SoccerBlogs

By Eric Beard

When only one adjective can be used to describe something, the word "smart" naturally catches us off-guard and makes us a little bit skeptical. Maybe that's because when it comes to proving itself on an intellectual level, the human race often lets us down.

Interview with artist Craig Coulthard, the mind behind Forest Pitch, an event that will be part of the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad. Conducted by Eric Beard.

Succinct Briefing About Forest Pitch:Â A full size football pitch hidden deep within a commercial forest in the Scottish Borders.

Compiled by Eric Beard

Let's go with a classic scenario. What if you spent the last 12 months fighting for your life on an island after a shipwreck? How would you acclimate back into society? Well, you would probably want to catch up on what you missed. If you're a fan of football and love reading about the game, then you would want to read the best pieces from 2011.

By Eric Beard

"Pelé doesn't know sh*t."

That was Sid Lowe's response to James Richardson's teasing statement on The Guardian's Football Weekly Podcast. Richardson, of course, was referencing Pelé's opinion that Neymar is better than Lionel Messi.

Oliver Sparrow and Eric Beard had the pleasure of spending an hour with esteemed author and journalist Jonathan Wilson on the AFR Podcast. Jonathan writes for The Guardian, The Independent, Sports Illustrated, World Soccer, and FourFourTwo. He is also the editor of a quarterly publication called The Blizzard, which is filled with content from some of the biggest names in football journalism.

Posted by Eric Beard

Billions of dollars surround the beautiful game and, like in any business, clubs strive to gain an advantage over their competitors. Some gain advantages through hard work and creativity. Others do so through unethical and even inhumane practices.

He was a legend for the New York Cosmos. He was a legend for Lazio. But beyond his brilliance as a player, few could match his personality and aura on and off the pitch.

• Chinaglia was the NASL's all-time leading scorer (193 goals, 213 games).
• Chinaglia won four NASL titles with the Cosmos, joining the team in 1976 and retiring in 1983.

By Eric Beard

Today, along with his wife Lindsay, Bob Bradley joined the thousands of mourners in Cairo's Sphinx Square to express his sympathy to the victims and families affected by the clash between rival fans of Al-Ahly and Al-Masry in the Egyptian city of Port Said.

No, the whole AFR Team didn't come together to take over the Big Apple. Now that would be writing a few thousand words about. But my brother and I, alongside a couple of friends, did enjoy a few festivities and quite a bit of footy.

Founded in 2006 by Tom Dunmore, Pitch Invasion remains the cream of the crop of independent football writing on the internet. It has been packed to the brim with quality for five years, which is precisely why a "Very Best of Pitch Invasion" book was compiled by Mr. Dunmore. As an Englishman from Brighton who moved to Chicago to get his PhD at the University of Chicago, Tom has since taken to MLS and even became the chairman of Section 8, the supporters group of the Chicago Fire.

By Eric Beard

Argentine fútbol has been suffering. The country's national team failed to live up to the hype in Copa America this past summer, while Brazil's emergence as an economic power has spurred the Brasileiro to new financial and competitive heights.

By Eric Beard

The idea of community, however tangible or intangible, real or imagined, flourishes at the very core of football. Without fans, football doesn't exist. Similarly, without readers, AFR would have died a long, long time ago. Conversation is the greatest source of sustenence in the beautiful game.

By Eric Beard

A newspaper, a café con leche or an espresso, a café, and a cigarette. Maybe a croissant as well. It's the stereotypical Spanish breakfast. Substitute a few tapas for the croissant and you more or less have lunch covered as well. But on the 1st of January, 2011, a newly enforced law in Spain interrupted the daily routine of millions.

By Eric Beard

Doesn't vehement hatred get kind of boring after a while? I mean, sure, if you want to let a little schadenfreude and anger out a couple of times a year, that's fine. Everyone's entitled to their fair share of irrational fandom. Maybe I'm not as creative as the Spanish press and [insert name of your Superclub]'s fans, but hatred gets kind of circular after a while.

China, Why Costa Rica? -Â Costa Rica have recently unveiled the state-of-the-art Estadio Nacional. But why was it funded exclusively by the Chinese government?

On Saturday, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid kick off at the Camp Nou and the Mestalla, respectively.

By Eric Beard

Still only 19 years old, Neymar, alongside his agent and his club, persistently fought transfer talk throughout the summer transfer window, but ultimately he stayed in Brazil. Could he be playing every Sunday in front of hundreds of millions of viewers right now?

By Eric Beard

Despite everything Soccernomics preaches, Turkey's path to becoming a footballing superpower has hit yet another bump in the road. The nation failed to qualify for EURO 2012, and via the transitive property this means Guus Hiddink's time is up as manager.

By Eric Beard

"He's been waiting for this moment his entire life. He's just minutes away from hoisting up the trophy of his dreams. Holland has stayed up all night to watch their beloved Dutch maestro make history. They said it was impossible. Hell, I said it was impossible.

On the accusations of racism against John Terry and another opinion

Let's begin with a big ‘if'. If John Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand, then sure, open the floodgates. I don't know John Terry and given his track record I find it absolutely conceivable that he has quite a few racial slurs in his vocabulary.

By Eric Beard

In the ever-elusive environment that is African football, Egypt are the winners. They may not be the best, but they're winners. They may not have the talent to match the Ivory Coast or Ghana, but the 7-time winners of the African Cup of Nations won't back down against anybody.

Maxi Rodriguez: I never quite expected the Di Canio story to come around again... I should say, not because I thought we had dealt with his "issues" during any of his previous moves, but because I never expected a Premier League club to hire him.

The Cottage will be lonely...

This is Eric Beard's second piece for The Shin Guardian. Eric is Wikipedia-like on global soccer. He founded and created the excellent A Football Report and he also is a recent great pick-up for The NY Times.

We're all in a long distance relationship.

A Football Report creator's Eric Beard on Twitter today:

Coming to terms with how McBride & Deuce-induced my Fulham support has been over the years. May have to write to@shinguardian about this...

Which just gives us license to trot this sucker out below once again:

I woke up with chills. It wasn't a nightmare.

Yesterday, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane during a match between Tottenham and Bolton. It was real. It could have happened to anyone. Just like that. And yet, the day after witnessing the horror of a model professional and a good man be rushed to the Heart Attack Centre at the London Chest Hospital, we wait.

By Eric Beard. Trying something new. Responses and reactions welcome.

Tom (thinking): Oh my... Where on earth am I? London, still? God I hope so. WHAT. A. NIGHT. After the clock struck midnight though, bam! I can't remember a thing! Remember the match perfectly though.

By Eric Beard

Say what you will about Playoffs, but the road to the 2011 MLS Cup has created insurmountable drama. From Rafa Marquez starting a fight after LA won in New York to the Seattle Sounders nearly coming back from a 3-nil deficit, the Playoffs have ensured a level of entertainment any fan can embrace.

Interview by Eric Beard

In what may potentially be the beginning of a new series (still working on a name, suggestions welcome) based off of Tosh.0's web redemptions, we're hoping to chat with some of guys and girls that gained internet fame through football besides Elizabeth Lambert because she's frightening.