Daily Archives: July 4, 2012

The History Of Athletic Bilbao 1898-1936

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1930-31 La Liga
“In 1977 Athletic Bilbao contested a Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup final, losing both, in a striking parallel with 2012. In the August 1977 edition of World Soccer magazine, Keir Radnedge looked at how it all began for one of Europe’s oldest clubs. Athletic Bilbao struck a resounding blow last season for self-reliant clubs by reaching the UEFA Cup and Spanish Cup Finals with a team made up entirely of local-raised players.” In Bed With Maradina

Spain success built on clear football identity

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“With a goal scrambled in from a set piece, Brazil beat Spain 1-0 in the final of the 2003 Under-17 World Cup in Finland. Spain, though, played most of the football. ‘We were the Brazilians today,’ said their coach Juan Santiesteban, after his team of little ball-players had lost out to opponents who carried much more physical presence. The overriding objective of youth football is to groom players for the senior side. Nearly a decade on, then, it is clear who really won the game. Not one of the Brazil team has played a serious competitive international. Cesc Fabregas and David Silva, meanwhile, have gone on to better things, combining on Sunday to put Spain on the way to a third consecutive major tournament win.” BBC – Tim Vickery

Oranje Crushed: Why did the Dutch fail at Euro 2012?

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“Along with Spain and Germany, the Dutch were pre-tournament favourites, but they went home with three losses out of three games and exit Euro 2012 along with the Irish as the only teams to have gained zero points for their efforts in Poland & Ukraine. The question has been on everyone’s lips since the opening match loss to Denmark: where did it all go wrong? Losing 1-0 to a defensively strong Danish side who were also unlucky to go out in the group stages was not the end of the world, but in the Group of Death it meant that the Oranje would have to get results against a good team in Portugal and the best team (aside from Spain) in Germany.”  AFR

The greatest football team: Spain 2012 vs. Brazil 1970?

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“After becoming the first team to defend the European Championships, adding a second continental title to the World Cup won in 2010, many observers have been quick to label Spain the greatest team in the history of international football. An emphatic 4-0 thrashing of Italy, the biggest margin of victory ever seen in a world or European final, continued a remarkable run which has seen Spain not concede a goal in a knockout match since the great Zinedine Zidane found the back of their net for France at the 2006 World Cup.” CNN

Kempes Recall For Argentina

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“It’s 1977, and with the World Cup on home soil less than twelve months away, Argentina coach Cesar Menotti is getting desperate…. The More gloomy the fans in Argentina became over the recent series of prestige friendlies, the more optimistic has become Mario Kempes over his chances of returning home next summer to lead the World Cup bid. A few months ago the chances of Kempes, who joined Valencia from Rosario Central a year previously, being drafted into Cesar Menotti’s squad, looked minute. In fact, in March when Kempes met Menotti while Argentina were playing in the Real Madrid 75th anniversary tournament, the Argentine coach never even bothered to raise the subject with the 22-year-old centre forward with legs like tree trunks. Since then everything has changed.” In Bed With Maradona

Transfer Survival Kit: Summer Insanity

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“Football fans hover on the edge of insanity all year round. But the summer seems to push many over the precipice. It’s the time of hope and imagination, and that can be dangerous. The massive increase in newspaper space dedicated to football, allied to the rise of the internet, has helped turn the summer into a stress-fest. But the advent of Twitter has given voice to a thousand wind-up merchants, pranksters and wannabe transfer scoopers, the result of which is to multiply the insanity.” Tomkins Times