HexagonalBlog 19 November @ 02:10 AM EST
On 19 November 1989 -- twenty years ago today -- Trinidad & Tobago and the USA met each other in
Port-of-Spain for their final World Cup qualifier match for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The
circumstances and consequences of that match have made it the most important match in US soccer
history, and marked the start of the modern era in American soccer.
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HexagonalBlog 13 November @ 01:32 AM EST
[I'm going to make this the featured post for the next five days, except for Saturday and next
Wednesday when the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff is being played.] Next Thursday is the 20th
anniversary of that historic World Cup qualifier between Trinidad & Tobago and USA. In my opinion,
and I doubt I'm the only person who feels this way, it was the most important match in the history
of US men's soccer because of where they were at that time and where they went from that point.
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So yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and thusly the
reunification of Germany. To mark the occasion I watched the rather brilliant film Goodbye Lenin!
(recommended, if you haven't seen it), which basically takes place during the fall of the Berlin
Wall, from the East German perspective.
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Footy Factor 02 November @ 08:05 AM EST
Just when you thought the Italian tactician and master of success couldn't get any more focused;
England manager Fabio Capello has banned a fans' and players' favorite: the World Cup
song.
Not content with prohibiting WAGs from attending the England base next summer, Capello
is again trying to take the Englishness out of English football by restricting the players'
voices.
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Retrofootball 23 September @ 08:23 PM EST
En los Mundiales nos encontramos con los de siempre (campeones del mundo o eternos candidatos),
otras de nivel medio que difícilmente ganarán nunca un mundial y algunas exóticas. En cada
Campeonato del Mundo hay ejemplos de estas últimas.
En los años 80 la nota exótica venía de África.
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EPL Talk 03 September @ 07:40 AM EST
South Africa 2010
Almost twenty years ago England went to Poland knowing that a draw would qualify them for Italia
90. A backs-to-the wall performance and the magnificence of Peter Shilton ensured they had their
point and the team then went onto reach the semi-finals of the tournament that arguably saved
English football from itself and ultimately elevated it to today's dizzy heights.
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Be it a clash in the World Cup finals or a domestic under-17 game, Argentina versus Brazil
always gets the pulse racing. The two nations line up this weekend in the north of Argentina for a
match which holds the key for the hosts making it to South Africa for next year's World Cup.
The two proud countries have enjoyed contrasting fortunes ahead of this clasico.
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Bobby Robson's passing was an event charitably marked by the soccer world. He left the world at 76
as one of the major coaches in the world with a CV as impressive as any.
While his two heroic World Cup exits dominated most of the obituaries, his achievements in coaching
winning teams in four countries are to my mind his greatest.
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With the season all but wrapped up, preparations are well under way for the AANP End of Season
Awards. ‘Twas good of ‘Arry then, to produce a late contender for the Worst Half-Time Team-Talk
of the Season gong, because whatever he said between 3.45 and 4.00pm yesterday, brought about a
pretty stunning regression.
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