Sometimes, watching football leaves an indelible mark on a young boy’s imagination. In 1999, I was seven years old and my obsession with Manchester United was reaching new heights after watching them win…
Tag: world cup
“BEAUTIFUL VIEW. Magnificent desolation.” Some will recognise those, considering the circumstances, remarkably sparse words. Many others, for good reason, won’t. Buzz Aldrin’s utterance, moments after becoming the second man to step on…
THE WORLD CUP IS MAGICAL. For any fan of the sport, whether your country is participating or not, it is something to look forward to, and the fact that it only occurs…
THE PANZER DIVISIONS rumbled to a stop as the unmistakable spires of the Kremlin came into view. Finally, the Wehrmacht were within touching distance of the Russian capital. Since the invasion of…
AS WORLD CUP FINALS GO, the one played out between Argentina and West Germany in 1986 would take some beating for drama. The game seemed won, before being cast into huge doubt,…
This began lifeas an article about me regaling of a career that, whilst I admired, passed me by. Eric and I were like trawlers passing in the night. While I was discovering what…
THE MOMENT IS FAMOUS NOW. On a humid June evening in 2002, seconds before the final whistle of a pulsating opening match in Group C, the Fevernova World Cup ball sailed through…
MWEPU ILUNGA, with an iconic and unexpected break from the Zaire defensive wall, blasted the ball as high up the Parkstadion pitch as he possibly could. A startled Rivellino had to take…
In arguably the worst foul in World Cup history, Cameroon’s Benjamin Massing took out Argentina’s Claudio Caniggia with all the force of a nation
Growing up as a Manchester United fan in the era of the Arsenal Invincibles, I perhaps would have been excused for disliking Thierry Henry. The Frenchman was the archetypal player to strike fear…
THIS SUMMER MARKS the 40th anniversary of when Argentina first won the World Cup, a triumph shrouded in controversy from a time that cast a shadow over South America’s second largest country.…
To many people watching football today, the game cannot be imagined without yellow and red cards. Fans discuss the seriousness of offences by reference to the colour of card that they warrant,…
In 2013,Readers Digest confirmed what everybody already knew. In 16 cities across the globe, they arranged for a stooge to drop their wallet in a crowded space, somewhere it was bound to be…
FOURTEEN MINUTES INTO EXTRA-TIME, after he opened the scoring for Argentina and Dick Nanninga equalised for the Netherlands, Mario Kempes burst into the box. He charged past two Dutch defenders and bundled…
“YOU, PLAYERS, who in less than a few hours will be hailed as champions by millions of compatriots,” the mayor of Rio de Janeiro proclaimed with boundless pride as he passionately addressed…
THE STORY OF TURKISH DOMESTIC FOOTBALL is best described as passionate yet volatile – on and off the field. These traits are well known amongst fans, even if at times it has…
On the evening of 14 June this summer, at the palatial Luzhniki Stadium in central Moscow, a second or two either side of 6pm, the referee’s whistle will sound, kick-off will be initiated,…
WE ALL HAVE OUR FOOTBALL MEMORIES. As fans, we cherish them. We need them, whether they’re good or bad. They have shaped our journey. For those of a certain vintage, the apex…