Author Archives: 1960s: Days of Rage

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U.S. advances to Gold Cup quarters, but doesn’t impress in win over Haiti

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“The record will show that the U.S. national team won its CONCACAF Gold Cup group after only two games. But the scoreboard doesn’t begin to show how difficult it was to do so. Three days after struggling to beat Honduras, the Americans squeaked by a dangerous Haitian squad, 1-0, before 46,720 fans on a temporary grass field at Gillette Stadium. Clint Dempsey scored his third goal of the tournament—he’s the only American to find the net so far—and goalkeeper Brad Guzan made a spectacular second-half save to rob Haiti (0-1-1) of a draw it probably deserved. The U.S. (2-0-0) will move on (not before playing Panama on Monday) but has plenty of work to do to find its championship form.” SI

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
“The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup is the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF’s fifty years of existence. It is currently being held in the United States, with two matches being played in Canada, marking the first time the CONCACAF Gold Cup is played in that country. …” Wikipedia

2015 concacaf Gold Cup – Schedule & Results

A guide to formations: The 4-1-2-1-2

“The 4-1-2-1-2 formation is a variation of the standard 4-4-2 and there are two versions of this formation. In both versions, the back 4, central defensive midfielder, the central attacking midfielder and the two strikers stay the same. The main difference is the role of the two extra midfielders. In one variation, they play as wide midfielders and in the other, as central midfielders. This slight difference in positions has a large impact on the roles of the other players and the team’s overall style of play.” Outside of the Boot

Copa America 2015: Team of the Tournament

“Chile ended their near century drought with a penalty shoot-out victory over Argentina in front of a sea of red in Santiago on Saturday to claim their first ever Copa America. It was a triumph of the collective over the individual and fittingly rewarded the country’s best ever generation with victory on home soil. Yes, there had been some kind refereeing decisions that had gone their way but that shouldn’t take anything away from a fantastic team performance by Sampaoli’s men. For Argentina, it was so close but yet so far as they fell at the final hurdle for the second year in a row. For them the wait continues. After a memorable tournament, now comes the time for reflection and a chance to recognise some of the best performers from Chile 2015. Playing in a 4-2-3-1, here are the players that stood out for me over the course of the last few weeks.” Outside of the Boot

Lyon – All The Young Punks

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“At the beginning of the 2014/15 season very few analysts expected Lyon to be among the front-runners in Ligue 1, given that they had just changed their manager, replacing Rémi Garde with Hubert Fournier, and spent virtually no money. However, their exciting young side led the table for a lengthy period before finishing in a highly creditable second place behind the expensively assembled Paris Saint-Germain, thus qualifying for the Champions League. Expectations were on the low side, as Les Gones had endured much disappointment in the previous two seasons, failing to reach their previous heights by only finishing 3rd and 5th in the league.” The Swiss Ramble

Sergio Busquets – the underrated key of Barcelona’s success?

“When you think of Barcelona’s successes from 2008 onwards the three players who immediately come to mind are Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. There’s another player though who is rarely spoken about that should receive equal praise in relation to how Barcelona perform. His name is Sergio Busquets.” backpagefootball

An Intimate Portrait of a Professional Footballer’s Last Match An Intimate Portrait of a Professional Footballer’s Last Match

“When Milad Ahmadvand, the team photographer of Swiss club FC Winterthur, learned that former fan favorite Sawwas Exouzidis would play his final game as a professional footballer against his one-time club, it was an opportunity he couldn’t resist. The result is an heart-wrenching, intimate portrait of a man coming to terms with the end of his career. Eight by Eight spoke with Ahmadvand about the photo series, titled “My Last Game,” and he agreed to share a truncated version of the essay.” 8 by 8

O, Louis: In Search of Louis van Gaal

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“… The book, translated by David Doherty, is very good but it is as much about its author, Hugo Borst, as it is about Van Gaal. Its success is largely dependent on whether the reader can find Borst as interesting – as engaging, as irritating, as quotable, brilliant, monstrous and human – as his subject. The answer to that changes from page to page – yes, no, maybe, no, yes, maybe, no, no, Jesus no, no, maybe. It’s like reading about a match that goes into extra time and endless mucky replays, between Borst and Van Gaal or, more accurately, Borst and Borst. Borst, the Van Gaal lover versus Borst, the Van Gaal hater; Borst, the man who wants to be Van Gaal’s best friend versus Borst, the man who wants to annihilate Van Gaal; Borst, the gobshite, versus Borst, the astute, passionate, sometimes brilliant, football writer. It’s a great game for the neutral. But those of us who love our football know that there is no such thing as neutrality.” Guardian

Louis van Gaal: the liberal, the enemy and… err, the poet
“He finds enemies when they are not there. There was a falling out between Louis van Gaal and his biographer, Hugo Borst, seven years ago when the former was coach at AZ Alkmaar. Van Gaal accused Borst of giving away his mobile phone number. Borst took exception. Things were never the same between the pair, who had been close, and Borst’s highly entertaining work is not flattering.” Independent

amazon – O, Louis: In Search of Louis van Gaal

Football Italia – Italian Football in an Age of Globalization

“Football has undergone a period of transformation over the last thirty years. Despite these global processes, different national leagues have adapted in different ways. After an initial period of success directly after Italia ’90, Italian football has gone through a period of sustained crisis. It has been blighted by financial mismanagement, corruption scandals and fan violence. This has impacted Italy’s ability to compete on a global stage. Football Italia accounts for the development of Italian football in relation to the wider global transformations impacting football and addresses the reasons for Serie A’s initial success and current malaise.” Bloomsbury

Tactical Philosophy: Brendan Rodgers

“While this website has made it’s name focusing on the lesser known youth of this beautiful sport, and combined it with a tinge of tactical flavour meant for the football enthusiast, we found a large gap to be exploited in terms of combining the two. This mini-series thus focuses on young managers (below the age of 45) and their tactical philosophies, deriving what got them here and where they could go. In this piece, Shubham Ahuja takes a look at what makes Brendan Rodgers, the man who divides so much opinion, worth the fuss.” Outside of the Boot

