“Manuel Francisco dos Santos (October 28, 1933 – January 20, 1983), known by the nickname ‘Garrincha’ … was a Brazilian football right winger and forward who helped the Brazil national team win the World Cups of 1958 and 1962. He played the majority of his professional career for Brazilian club Botafogo.” Wikipedia, “Goal by Garrincha:” Eduardo Galeano Reads from Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Part Three, YouTube
Ronaldinho
“On a Brazilian TV show on Saturday I was asked to explain the success of the English Premier League. The answer that instantly came into my mind was the mixture between the old and the new. Modern ideas – the money and the business practices – have been planted in fertile soil because the tradition of the game – its roots in the world’s first industrial society – is so strong.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“In Rio Flamengo fans came out in their thousands to give a euphoric welcome to new signing Ronaldinho. Some pundits have tried to pour water into their beer — such as former top class referee Jose Roberto Wright, who argued in the sports daily Lance! that Flamengo had done a bad deal.” SI – Tim Vickery
“The season kicks off on my side of the Atlantic this weekend with one of the great hidden gems of the footballing calendar – the South American under-20 Championship.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Internacional de Porto Alegre may have been party to a piece of unwanted history in December, when they became the first team from one of the ‘traditional’ powers of South America and Europe to fail to reach the final of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, but their fans were given something to celebrate, albeit as a small consolation prize, later in the month. On December 29, Inter’s Argentine playmaker, Andres D’Alessandro – formerly of Wolfsburg, Portsmouth and Real Zaragoza – was named the South American Footballer of the Year for 2010.” ESPN
“One of the many wonderful things about covering South American football is the opportunity to watch young talent bloom. Yet too often that process is interrupted prematurely, the player sold off to Europe at a dangerously early stage in his career. That is what has happened to Marcos Rojo, who made such an impact in the second half of 2010 as Estudiantes won the Argentine championship. Could this be the attacking left-back that his country have been looking for?” BBC – Tim Vickery
“When he was first making his name with Santos, former Manchester City striker Robinho often spoke of his big ambition to be elected Fifa World Player of the Year. True, he was seeking to place himself in a tradition of some of his illustrious compatriots, but even so I always found it a depressing declaration. For what it is worth, my view is that far too much attention is given to these individual awards.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“There’s an old saying in Brazilian soccer that organizing a team is like having a short blanket on a cold night — pull it over your neck and your feet get cold, cover your feet and your neck freezes. While Internacional of Porto Alegre is using the blanket to dry its tears, it might also reflect on the wisdom of the phrase.” SI – Tim Vickery
Diego Forlán
“Hello and welcome to the Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol awards for 2010. The awards focus on events in South American football, however there is room for an expatriate player of the year section to pay tribute to the best of the thousands of South American footballers plying their trade on other continents. You may find some of the awards surprising or idiosyncratic, however if you are offended by any of these selections you can either find another website to tell you exactly what you want to read or failing that you could leave your opinion on why we are wrong in the comments section below. Enjoy.” Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol
The IBWM Torneo Apertura Review
“Last weekend Estudiantes clinched the Torneo Apertura title, and as Sam Kelly reports, they were undoubtedly worthy winners.” In Bed With Maradona
“No, this is not some concocted spin on in-fighting among the nerazzuri. Internazionale’s problems have been well documented of late, the only contention being whether this is due to Rafael Benitez’s tactical obduracy and fitness regime, sheer bad luck with injuries or a perfect storm of all of the above. But what about their Brazilian namesake, SC Internacional of Porto Alegre?” santapelota
“In Central and South America the legacy of Andres Escobar’s death in 1994 appears to have left lessons unlearnt. Here’s Chris Ledger.” In Bed With Maradona
“For much of Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, televisions in bars and restaurants were all showing the massive operation of security forces and their invasion of the Alemao group of favelas. By late afternoon, though, they had switched to coverage of the penultimate round of the Brazilian Championship. Viewers were transfixed by both.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Chelsea might be in ‘crisis’, but don’t let it fool you- the Premiership title race is as inferior as ever, when compared with its South American contemporary. Welcome to IBWM, Matthew Horton.” (In Bed With Maradona)
