The international movement of talent has helped level the playing field of top national soccer teams. Among other things, it has also produced the most wide-open World Cup in memory.
Tag: football
SAO PAULO — Asking “How are you?” in English was the way Igor Mendes, a 26-year-old car dealer, approached Marcela Paes one night in Vila Madalena, the “in” district for Brazilians and foreigners enjoying La Copa in Sao Paulo. Unaware that Marcela is a reporter and fluent in English, he presented himself as a Scot. […]
Gislaine Nunes, 47, is the most prominent soccer attorney in Brazil. From Pelé to Ronaldinho, she has defended many stars, and her success has earned her as much fortune as hostility.
FLORENCE — The Italian national soccer team has landed in Brazil, and each player is carrying an extra card with them. It’s similar to an ATM bank card, though instead of money it will give them access to a database where they can find any and all relevant information about the World Cup. Manager Cesare […]
Brazil’s national sport of ‘futebol’ is the expression of all that is right in a sometimes troubled country. Plans by protestors to take out their anger on the World Cup are destined to fail.
President Dilma Rousseff’s once widespread popularity is sinking. But if Brazilian protests reignite when the World Cup begins, it could have major consequences on her October reelection bid.
Six months from kickoff, two economic assessments, pro and con, as the world’s most popular sporting event lands in the ‘B’ of BRICS.
PARIS – Between 2004 and 2005, Zheyun Ye knocked on the door of almost every professional soccer club in Belgium. By introducing himself as a timely investor, this Chinese expat managed to convince the board of the penniless Lierse SK club to accept a check worth 370,000 euros ($500,000). Except that Zheyun Ye was not […]
BBC, THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch MANCHESTER – Sir Alex Ferguson announced Wednesday that he will step down as coach of English powerhouse Manchester United after a career that rivals the best in the history of the sport. Ferguson, 71, has just clinched his 13th Premier League title in his 27-year reign of Man U. The […]
The German soccer clubs Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich (whose flags you will see strategically placed below) recently thrashed Spanish teams Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in their respective Champions League semifinals. German Sky sports seized the opportunity to taunt the two teams before their recent games. And after Bayern’s defeat of Barcelona Wednesday night, […]
PARIS – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the famed Swedish superstar striker of the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) soccer team has just released his autobiography, entitled “I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic.” He spoke with Le Monde. LE MONDE: This book sold 700,000 copies in Sweden. Did you expect it to be such a hit?ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC: That is more than 7% […]
CNN, LA TIMES Worldcrunch NEW ORLEANS– Super Bowl XLVII was held Sunday at the Superdome in New Orleans – the 10th time it has been played there. For those who didn’t watch the four-hour American sports extravaganza, we’ve compiled a short list with all you need to know. 1. THE RAVENS WON – The Baltimore […]
WORLDCRUNCH Worldcrunch PARIS – When David Beckham announced that he had signed a five-month contract with France’s Paris Saint-Germain soccer club, millions of fans of both Monsieur and Madame Spice started fantasizing about the Beckhams moving from the city of angels to the city of lights. As it turns out, Becks and Posh’s kids are […]
FRANCE FOOTBALL, AFP (France) LE SOIR (Belgium) Worldcrunch PARIS – When Qatar was chosen as the site for soccer’s World Cup in 2022, the sports world let out a collective: What?…Where?? But for the more cynical, the real question has always been: How? According to Paris-based sports weekly France Football, the answer to that last […]
PORT SAID – Following an unpopular court ruling linked to a deadly burst of violence last year, clashes in this northern Egyptian city have left at least 30 dead on Saturday. The Ministry of Health announced the death toll in a statement, added that more than 300 people have been injured in the clashes. According […]
BUENOS AIRES – The organization of the 1934 World Cup in Italy by Mussolini and the 1936 Olympics in Germany by Hitler helped those governments legitimize their regimes around the globe. Sport in general – and soccer in particular – is a phenomenon that integrates society, promotes values and arouses a large interest amongst very […]
Worldcrunch ZURICH – The results for Golden Ball 2012 killed any remaining doubt over who is our era’s undisputed emperor of the soccer planet. FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won his fourth straight trophy for best player of the year, the first to notch that record for a man whose talent seems to know no limits. […]
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Soccer Night Of Shame In Brazil
GLOBO ESPORTE, FOLHA DE S.P. (Brazil), FOX SPORTS, THE WASHINGTON POST (USA) SAO PAULO – With less than two years before the kick-off of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, things are not looking good for Brazilian soccer. Local team Sao Paulo FC were crowned the winners of the Copa Sudamericana final Wednesday, after Argentinan […]
L’EQUIPE (France), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch LAUSANNE – It is one of the most eagerly awaited announcements in soccer. But on Thursday, no country won the right to host the 2020 edition of the European Championship after UEFA, the continent’s governing soccer board, chose for the first time to spread the event across a dozen […]
KABUL – There was a day when executions took place in Kabul’s Ghazi Stadium, and until 11 years ago it was a place where the Taliban punished renegades with public amputations. But for the past few weeks all you could hear in this part of the Afghan capital was the sound of chatter, dancing, celebration […]
CLARIN (Argentina) NEW YORK TIMES (U.S.) Worldcrunch BUENOS AIRES – To combat violence in soccer, both on and off the field, a new law in Argentina will require each top league team to have a security chief who reports directly to the Ministry of Defense, Clarin reports. The role must be filled by someone who […]
-Analysis- PARIS – A specter is looming over France. That specter is called Qatar. Qatar’s announcement that it would invest 50 million euros in the impoverished suburbs outside Paris, an investment that will be matched by a fund partly financed by the French government and partly by the private sector, has sparked growing controversy. Some […]
FLUTER, DIE WELT, DEUTSCHE WELLE (Germany), ESPN (USA) Worldcrunch No name, no club – nothing that would point to his identity – that was what Fluter journalist Adrian Bechtold had to promise a professional Bundesliga soccer player in return for talking about something that is still absolutely taboo in the top soccer league of Germany […]
AMERICA ECONOMIA (Chile) SANTIAGO – With the World Cup coming to South America in 2014, the soccer-crazed continent is already worrying who will qualify, and who will be forced to stay at home and watch the others soak up the glory. Well, if you are an Argentinian, Chilean, or Uruguayan, your team is going to […]
LA REPUBBLICA, AGI (Italy), BBC SPORT, REUTERS (UK), EUROSPORT (France) Worldcrunch ROME – An Italian tribunal has confirmed today a 10-month ban for Juventus FC coach Antonio Conte, reports La Reppublica. Football Federation judges rejected his appeal against a verdict handed down earlier this month, adds Reuters. Antonio Conte, who played for Juventus from 1992 […]