From the Back Page to the Front Room

“It’s funny how just an idea for a book can make you think differently. In this one, Roger Domeneghetti looks at how the media and football are now almost always intertwined and linked and how they can both dominate our lives. We all remember the Prime Minister talking about David Beckham’s metatarsal, right? Of course we do, it was reported as huge news! I’ve read many a football book, I love reading about different aspects of our beloved game. Yet no book has sent me nostalgically back to the classroom like this one. That is in no way a criticism, I adored my history lessons and this book is a bit like learning from a wonderful historian that can get you thinking of ancient times and relating it to the present day. In the opening chapter it dispels the myth that football was born in England, nope instead it origins probably started in China around 225BC, not many football books will take you to the Tsin Dynasty.” The Footy Blog

The Ugly Game – How football lost its magic and what it could learn from the NFL

“Martin Calladine is a disillusioned football fan who is going over to the ugly game that is American football. On his way out he offers observations on the differences between the two sports in 20 loosely connected short essays. He is an intelligent consumer of the sports, rather than a business insider or supporter activist, and brings some interesting perspectives to bear on the current failings of football. But The Ugly Game is not even a wish list, let alone a manifesto for change. There is no rigour in the  comparisons; he uses the Premier League, English football and football in general interchangeably. The hugely differing structures and contexts that surround the NFL and Premier League are ignored. Calladine has a desirable destination in mind but no means of direction towards it.” WSC

Piece for TheSecretFootballer.com: Five lessons the Premier League could learn from the NFL
“In the United States, you can buy almost anything. Anything that is but the Super Bowl. Because, remarkably, the National Football League (NFL) is a sport where the worst team still gets the first pick of the best players. A sport where the amount that clubs can spend is tightly controlled to prevent billionaires buying success. A sport where TV income is shared equally, where there’s no prize money for winning the Super Bowl and where smaller clubs can hold on to their star players. For the growing band of British NFL fans, then, the game offers not just an exhilarating sporting spectacle but a vivid reminder of where English football has gone wrong. Here’s five lessons – of many – that the Premier League could learn from the NFL …” The Ugly Game

amazon – The Ugly Game

The Great Escape: a wake-up call for Hamburg

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“In 1987, the city of Berlin (although still divided at the time) celebrated its 750^th anniversary. In its famous Olympic Stadium, Thomas von Heesen led the victorious players of Hamburger SV up the steps to be presented with the DFB Pokal (the German Cup) on June 20^th of that notable year. Bearing in mind the club’s long and proud heritage and its recent successful history, no one could have foreseen that this – up to now – would be the last significant honour won by German football’s Dinosaur.” Football Pink

Golazo! The Beautiful Game from the Aztecs to the World Cup: The Complete History of How Soccer Shaped Latin America.

“THERE has been perhaps no better fullback in the history of football than Domingos da Guia (pictured). The strong and elegant defender, known as the ‘Fortress’, guarded Brazil’s flank in the 1930s and 1940s. Yet as a boy he was afraid to play until his brother prodded him: ‘Aren’t you any good at dancing?’ Domingos was and he brought his samba skills to the pitch, swinging his hips and evading opponents, a precursor to the joga bonito (‘play beautifully’) style of recent Brazilian stars.” Economist

Golazo! by Andreas Campomar and Futebol Nation by David Goldblatt: the football myth behind Brazil’s World Cup
“On 12 June, the World Cup will kick off in São Paulo. Until recently, there’s been an assumption that, certainly by comparison with the two World Cups to follow, in Russia and Qatar, this would be a fun tournament, a month-long carnival in the home of Pelé and “the beautiful game”. What, after all, is Brazil other than football, and who has ever played the game better? Then came the Confederations Cup, the eight-team warm-up event for the tournament, last summer. Matches came to be preceded by a familiar ritual of street protest – sparked by a proposed increase in bus fares in São Paulo, but soon encompassing a range of issues, from corruption to fury that so much has been spent on the World Cup when so many public services are in disrepair. With a sense of shock, the world realised that Brazil is not universally supportive of the tournament and there is a very real prospect of chaos. As these two books demonstrate, though, Brazil’s relationship with football has never been the easy romance of stereotype.” <a href=”

amazon – Golazo! The Beautiful Game from the Aztecs to the World Cup

Real Madrid has finally kicked out Iker Casillas, the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the club

“Iker Casillas, who has been at Real Madrid since he joined in 1990 at the tender age of nine, will leave the club to join FC Porto. It hasn’t been made official, but at this point, it is only a matter of time. This puts an end to a complicated stand-off between the player and the club that you can read all about here. In the end, it looks like Madrid was so desperate to get rid of Casillas that it agreed to pay him 15 million euros to leave. Casillas is, without a doubt, one of the three most important Madridistas of all time, so if his exit makes little or no sense to you, I wouldn’t blame you.” Fusion

Podolski and Beck transfers continue legacy of Germans playing in Turkey

“Turkish footballers playing in the Bundesliga is a fairly common sight, which, when you consider the history of Turks in post-war Germany, shouldn’t be too surprising. In the midst of the West German economic upturn of the 1960’s, the country was suffering from a severe lack of labourers to meet demand. To rectify this, the West German government, through various arrangements and agreements with various other European nations, began to admit large amounts of guest workers into the country; the vast majority of these workers came from Turkey. Many of these Turkish migrant workers ended up staying in West Germany and eventually would bring their families over and eventually become permanent residents. It is the offspring of these initial migrant workers that we see lining up for Bundesliga sides week in and week out.” Bundesliga Fanatic

Hosts Chile stun Argentina to claim first Copa América title on penalties

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“After 99 years, it came down to Alexis Sánchez against Sergio Romero from 12 yards. The Arsenal forward attempted a Panenka, scuffed it badly, and scored anyway as the goalkeeper dived to his left. Misses from Gonzalo Higuaín and Éver Banega in the shootout proved decisive and, finally, Chile, one of the four participants at the inaugural Copa América, had a first international trophy. For Argentina the drought goes on: 22 years since their last trophy and an increasing sense that this gifted generation of players will remain unfulfilled.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson (Video)