“A tragic, real-life soap opera unravelling in Brazilian football over recent months has been the story of Bruno, goalkeeper of Rio giants Flamengo, who is in prison accused of ordering the brutal murder of an ex-lover. Flamengo fans have found a way to extract some black humour from such horrific developments. Last year, Bruno captained the team to the Brazilian title. This season, they have struggled. And as they have slipped dangerously close to the relegation zone, the confidence of Bruno’s replacement, Marcelo Lomba, has seemed to suffer.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Lionel Messi can chalk off another objective achieved in his young but already extraordinary career. His glorious goal in stoppage time Wednesday gave Argentina a 1-0 victory over Brazil in Doha, Qatar, his first win against the Seleção at the senior level.” (SI – Tim Vickery)
“This game started well, faded in the second half, before being won with a brilliant Lionel Messi goal. International friendlies are, as much as anything, an opportunity to experiment – to try a new shape or new players in a pressure-free environment. That is the main concern for managers (rather than necessarily trying to win the game with a tactical shift to exploit the opposition’s weaknesses) so rather than the usual analysis of how the two sides faced each other, here we’ll take the sides individually.” (Zonal Marking)
Leo Messi scores like Leo Messi, beats Brazil
“Picking up where he left off with Barcelona against Villarreal over the weekend, Lionel Messi did what he didn’t do at the World Cup and scored a fabulous late winner for Argentina against Brazil on Wednesday. The unfriendly friendly in Qatar wasn’t exactly at a World Cup level, but Messi’s goal should at least temporarily shut up his critics who say he doesn’t score for Argentina the way he does for Barcelona. A one man show in injury time to beat Brazil, of all opponents, usually does that.” (Yahoo)
Argentina 1-0 Brazil – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Friendly
(The 90th Minute)
“Trying to make sense of all these international friendlies going on during the heart of the club season? Here are five key questions that will help provide some context.” (ESPN)
Godoy Cruz
“Buenos Aires is calling to the faraway towns this week. In Argentina and all over South America, plenty of attention will be given to the modestly entitled ‘superclassico’ – the Buenos Aires derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Both clubs grew up in the working class docklands area of the Argentine capital. River have long since fulfilled the immigrant dream and moved out to the leafy suburbs. Boca have defiantly stayed put. The strength of the rival identities helps give the game its flavour. Over the years, the game has acquired a weight of tradition that makes it important even when it isn’t – like this Tuesday.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Loyal readers (if I’m priveleged enough to have any) will be aware that SKP occasionally drifts away from the cut and thrust of the Campeonato Brasileiro, and into more anecdotal territory. Previous examples have concerned my trips to see games to the Engenhão and the Morumbi; you can have a look at those articles here and here. On this rainy day, I’ve decided to delve a bit further back into the past; to 2009, when I visited the Pacaembu, home of the mighty Corinthians…” (Snap, Kaka, and Pop!)
“Ronaldinho has been recalled to the Brazil squad for the forthcoming friendly against Argentina and there are some who might think the call has come six months too late. When it all went wrong in the second half of that World Cup semi-final against the Netherlands, and coach Dunga looked along his substitutes bench in search of a saviour, was he really more pleased to see the likes of Julio Baptista than Ronaldinho?” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“In 1922, when English politician Stanley Baldwin wanted to launch a revolt against Prime Minister David Lloyd George, he described his adversary as ‘a dynamic force’. And, he added, ‘a dynamic force is a very terrible thing’. Those of us who love football will know what he means. The game runs on passion, from fans, players and coaches. Take the passion away and the game is nothing but too much is deadly.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“It is one of the ancient battles of sport, the struggle between talent and the ravages of time. And it’s being fought out as the Brazilian Championship reaches a thrilling finale. With eight rounds to go – and at least four clubs still in contention – one of the big questions is this: Can he really do it again? Is Ronaldo capable of staging yet another extraordinary comeback?” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“The Brazilian enclave in Ukraine keeps getting bigger. When the naturalised Croatian Eduardo arrived from Arsenal in the summer, he became the seventh Brazil-born player at Shakhtar Donetsk. The policy of the coach, Mircea Lucescu, is simple: eastern Europeans at the back, Brazilians at the front. The effectiveness of the plan is hard to dispute: Shakhtar won the Uefa Cup in 2009 and stand five points clear at the top of their domestic table.” (Independent)
