French coach Raymond Domenech may have decided to put the team’s best interests ahead of his many, many personal grudges for once, but that still doesn’t mean sanity has returned to France’s footballing soap opera. Though virtually all press reports in France Thursday say Domenech is set to make what has long been an obvious right …
Football
Cheering For North Korea: Weird, But Fun
Okay, let’s get one thing clear: no one likes horrible totalitarian dictatorial regimes that brutalize their populations, starve their people through incompetent and willfully destructive leadership, and spent most of their time threatening war on the outside world while trying to develop nuclear arms to use should those conflicts …
Taking On Vuvuzela Inc.
One thing seems certain as the great global debate continues to rage over whether the South African vuvuzela should be banned from World Cup stadiums or not: someone is going to find a way to make a truckload of money out of the rumpus. And a couple of companies are already seeking to do just that by moving fast on what’s become the …
Away from the Hermit Kingdom, North Korea Faces the World
Every World Cup needs its mystery team, usually a side of minnows few know very much about — in 2006, the “Soca Warriors” of Trinidad & Tobago played that role with cuddly, heart-warming gusto. It’s a bit harder to attach that sort of sentiment to North Korea, whose dictatorial regime is one of the most alienated and vilified in the …
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 …
Vuvuzela: Call It This Cup’s Atmospherics
Let The Cussing Begin!
We all saw reports Wednesday that the trio of Brazilian referees officiating the England-USA match Saturday are memorizing a list of 20 swear words in order to sanction any foul mouthing like the kind Wayne Rooney dished out during his team’s final practice match Monday. Today, FIFA stepped up to point out it wasn’t responsible for the …
France’s World Cup: “Can We Go Home Now?”
Don’t tell the French this World Cup isn’t all over for them before it even starts. Suggesting otherwise is largely brushed off on Planet France–the largest consuming nation of tranquilizers and anti-depressants anywhere. Right now, optimism is mostly seen as merely forestalling the soccer agony that fate has in store for l’equipe de …
Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth!
Strap yourself in, make sure your diary is clear until July 11 and get set for a fantastic fiesta of football. The 19th World Cup, being held in Africa for the first time, is almost upon us.
Spoiler Alert! JP Morgan Reveals World Cup Winner
Why don’t you save yourself the heartache of following your favorite team at the World Cup this summer: JP Morgan have given the game away by working out the winner.
In fact, there’s no need to read any further, as you can check out my brief take when this little news nugget originally did the rounds or see my colleague (and fellow …
Top 10 World Cup Games
As the anticipation builds to South Africa 2010, TIME turns back the clock to reflect on some of the tournament’s classic showdowns