Argentina’s painful title drought continues with loss in Copa final
“As the last penalty of this Copa America final was taken, Lionel Messi stood slightly apart from the rest of the Argentina team, hands clasped tightly behind his back. When Alexis Sanchez’s shot hit the back of the net and the sea of red-clad fans inside the Estadio Nacional here erupted, Messi remained motionless for a few long, poignant seconds, staring straight ahead, before walking away. There was just time enough for a slow gaze over his shoulder at the wildly cavorting Chilean players near the corner flag before he was embraced by a supportive teammate.” SI

Chile beats Argentina on penalties in Copa America to win first major title
“A nation could barely watch, but Alexis Sanchez, given his third chance to win the Copa America, accepted it, scuffing an attempted Panenka but deceiving goalkeeper Sergio Romero anyway to give Chile a 4–1 win on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw. For Chile, the 99-year wait for a first-ever international trophy was over; for Argentina, the 22-year drought goes on. It had been a game that, after a bright start, had degenerated into a bruising, physical encounter in which fluent play was at a premium. Chances were rare—there were a couple of snap-shots from Sanchez and Ezequiel Lavezzi squandered a break with an overhit cross, but essentially this was an ugly midfield scrap.” SI – Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Copa América final: Messi stands in way of Chile’s inspired realists
“The training field echoes with laughter. Someone makes a joke about Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Garay and their shared love of Newell’s Old Boys. The players are, demonstrably, having fun: talk of splits and the destabilising presence of Carlos Tevez seems a long way in the past. Inside, Animal Planet still plays silently on the television in the corner and the technical staff still analyse their data, but they are no longer mumbling darkly about Louis van Gaal giving them a ‘ruined’ Ángel Di María, short on game-time and confidence. Argentina’s mood is noticeably relaxed.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Copa America 2015 Final | Key Battles: How to stop Messi, midfield battle and more
“60 years after these two sides met in the South American Football Championship final, they face up against each other in the modern version of the tournament. While Argentina may be favourites for the 2015 Copa America final, hosts Chile will prove to be a difficult opponent. Tom Robinson has a look at the key battles for the clash at the Estadio Nacional.”

Tactical Analysis: Chile 2-1 Peru | Vargas brace sinks spirited Incas

“Relations between neighbouring countries Chile and Peru have been fraught with difficulties and tension since as far back as 1880, so a semi-final Clasico del Pacifico was always likely to be hotly disputed contest. And so it proved, with a contentious early red card and a couple of debatable decisions which eventually saw hosts Chile emerge victorious to book a place in Saturday’s final. Argentina await them in Santiago as La Roja look to finally end their 99-year Copa America drought.” Outside of the Boot

Tactical Philosophy: Frank De Boer

“While this website has made it’s name focusing on the lesser known youth of this beautiful sport, and combined it with a tinge of tactical flavour meant for the football enthusiast, we found a large gap to be exploited in terms of combining the two. This mini-series thus focuses on young managers (below the age of 45) and their tactical philosophies, deriving what got them here and where they could go. In this piece, Rishad Bharucha focuses on the Ajax’ highly successful manager, Frank De Boer.” Outside of the Boot

Missing Lions: The true cost of English football’s class divide

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Eton schoolboys gather to watch The Wall Game.
“Class and football is inseparable as far as England is concerned. No other nation outside of the British Isles seems to hold the same pretensions and stresses over the social strata that its footballers and football supporters belong to, or appear to belong to, as England does. Though the late-19th Century public schools may have moulded and codified its laws, and helped spread the sport across the world through the networks of the empire and enterprise, it is unquestionably the game of the working class. Urbanisation and industrialisation brought people together like never before to learn, play and grow football into a national pastime, and ultimately a cultural phenomenon in its own right. But where did all the public school boys go after the masses ran away with their rule book?” Squawka

Tactical Analysis: Argentina 6-1 Paraguay | Albiceleste exploit space between lines to cruise to victory

“A place in the final was up for grabs as the favourites, Argentina were up against Paraguay, who against all odds overcame what was a mediocre Brazil side in the quarter finals. The two sides had met previously in the competition with Argentina squandering a two goal lead in the second half. That, along with Albiceleste manager, Gerardo Martino’s history as coach of the Paraguayan national team made for an intriguing clash and one that some thought may go down to the wire. However, those expecting a close game saw the complete opposite as Argentina ruthlessly swept Paraguay aside by 6 goals to 1 with Lionel Messi once again at his brilliant best, laying on the assists for 3 of his team’s 6 goals. The ridiculous amount of space between the lines and Argentina’s exploitation of the right-hand side proved Paraguay’s undoing. No mercy was shown to the Paraguayans with Martino’s men looking to cement their place in the final; they showed no signs of letting their 2 goal lead slip this time around despite Lucas Barrios halving the deficit on the stroke of half-time.” Outside of the Boot

Sacked! Profiling Managers Who Failed

“Every year in the Premier League, around November (though increasingly it seems earlier), the press starts to talk about the ‘sack race’. In this time, it is not uncommon to see headlines like ‘X is one bad result from the sack’ or ‘Loss in game against Y could spell end for Z’. The focus on results has always seemed slightly odd to me. What if manager X inspires a great performance only to lose against the run of play? Should he be sacked? Conversely, if the team puts out the worst performance of the season but manage to scrape a point (or three), should that really influence your decision to sack the current boss?” Statsbomb

Messi takes over, Argentina trounces Paraguay in Copa America semi

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“There was no goal for Lionel Messi, but there was everything else in Argentina’s 6-1 win over Paraguay in the Copa America semifinal on Tuesday. Messi orchestrated an Argentina performance that at last reached the attacking heights if which it should be capable, setting up five of the six goals and generally playing with a playful menace. Marcos Rojo put Argentina ahead after 15 minutes and when Javier Pastore added a second 12 minutes later, the game already seemed over.” SI – Jonathan Wilson (Video)

