Author Archives: 1960s: Days of Rage

About 1960s: Days of Rage

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World Cup 2010: Matthew Booth the perfect advertisement for integrated South Africa

“So when some members of the Spanish press thought they heard him being booed by black fans at the Confederations Cup last summer they thought they had a great story about racial disharmony in the new South Africa and filed their copy to Madrid. They got it excruciatingly, embarrassingly wrong. The fans were celebrating their cult hero, launching into a resonant chant of “Booth!” every time the 6″6 centre-half met the ball with one of his thumping defensive headers.” (Telegraph)

Ivory Coast’s uphill task just got even steeper

“Ivory Coast were been labelled the dark horses of this tournament by many, presumably all of whom were fortunate enough to miss their pathetic display at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, where they recorded a 0-0 draw with Burkina Faso in the group stage, and were eventually knocked out by an average Algeria side.” (Zonal Marking)

Target Anxiety: the Penalty Shootout Reconsidered

“The penalty shootout is the monster under soccer’s bed. There are good reasons for this. Well, there are reasons, anyway, and they grow knotted and blighted from the nature of the penalty kick itself. The sport we quaint Old Worlders call American football is one of micro-management. An American football game is divided into dozens of short bursts of activity – a huddle in which a play is called, followed by the play in action, followed by another huddle, and so forth. This sequence of packets of time facilitates discipline and intra-team order. Each play call is a precise, unyielding instruction. Executive power thus largely resides in the coach making the call rather than in the foot soldier.” (Norman Einstein’s), (Must Read Soccer)

…And then I booked my flight

“It was a Wednesday. The Copa del Rey final had just finished. Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid in a pulsating game at Camp Nou in front of a packed crowd. I’ve always thought Atletico Madrid had rowdy fans, though I’ve never seen them live. Now I’m sure of it. Someone on Twitter in Barcelona said the Atletico fans outnumbered the Sevillistas down Las Ramblas by eight to one. Given the noise they made inside the stadium, I believe it.” (Just Football)

From Pastime to Industry: How Nineties Design Made the Sport

Adam Beebee, “Ultras”
“‘There’s no formula; (the concepts) just have to be emotionally loaded. It may be something I hear on the radio, or a lyric from a song… It’s a simple thing.’ Ed Ruscha (primarily noted as an artist) distills his methodology in this straightforward description, and Michael Beirut (a graphic designer) co-opts it in his collection of essays on design, chiefly to frame artistic process in terms of Beirut’s own profession. For creative endeavors related to the sport of association football, Ruscha’s words ring favorably.” (Pitch Invasion)

World Cup scouting: Fábio Coentrão (Portugal)

“Even by modern standards, Fábio Coentrão is frighteningly skilful for a full-back. The blond left-sided player began his career as a fleet-footed winger at hometown club Rio Ave, with whom he spent three years prior to joining Benfica in July 2007. He had to bide his time before making his first-team breakthrough though, enduring largely unfulfilling loan spells at Nacional and Real Zaragoza before returning to Rio Ave on another loan deal in January 2009, and it wasn’t until this season that he managed to pin down a starting place at the Estádio da Luz.” (Football Further)

It’s Going To End Badly For Both Of Us: a Conversation With Brian Phillips

“The favors I owe Brian Phillips are beginning to stack up. First, he wrote an excellent piece comparing FIFA and FIBA for my blog, 48 Minutes of Hell. Now he has taken time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about Brooklyn Asylum F.C., a serial novel about American soccer in the 1920s he is steadily publishing at his site the Run Of Play. If you’re new to the Run Of Play, it’s a bit like getting drunk with Lionel Messi in a bookstore in Nuevo Laredo, only to wake up, roll over, and say, ‘Oh my God, I wasn’t dreaming. That’s Lionel Messi. And he’s wearing nothing but briefs.'” (Norman Einstein’s), (Must Read Soccer)