“Brazil will expect another commanding performance from Thiago Silva when they take on Ukraine at Derby’s Pride Park in an international friendly on Monday. The 26-year-old Milan defender was in fine form in last Thursday’s 3-0 win over Iran – especially important as his centre-back partner David Luiz had a poor game, obliging Thiago Silva to show off his excellent sense of cover.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“The Mano Menezes roadshow rolls on. Brazil’s new coach and his young side chalked up their second triumph with a 3-0 win over Iran in Abu Dhabi Thursday. But though the margin of victory was greater than August’s 2-0 win over the U.S., this was the tougher game — and all the more fascinating for it. Brazil’s central idea was the same as for the debut match of Menezes against Bob Bradley’s team — a fluid, attacking game plan using a 4-2-3-1 system. (SI – Tim Vickery)
“I’m flying to back to Rio and feeling a bit jealous of people who live in the Midlands – not a sentence you’re likely to come across every day. The reason? Next Monday, Brazil come to Derby to face Ukraine, giving fans at Pride Park the chance to have a close look at a fascinating moment in the development of the five-times world champions.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Another week, another club left without a manager. The weekend was an uneventful one in Argentina, with few goals and a surfeit of draws to balance out the excitement of the previous round. All the same, there was a change of managers in midweek, as Wednesday brought the completion of the fourth round of matches (yes, the weekend just gone was round eight, you’ve not missed anything) when Estudiantes and Gimnasia La Plata met in the clásico (derby) of the city that’s the capital of Buenos Aires Province.” (In Bed with Maradona)
“Here’s how it would work: The six lowest-ranked teams in the region would have a home-and-home playoff to trim the field to 32. Then eight groups of four teams would play a six-game quarterfinal stage, with the top two in each group advancing. Then four groups of four would play a six-game semifinal stage, with the top two again advancing. Then two groups of four would play a six-game final stage. The two teams that win those groups would earn bids to World Cup ’14. If CONCACAF successfully lobbies FIFA for four spots in Brazil (instead of the previous 3.5), then the two second-place teams would also receive World Cup bids.” (SI)
Oguchi Onyewu
“They’re killing the most important rivalry in American soccer. That’s my unavoidable conclusion after speaking to Chuck Blazer, the general secretary of CONCACAF, who confirmed that he expects FIFA to approve a new regional qualifying format for World Cup 2014. Under the new format, which has already been approved by CONCACAF, the U.S. and archrival Mexico — the two soccer giants in this part of the world — would almost certainly not meet during any of the qualifying games for Brazil 2014. Not even once.” (SI)
“Millions of people every year move to live in a new country and struggle to make sense of their new surroundings as they deal with a different climate, new language and unfamiliar culture. The fascinating thing about footballers is that they go through this process in public. Everything they do is geared towards their performance on the pitch, where their work (i.e. the success of their adaptation) is viewed and judged by thousands in the stadium and millions watching on television.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Watching Garforth Town crash out of this season’s Northern Counties League Cup on the kind of wet and windy Tuesday evening in northern England that foreigners are habitually assumed ‘not to fancy much’, it was difficult to imagine anywhere further from Brazil.” (WSC)
“You can talk about barely scratching the surface with this one, but we hope we managed to squeeze enough in to this to justify its Latin American Special tagline. It seems there will be many more to come!” (Cafecalcio)
Neymar
“A month ago, 18-year-old Brazilian sensation Neymar was hailed as a patriotic hero for resisting the temptation of Chelsea and staying at home with Santos. The truth was a little less glorious. In return for his loyalty, Neymar was awarded a huge pay rise. Also, the player was convinced by many in the game that it was advisable to show some patience — his chances of succeeding in Europe would be increased by delaying the move for a couple of years.” (SI – Tim Vickery)
“According to the narrator of this cool short, DNA: The Brazil Sessions, those four things define Brazilians as much as Brazilians define those four passions. The film is about the passion of futebol in Brazil, particularly the game as it’s played in the street.” (Kicking and Screening)