Even hostile Chile fans forced to acknowledge Lionel Messi’s greatness
“The problem with a genius like Lionel Messi is that you’re always waiting for him to perform. You can’t watch a game he plays in as you watch any other game because you’re always hoping that this will be of those days when he turns it on, and if he doesn’t you end up feeling a little cheated. Nobody felt cheated on Tuesday night, just grateful to have been there, unless you had the misfortune to be a Paraguayan defender. The Chile fans who made up most of the crowd and who had begun the game by jeering the Argentinian national anthem and chanting ‘Argentinos – hijos da puta’ ended it in awed applause.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Tactical Analysis: Argentina 0-0 Colombia (5-4 pens) | Messi and co. through to semis despite ultra-defensive Colombia
“In another battle between two giants of South American football, Argentina squared up against Colombia with the tantalising prospect of a possible semi-final clash with Brazil. Gerardo Martino’s men were tipped by many to go all the way in the competition and have looked on course to do so, though they are still yet to hit their stride. Colombia, on the other hand, have underwhelmed throughout the competition, scraping through to the quarter finals and scoring just one goal in their first three games.” Outside of the Boot

Attacking stars set to light up Copa America final

“So will Chile finally have something to put in its trophy cabinet? Or will Argentina win its first senior title since 1993? There is plenty at stake, then, in the final of the 2015 Copa America. Many treat this tournament as a warm up for the coming World Cup qualifiers, but not these two teams. Chile, as host, is obliged to put on a show, especially given the fact that it has never won the competition. A sense of ‘if not now, when?’ has hung over Chile in this Copa. It has probably its best ever generation, with a group of players in their prime with the experience of two World Cups to help them through. The tournament has been set up for them to reach the final – they were in the easiest group, have played all their games in Santiago’s Nacional Stadium and have avoided the heavyweights – until now.” World Game – Tim Vickery

Hope and faith – the anatomy of Peru’s transformation

“When Copa America 2015 was about to get underway, you would find very few people that would have backed Peru to win the tournament at a whopping 100/1. Only two nations were given less of a chance of winning the tournament – Bolivia (200/1) and Jamaica (500/1). If you fancied a punt on the competition’s top scorer, you could’ve gotten 125/1 on Peru’s hat-trick hero Paolo Guerrero topping the charts; before Peru’s match against Chile the best odds you’d have found was 3/1. In a group with Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, Peru weren’t given a chance. No-hopers. Whipping boys.” backpagefootball

What’s plaguing Brazil? Delve into the Selecão’s woes by the numbers

“Brazil’s dispiriting quarterfinal defeat against Paraguay means that the world’s most successful men’s soccer nation will once again be on the outside looking in when Argentina takes on Chile in Saturday’s Copa America final. Compared with many national teams, Brazil remains a competitive and sturdy outfit, but by the country’s own exacting standards the sides it has fielded in recent years have represented a vertiginous drop in quality. Here’s a look by the numbers and statistics at some of the key reasons for Brazil’s current woes…” SI

Bohemian Rhapsody: Masopust and Dukla

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“Cold War Europe was a sinister place. Behind the Iron Curtain, popular opinion told us, it was a grey, totalitarian world where spies drank thick black coffee in cafes, children informed on their parents, smoke-chugging cars rolled off production lines and food queues, for inedible black bread, went on for miles The lingua franca was strictly Russian. As for football, teams were supposedly mysterious, functional, militaristic and tough. They were known as ‘Crack’ Hungarians, Bulgarians and East Germans. But while these teams were hard to beat, it was the latin contingent in Europe that emerged as the dominant forces, notably the Spanish and Italians. In 1962, the trend was broken when one Josef Masopust, a 31-year-old Czech, was named European Footballer of the Year.” Football Pink

From pitch to page – a brief account of the history of football fiction

“‘The author of the best books written about English culture since the War’… reads the blurb on the cover of John King’s landmark 1996 novel ‘The Football Factory’, a rampaging yarn about a gang of miscreant Chelsea supporters strutting their stuff around a succession of English cities and football stadiums and offering an uncompromising portrayal of the dark motivation of the archetypal English ‘hoolifan’. It’s a bold assessment of a bold novel, offered by King’s contemporary and fellow Jonathan Cape stablemate, Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh. The ‘Trainspotting’ author has himself occasionally wondered onto the football fiction turf, most notably in ‘Maribou Stork Nightmares’, when protagonist Roy Strang is assessed for his ‘casual’ credentials by a group of fellow Hibs supporters on a train to Motherwell.” backpagefootball

Sepp Blatter on Sepp Blatter: I’m not corrupt and I’m going to heaven

“FIFA ‘President for Life’ Sepp Blatter (née September, hopefully) is an amazing man. But you probably already knew this, especially if you were one of the 13 people who saw the FIFA-financed blockbuster film United Passions, which acutely dissects Blatter’s amazing life from his virgin birth in a manger through the moment he saves humankind. If it wasn’t for Blatter, international soccer on steroids, as we know it today, may not exist. Sponsors wouldn’t be driven to stab people in alleys to get a lucrative piece of real estate on an ad board (allegedly).” Fusion

Valeriy Lobanovskyi: Football’s Premier Scientist

“Through the annals of footballing history, there have been a multitude of figures whose contribution to the game can be termed as colossal. Names such as Jimmy Hogan, Herbert Chapman, Victor Maslov, Rinus Michels, Arrigo Sacchi, have left their inedible mark on the sport through their philosophies of how the game should be played. But among these, the name of Valeriy Lobanovskyi has long gone unnoticed and underappreciated. His contribution to the game is as important and as ground breaking as any of the contributions of the rest of these eminent personalities. Born in Kiev in 1939, the young Valeriy was a smart kid, evidenced by his gold medal in mathematics which he was gifted when he left high school.” Outside of the Boot