Little Slovenia Hopes to Make Big Impression at World Cup

“Roam the mountains and vineyards of Slovenia, and its citizens and soccer players will regularly remind a foreign visitor of two verities. This is not Slovakia (a very touchy subject). This is a very small country: about the size of New Jersey and home to about 300 million fewer inhabitants than its future World Cup opponent, the United States.” (NYT)

Barring Disaster, United States Will Proceed With Confidence

“United States forward Jozy Altidore’s right ankle will be evaluated later Friday while his teammates continue their preparations for the World Cup. With only a week before the start of the tournament, players and coaches are especially wary of new injuries, or the danger of aggravating old ones.” (NYT)

World Cup Moments

Johan Does the Cruyff Turn in 1974
“World Cups aren’t just about who lifts the trophy at the end. They’re also about the incredible moments that are shared by a global audience. In this series of feature posts, we focus in on such moments so football fans everywhere can relive (or maybe even learn about) the events of World Cups past. This is a menu of all our World Cup Moments feature posts. Simply click the title to read the full post.” (World Cup Blog)

Netherlands 4-1 Ghana – Video Highlights and Recap – Friendly – 1 June 2010

“The Netherlands hosted Ghana in a friendly match as the two sides continued to prepare for the 2010 World Cup. Ghana recently received the news that Chelsea’s Michael Essien would be unavailable for the tournament is a major blow to their chances. Essien is regarded as a top class player and will be hard to replace. The Dutch are always a threat in the tournament and have a very tough team.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup Host Needs To Live Up To Its Promise Of Better Housing For The Poor

“Since the fall of apartheid, the South African government has initiated a massive effort to improve the housing situation of millions of its marginalized citizens. South Africa’s commitment to housing was presumably such a priority that the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution (1996) embodies this commitment…” (Nutmeg Radio)

How a Soccer Star Is Made

“The youth academy of the famed dutch soccer club Ajax is grandiosely called De Toekomst — The Future. Set down beside a highway in an unprepossessing district of Amsterdam, it consists of eight well-kept playing fields and a two-story building that houses locker rooms, classrooms, workout facilities and offices for coaches and sports scientists. In an airy cafe and bar, players are served meals and visitors can have a glass of beer or a cappuccino while looking out over the training grounds.” (NYT)

4-4-2 and no surprises from Switzerland

“This is the fourth consecutive major international tournament the Swiss have been at, and yet they still seem something of an unknown quantity. Now managed by double Champions League winner Ottmar Hitzfeld, they won their qualification group and appear to have a talented, settled team.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Howard Webb striving for perfection in South Africa

“Arriving for his next game in Salzburg, Webb was greeted by the chief of police. ‘Mr Webb, you will not be killed in Salzburg,’’ promised the policeman. How reassuring. Webb can smile about it now, particularly as the Poles have calmed down, realising that the Rotherham referee was correct to penalise Mariusz Lewandowski for pulling Sebastian Prodl’s shirt on 13 June. For a while, he endured all manner of threats.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

World Cup Tales: Reflections Upon England In Italy, 1990

“The concept of England having a high level of expectation at the time of a World Cup finals is a comparatively recent one. As recently as 1990, most adults could remember their two successive failures to qualify for the whole event and, once there, they only seldom lit the tournament up. In 1982, a good performance in the opening match against France was followed by an almost linear deterioration in performance, which ended in their elimination in the second group round after two goalless draws against West Germany and Spain. Much was made of the fact that they were eliminated, due to the peculiar tournament structure, unbeaten, but they only scored one goal in their final three matches. Four years later, Diego Maradona’s various antics overshadowed a slow start that saw them lose to Portugal and draw with Morocco before Gary Lineker’s goals breathed some life into them.” (twohundredpercent)

Scotland supporters face an English dilemma

“Should Scotland fans support England? That question has become a tedious by-product of the national team’s recent inability to qualify for major tournaments. In the build-up to Germany 2006 it cropped up on BBC Question Time, and this time around it has formed the basis of a YouGov poll, with 21 per cent of Scots saying they could bring themselves to get behind the UK’s sole representatives at South Africa 2010. Scotland manager Craig Levein and political leaders of all hues have also been asked for their opinions, responding with diplomatic messages of goodwill for Fabio Capello’s side. Just as well, then, that Denis Law is still with us.” (WSC)

