Aidan Russell Zinedine Zidane won the Ballon d’Or. It’s no surprise and comfortably ranks as one of the Ballon d’Or’s least controversial winners. Zinedine Zidane needs little introduction in being one of the greatest midfielders to grace the game. Zidane was unmatched in 1998 for his contribution to Juventus and of course France. A skillful, elegant midfielder … Read more
Rivaldo is a Brazilian that, perhaps unfairly, falls short of being considered in the same echelon as Ronaldo or Ronaldinho for some. Likely due to his frenetic career, a meteoric rise, which saw him move from 3rd division Brazilian football, all the way to the dizzying heights of Barcelona, despite making his first appearance in … Read more
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (‘Flamengo Rowing Club’ in English) – typically referred to as just Flamengo – is a Brazilian football club dating back to late 1895. Or does it? We’re diving deep into the Brazilian giants to uncover their storied history and find out what they’ve been doing to the present day. Whilst … Read more
When Luis Figo won the 2000 Ballon d’Or, he became only the second Portuguese player to claim the award since Benfica legend Eusébio in 1965. Throughout the calendar year, Figo played some truly incredible football, scoring goals and providing wonderful assists for not one giant European club – but two. Famously, the sides in question … Read more
Relegation is most football fan’s greatest fear. That and an evening alone with Stuart Pierce. But, whilst the usual suspects of Norwich, Burnley, West Brom, and Watford are the usual names we see at the foot of the table, there have been some truly huge names that have suffered the ignominy of relegation. Here are … Read more
Garrincha was one of the best ever footballers to play for Brazil, a high enough accolade in itself, but he was also one of the world’s best dribblers. He is one of the select band of 21 players who have won two World Cups, and was the first to win the Golden Boot, player of … Read more
Neuer, Edison, Allison. 3 huge goalkeeping names in world football that most associate with the sweeper-keeper role. Whilst this more aggressive style of goalkeeping has been around for years, it fell out of favour in the 2000s and only began to return through the success of Manuel Neuer’s aggressive playstyle. However, the role has been … Read more
When we think of players with uncanny longevity, most would think of names such as Ibrahimovic, Gianluigi Buffon or of course Stanley Matthews. But none can compete with the playing career of Football’s oldest professional player. Most incredible of all, is he still plays professionally. If I were to tell you that a 56 year … Read more
We’ve all seen it – the referee moves his hand to his pocket after the first booking and you already know what’s coming. Or worse still, the curveball after a dodgy challenge that completely blindsides both the home and away sides. The Red Card, a small, bright red rectangle of dismissal, designed in such a … Read more
Famously known as Kaka, Ricardo Izecson graced the pitch for some of the most illustrious clubs in the world and often went under the radar in his respective star-studded teams. His name Kaka evolved from his brother’s inability to pronounce his actual name “Ricardo” and this stuck with him throughout his years of playing the … Read more