The Barcelona presidential elections, explained

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“It’s election season at FC Barcelona. On July 18, tens of thousands of Barça fans will hit the ballot box to choose their fearless leader. Will it be the quiet incumbent or the charismatic challenger? Because let’s face it, no one else has a chance. Barcelona is one of the handful of clubs (along with Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and Osasuna) in which the fans vote for the president. But not just any Barcelona fan can vote. You have to be a paying socio, or member.” Fusion

Beauty leaves the Brazilian game as glitter gives way to grit

“It was not 7-1. It was not an epic humiliation. It was not a result that will reverberate through the generations. But in a sense, Brazil’s Copa América exit to Paraguay is all the more crushing for that. It was not some devastation to be written off as a freak; it was quotidian. Brazil went out of the Copa América by losing a mundane game 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw because these days they are a mundane team; they no longer generate the emotional extremes they once did.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Derlis Gonzalez, David Ospina and more – 4 Players who defined the Copa America 2015 quarters

“Brazil’s ousting in the quarter-final stage was the talking point, but Peru’s run along-with Chile’s impressive showing has kept enthusiasts intrigued. Though Argentina remain as favourites with online sports betting at Sportsbook.ag, it may not be as simple to call these games. Paraguay too who eliminated Brazil for the second successive Copa America, have shown they aren’t to be overlooked. Finley Crebolder picks his four players that defined the quarter-final stage, a stage that has left us with two enticing fixtures.” Outside of the Boot

Bayern Munich – 50 years of Bundesliga football

“‘It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play’. But it was fifty years ago today that Bayern Munich made it into the Bundesliga and set in motion half a century of trophy winning both at home and abroad. It was the 26th June 1965 and Bayern Munich knew that a win over Tennis Borussia Berlin would seal their long-awaited promotion to the top-tier of German football. The wrong they felt had been done, by denying them a place in the debut Bundesliga season, was to be rectified.” Bundesliga Fanatic

Argentina outlasts Colombia in PKs in heart-stopping Copa quarterfinal

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“The bare facts are that Argentina reached the semifinals of the Copa America, defeating Colombia in penalty kicks (5–4) after a goalless draw, but that hardly tells the full story of the match. It had been an astonishing game, which Argentina had dominated almost from start to finish without being able to score. David Ospina, the Colombia goalkeeper, made a number of fine saves, chances were missed, the woodwork was struck twice and, even when Carlos Tevez got by all those obstacles with two minutes to go, Jeison Murillo was on hand to hook the ball clear.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

James Rodríguez irked at Copa América, a year on from World Cup wonder goal

“On Sunday, it will be a year since James Rodríguez scored the goal against Uruguay that, emblematically at least, confirmed his talent. His performances for Porto and Monaco had marked him out as a player of great potential and the rumours linking him with a move to Real Madrid were well-established, but it was his sumptuous chest and volley against Uruguay in the last 16 of the World Cup that provided the image of his brilliance, a shorthand for what he is capable of.” Guardian

On professional football – or: in praise of illusionary love

“Summer has arrived. And in the absence of the usual pulsating weekly encounters punctuated with thrilling goals and flooded with indomitable passion, we have to settle for the next best thing – transfer speculation – the time of the year when almost anybody and everybody is linked with, well, almost anybody and everybody. This is when, for a few moments, one is allowed to imagine, hope, as to what might be – even if it never materialises – everyday brings with it a new story, a new exclusive, a new quote, closely analysed, to decode a player’s possible intentions.” backpagefootball

Chile end Copa America quarterfinal curse by defeating feisty Uruguay

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“And so Chile did not fall foul of the Copa America curse of the quarterfinals. In four of the past five tournaments the hosts have been eliminated at this stage — three times by Uruguay. This time, though, there were no slip ups, and Uruguay were beaten 1-0. Ninety-nine years ago they kicked off the first Copa America — against Uruguay — and they are still looking for their first tournament win. Their golden generation is at its peak. They are at home, with all of their games taking place in Santiago’s National Stadium. But for a long time on Wednesday night, it was looking like a case of ‘if not now, when?’ for the Chilean team.” ESPN – Tim Vickery

How Football Shaped The Clash’s Greatest Album

“In 1979 the Clash wrote and recorded London Calling, the double album that was their finest artistic statement. Not released in the U.S. until January 1980, it would be hailed 10 years later by Rolling Stone as ‘the album of the decade.’ When they started work on their masterpiece, the Clash were at a low point. Having dismissed their original manager, Bernie Rhodes, and his temporary successor, the group had no one to fall back on but themselves. And it was football, as much as their supremely able songwriting abilities, that pulled them into the mental form necessary for writing and recording the album.” 8 By 8

Russian wrap – Zenit claim top honours for the fifth time

“With the vital Russia v Austria Euro 2016 qualifier lost in disappointing circumstances, the Russian season eased to a finish with pretty much everyone and everything where we expected them. The Russian Football Union (RFS) hasn’t the money to pay off their expensive Italian (a crowdfunding gimmick was launched to do just that) and President of the RFS Nikolai Tolstykh was slaughtered by the Sports Minister’s allies.” backpagefootball

Sounds silly but Qatar keeping the 2022 World Cup might be the least fucked solution

“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the largest inter-governmental organization in the world after the United Nations, describes itself as the ‘collective voice of the Muslim world.’ With 57 member states on four continents, the OIC seeks to ‘safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.’ It’s a noble-sounding endeavor, tone-wise, and in line with the mission statements of almost every other notable inter-governmental organization designed, in theory, to foster global harmony, understanding, and puppy GIF feelings.” Fusion

