“In order to avoid potential fallings-out in Brazil, people are advised to refrain from discussing three subjects: religion, politics and football. One thing that everyone can surely agree on at the moment, though, is that the national team are struggling. The team usually give a nation of vira-latas with an inherent inferiority complex a rare chance to boast superiority over the rest of the world – perhaps only matched at the height of Ayrton Senna’s powers, or by the people who believe that Alberto Santos‑Dumont and not the Wright brothers invented the aeroplane – but watching the Seleção has been a dismal experience of late. …”
Guardian
No manager, no form, no confidence: what is going on with Brazil?
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“You imagine when Channel 4 secured the UK broadcast rights for Nations League football, they had high hopes for its showpiece. The 2023 edition came to a climax last Sunday with the final in Rotterdam, 120 minutes of Spain and 
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“It ends, like it almost always does, in the familiarity of defeat. What else would you really expect when, in the only occupied stand, there is a group of fans named Brigata Mai 1 Gioia? Translation: the ‘Never One Joy Brigade’. When you are a supporter of San Marino, officially the worst international team in the world, it can be useful to have a sense of humour. …”
“It’s mid-afternoon in Malta, the sun is shining, a cooling breeze wafts from the coast and nothing, in particular, is happening. At a hotel in the northern part of the mainland, the mood is calm and peaceful. Then a faint noise catches the ear. It’s a low hum at first, but as it grows, it sounds like singing, which is odd, as this particular hotel has been almost empty for the previous 24 hours. The singing gets louder and louder… and leerier. It comes into focus. It’s being carried over the waves. It’s unmistakable now. Yes, it’s the sound of drunk Englishmen. …”
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“This summer has long been labelled as the big rebuild, 
“Kylian Mbappé has outgrown Ligue 1. It’s been evident for a few years now, to be honest. So, it wasn’t all that surprising to hear the news that he isn’t planning on extending his Paris Saint-Germain contract beyond 2024. … The 24-year-old has already achieved more than most will in their whole career. After helping Monaco to the Ligue 1 title in his first full season as a professional in 2016-17, he moved to PSG, where he has won the league in five of his six seasons, only failing to do so in 2020-21. …”
“Footballers don’t tend to indulge in comparisons, but it’s hard not to reminisce when Martin Zubimendi has the ball. His position holds a special place in the history of Spanish football, his subtle technique evocative of the best. Quietly composing each and every move, floating across the pitch, speeding things up and slowing them down, he’s the calm, collected controller of the quintessential Spanish midfield. At 24 years old, his emergence feels timely. Sergio Busquets has bowed out at Barcelona, while Rodri has reached the pinnacle with Pep Guardiola by his side. …”
“The Portuguese league, for its entirety, has been dominated by three teams, Porto, Benfica, and Sporting CP. In fact, their grasp on the league has been so strong that in its 89-year history, only two teams (Belenenses in 1945-46 and Boavista in 2000-01) have won the league apart from the three aforementioned teams. And this is why these three teams generated the best talent in football. …”
“… Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, is on a one-man journey to transform how his nation is seen — both by the global community and by its own 35 million people. It is infamous for a scourge of human rights abuses, including the criminalisation of homosexuality, severe restrictions on freedom of speech and women’s rights, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. In combatting that reputation, plus appeasing a rapidly growing and youthful population, Bin Salman has alighted on sport — he views it as critical to solving that equation. …”
“It was 5.30am and the sun was already rising by the time the last of 
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“Nike gloves. Vapors. Socks pulled above the knee. It’s a look ingrained in millennial culture by Thierry Henry, circa 2003-04, whose on-pitch style personified ‘va va voom.’ You knew you were in trouble if you were faced with an opponent sporting this triple threat. Until then, football socks were very much rolled once at the knee, but Henry’s stylistic tweak gave license for players at all levels of the game to pull them as high as possible. …”
“Chances are you’ve watched a football match or two in your life. Sophisticated and stunningly handsome subscriber to The Athletic that you are, you’re probably pretty good at it. There’s no wrong way for anyone to enjoy the sport. But when it comes to understanding what you’re looking at, it turns out that trying to follow 22 people all doing a hundred different things to influence which way a ball bounces around the pitch is really hard. Coaches and players (and, in our own dumb way, even journalists) spend whole lifetimes learning to watch games better. Maybe you want to, too. …”
“At the start of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career, he seemed intent on creating the type of team that would have suited him as a player. A slender, technical midfielder who lacked physicality but could spread play calmly, Guardiola’s playing career ended prematurely because football no longer suited his type of player; defensive midfielders at the turn of the century were supposed to be about power and ball-winning ability. …”
“… The map shows all clubs in the English football system which drew above 1,000 per game in 2022-23 (home domestic league matches): 143 clubs, including 51 non-League clubs. Also, there is an inset-map for all the clubs drawing above 1-K-per-game from Greater London-plus-the-immediate surrounding area (18 clubs from Greater London + 4 clubs from surrounding areas of the Home Counties). … On the right-hand side of the map-page are 2 charts showing the English football league system, aka the Pyramid. …”
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“… He wasn’t here when the earthquakes struck on February 6. He was with his football team, third-tier Adiyaman FK — in his role of technical director — two hours away to the east. In Adiyaman, the city’s clock tower remains frozen at 4.17am, the time of the first of two earthquakes that day; when everything changed. An estimated 9,000 people died in Adiyaman, and a further 18,000 were injured. Bozkurt’s family members were among at least 13,000 people who died in Kahramanmaras, with another 10,000 injured. Three amateur footballers who played for the city’s non-league team — Kahramanmaras Istiklalspor — perished. Fourth-tier side Kahramanmaraspor stopped playing, as did Bozkurt’s Adiyaman FK. …”
“La Liga have changed their criteria for what merits a red card. That goes some way to explaining the explosion of dismissals we’ve seen this season in Spain. The league’s own corporate account released a video when the media picked up on this phenomenon to explain what’s happening. In the clip, they said La Liga players had not become more aggressive but that the referees had changed their criteria for what a red card is, thus leading to more red cards in La Liga. They stopped short of explaining what the change was. …”
“Things could go spectacularly well for 
Scissors Kick 