Benitez leaves Liverpool by mutual consent

“Rafael Benitez has left Liverpool by mutual consent. Benitez, who took over from Gerard Houllier in 2004, found his position untenable after a disappointing season which saw Liverpool finish seventh in the Premier League, just 12 months after being runners-up to Manchester United.” (ESPN)

Soccer Conquers the World

“Why are the Ivory Coast soccer player Didier Drogba and the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo featured in underpants on a recent cover of Vanity Fair? Why was Drogba just named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine? The answer is that the men’s World Cup tournament, in South Africa, is imminent. Vanity Fair is running a blog, Fair Play, and the magazine’s cover story has even taken a baby step toward maturity: In best deconstructive style, it presents the word ‘soccer’ with a line through it—put under erasure by the big word used globally, ‘football’.” (The Chronicle Review), (Must Read Soccer)

Holland consider playing the fab four together

“There would surely be no more popular World Cup winners than the Netherlands. The country that has produced so many great footballers and such a distinct, wonderful way of playing the game is still without a World Cup win. Discussing the tactics of the Dutch side is not possible without a brief look at the history and culture surrounding the way they play their football. Attempting to sum up why the Dutch have underachieved is not possible within one article; David Winner has essentially written an entire book on that very subject. He begins a chapter by asking.” (Zonal Marking)

Champions of Kallendor

“Rumor is abroad throughout the Western Kingdoms. Men whisper of trouble in the East, of death upon the great roads, of armies massing for war. It is even said that the worm Drakorath, the dragon of the Rivening, has awakened in the Valley of Bal-Sharom and been seen in the skies over the villages to the south. But fear not, brave warden of the flame. Hope yet survives in the Kingdoms. Wayne Rooney has a 20-sided die.” (Run of Play)

Tactics: France re-shaped, but rough edges remain

Halt of a Hunting Party 1665, Philips Wouwerman
“A matter of weeks before the start of the 2010 World Cup, Raymond Domenech made perhaps the most radical move of his four-year tenure as France coach by completely altering the team’s shape. When first-choice defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra was forced out of the squad by a stomach complaint linked to a genetic blood condition, Domenech scrapped the 4-2-3-1 that has been France’s default tactical system since the beginning of the last World Cup and began to experiment with a 4-3-3.” (Football Further)

USA or England? It’s Time to Show Which Side You’re On

“When I wrote a recent post entitled 8 Rules of World Cup ‘Fight Club,’ I encouraged soccer fans to rise up, begin talking the World Cup up to non-believers and to stand firm against the sports fans who laugh and joke at the sport we love.” (EPL Talk)

Why You Hate Landon Donovan, You May Ask

“So, Landon Donovan. He does hysterical commercials. He wins MLS championships. He scores goals on loan in the Premiership. He scores goals against Brazil in championship games. He sets up goals for teammates in international play. He leads the US national team in all-time scoring. Yet, despite this lofty CV and his best years (28-32) still ahead of him, despite being your fellow countrymen, you hate him. Why? Let’s examine…” (futfanatico)

An Ageing England Squad

“Mike Adamson, writing in the Guardian, points out that this is the oldest England squad to travel to a finals. It surprises Rob Marrs too. The squad’s average age is 28.7, older than England’s awful nadir squad of 1954. It could have been older. Over at Attacking Soccer, Anthony reminds us that Joe Hart has a real chance to become the youngest keeper to turn out for England at the World Cup.” (More Than Mind Games)

The Conductor

José Torres
“Every good orchestra needs a conductor to ensure that its woodwinds, percussion, brass and strings play in unison. Soccer is no different. To make the disjointed jointed is an art. At times, individual performances can stand out; at times, they can even transcend the collective. But the art of joinder can make the unexceptional exceptional, which is why a gifted conductor creating a masterpiece with seemingly simplistic movements can be so mesmerizing.” (Nutmeg Radio)