A Guide to Copa America, in Queens

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El Gauchito, 94-60 Corona Ave in Queens.
“Copa América, the South American soccer championship, is in its third week in Chile, and has given the world everything it could handle from a tournament: dramatic comebacks, shocking suspensions, all-out scoring feasts, and acts of idiocy and manslaughter off the pitch. Now, after the end of the group stages, eight of the original 12 teams remain, and they will begin the direct elimination rounds today. There is still plenty of action to catch—with some potential classic matchups coming up—and as we wrote during the World Cup, there is no finer place to watch international soccer than New York City. So if you aren’t able to make your way over to Chile, your next best shot at living the fever of South American soccer is right here, in the almost impossibly diverse borough of Queens. From Astoria to Sunnyside, bars, bakeries and butcher shops are turning their establishments into prime viewing spots. Here are the upcoming matches and the best places to catch them with diehard fans from each country.” ROADS & KINGDOMS

Uruguay have the history to hit Copa América heights against Chile
“Chile have scored more than twice as many goals as anybody else in this Copa América. They will be playing at home in front of 40,000 red-shirted fans. They have played with a verve and a fluidity nobody else in this tournament has matched and, if anything, Arturo Vidal’s drink-driving charge, which could have been a destabilising influence, seems to have given them an enhanced sense of purpose. Uruguay scraped through their group in third place, having scored only two goals. Other sides in their position might have approached Wednesday night’s quarter-final like lambs to the slaughter but not Óscar Washington Tabárez’s team. This is the sort of situation Uruguay have traditionally relished.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Copa America: Group C’s key tactical system, game-changing performance, and best young player
“Group C has easily been the Copa America’s most engaging, as shock wins by Venezuela and Colombia saw all four teams level on points entering the final match day. With a resurgent Thiago Silva leading Brazil to victory over Venezuela to top the group, the final placing may not seem like much of a surprise. However, with Brazil needing a last-minute winner to beat Peru, Neymar’s suspension, and a host of strong defensive performances, many from unsung, domestically based players, these six games provided us with multitudes of knife-edge tension. As the three survivors lick their wounds ahead of the quarterfinals, here is a brief look back at some of the keys to the way things played out.” Outside of the Boot

Copa America quarterfinals: Argentina and Brazil face tense challenges
“Chile vs. Uruguay. All the momentum is with Chile, but all the history is with Uruguay. The hosts have looked to be far and away the best team in this tournament so far, scoring twice as many goals as everybody else, but Uruguay have by far the best record in spoiling such house parties. On the past three occasions that the latter have met the home team — Argentina 2011, Venezuela 2007 and Paraguay 1999 — they have eliminated them. That’s all the more relevant here because it reflects just how good the Uruguayans are at digging in and disrupting more exciting and excitable sides. Oscar Tabarez’s current side are experts at that, and abnormally difficult to beat. … ” ESPN

Cardiff City – Bullet The Blue Sky

“Having tried so hard to reach the Premier League, it must have been a bitter pill to swallow for Cardiff City, as the Bluebirds only managed to stay in the top flight for one brief season before dropping back to the Championship. They had been knocking on the door for so long, being eliminated in the play-offs for three consecutive seasons, before finally securing automatic promotion after comfortably winning the division in 2013. The club had been guided to success in that memorable season by Malky Mackay, but a disappointing start to Cardiff’s first ever Premier League campaign, allied with a breakdown in trust over transfers between the manager and owner, Vincent Tan, resulted in the Scot’s departure in December.” The Swiss Ramble

Scottish fitbaw season review – Play offs, punches and plenty of Petrofac

“It’s just a few days after Sean Maloney put a full stop on the 2014/15 Scottish football season with an equaliser against Ireland that kept the Tartan Army’s dream of red wine and camembert very much alive. While my body has just about recovered from my jaunt to the Emerald Isle, my mind is still customising itself to the rigours of everyday life once again, so please bear with me as I give you a final blow by blow account of the Scottish Football Season that was.” Football Pink

Luca Toni – The outsider

“One of the key narratives sorry for using that word around this year’s Champions League final was the return of some of Italy’s World Cup winning squad to the stadium where, back in 2006, they had claimed Jules Rimet in a penalty shoot-out win against France. Alas, while the return to Berlin was not a happy one for Buffon, Pirlo, Chiellini and Barzagli, another member of that squad from 2006 had much reason to cheer as this season ended. Turning 38-years-old as the season came to an end, Luca Toni, playing for lowly Hellas Verona, finished as joint top scorer in Serie A. In doing so he became the oldest player to win the Capocannoniere (Serie A Golden Boot). It completed a remarkable resurgence in fortunes for a player who, two years ago, seemed destined for retirement after a season in the United Arab Emirates with Al Nasr, scoring three times in eight appearances.” backpagefootball

The Copa America heats up now for Chile

“These days, the Copa America tournament serves as a warm-up for the qualifiers. Of course, once the Copa kicks off, everyone wants to win. There is always pressure on Brazil and Argentina to go home with the trophy, and that is especially true this year, with La Albiceleste waiting for a senior title since 1993 and Brazil anxious to cover up that huge stain on the carpet left by its performance in the World Cup. The focus of most coaches, though, is firmly on preparing a team for the World Cup qualifiers. More than anything else, the Copa America is about the host, which really wants to put on a show in front of its own public. And that, too, is especially true this year, with Chile gunning for a maiden continental title. As expected, there has never been a dull moment during Chile’s group phase. Indeed, there was more incident than anyone had bargained for.” The World Game – Tim Vickery

Tactical Analysis: Brazil 0-1 Colombia | Colombia’s counter-press proves effective as Dunga’s men finally lose

“Brazil entered this heavyweight clash in Santiago brimming with confidence and seeking their 13^th straight win since manager Dunga was reinstated. After narrowly edging past minnows Peru thanks to Neymar’s brilliance, Brazil topped the group going into this game. However, a much better performance was required if they were to overcome the threat of Colombia, desperately needing victory to avoid elimination from the tournament. With world-class attacking talents such as Neymar, James Rodriguez and Falcao on display and Colombia’s survival in the competition on the line, this had all the makings of a memorable game and was one that would have been worthy to grace the final. Alas, excluding the post-match brawl, this was anything but a memorable game mainly due to Brazil’s awful decision making in the attacking phase and an over-reliance on Neymar as well as a frighteningly high tempo throughout the 90 minutes which denied both sides the opportunity to find any real rhythm in the game. In the 3^rd meeting between these teams since their World Cup quarter-final clash in Brazil, Colombia’s superb counter-pressing system and Jeison Murillo’s scrappy finish from Juan Cuadrado’s free kick in the 36^th minute ensured a nervy 1-0 victory for los Cafateros.” Outside of the Boot

