Nepotism: The downside to the feel good story of Zlatko and Nico Kranjcar
Well, no sooner than I had written about the Kranjcar legacy in Croatian soccer, came this article about how...
Category: Soccer Teams – National
Zlatko and Nico Kranjcar: The two generations represent Croatia in the WC
Croatian hopes will be riding high on Hajduk Split midfielder Nico Krancjar when he takes to the field in...
Soccer and Globalization
Years ago, when I was part of a “management advisory seminar” for a huge US engineering company, I gave...
The Goal Against Poland
Not funny if you’re the Polish goalkeeper!
A rebuttal to Vas is Los? I’ll tell you Vas is Los
I think Tony Karon is being a bit tough on the German team. Admittedly the world has incorporated all...
Soccer on Your PC – Italy-Switzerland, France-Denmark
This could be a good way to pass time at work…
Japan 2, Germay 2 – Was ist los?
This is really depressing, is all I can say. We have a lot of work to do. My hat’s...
Video: Brasil’s Carnaval of Goals ( 8-0 against FC Lucern)
I was beginning to feel like we were bullies! Goal 1: Kaká Goal 2: Adriano Goal 3: Ronaldo (he...
Video: England, Hungary and We Like Vindaloo
Goals by Gerrard,Terry, and Crouch. We all like vindaloo! PS – Note the lame dance by Crouch after he...
Where is the buzz out here on the biggest sporting event of the world?
I must be missing something. At least that’s the way I console myself when I look around and see...
At least we won: England 3, Hungary 1
I’m confused, but at least I’m not the only one. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we won. I’m...
Soccer on Your PC – Brazil, England Today
Who said you can’t bring your soccer to work? Now you can watch them all at your PC: Brazil...
Will the US soccer team be favorably received in Germany?
In WC 2002, the US team played a contentious match with co-hosts South Korea. The 65,000 S.Korean fans were...
The Rooney drama continues…who will take his place?
Now they’re moving the scan date up to June 7. Which means Rooney can still be replaced in time....
Video: Theo Walcott trains with England
Not very impressive – but then no one is. This kind of practice seems to be a waste of...
Video: The Brazilian Team in Training
I’ve been told by one of our readers that I need to spell Brasil with a “z”! Either way,...
Video: Brazil’s Duty to Beauty
Times correspondent Owen Slot flies down to Brazil to chat with Dr. Sócrates– the Dean of Jogo Bonito. The...
Lev Yashin, the Black Panther: USSR’s soccer talisman
We have talismans for every country for each World Cup in soccer and then you have Pele, the most...
Brazil provides impact players in other WC squads too
Francileudo Silva dos Santos, Tunisian striker Tunisia owes much if its success in reaching the World Cup to Brazilian...
The Eurocentric effect on soccer: Juju men are being marginalized
BF Skinner, the father of behavior pyschology studied the association between ritualistic behavior and a desired outcome that leads...
Strange rituals: Soccer fans have theirs
If soccer players have their strange rituals (see Sergio Goycochea), then the fans that watch the game are not...
Cologne: The place to party at the World Cup
RhineEnergie Stadium- Cologne’s World Cup venue The NYT travel section has an article of where to base yourself in...
Double Dutch: Johan Neeskens tutors the Socceroos
Johan Neeskens, The Socceroos assistant coach Gus Hiddink is the coach of the Socceroos and his assistant coach is...
Strange rituals: Sergio Goycochea, Argentina’s 1990 WC hero
All players in every game go through every type of ritualistic behavior that they think will make Lady Luck...
Soccer round up: Socceroos over Greece
The Socceroos got a win over Euro champions Greece 1-0 in their friendly. But it was a win that...
Video: The Life and Times of Kevin Keegan
In some ways, the brutal honesty of Kevin Keegan was responsible for both success and failure. He did things...
Beenhakker thinks England is all hype: The trash talking begins
Soca Warrior coach Leo Beenhakker has had it with England will do this and that. As T&T’s friendly against...
Video: Croatia’s Chances
Will they get to the finals? I believe they could upset Brazil in their group: “Brazil are favourites, not...
Prediction: A European team will win it all!
I realize I’m not stepping out on a limb or anything, but there are 4 teams which could win...
Video: Aaron Lennon in practice
Gentlemen, we have a winner:
Video Ad – Ronaldinho, Robinho & Roberto Carlos
OK, it is just an ad, but you get a good feeling from it anyway! I’m ready for the...
On your PC: Venezuela versus the USofA
Not holding my breath. Except that I hope the US don’t lose any more players to injury. See Bruce...
Video: Kerlon Moura Souza’s “Seal Dribble”
OK Christian, I get your message! Here is something to inspire everyone. Kerlon is not going to be at...
Video Ad: U2’s ESPN Plug
One of my favorite ads to date: Not everything about the world cup is as uplifting. For example, cruzeiro...
Video: Carlos Tevez
Along with Messi, I’m looking for Carlitos to take Argentina back to glory this summer: When he was at...
Video: Welcome to Hotel Brasileño
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave… I just hope they feed Ronaldo...
Video: Yawn – England 1, Belarus 2
While I’m upset about Fergie keeping Rooney off the England roster (and yes, in all fairness, he should be...
Two Lions, Not Three – Forget Rooney!
I was supposed to be on blog duty yesterday but I must say I felt so upset that I...
Nature vs Nurture: What makes Brazil so good
Pele celebrating the 1970 Brazil victory Reading through Nobel Laureate Gerald Edelman’s work, of selectional theory of brain development,...
The Dutch: Marco Van Basten’s team on target
Van Basten and his boys are ready Remember Jaap Staam. One of the best defenders in the world. Now...
Soca Warrior Carlos Edwards fancies an upset over England
Soca Warrior midfielder, Carlos Edwards of Luton FC, writes his syndicated column for the Guardian and gives an insight...
US Nightmare: Claudio Reyna Pulls Hamstring
17 minutes into the friendly against Morocco, US captain Claudio Reyna pulls his hamstring. Poof! There go US World...
Does France Have a Chance?
Can Zizou do it again? They’ve been struggling, but a win here and a win there, and it could...
EPL Leads the Way
From the Deloitte press release: Deloitte analysis of the World Cup squads, announced today, has shown that English clubs...
No Excuses, England!
Gary Neville tells us that this is it. “No excuses for anybody. Injuries, whatever happens to us, no excuses.”...
Phorpa:The Tibetan version of the World Cup
It is not just Catholic priests who look to the World Cup to find their raison d’etre. But Tibetan...
Alessandro Del Piero: Peter watches but does not admit him into heaven
……. At least not this time. Impressive dribbling though. But some people are hard to please, as noted below...
The Official Church of England World Cup Prayer
Speaking of religion, this being Sunday and all, here’s the official prayer from the good old C of E:...
The surprise team of the World Cup: Ukraine
Dimitar Vesselinov says Ukraine. I have a feeling he is biased. But lets look closely at their group. Ukraine,...
Video: Gordon Banks – “The Banks of England”
The greatest save of all time? The greatest goalkeeper on the planet, said Pele. Here’s how Banks remembers the...
The fastest goal in WC history
Hakan Sukur against S.Korea WC 2002. 10 seconds. The celebration took longer.
Hasan Sas and Hakan Sukur: Turkish sharpshooters WC 2002
Sas and Sukur! This video is also 4 minutes long and the first 30 seconds is nationalistic blurb but...
Davor Suker: Golden boot winner 1998 World Cup
The video is over 4 minutes long, but if you are a Suker fan or want to become one...
Stoichkov free kick against Germany, WC 1994
The free kick that stamped Stoichkov’s genius!