Will the US soccer team be favorably received in Germany?
In WC 2002, the US team played a contentious match with co-hosts South Korea. The 65,000 S.Korean fans were...
Category: Soccer Culture
Are you a Schlachtenbummler? A World Cup crash course on how to express yourself in the vernacular
I can tell you I don’t use all these words, but if you want to get a feeling for...
Michael Owen: A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Michael Owen has been far too hurt for far too long. And because of that we mortals don’t see...
The Rooney drama continues…who will take his place?
Now they’re moving the scan date up to June 7. Which means Rooney can still be replaced in time....
Daniel Drezner Tells Bono to Shut Up
Drezner’s right – like all great art, soccer unites and divides people! Bono’s a bit too much perhaps:
Video: Brazil’s Duty to Beauty
Times correspondent Owen Slot flies down to Brazil to chat with Dr. Sócrates– the Dean of Jogo Bonito. The...
Lev Yashin, the Black Panther: USSR’s soccer talisman
We have talismans for every country for each World Cup in soccer and then you have Pele, the most...
Brazil provides impact players in other WC squads too
Francileudo Silva dos Santos, Tunisian striker Tunisia owes much if its success in reaching the World Cup to Brazilian...
The Eurocentric effect on soccer: Juju men are being marginalized
BF Skinner, the father of behavior pyschology studied the association between ritualistic behavior and a desired outcome that leads...
Strange rituals: Soccer fans have theirs
If soccer players have their strange rituals (see Sergio Goycochea), then the fans that watch the game are not...
Cologne: The place to party at the World Cup
RhineEnergie Stadium- Cologne’s World Cup venue The NYT travel section has an article of where to base yourself in...
Strange rituals: Sergio Goycochea, Argentina’s 1990 WC hero
All players in every game go through every type of ritualistic behavior that they think will make Lady Luck...
Video Ad: Maradona’s Nightmare
This ad is far superior to The Mastercard ad, Humberto. And funnier!
Video: The Life and Times of Kevin Keegan
In some ways, the brutal honesty of Kevin Keegan was responsible for both success and failure. He did things...
Beenhakker thinks England is all hype: The trash talking begins
Soca Warrior coach Leo Beenhakker has had it with England will do this and that. As T&T’s friendly against...
Video Ad: Mastercard & Carlitos
This is the Argentinian answer to Guarana Antartica’s “Maradona in a Brazil shirt” ad… The best player in Brazil...
The Freakonomics of Soccer – Part 2
From the Financial Times: World Cup ‘facts’ that miss by a mile By Simon Kuper Published: May 26 2006...
Don’t you Love “The Spirit of Football” ?!
Don’t you love this? Meet up @ 2pm at the Peace Pagoda on the river – Sunday, May 28th...
Video: Croatia’s Chances
Will they get to the finals? I believe they could upset Brazil in their group: “Brazil are favourites, not...
Video Ad – Ronaldinho, Robinho & Roberto Carlos
OK, it is just an ad, but you get a good feeling from it anyway! I’m ready for the...
Harry Pearson’s on Robert Pires (The ChouChou Article)
I laughed when I read this column by Pearson who’s upset at the news that Robert Pires is out...
Video Ad: U2’s ESPN Plug
One of my favorite ads to date: Not everything about the world cup is as uplifting. For example, cruzeiro...
Sixmaniac – Brasil, Brasil!
Here’s a T-shirt I’m buying:
Nature vs Nurture: What makes Brazil so good
Pele celebrating the 1970 Brazil victory Reading through Nobel Laureate Gerald Edelman’s work, of selectional theory of brain development,...
National Geographic: Why the World Loves Soccer
Tons of good stuff from the soccer nerds at National Geographic: “Introduction” by Sean Wilsey “IVORY COAST—The Way to...
The Secret Acts of the Apostles Revealed
Now we know the truth. Soccer blog has dug up some rare photographic evidence to conclusively prove our theory-...
EPL Leads the Way
From the Deloitte press release: Deloitte analysis of the World Cup squads, announced today, has shown that English clubs...