Fatigue is proving Chile’s biggest obstacle to ending its 99-year drought

“Jorge Sampaoli looked on, ensuring his players kept their heads while all around them men were losing theirs. He’d seen the opposition weep before games had even begun. Now they wept before a penalty was even kicked. Its captain, world renown defender Thiago Silva, sat atop a ball on the sideline away from his colleagues; rocking back and forth, whispering frantically into closed fists; refusing to even get involved, let alone lead. Silva’s goalkeeper, Júlio César, peered into the Belo Horizonte sun though eyes bloodshot red, terrified at the prospect of being the next Barbosa.” Fusion

Kicker rankings: Bayern tumbles in the midfield

“Kicker rankings continue in Monday’s edition of the magazine and FC Bayern München suffers a serious drop in the midfield. Bayern has crumbled, the worst drop ever, and Gonzalo Castro of Leverkusen has distinguished himself. Xabi Alonso is completely gone out of the listing. The Spaniard’s ‘bad’ case was a loss in form, playing only four times better than average, having under-par European performances and missing a penalty against Dortmund. Philipp Lahm makes the list, he he drops out of the World or International Class for the firs time since 2011. Injury and lack of rest, due to an injury crisis, made him play exhausted.” Bayern Central

In Chile’s National Stadium, Dark Past Shadows Copa América Matches

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“SANTIAGO, Chile — A haunting yellowish glow radiates from the tiny section of empty wooden benches and crumbling concrete behind the north goal at Estadio Nacional. All around this space there is noise: 47,000 soccer fans screaming and jumping in delight as Chile’s national team plays Ecuador in the opening game of the Copa América. But no one sits on those benches. They are reserved in perpetuity, a somber memorial to the thousands of people who were beaten and tortured here 42 years ago in the home of Chilean soccer. Estadio Nacional, the site of six games in this year’s Copa América, including the final on July 4, is perhaps the most infamous sports arena in the world. For nearly two months after the Sept. 11, 1973, military coup that overthrew Chile’s democratically elected Marxist president, the stadium served as a makeshift prison camp where as many as 20,000 men and women suffered at the hands of a military junta, led by the right-wing army chief, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, that had seized control of Chile. …”
NY Times

To the Five Boroughs

“It was in the fourth minute of sudden death extra time at Robert F Kennedy Stadium in Washington DC when Lothar Matthäus registered his first assist in Major League Soccer. While playing for the impossibly named New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the first spring of the new millennium, the former European and World Footballer of the Year took a free kick that was headed in by his fellow defender Mike Petke for a 3-2 win at defending champions DC United. Under the league’s rules at that time, this meant that the MetroStars had won the game. I remember the moment as much for what happened next. As his team-mates mobbed Petke and buoyantly celebrated a rare away victory at their east coast rivals, Matthäus stayed well away from the melee, pointedly abstaining from joining the jubilation. The team captain and expensive marquee star was showing everyone just what he thought of a league that was not yet five years old. This is Mickey Mouse football. Two months ago I was still playing for Bayern Munich in the Champions League against Real Madrid. …” In Bed With Maradona: CONTRASTING APPLES: KAISER AND LOTHAR

To the Five Boroughs: IBWM Assignment #1 – New York

Arturo Vidal and Neymar subplots in a Copa América rich with stories

“There is nothing quite so effective at removing stains of ignominy as victory. Chile’s game against Bolivia on Friday began with Arturo Vidal’s name being cheered by the 45,000 fans at the Estádio Nacional, a clear message of support after he was charged with drink-driving. It ended with Chile having won 5-0 after a display of exhilarating football and, to the local media at least, questions about whether Vidal should have been allowed to play on were fading before the thought that this Chile squad is probably better equipped than any other in the country’s history to win the Copa América. A wait that began in the very first continental tournament in 1916 may be about to come to an end.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Tactical Analysis: Argentina 1-0 Uruguay | Argentina exploit width to win a tight game

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Argentina 1-0 Uruguay
“The classic clash of South America, had the favorites (Argentina) as the winners of the match. With Messi in charge, Argentina are the favorites to win it all. A very clear game, with one team playing attack minded football and the other team focusing on blocking the spaces. Uruguay were focusing on the counter-attacks and did create some chances and were really close to scoring a late equalizer. Argentina were the better side this evening, even if they were struggling to play through this low positioned Uruguay team, and they did find the goal with a cross from Zabaleta to Aguero, scoring the only goal of the game.” Outside of the Boot

Football Management – Davis Muthoka

“Football Management is a blog maintained by Dr. John Beech an independent academic who is an Honorary Research Fellow at Coventry University where he was Head of Sport & Tourism at the Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration (SURGE). Through his work on this blog, Dr. John Beech received the Football Supporters’ Federation Writer of the Year Award for season 2009/10. With detailed data on over 200 English soccer clubs, the blog offers commentary on current as well as historic issues on management and governance of English league clubs. The blog is read in over 175 countries across the globe. The homepage of Football Management is easy to navigate. The first section on the homepage is the Recent Posts section. An article that caught my attention under this section is titled Opening a can of worms ?.This article covers the issue of the relationship between English clubs’ management and their local councils especially when the clubs are at the center of an issue. Given the big roles these clubs play in the economies and the unwillingness of the councils to anger fans, the author claims there is a possibility of these clubs failing to be subjected to the due legal process in settling significant issues. …” Soccer Politics

Radamel Falcao is the reason Colombia isn’t playing as well as it did at the World Cup