“Chelsea’s start to the season shows it is not easy for a competition to retain both quality and competitive balance. The Premier League has a collective TV deal, with a more equitable distribution of television money than some other major leagues. Even so, those clubs with a wealthy benefactor or a huge fan base can put themselves streets ahead of weaker rivals, while only a handful of clubs go into the season with any realistic chance of winning. A dose of predictability is the price paid for the quality on show.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“As the Northern hemisphere bids a final farewell to the dying embers of summer, Argentina welcomes the onset of Spring and a finely balanced league table. Sam Kelly reports from Buenos Aires. Spring is in the air in Buenos Aires; it might not officially begin for another few days, but it’s been warming up nicely in the last few weeks. For those of us who’ve grown up in chillier climes it is, anyway – most Argentines seem to dress for the time of year rather than the actual conditions, and thus the fact it’s still officially winter means people are still walking the streets wrapped up in thick coats and scarves even though temperatures in the last few days have risen above 20 degrees celcius.” (In Bed with Maradona)
“Before Arsenal’s massacre of Braga, the last time I was at a Champions League game was when the tournament was still called the European Cup. In 1992 – a couple of years before moving off to Brazil – I was lucky enough to be at the old Wembley for the final between Barcelona and Sampdoria. It is one of my happiest football memories. The sun shone, London turned into the Mediterranean for the occasion and two excellent sides served up an enthralling game, decided in Barcelona’s favour with a goal in the last minute of extra time.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Symbol of exotic Brazil, Carmen Miranda was in fact born in Portugal. When she was young, her family decided to try their luck down South American way. These days, the flow is in the opposite direction. Bananas, said Carmen, were her business. The business of Braga, meanwhile, is importing Brazilians. The provincial club, who visit Arsenal on Wednesday, are attempting to disturb the peace of Portugal’s traditional big three – Benfica, Porto and Sporting – with a squad that includes 17 representatives of the country’s former colony.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Brazil’s celebrated 1994 World Cup double act of Bebeto and Romário are hoping to convert success on the pitch into political capital this October when the nation votes at federal, state and city level. Both players will stand for the same party – the Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB) – but they will be ploughing separate furrows. Indeed their last contact saw Romário fire Bebeto as coach of Rio side America earlier this year. Cynics suggest that Romário’s interest in politics suddenly surged in the wake of having to sell off his penthouse apartment in Rio’s nouveau riche Barra de Tijuca to pay off debts.” (WSC)
Rivaldo
“So, why do I love Rivaldo? A player who I’ve hardly had the opportunity to see live, whose peak coincided with my milk teeth falling out, and whose reputation was tarnished by play-acting? Rivaldo’s own audacious brand of football is what endeared him to me. His fondness for the outrageous; stepovers, heel flicks, volleys, pannas, bicycle kicks, the list goes on – he tried, and executed, them all to perfection.” (The Equaliser)
“Along with the other candidates to host the World Cup in 2018, England had to select its host cities and stadiums well in advance. And so earlier this month, the Fifa inspection committee could ride the tube, visit the venues, talk to officials and end up with a firm idea of what they will be getting if England gets the nod. It is unfortunate that the 2014 hosts did not have to go through a similar process.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Neymar saying no to Chelsea’s millions and staying with Santos is being seen as a huge victory for Brazilian football. This might be going just a little too far but more than anything else, it is a victory for common sense. The 18-year-old is a magnificent prospect. He is sleek and skilful, able to beat the defender on either side, capable of combining well, and full of tricks he can put to productive use in and around the penalty area. He is a goalscorer and goal maker but he is still raw.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
Andrés D’Alessandro
“In the end, it was a bit too much to hope for. Guadalajara – a.k.a. Chivas – had a first-leg deficit to overturn and were playing away from home in Wednesday night’s second leg of the Copa Libertadores final. The first leg defeat in their brand new Omnilife Stadium was only by two goals to one, and with away goals not counting in the final there was always going to be hope, but in the end Internacional outclassed their opponents just as much as they had in the first leg a week before.” (ESPN)
Classy Internationalists 3-2 Fiery Nationalists – Internacional win Copa Libertadores 2010
“There was anger, acrimony, a brawl, some lovely football, the announcement of a potentially truly top class player and Pele. There was also heartbreak, tears, good goals and goodbyes. All in all, pretty much what you can come to expect from South American football’s biggest club game, the Copa Libertadores final.” (Just Football)
2010 Copa Libertadores Winner is Internacional, So Mexico’s Wait Continues
“Brazil’s Internacional are your Copa Libertadores 2010 winners after beating Mexico’s Guadalajara 3-2 in Brazil last night, and 5-3 on aggregate over two legs. Seems 2010 is the year for clubs named Inter to win continental titles.” (The Offside)
