. We look back at a style-defining Totaalvoetbal masterclass from the Dutch.
Tag: world cup
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…
THINK OF SEMI-FINALS BETWEEN FRANCE AND WEST GERMANY and the mind will stray to a balmy night of epic grandeur in the southern Spanish city of Seville in July 1982. That evening, one…
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…
From a simple life as the son of two Algerian migrants to the peak of football, we celebrate the genius and madness of Zinedine Zidane and his career as football’s ultimate big-game player.
It was a warm summers day in Düsseldorf on June 23, 1973. The DFB-Pokal final had entered extra time as old adversaries Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Köln refused to be separated. Gladbach supporters…
NOT SO LONG AGO, a chat about the state of football in the tiny US island territory of Guam would have been greeted almost immediately with derisive comments about their habit for…
This feature is part of The Fleeting Fraternity ROBERTO AYALA WAS an outstanding, imposing presence at centre-back for Argentina. During his decorated career, Ayala impressed at Napoli and Valencia, as well as River…
As featured on Guardian Sport Over a quarter of a century has passed since Nessun Dorma was acquired by the great unwashed football fans of England, obtained in a generally well-spirited but occasionally…
The 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea was a tournament of shocks and surprises, with a touch of genuine quirkiness thrown in for good measure. Never before had European audiences…
“Only those who have the courage to take a penalty miss them. I failed that time. Period.” These are the words of a man who has been forced to defend his reputation on…
Multiple theories persist regarding the conception of football styles. Specific styles can sometimes be traced back to the coaches and players directly implicated in their promulgation. However, some propose that there are more…
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…
IF EVER PEOPLE DOUBTED football’s ability to be a force for good in the world, they could do worse than look at the Cameroon side of World Cup 1990 in Italy. Inspired by…
“There was complete silence,” said Alcides Ghiggia of the moment he caused nearly 200,000 spectators at Rio’s Maracanã to fall into a deathly hush. “The crowd was frozen still. It was like they…
Ten long years after Kenneth Wolstenholme’s oft-quoted words became forever etched in football’s annals, signalling the end of West Germany’s World Cup dream at a jam-packed Wembley Stadium on July 30, 1966, the…
It is the smallest member of the Asian Football Confederation; just 165,000 inhabitants scattered across a tropical island in the north Pacific. Owing to the fact that it is indeed an American territory, like…
IT’S EARLY EVENING on the west coast of Ireland when I pick up the phone to ring Anthony Hudson, New Zealand’s current trail-blazing international manager. Having taken the reigns in late 2014 in…