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“When news broke in January 2014 that Colombian star Radamel Falcao had picked up a serious knee injury playing for club team, AS Monaco, an entire nation held its breath… with one notable exception. While Colombia and the wider soccer world was left to lament a World Cup without arguably the game’s best out-and-out center-forward, coach José Pékerman could have been forgiven for feeling a certain sense of relief. On the surface, it was a huge blow. Los Cafeteros had just secured its first trip to a World Cup in 16 years during a qualification campaign that saw it hammer defending South American champion Uruguay 4-0, pick off Chile 3-1 in Santiago, and become just one of two sides to prevail at the dizzy heights of La Paz. Expectations were at their highest since Carlos Valderrama led his 1994 side to the United States with realistic aspirations of becoming world champions.” Fusion

Neymar’s petulance leaves Brazil in trouble after Copa America suspension

“There were some warning signs flashing in Brazil’s Copa America opener against Peru, Neymar’s first competitive match as Brazil captain. He produced a wonderful individual performance in that 2-1 win, crowned with a pass of breathtaking vision that set up Brazil’s stoppage-time winner. … Three days later, the collision could not be averted — with consequences that will, unless Brazil’s appeal is successful, rule Neymar out of the rest of the Copa America. He was suspended for four games after being sent off in the 1-0 loss to Colombia.” ESPN – Tim Vickery

Arturo Vidal, Chile cruise past Bolivia to finish atop Group A in Copa America

“Led by a brace from Charles Aranguiz, host Chile cruised to a 5–0 win over Bolivia on Friday in its final group stage game in the Copa America. The victory meant Chile finished atop Group A, while second-place Bolivia will also advance to the quarterfinals. Here are three thoughts on Chile’s win.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Why a tough start to the season is the perfect opportunity for Brendan Rodgers

“Liverpool endured a horrible campaign last season. There was however, a 13 game unbeaten run which makes many wonder if the season was as terrible as is being suggested in various articles and on social media platforms. The short answer is yes, it was. Liverpool failed to meet any of their intended goals from the season and more importantly, did so in a horrible fashion. In the last month, there was absolutely no identity left in their game and the players were playing without any purpose. The last game of the season ended in an embarrassing 6-1 defeat for Liverpool, a game which was Steven Gerrard’s last in the Red jersey. This game could be cast off as dead rubber but it would be incredibly naïve to do so.” Outside of the Boot

Brazil’s inadequacies echoed by Neymar’s lack of patience against Colombia

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“Disappointment would have been bad enough for Brazil, but after the final whistle it became disgrace. Defeat to Colombia, followed by Neymar’s red card, may not resonate like the 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-final last year did, but the shame is just as real. After all the talk of trying to find some sort of redemption in the Copa América, all the same old flaws were there, just without quite the same hysteria. This was a petulant, complacent, unimaginative Brazil and they now, almost unbelievably, must beat Venezuela in their final group game on Sunday to be sure of making it to the quarter-finals – and they will have to do it without the player on whom they have become so reliant.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Breaking down last night’s Colombia-Brazil nonsense with the power of GIF
“Last night, Brazil and Colombia met in a Copa América group stage game, almost one year after Brazil eliminated the Colombians in Forteleza in the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals. But this time was different. Colombia, having already succumbed to Venezuela in its opening game, managed to pull itself together and frustrate Brazil for 90 minutes, eeking out a 1-0 victory. Typically, that would be the story. Colombia exacts revenge on the Samba Boys. Or something basic like that. But that would be a disservice to the real story: These two teams wanted to murder each other, and they came damn close after the final whistle.” Fusion

Neymar’s brilliance and immaturity have been on display at Copa America
“There was a time not long ago when Brazil boasted countless world-class attackers. It was a time when, for example, Marcio Amoroso could finish as top goal scorer in Brazil, Italy and Germany, but count himself fortunate simply to be named in the Brazil squad. Mario Jardel scored 130 goals in 125 league games for Porto and collected only 10 caps, usually as a substitute. Giovane Elber, meanwhile, spent a decade banging in the Bundesliga goals and managed just 15 caps.” ESPN – Michael Cox

Gerardo Martino’s shrewd tactical tinkering helps Argentina pip Uruguay

“The old rivals rose to the occasion. The match between Argentina and Uruguay may not have offered up all of the goals of the previous night’s action in the Copa America, but there was quality and drama to the end as Argentina held off a late Uruguayan rally to win by the lone goal. Argentina coach Gerardo Martino had prepared a trap for his opponents. Lionel Messi dropped deep, into a position where, like some general of old, he could survey the battlefield in search of the enemy’s weak point. He also drew attention of the Uruguayan markers, creating space for Javier Pastore to advance and set up the play some 30 metres from goal. With Angel Di Maria elusively wandering in from the left flank, Argentina opened up with a fluidity which threatened an early breakthrough.” ESPN – Tim Vickery

Sergio Aguero rescues labourious Argentina in 1-0 win over Uruguay
“Three quick thoughts on Argentina’s frantic 1-0 win over Uruguay in the Copa America on Tuesday night. 1. Argentina learn from Paraguay mistakes. Sergio Aguero scored a goal to light up a game, even if this was not a game to light up a tournament. Argentina have at least renewed their spark, however, after claiming their first win of the Copa America with this hard-fought 1-0 win over Uruguay. Their manager, Gerardo Martino, was sent off for first-half touchline remonstrations, but his team are finally off and running. The frustration after the 2-2 draw with Paraguay has now evaporated, and the relief could be witnessed at the final whistle.” ESPN

Raheem Sterling to Man City? Liverpool could be the real winners

“There’s always at least one transfer saga that promises to drag on longer than it needs to every summer, with its outcome seeming inevitable from the word go. David De Gea’s proposed switch from Manchester United to Real Madrid could fall under that category this time around, while Raheem Sterling’s expected departure from Liverpool is another. Manchester City seem to be at the front of the queue for the wantaway winger, reportedly having had two notable bids rejected for the 20-year-old already. WhoScored take a look at whether a deal would be worthwhile for both parties and who could potentially get the better end of the deal.” ESPN