The World Cup For Everyone Else

“If you’re eager for the latest match analysis from the World Cup, which just got under way Monday in Malta, you’ve come to the right place. Provence kicked off the tournament with a stirring performance against Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Iraqi Kurdistan, which hopes to host the tournament someday, looks like a fairly decent side, while the local Gozo team may have its hands full if it has to tangle with Padania.” (WSJ)

Happy Feet or Kicking It New School

“Imelda Marcos is unlikely to attend any matches of the 2010 World Cup, but she (and her prodigious collection of quality footwear) will find some kindred spirits gallivanting across the green soccer fields of South Africa in the latest high-fashion (and high-priced) kicks (or boots, or cleats). Few could rival the collection of the former first lady of the Philippines, but when it comes to soccer cleats players can never have too many shoes. In fact, they probably need more feet!” (NYT)

Video Of The Week: G’ole, The Official Film Of The 1982 World Cup

“The Official World Cup Film is a film genre in its own right. It still exists, although FIFA tends to prefer to peddle goal compilations in the market place these days and its powers are now much diminished. A quarter of a century, though, they still mattered. “G’Olé”, the official film of the 1982 World Cup finals, is a classic of the genre. Narrated by Sean Connery, it is in turn fascinating, excrutiating and pretentious beyond belief, to the extent of having a soundtrack by… Rick Wakeman. When it hits its stride, though, it is stunning. The slow-motion footage of Marco Tardelli losing his mind is quite a thing to behold.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup Group E Preview: World Cup Buzz Podcast

“In the first of eight group previews, I am joined by Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer to – with a little help of Andy Brassel, Simon Hill, and Simon Kuper – look at Group E. The Netherlands are the seeded nation in a group with no easy points. Denmark won its UEFA qualifying group. Cameroon is one of the nations expected to reap an advantage from the World Cup going to Africa for the first time. Japan’s talented midfield is poised to take advantage of any team that may slip. Your three analysts discuss each team and, going match-by-match, give their picks for the two teams that will come out of the group.” (EPL Talk), (World Cup Group H Preview: World Cup Buzz Podcast)

Three strikers is a risky tactic for New Zealand

“New Zealand are the rank outsiders for this tournament – or 32nd favourites, if you like – available at up to 2000/1. They would see a single point as an achievement in South Africa, and their saving grace is that they are in a relatively weak group, alongside three fairly defensive sides.” (Zonal Marking)

Mediating South Africa 2010: Parting Thoughts and Sources

“Note: The second half of this post is a set of suggested links and sources for context and culture around the coming World Cup; anyone interested in that more than my own thoughts on context—or anyone with suggestions of your own—should feel free to skip ahead. (Pitch Invasion)

Top 10 teams never to win the WC

“The former Notts County manager Jimmy Sirrel once said, “The best teams wins, the rest is gossip.” If that’s the case, there’s been an awful lot of idle talk during World Cups. Some of the greatest teams to play the game did not lift the trophy; here’s a subjective list of the top 10…” (SI)

My Roma: Serie A’s First Supporters’ Trust Is Established

“On 27 May, the first ever Supporters’ Trust in Serie A was formally established in Rome, with a ‘Constitutional Assembly’ convened to agree the structures and purpose of the new association whose ultimate objective is fan ownership at AS Roma. After the morning meeting, where 83 supporters symbolically assembled to approve the Statute, the paperwork for the ‘MyRoma’ association was registered with the notary and the organisation was finally operational. Months of hard-work, planning, publicity and dialogue have led up to this point: now it’s time to see how fans will react.” (Pitch Invasion)

World Cup Q&A

Alexis Sanchez
“This week some of our regular bloggers will be answering your World Cup questions. South American expert Tim Vickery is first to put his neck on the block.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

The kids are coming

“Andy Najar, 17, runs cuts and curls, darts off and comes to a sudden stop. He drifts to the right wing, collects the ball with his right foot, controls it with his left and flips it into space with his right again, sending D.C. United teammate Adam Cristman on a clear path to goal. Three touches. Cristman only has to tap the ball over the goalkeeper to put his team ahead. Najar whizzes past a man and sends in a dangerous cross.” (ESPN)

