US Nightmare: Claudio Reyna Pulls Hamstring
17 minutes into the friendly against Morocco, US captain Claudio Reyna pulls his hamstring. Poof! There go US World...
Category: Soccer Teams – National
Does France Have a Chance?
Can Zizou do it again? They’ve been struggling, but a win here and a win there, and it could...
EPL Leads the Way
From the Deloitte press release: Deloitte analysis of the World Cup squads, announced today, has shown that English clubs...
No Excuses, England!
Gary Neville tells us that this is it. “No excuses for anybody. Injuries, whatever happens to us, no excuses.”...
Phorpa:The Tibetan version of the World Cup
It is not just Catholic priests who look to the World Cup to find their raison d’etre. But Tibetan...
Alessandro Del Piero: Peter watches but does not admit him into heaven
……. At least not this time. Impressive dribbling though. But some people are hard to please, as noted below...
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 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,...
Video: Gordon Banks – “The Banks of England”
The greatest save of all time? The greatest goalkeeper on the planet, said Pele. Here’s how Banks remembers the...
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...
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...
World Cup rosters: Group H
Spain Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Santiago Canizares (Valencia), Jose Manuel Reina (Liverpool) Defenders: Michel Salgado (Real Madrid), Carles...
World Cup rosters: Group G
France Goalkeepers: Fabien Barthez (Marseille), Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Mickael Landreau (Nantes). Defenders: Eric Abidal (Lyon), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle), Pascal...
World Cup rosters: Group F
Brazil Goalkeepers: Dida (AC Milan), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo) Defenders: Juan (Bayer Leverkusen), Lucio (Bayern...
World Cup rosters: Group E
Italy Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio), Marco Amelia (Livorno) Defenders: Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan),...
World Cup rosters: Group D
Portugal Goalkeepers: Ricardo Pereira (Sporting), Quim Silva (Benfica), Bruno Vale (Amadora). Defenders: Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Nuno...
World Cup rosters: Group C
Argentina Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors), Leonardo Franco (Atletico Madrid), Oscar Ustari (Independiente). Defenders: Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna),...
World Cup rosters: Group A
Germany Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich), Timo Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart). Defenders: Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Per...
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...
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: 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...
Inter’s Julio Cruz makes the Argentine team
Julio Cruz is surprised to be on the Argentinian team. I’m sure Veron is surprised as well. Here’s part...
Klinsmann announces the German 23
Gerald Asamoah, Schalke striker Hat tip to Alfred Worcester for drawing our attention to the hosts announcing their final...
Brasil: Roque Junior out, Juninho Pernambucano in
Juninho Pernambucano made it. I’m sure he’s happy now. Now they have to put their heads down and play...
Beckham: “Take it Easy Rooney!”
“If he’s not right, then he has to look after himself. He can’t take risks. He’s got a huge...
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...
Taylor Twellman scores again: Bruce Arena, perk up your ears
The New England Revolution made short shrift of Chivas USA after falling behind. But the game was settled with...
Pele:The Autobiography
Simon and Schuster, UK has just published Pele’s autobiography. We all know Pele, the legend, the player. But in...
India shops for a soccer coach: My advice, Go Dutch
Clarence Westerhof has joined a group of 10 other names being considered for coaching the Indian soccer squad. Westerhof...
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...
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...
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?”...
Rooney’s Dancing!
Bang a gong! Listen to this, children: “Already free of the protective casing around his foot, Rooney is walking...
Warriors Charging: T&T name Team
Will these guys be tough enough for England, Sweden and Paraguay? Goalkeepers Kelvin Jack (Dundee), Shaka Hislop (West Ham...
Rooney’s Biking Around on his Metatarsals
Could it be that Rooney might get back in time? Apparently his foot is fit enough to allow him...
Mehmet Scholl should go to the World Cup
Sebastian Diesler is out through injury. Germany’s midfield is too reliant on Ballack to make up the gap. It...
Alan Shearer says farewell to St.James Park
Alan Shearer will be missed. A gutsy forward who played through repeated injuries to his knees and England’s ups...
Debate: Should the Iran team be banned from the World Cup?
Can politics be far behind when the World Cup is organized? Now, many EU members are demanding that FIFA...
Ecuador names its 23 man squad
Ivan Kaviedes- Ecuador’s 1998 Golden boy The 23 man roster includes Ivan Hurtado, Ecuador’s veteran defender and captain. He...
Three Lions Fitness Report
Player by player analysis from the Beeb: On Rio: “Chosen ahead of Sol Campbell to start the friendly with...
Robbo: “Brazil have 4 Rooneys!”
Former England captain Bryan Robson gets realistic about England: “We are talking about Rooney being a big part for...
The Socceroos
Guus Hiddink names Tim Cahill to the team messed up knee and all… Goalkeepers Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zeljko Kalac...