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 History
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...
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: 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!
Soccer round up: Socceroos over Greece
The Socceroos got a win over Euro champions Greece 1-0 in their friendly. But it was a win that...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
Davor Suker: Golden boot winner 1998 World Cup
The video is over 4 minutes long, but if you are a Suker fan or want to become one...
Stoichkov free kick against Germany, WC 1994
The free kick that stamped Stoichkov’s genius!
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...
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...
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...
Ronaldinho will beat Arsenal!
Ronaldinho will show us how to play today!
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...
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...
Pele:The Autobiography
Simon and Schuster, UK has just published Pele’s autobiography. We all know Pele, the legend, the player. But in...
Video: Liverpool- West Ham FC final 2006
The two spectacular piledrivers from Steven Gerrard and some fantastic goal keeping from Jose Reina. The 2006 FA Cup...
South Africa WC 2010: Soccer’s role in ending Apartheid
We all recognize soccer for the beautiful game that it is. And for its power to unite a country...
The French name their 23 man squad
Djibril Cisse, Liverpool striker Raymond Domenech has solved the goalkeeper quandary by keeping Fabian Barthez as his first pick....
Paolo Di Canio: Soccer player, Mussolini goon
Paolo Di Canio wants the good old days back. The days of the brownshirt. And it helps that he...
Vinnie Jones, soccer player grabs Gazza’s attention
One of the well known toughs in movies throughout the world. I saw his film debut in Lock, Stock,...
Ghana names its 23 man WC squad
Stephen Appiah, Ghana WC captain Ghana became the first of the Africa zone qualifying teams to name their final...
Video: Liverpool has done this sort of thing before…
Brilliant. I think we all know that Gerrard’s going to be a real force this summer! PS- Patience, we’re...
Gerrard saves Liverpool and lifts FA Cup
I have to hand it to Steven Gerrard. He’s ready for the Cup, the World Cup that is. Proving...
Who will Italy’s Ahn Jung Hwan be this time?
Ahn Jung Hwan celebrating his golden goal (S.Korea- Italy QF, WC 2002) Italians are poor losers when it comes...
Jogo Feio: Fiat, Juventus & the Soccer Mafia
What’s going on in the Calcio? From the NY Times: Players and managers being threatened and blackmailed; numerous discussions...
The Labor party and England’s chances at the World Cup
Harold Wilson: Soccer & Politics “Have you noticed how we only win the World Cup under a Labor Government?”...