I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that tonight is the 10th anniversary of the original Cold War
match between the USA and Mexico. It was the first matchday of the 2001 Hexagonal and the USA had
experienced a bruising semifinal round that saw them play in the steaming Guatemalan jungle, a
hellish Saprissa environment, and a bumpy pitch in Barbados (just 25 minutes away from being
eliminated!
After enduring two years of resolute indifference from the terraces, Manchester United striker
Dimitar Berbatov (or Flopiflop Flopbaflop, as he was known up until about five
weeks ago) has finally started to win people round netting seven goals in six games, and generally
beginning to play like a £30 million signing should.
"... the last century has been the era of both American global dominance and soccer's rise as
overwhelmingly the most popular sport in the world. And surprisingly, those things haven't really
overlapped.
Eighty days before the World Cup finals and not more than a year after he took the job in the
first place, Ian Watmore has quit as the Chief Executive of the Football Association. When Watmore
spoke at the Supporters Direct annual conference in Birmingham last October, he didn't inspire a
great deal of confidence.
Football is more than just a game: as the "real" world unfolds, football becomes caught up in it,
and particular matches have particular political symbolism. One such match was when West Germany
played East Germany in the 1974 World Cup.Since the end of WWII the divided Germany had become the
main arena for the ongoing Cold War between East and West.
LEIPZIG, Germany -Â German soccer officials and the sport's European chief Michel Platini on
Sunday commemorated the country's 20th anniversary as a reunified soccer team following the end of
the Cold War. "I can still remember our international matches against them, most of which we lost,"
said former France captain and UEFA boss Platini.
20 years ago the Berlin Wall fell. Depending on who you ask it was either because of David
Hasselhof, an accident or a peaceful revolution of the East German people.
One football fan was particularly looking forward to this event, after cheering on the "wrong"
football teams for over two decades.
This from Freddie Ljungberg (via Joshua Mayers of The Seattle Times): Mayers writes about the
ginormous expectations on the SigiSounders this year. Ljungberg knows a little something about
pressure from his days at Arsenal, and he knows how best to deal with it. He says the key is
creating a game-day routine and sticking with in, whether in a friendly or a massive playoff
match.
Philadelphia Union Head Coach Peter Nowak is known as a task manager, and he speaks to Bob Ford of
the Philadelphia Inquirer about what it takes to be successful playing for him.
"We know we're an expansion team and it's not going to be an easy season for us," Nowak said.
"But in this league, the difference between the No.
North Korea phiz the United States in an Olympic women's soccer gibe on Tuesday that will cavity
the hermit Soviets against the world-wide power it has abominated since they struggled a Cold War
struggle six decenniums ago.
Russia and Poland played out a 1-1 draw in perhaps the most feared match of Euro 2012 from a
security standpoint. The two countries have a long history of military invasions and occupations
and supporters from both sides seemed intent on continuing those hostile relations. Prior to the
match, approximately 100 fans from both sides were involved in various fights around Warsaw,
resulting in 56 arrests and 10 injuries.
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Every week during the season, the languagecaster team will explain a football headline that has
appeared in the English-speaking press and this week we feature the Russia-Ireland European
Championship game.
FC Saturn is so poor they've been forced to relinquish their top-flight status for the upcoming
2011-12 Russian Premier League season. Terrible for them, but one which sent headline writers the
world over into a heat.
Options were plentiful, including the space race (FC Saturn Lose Race For Space In RPL,
etc), the Cold War umbrella (FC Saturn Frozen Out Of Top Flight, etc) and something about
'succumbing to the moons'.
Boca and River are going through a really bad phase now... y no hay vuelta atrás. It's
almost like Barca and Real or Milan and Inter facing relegation
together. Imagine that, spending a lifetime fighting off your enemy only to go down with him! Ah,
this is almost like the Cold War.