Group D – The Germans

“Nobody can deny that in international history, Germany are always among the front-runners. The Germans hold an impressive pedigree having won the World Cup three times, finishing runners-up on four occasions and having made the Quarter Finals in 14 of 16 appearances. The reason for this winning mentality: belief and efficiency. Even when critics have written them off, Germany manages to produce the goods.” (Six Pointer)

First XI: World Cup celebrations

“Falcao: Brazil vs. Italy (1982). From the outside, Falcao was seen very much as the quiet man of the Brazilian side that travelled to Spain 1982. His equaliser in a losing cause against a Paolo Rossi-inspired Italy in the semi-final tie saw him cut inside onto his left foot, dragging three Italian defenders away from the goal and fire a fine shot into the net before charging towards the bench. With veins bulging from his forearms, he evaded Luizinho before doing his best impression of a kangaroo in front of the fans.” (ESPN), (Grand Inquisitor)

Download the Free EPL Talk Toolbar

“The World Cup is agonizingly close, I seem to be spending all my time thinking, reading, or talking about it. However with all of the different news, blog, and sport sites available on the internet, sifting through the pile for worthwhile material can be a nightmare. This is why I have, in association with The Gaffer, created the EPL Talk toolbar. It allows you to find the latest football news, blogs, and opinion quickly and efficiently without leaving your current webpage.” (EPL Talk)

Portugal’s players are good enough, is the coach?

“In theory, Portugal playing Cape Verde just before the World Cup was a decent idea. They’ve struggled to score throughout the past two years, so how about a morale-boosting thrashing of a former colony to get the goals flowing?That was the idea, anyway. An embarrassing 0-0 draw was the actual outcome, with Portugal demonstrating precisely why they struggled to qualify for this tournament in the first place. They dominated, as you would expect, but constantly got into the final third and then seemed to run out of ideas.” (Zonal Marking)

USA: The Yanks

“At the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year, the United States soccer team shocked the world by reaching the finals and beating favorite Spain along the way. The performance got a lot of play in the States and gave hope to the team’s ever-increasing fan base. Last week, in the team’s final friendly on home soil before it departed for South Africa, 68,000 people came out to Philadelphia for the inspired send-off. Perhaps encouraged by a game with a ball shaped like a basketball, even President Barack Obama took time out to meet the team and wish it good luck.” (Vanity Fair)

Messi / Durant

“Kevin Durant is 6′9” and lanky, with a 7′4” wingspan. In a sport where length is all-important, Durant is as long as they come. Lionel Messi, 5′7” with a low center of gravity, is as nimble with the ball at his feet as anyone in the world. Durant has cited his mother and brother as his role models. Messi learned soccer from his father, a coach in Argentina when he was young. Both are modest, say all the right things to the media, and lead unflashy lives. Both seem to accept their success without being absorbed into it, using the love for their respective sports to keep them grounded. Messi has a reputation for shyness, while Durant, though soft-spoken, actively connects with his fans over Twitter. The two might not look it, but they’re very similar athletes, and you can learn a lot by looking at one through the lens of the other.” (Run of Play)

Not the Germany You Think You Know

“Despite being a showcase for the supposed ‘world game’—blessed with alleged powers to bring down barriers and make the globe a cozier, happier place—the World Cup actually has a tendency to reinforce some of the most tired of stereotypes. Not so much among hard-core fans, many of whom, in an age of globalization, tend to know better, but among the casual observers, who drop in every four years and need a convenient set of CliffsNotes to better enjoy the spectacle.” (WSJ)

Gerd Muller: Der Bomber

“One of the most natural finishers ever to have played the game, Gerd Muller was an accomplished international poacher whose prolific World Cup record for West Germany is a testament to his striking prowess. Der Bomber – as he is affectionately known by the German public – netted an incredible 14 goals in just 12 World Cup games, culminating in the winning strike in the 1974 final.” (ESPN)

