“… This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the backpass law being introduced, following FIFA’s successful experiment in Italy a year earlier. It is arguably the most significant — and the best — rule change in the modern game. The mindnumbing sight of goalkeepers rolling the ball out to defenders, receiving it back, picking it up and holding it in their hands to kill games, was gone. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Thirty years of the backpass ban: The story of modern football’s best rule change
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“It was in the autumn of 2017 when goal kicks first started to become viewed as a legitimate attacking instrument. After signing from Benfica, it soon became clear that the left leg of 
“It was the morning of 
“The 
“
“The black gates at the southwest entrance of Hard Rock Stadium had been closed for one hour and 45 minutes when a young child was hoisted on a guardian’s shoulders amid the crush of people waiting to get in for the 
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“The showpiece final of this summer’s 
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“A late winner from England substitute Ollie Watkins against Netherlands put Gareth Southgate’s team into the final of Euro 2024, where they will face Spain. The 
“The 
“
“Watching 
“By this point, it’s time to accept that 
“Sometimes it happens. High stakes, growing tension, a sheer desperation not to lose — the biggest games can light a fire within compulsive competitors that catches too quickly, spreads across the pitch, and burns any sense of spectacle to the ground. Uruguay’s Copa America quarterfinal clash with Brazil fell foul to that intensity: an ugly collision of arms, legs and bodies constantly interrupted by the referee’s whistle. By the time Dario Herrera signalled for the end, it felt as if the contest had barely been given the chance to begin. …”
“Under Luis de la Fuente, 
“Despite having an array of attacking talent at his disposal, not one of Deschamps’ players has scored a goal from open play during Euro 2024. And yet his team are through to a semi-final against 
“The entire NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas gasped. The whistle blew and 
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“One of the wonders of the human brain is how it translates words into experiences, sounds and images. The notion, which is called semantic processing, is how our brain understands what we read by searching for associated words, sounds or images in our memory. Try reading the following words: Spain national football team. …”
“Didier Deschamps is a glass-half-full sort of fella. 
“A generous estate agent might describe the two-up, two-down terraced houses on the cramped side streets that lead towards Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium as ‘snug’. On this warm day, the windows of several are open and the smell of frying mince and onions hangs over the turnstiles in the Brian Moore Stand, an open ‘temporary’ structure held together by scaffolding that has now been in place for more than 20 years. …”
“This always promised to be one of the more frenetic nights at Euro 2024 — and 
“The 
“For just over six minutes, it looked as though the 
“As the game moved into its 120th minute, it was so obvious 
“
“It turns out Murat Yakin wasn’t lying in 2022. He was just one tournament early. ‘I think we are the best Switzerland national team that has ever existed,’ said their coach prior to the World Cup. He promised their best-ever finish at an international tournament but did not deliver — 
“
“England edged past Slovakia to reach the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, but only after staring a humiliating defeat in the face. Anyone hoping for an improved version of England in the knockout stages was left sorely disappointed during a disjointed and dispiriting first half. Sloppy defending from Gareth Southgate’s team let Slovakia in on several occasions in the first 20 minutes, a foreshadowing of the opening goal from Ivan Schranz on 25 minutes — the 30-year-old taking advantage of acres of space to slot past Jordan Pickford. …”
“People talking balls at international football tournaments is as old as inflating pigs’ bladders, and sometimes just as attractive. But it is slightly unusual for people to talk as much about the ball as they have about the Adidas Fussballliebe Pro EURO 2024 match ball, to give it its full name, as they have in Germany of late. The last ball to attract this much attention was the Adidas Jabulani, the official ball at the 2010 World Cup, but while that thermally bonded lump of polyurethane was loathed, this one is loved. …”
“… Anyone would have thought the same when 
“Twenty-seven seconds into the second half, 
“It is the walk. A penalty shootout means the walk and the walk is the bit where football stops, where this game of instinct, noise and mayhem is reduced to stillness. There is no scope to think until that epic trudge when, pushed to the limit of physical endurance after a draining game, an intense tournament, a wearing season, think is all you can do. When your mind becomes an enemy. …”
“You’ll see plenty of top 10 lists during this 
“
“With 
“There are 67 hours between the conclusion of the 
“As 
“New York’s Times Square is one of the most recognizable sections of real estate in the world. It looked a lot different with Argentina fans in town. Police officers unfamiliar with Argentine football culture but accustomed to monitoring peaceful protests stood bewildered as midtown Manhattan turned into an Albiceleste street party. Tuesday’s ‘banderazo’, a pre-match tradition that encourages fans to fly flags and sing songs that honor the national team, proved that Messi and 
“France’s Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Marcus Thuram compose one of the most thrilling attacking trios in the ongoing 2024 European championships. Under normal circumstances, they’d be categorically focused on extending their national team’s domination in world football over the last eight years. In that time period, Les Bleushave won the 2018 FIFA World Cup and reached the final in three of the last four major competitions they’ve participated in (European championships and World Cups). Instead, the dominant media narratives that have sunk in over the last few weeks are not about the players’ footballing abilities, but rather their decision to speak out on France’s precarious political state of affairs this summer. …”
“
“The phrase ‘moves in twos’ has been around for a long time in coaching circles, and anyone who has experienced training exercises around that theme would know that 
Scissors Kick 