He was the thinking man’s player on the field and he certainly had the thoughtful name off it. Brazil’s 1982 World Cup captain Socrates (or Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, MD, Ph.D to give the man his full due) was a wonderful midfield dynamo, who played for his country 60 times, scoring an impressive 22 goals …
Cue The Benny Hill Theme
An own goal that even cracked the guilty Danish defender up, and a pounced-on shot off the post that by all rights should have been cleared to the other end. That was the extent of offensive brilliance in the Netherlands’ 2-0 win over Denmark–a match in which a 0-0 (read “nothing nothing”) would have been a truer reflection of the …
Gazza’s Grief: A Sobering Reminder
Twenty years on from his breakout efforts at Italia ’90, Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne continues his tragic, downward spiral as he was admitted to hospital after a car accident in his home town of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Vuvuzela: Call It This Cup’s Atmospherics
Succeroos
Sorry, but no: despite an over-zealous red-card of Cahill (versus two well-deserved yellows for Teutonic dives), Australia was more conspicuous in stinking the Durban joint out tonight than Germany was in winning. Yes, four Gs are impressive. But Germany scored that many in their maiden match in 2006 against Costa Rica–who, frankly, …
Efficient
Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose only managed three goals apiece during the entire Bundesliga campaign last season. Within 30 minutes of Germany’s opening fixture against Australia, they’ve both scored. Just what is it about the World Cup and the Germans coming good?
Argentina Almost Thwarted by the Hands of God
On a weekend that will be remembered for goalkeeping howlers, it’d be remiss to not applaud the efforts of Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who was named man of the match on Saturday despite his side losing 1-0 to Argentina. Enyeama pulled off a string of incredible stops against Argentina’s stars that kept Nigeria in the game long …
Forget “les Bleus”; Allez les Verts!
Just how out of touch are the French pols who–led by President Nicolas Sarkozy and his government–continue to stigmatize immigrants and “foreign” forces undermining French national identity? Just six months after French politicians angrily denounced the supposed treason of French ethnic Arab youths celebrating the Fennecs securing …
England’s Coach Must Share the Blame With its Goalkeeper
Robert Green’s U-8 howler will go down in history as the reason England failed to beat the USA in their opening World Cup encounter on Saturday, but for me the problems lay in coach Fabio Capello’s selections, and his substitutions.
Miss of the Day
Probably best to leave post-match analysis of last night’s England vs U.S. game to the others (I don’t want to hog all the England chat just because I’m English) but simply had to share this with you all.
Keeping ScoreWorld Cup
At the Barstool, Measuring Argentina’s Angst
No country entered this World Cup more stressed out than two-time champ Argentina, home to arguably the best player on the planet, Lionel Messi. The team failed to impress during the qualifying season, and many Argentinians have questioned the qualifications of their coach, Diego Maradona, a national hero, and headache. Maradona, whose …
England Hands the U.S. a Tie
The scoreboard at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg was inoperative tonight. So was England’s goalkeeping.
World Cup: US vs England – The Martians Have Landed
One of the lasting images of the first World Cup in Africa has to be the sight of 500 England fans turning a tin-roof township shack into a pub outside the stadium in Phokeng where their team plays the US in exactly an hour.