Heysel Stadium Tragedy: 25 Years Later

“My memories of how I learned about the news regarding the Hillsborough Disaster and the Bradford Fire Disaster are a lot more vivid than what happened 25 years ago today in the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Part of the reason was because both the Hillsborough and Valley Parade games were played on a Saturday, while the European Cup Final of 1985 was played on a Wednesday night in Brussels. For me, living in the United States, it was certainly easier to follow games on my shortwave radio on a Saturday morning when the signal was much more clearer than on a Wednesday afternoon when I would be working and the signal strength was abysmal.” (EPL Talk)

A goal, a ghost

“Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian immigrant, scored the greatest goal in American soccer history. He should have been a hero. Instead, Gaetjens was abducted and died in a Haitian prison. ‘Outside the Lines’ sheds light on his story.” (ESPN)

Video: USA 2 – Turkey 1 (International Friendly Highlights)

“Landon Donovan assisted on second-half goals from starting forwards Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey to give the United States a 2-1 comeback win over Turkey on Saturday. The match at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field in front of 55,407 vociferous fans was the Americans’ last before departing for FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa.” (Football Fashion)

World Cup Tales: When The World Cup Legitimised A Dictatorship – Argentina, 1978

Camouflage Comics
“There have been, over the last eighty years or so, several questionable decisions made regarding the hosting of World Cup tournaments. None, however, have been met with quite the fury that met the hosting of the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina. The decision made to award the 1978 finals to Argentina was made in July of 1966, but after a military coup in March 1976 left the country in the hands of a military dictatorship, there were calls for the tournament to be moved elsewhere in a clash of ideologies that pitted the liberal left of popular opinion in Western Europe against the more right-wing politics of FIFA.” (twohundredpercent)

Japan 1-2 England – Video Highlights and Recap – Friendly – 30 May 2010

“England played their last warm-up to the 2010 World Cup with a friendly match against AFC side Japan. They still haven’t narrowed down their roster from 30 to 23 so it was a chance for a few players to try and impress Fabio Capello. Japan are not expected to get out their group but would provide a decent test for the Three Lions.” (The 90th Minute)

Book Review: The World Is A Ball

“I have no idea what kind of distribution The World is a Ball: The Joy, Madness and Meaning of Soccer is going to get outside of Canada and Ireland, where the author, John Doyle, has some kind of following. But if you’re in Canada, I suspect it’s going to be hard to go into a bookshop for the next two months without seeing this book prominently on display. Being football fans, you’re going to be tempted to buy it. So let me get the important part of this review of the way: if you do buy it, you will almost certainly be disappointed.” (Pitch Invasion)

World Cup Tales – Magyarország! The Greatest Team Never To Win A World Cup? Hungary, 1954

“The story of football in the years immediately following the end of the Second World War often seemed to be following a pre-prepared script, but it was a script that, at the World Cup finals at least, the competing nations seemed unwilling to follow. In 1950, the tournament should have been a procession for the host nation, Brazil, but in the final minutes of the final match, Uruguay silenced the Maracana. And four years later, one of the greatest teams in the history of the game would come unstuck in similar circumstances. They were the ‘Golden Team’ – the Hungarian team of Ferenc Puskas, Nándor Hidegkuti and József Bozsik. This Hungarian team was, tactically, one of the most important in the history of the game, and it only lost one match in four years. It just so happened, however, that the match that they did lose was the most important of all.” (twohundredpercent)

Photo: US v England Will Be All Kisses & Hugs

“A sign viewed at the USA – Czech Republic friendly earlier in the week. They get marks for effort, particularly with the clever implication Landon Donovan was planted on loan in England as some sort of spy (English flag on the chest and all), but the consensus is cutting off Wayne Rooney’s head would merely piss him off, thus scoring eight goals rather than two. The smart move would be cutting off Don Fabio’s noggin’ – he’s the brains of the operation.” (World Cup Blog)

