“Oscar Wilde once famously wrote that ‘to concede one goal direct from a corner is a misfortune, to concede two in eight days looks like carelessness.’ The thoughts of Oscar, noted corner-kick scholar, may have been rushing through the heads of anyone associated with Manchester United recently after they allowed not one but two ‘olimpicos’ — which, if you’re not familiar with the term, means scoring directly from a corner — in just over a week, in two different competitions. The first came from Son Heung-min in that madcap Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham, his corner sailing over second-choice keeper Altay Bayindir and into the net. The second saw Matheus Cunha flummox Andre Onana, with the help of some judiciously positioned Wolves defenders, in the Premier League on Boxing Day. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
Pace, swerve, angle – the art of the ‘olimpico’, football’s (usually) rare phenomenon
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“It has been hard to find fault with 
“This week brings up the midway point of the 2024-25 
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“A sharp, anxious intake of breath, followed by a round of applause that carries a mixture of quiet admiration and, more than anything, relief. On other occasions, it ends with supporters shaking their heads and asking why. We are talking about the crowd reaction to — and I’m borrowing this description from a colleague who is a regular at Stamford Bridge — ‘the most dangerous pass in football’. 
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“Amad scored a brilliant late winner in the Manchester derby shortly after earning the penalty that had put Ruben Amorim’s team level as 
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“The setting was 
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“David de Gea said on day one that he wanted to ‘make history’ with 
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“While they were humbled by an attack-minded Monaco on Friday evening at the Stade Louis II, as 
“… A — Paulino Alcantara Not 
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“… Hello! 
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“Before every training session, the Sudan men’s football team line up together and link arms. The captain calls them to attention for a moment of silence, which is broken by another shout before they clap three times in unison. It doesn’t matter where they are; it’s when they put everything else to one side and focus solely on football. They can’t play matches at home because, since April 2023, the north-east African country has been gripped by a bitter civil war between the government-led national army and the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). As many as 150,000 people have been killed, 
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“Different season, same 
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“Conventional wisdom has it that being tall is advantageous. The problem with conventional wisdom is that it’s often wrong. There are studies that correlate height with happiness and higher salaries, admittedly at the cost of shorter lifespans. In certain sports, elite athletes are almost exclusively big, such as basketball, rowing (except the cox) and volleyball (except the libero). Successful Olympic swimmers have become 
“Jhon Duran. Villa Park. Champions League nights. It is a combination that has provided nothing but unbridled joy to Aston Villa so far. 
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Scissors Kick 