You could barely see anything when Martín Palermo scored the winner against Peru in the 93rd minute. As the manager of his beloved Argentina, Maradona manufactured another epic chapter of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers by bringing in the 35-year-old Titán in the second half to save La Albiceleste’s qualifying chances. Only soccer in South … Read more
Canada was primarily a British country in the years leading up to and during World War Two. However, immediately following the war, thousands of people from all over Europe emigrated to Canada, dramatically changing the demographics from Anglo-Saxon to multi-national. The change in the makeup of the population turned Canada soccer on its head. Canada … Read more
The socio-political complexities of the Irish Question ensured that the development of football in Ireland would follow a different pattern to that in England and indeed other parts of the United Kingdom. Certainly, the political unrest and limited industrialization (and hence well-organized groups of workers able to achieve a Saturday half-holiday) meant that the chronology … Read more
Harpastum, also known as harpustum, is a game devised from the Greek game of episkyros. It was a social ball game played on a rectangular field. It became popular when the roman empire ruled Europe. It’s hard to provide a specific period when harpastum was played due to the lack of evidence remaining. However, archeologists … Read more
Soccer, football – whatever you prefer to call it, is a game of passion. It stirs the soul and evokes the strongest of emotions amongst even the toughest of crowds. Unlike the game itself, the history of soccer hasn’t always been so beautiful. Played by over 250 million people today, soccer looked a lot different … Read more
beautiful “Of the three ingredients that soccer offers, the most essential to its success is neither the ball nor the players but the flag. . . .” Soccer captures “the clan (football club), the temple (the stadium), the war (the enemy is the other club or another city or another country), and eternity (a shirt … Read more
It is generally accepted that the initial development of the modern football game took place in England in the early and middle years of the nineteenth century. This modern form was developed from existing folk games – loosely organized local contests often held irregularly, usually between unequal teams – primarily by the boys of Eton, … Read more
“History is written by the victors” and “no one remembers who came in second” are old adages that don’t always ring true. The best example of that is the Netherlands team that finished runner-up at the 1974 World Cup. This star-studded Dutch side played scintillating football and left an indelible mark on the game. Building … Read more
While the big clubs in La Liga have been plagued by inconsistency recently, one team has taken full advantage of the situation. Real Sociedad finished the 2020/21 season in 5th position, qualifying for the Europa League. La Real’s sudden ascent to the summit is no fluke. This has been brewing for some time. Real Sociedad … Read more
Soccer dreams are often measured in terms of World Cups. From just participating in it to being one of the few special ones to win it, the life of everyone involved in the beautiful game is determined by this major event one way or another. When Zaire qualified for the 1974 World Cup, little did … Read more