Wenger bashes Emmanuel Eboue
The Gunners’ Arsene Wenger on his own player: “It is clear there was no foul. I condemn and regret...
The Official Church of England World Cup Prayer
Speaking of religion, this being Sunday and all, here’s the official prayer from the good old C of E:...
The Da Vinci Effect – Bored of the Code?
The Da Vinci Code is out, accompanied by a fair amount of objection to its release from various religious...
The surprise team of the World Cup: Ukraine
Dimitar Vesselinov says Ukraine. I have a feeling he is biased. But lets look closely at their group. Ukraine,...
The fastest goal in WC history
Hakan Sukur against S.Korea WC 2002. 10 seconds. The celebration took longer.
Hasan Sas and Hakan Sukur: Turkish sharpshooters WC 2002
Sas and Sukur! This video is also 4 minutes long and the first 30 seconds is nationalistic blurb but...
Which rank outsider will be the surprise of this World Cup?
Hristo Stoichkov- Bulgaria, 1994 Davor Suker- Croatia, 1998 Hasan Sas- Turkey, 2002 The last three World Cups has seen...
Thierry Henry is a Gunner till 2010
My admiration for Thierry Henry went up an octave or more. Just when I thought it could get no...
Finally, Finally, the NY Red Bulls get their win
On a day that Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth’s record for home runs, an equally significant sporting moment was...
The degree of insularity in the national soccer squads: Italy worst, France best
Examine the rosters of the national squads of the countries that have the biggest drawing domestic leagues, the big...
England and Trinidad and Tobago: The World Cup brings together the coloniser and the colonised
Trinidad and Tobago attained independence from England in 1962. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago was fiercely contested amongst...
Portugal and Angola: The World Cup brings together the coloniser and the colonised
Angola won its independence from Portugal in 1975. It was the beginning of a long civil war between different...
Brazil’s soccer rivalry in the future will come from Africa
The WC 2006 is abuzz with the possibility of a Brazil- Netherlands, Brazil- England, or even a Brazil-France showdown...
Togo’s coach Pfister doubts German chances in WC
Another detractor. And this one is Otto Pfister, Togo’s coach to the World Cup. Pfister is German and he...
Thierry Henry decides to stay: Arsenal can breathe again
Soccerblog called it by stating that Thierry Henry would stay with Arsenal and that getting to the League final...
Apartheid era soccer legend Ace Ntsoelengoe passes away
Patrick Ace Ntsoelengoe A few days ago I had written about the role that soccer played in the struggle...
Video: Racism against Samuel Eto’o in La Liga
Does Thierry Henry want to be subjected to this? As good a player as he is.
Arsenal’s sleepless nights begin: Is Thierry Henry coming back?
The Barca- Arsenal final was a less than fitting end to Thierry Henry’s career with Arsenal if that is...
Video: The Robo Cup Euro final 2006
We are still awaiting the Barca- Arsenal final video. And as soon as we can get our paws on...
Barca, European champions: Arsenal minus Jens Lehmann; Henrik Larsson shines
Henrik Larsson, Barca midfielder It was a match full of drama. Theater. Enthralling till the end. Barca pulled out...
“They would possibly not leave there alive…”
“There are small and medium-sized towns in Brandenburg and other places where I would recommend that nobody with a...
Hope Springs Eternal!
Give this guy a call if you have a spare ticket!
Barcelona – Arsenal : Ronaldinho – Henry
I believe today’s game has the potential to be one of the best match-ups in years. The Gunners have...
Going Green at the World Cup
From a press release… At least they’re trying: As global excitement over the 2006 FIFA World Cup reaches fever...
Klinsmann announces the German 23
Gerald Asamoah, Schalke striker Hat tip to Alfred Worcester for drawing our attention to the hosts announcing their final...
Escape to Victory: We’ve come a long way, USA!
Remember schmaltzy Escape to Victory. The soccer movie by John Huston with a beefed up Sly Stallone playing the...