Heysel: Requiem For A Cup Final

“There is no pleasure to be had in this evening’s second post, which is a BBC documentary of the story of the 1985 Heysel Stadium Disaster, which happened twenty-five years ago this evening. Even at a quarter of a century’s remove, and speaking as someone that watched the events of that appalling evening unfold live on the television, the capacity of the such events to shock remains undiminished. The crowning glory of years of English hooliganism laid bare in front of the whole world.” (twohundredpercent)

Two friendlies lead Capello back to square one

“It’s difficult to analyse England’s 2-1 win over Japan, simply because it’s not clear what Fabio Capello was trying to discover. Was this match purely an audition for individuals to stake their claim, or was he trying to find a cohesive shape? Assessing individuals was certainly on his mind, since Tom Huddlestone and Darren Bent – two players in danger of going home – were given starting places. This was plainly not the line-up that will face the USA. Capello stated in his pre-match interview that he had decided 20 of 23 the players, with one defensive, one midfield and one attacking position still up for grabs.” (Zonal Marking)

Route to ’66

“tsk tsk… there you go again with your 1966 nonsense. will you ever be able to discuss England without referring to that ominous year? i doubt it. it was a controversial tournament that ended in controversy. same goes for the italians winning on french soil in 1938, the maglia nera incident comes to mind as mildly controversial, but you don’t see the italians bringing up the glory days of the 1930′s every chance they get! some fascists might but that’s besides the point. italians revel in recent history because they have actually done something in international competition recently!” (The Dark Horses)

Group C: thank you for playing
“J’en sais beaucoup de par le monde/ A qui ceci conviendrait bien :/De loin c’est quelque chose, et de près ce n’est rien./ Jean de la Fontaine, Le Chameau et les Bâtons flottants. From afar it is something big, and close it is nothing. that’s how i feel about this group. England. check out the previous post: route to ’66. USA. the obvious – the team is the freshest of the major teams at the world cup….” (The Dark Horses)

Route to ’66
(YouTube)

Spain 3-2 Saudi Arabia – Video Highlights and Recap – Friendly – 29 May 2010

“The 2008 European Champions, Spain, began their 2010 World Cup warm-up with a friendly against AFC side Saudi Arabia. They still have some injury concerns with Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas but both are expected to be ready by the World Cup. Saudi Arabia are gearing up for the the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.” (The 90th Minute)

Greece: lightning probably won’t strike twice

“It seems foolish to write off Greece after the miracle of 2004, but both on paper and on the pitch, this seems a fairly weak side – albeit on that is well-organised and has a good understanding between players. Otto Rehhagel is still in charge, and having played a variety of systems throughout qualification, appears to prefer a fairly defensive 4-3-3 shape that has generally been his favoured formation throughout his nine years in charge.” (Zonal Marking)

The Sound of Nations Gasping

“Compared with the American version of football, soccer doesn’t seem all that rough. There are no helmets, no blind-side hits. Just a bunch of con-artists who howl in fake agony to the referees whenever they go down. Here’s the thing, though: A lot of them aren’t getting up. As the June 11 opening of the World Cup approaches, injuries are clouding the tournament. From England to Germany to Ghana, teams are breathlessly awaiting last-minute word on whether key players can play—or are already resigned to the likelihood that they can’t.” (WSJ)

World Cup winners

“It now seems normal for nations to obsess about the football World Cup. Yet when the English did so in 1990, Jonathan Wilson notes in his scholarly Anatomy of England, it ‘was unprecedented and unexpected’. Only quite recently have World Cups turned into occasions for countries to debate who they are. Those 11 young men in their team shirts have become the nation made flesh, and the tournament the foremost contest for prestige among countries. Twenty years ago, very few serious studies of football existed. Today there are enough to fill a mid-sized library. The four books under review here build on this body of knowledge, add to the library’s tiny African room, and distil patterns from that knowledge.” (FI – Simon Kuper)

World Cup 2010 – Which Team Wants it the Most?

“I know. Everyone wants to win the World Cup. That’s why they call it the World Cup. But which of the 32 World Cup teams has the biggest reason for wanting to win it? Read on for a list of the 32 teams and my best guess at what’s driving them to victory. Feel free to add/argue different reasons in the comments.” (World Cup Blog)