“The prospect of the first Mexican winners of the Copa Libertadores flickered briefly on Wednesday night. In last week’s first leg of the final, Chivas Guadalajara had been outplayed and beaten 2-1 at home by Internacional of Brazil. Few people gave them much of a chance in the return game. In front of their own fans in Porto Alegre, Internacional had a 100 percent home record.” (SI – Tim Vickery)
“Robinho is in footballing limbo. He sat out Manchester City’s opening game of the Premier League campaign and although he might be in action in midweek in the Europa League, or possibly playing his football somewhere else before the end of the month, he needs to sort things out fast because this is a huge season for him. I well recall his debut in the Brazilian Championship for an astonishingly young Santos side that went on to lift the title. That was eight years ago. Eight years from now, Robinho will be 34 going on 35, so his time at the top has probably already passed the halfway mark and yet a huge question mark still hangs over him.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“One suspects that getting the Brazilian public onside with good attacking football was Mano Menezes’ first priority as Brazil manager, with a result in his opening game second on the list. With a 2-0 win over the US, he managed to achieve both. Dunga’s reign as manager will not be remembered fondly by the majority of the Brazilian public – even before the World Cup exit he was disliked for the perceived negativity in his side’s football, and for constantly selecting his ‘favourites’ ahead of established stars like Ronaldinho, and younger, emerging talents such as Neymar and Ganso.” (Zonal Marking)
“Let’s play in the world of a constructed binary. The land of television is seduction. Images and sound combine to tempt you, seduce you, and entertain you. Helpless, you sit there, motionless. The flashing light leaves you still, like a deer in front of a semi on a back alley road in the dead of night. Pause. Welcome to reality. The sunlight burns your eyes and warms your skin. A gentle breeze caresses your neck. The feint odor of garlic abounds, flaring your nostrils. You are in your body. This is reality.” (futfanatico)
Pelé
“I have a piece in Slate today about the Pelé-Maradona feud and how it’s the index of all meaning in soccer. The short version is that for all the old-mannish ego-nostalgia and general crappiness of its discourse, their rivalry is irresistible because the two players represent radically opposed imaginative possibilities…” (Run of Play)
Pelé and Maradona
“In the summer of 2000, FIFA, which does not understand computers, decided to celebrate the arrival of the millennium by hosting an online poll. Its object: to determine the best soccer player of the past 100 years, with the victor to be fêted at a gaudy banquet in Rome. The organizers of the vote assumed it would be won by Pelé, soccer’s silky ambassador, who’d been cheerfully ensconced in his Greatest of All Time sinecure for 40 years.” (Slate)
“So much for the post-World Cup celebration. OK, so the operative word following Brazil’s 2-0 win over the U.S. on Tuesday was ‘friendly.’ There was nothing at stake. Over half of the U.S. starting lineup was comprised of overseas players who looked like they hadn’t recovered from their preseason fitness regimens. And on a team that lacks creative guile in the best of times, the absence of a player like Clint Dempsey was always going to be keenly felt.” (ESPN)
Michael Bradley key to U.S.’s future
“He bulled his way into vacant spaces, barreled into opponents taking too much time on the ball and strode wherever his long legs would take him. ‘That No. 4 must be the heart and soul of this team,’ a fan observed. It became ever clearer Tuesday night against Brazil that No. 4, Michael Bradley, the U.S. national team’s breakout player of this summer’s World Cup, will be the core around which the rest of the side orbits for the foreseeable future.” (ESPN)
United States (USA) 0-2 Brazil – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Friendly – 10 August 2010
“The United States hosted Brazil in an international friendly match on Tuesday, August 10, 2010. It would be the first match for both sides since the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” (The 90th Minute)
“Does this week’s spat of international friendlies represent an incredibly awkwardly timed set of fixtures being shoehorned into a tiny window and conflicting with many league schedules while needlessly interrupting the lead up to the Western European club season? Yes. Should we shut up about it and enjoy the matches themselves while eating, drinking, and acting like we know everything about certain players we’ve never even seen play because they were fleeting transfer targets of a club team we like at some point in the past month? Even more so, Yes!” (The Yanks Are Coming)
“Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara have endured a journey over time and space to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores. First, because they are outsiders in South America’s equivalent of the Champions League. Mexico is in North America. The distance between Mexico City and Buenos Aires, for example, is further than that between London and Mumbai. Guadalajara and Porto Alegre, home city of final opponents Internacional of Brazil, are even further apart.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“When the fixtures for the forthcoming season were made public, many fans would have immediately checked to see when their team were due to meet their big local rival. Derbies are part of the essence of football, perhaps even more so in South America than in Europe. The logic is clear. Distances are vast in South America, forcing the game to develop locally. Brazil has only had a genuinely national championship since 1971, while the Peruvian league was restricted to Lima until 1967.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Less than a month after the disappointment that accompanies any World Cup not won, Brazil has already put South Africa behind it with the hiring of coach Mano Menezes and the naming of a renewed squad for next month’s meeting with the U.S. Half of Menezes’ group of 24 play their club soccer in Brazil, but this will be a difficult line to maintain; within weeks Robinho is due to return to Manchester City, midfielder Sandro will join Tottenham and striker Andre will move to Dynamo Kiev.” (SI)
“Since the start of the tournament, delegations from the South American country’s federal and local governments, plus several other different institutions, have been in South Africa trying to learn lessons about staging the world’s biggest sporting event. That’s because, in four years, it will be Brazil’s turn to play host.” (BBC)
Mano Menezes
“When Brazil shine, the players get the credit for their flair and brilliance. When they fall short of expectations, the coach gets the blame. Being in charge of Brazilian team is like sitting in a coconut shy – plenty of things are thrown in your direction. And the bombardment could be especially fierce in the case of new boss Mano Menezes, who is taking over with everyone knowing that he was not the first choice for the job.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
Dunga
“A Brazilian tech company doctored these transformations for our amusement. Something which may be very simple but to the technologically unevolved (present!) still stands in the end as wonderfully cool. At least in the case of Dunga. Diego’s (below), however, is artistic metaphor. Someone whose transformations have run the full spectrum of one human’s physical appearance capabilities; almost as though he suffered through a drug problem somewhere in the middle. A man aptly summed in roughly 30 seconds, with not a single word to be found.” (World Cup Blog)
“It’s Friday night, and in a ‘favela’ (shanty town) in this Brazilian city, a group of men relax with a beer after a hard week, while a song can be heard above the rowdy chatter. The lyrics, set to a samba rhythm, are about typical topics like football and women, but also about gender violence. They mingle with the smoke from an ‘asado,’ where meat is roasting over a makeshift grill on the pavement. This is Santa Marta, a favela in the south of Rio de Janeiro.” (IPS)
“It is hard to envisage how formations will evolve in response to the current formational hegemony 4-2-3-1. It is an adaptable format which matches up well against other approaches. Two defensive midfielders provide a shield for the back four, which allows the full-backs to advance. The attacking midfielder has the freedom in behind the centre-forward to influence forward play without being mired in the opposition’s central defence – and they also prevent the team from being outnumbered in midfield.” (World Cup College)
“Spain or Barcelona? No contest. Week in, week out, Barcelona combine the midfield interplay of Xavi and Iniesta with the cutting edge of Lionel Messi, Daniel Alves and co. The comparison serves to confirm the impression that these days club football is of a much higher standard than international – as long as we restrict the debate to the major European leagues. The big clubs in Spain, England, Italy and Germany are in front of the national teams because of the time their players spend together and because they count on the best talent from all over the planet. When the World Cup stops and domestic football returns, the level of play goes up.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Two billion souls: One must begin with that. That’s how many people, or nearly so, sat or stood in view of television screens to watch twenty-two men kick a white ball around a green field on a warm July night in Berlin four years ago. The twenty-two men comprised the men’s national soccer teams of Italy and France. The occasion was the final game of the 2006 World Cup. The cagey match, as the world now knows, turned on an extraordinary event near its end when France’s captain and star, Zinedine Zidane, strode toward the Italian defender Marco Materazzi and, for reasons unknown, drove his bald pate into the taller man’s chest. The motion mimicked one he’d used a few minutes earlier to head a flighted ball inches over the Italians’ goal, coming ago nizingly close to winning the day for France. Now Zidane was expelled, his team was rattled, and a player in blue whose name few outside Umbria and Trieste recall darted inside a player in white and curled the ball inside the French goal with his left foot, cueing images, on countless flickering screens around the planet, of his countrymen celebrating Italy’s triumph in the floodlit waters of the Trevi fountain in Rome.” (Laphams Quarterly)
Scissors Kick 