The football blog for fans of all clubs
Sometimes in football referees get it wrong. That is part of the game. And for the most part football fans accept this. England fans have had a wealth of poor decisions given against them over the years. When Ronald Koeman professionally fouled David Platt in the penalty area in 1993 and the referee awarded a […]
For once, after a weary old year, Cristiano Ronaldo has finished a season looking fresh. It certainly looked that way in the Champions League final as the forward put in a clinical performance. Now at the age of 32, Ronaldo seems to have rediscovered his vitality and shaken off fatigue and muscle problems which have […]
As the top English clubs continue to spend and spend, let’s not forget that the Scots are well into their transfer window too, and several managers have strengthened their squads with countless signings along with releasing a number of players. Some big money moves may have caught your eye, especially players who make a move […]
France hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1998, a tournament that they would go on to win in emphatic style. Their opening game against South Africa showed the world just how good Zidane and co could be. South Africa were certainly not the biggest test that the French would face in their route to the […]
There were no games this weekend in the SSE Airtricity League with the mid-season break in effect. This was introduced when the League switched from Winter to Summer football at the behest of PFAI who wanted to allow their players a chance to holiday during the Summer. Clubs have mixed feelings about and indeed generally […]
Northern Ireland went into this game with a growing list of unavailable players but the positive news was the inclusion of fit again Gareth McAuley. Michael O’Neill made the bold decision to stick with Boyce and Magennis up top, leaving Kyle Lafferty to a place on the bench. The opening 23 minutes was a tame […]
Anything can happen in football. Surprising events and results now happen so frequently we should expect the unexpected. Very rarely does a weekend of matches, or a tournament, pass without an incident requiring further dissection, analysis and discussion. Goal line decisions have been taken care of at the top level in recent months with the […]
Ever heard a mosquito buzzing around your ear? It’s annoying, right? Now imagine a couple more. Now imagine a whole swarm of mosquitoes, all buzzing loudly, so intrusive and incessant that it slowly drives you mad. Yup, that level of annoying. That was the soundtrack to every moment of World Cup 2010, the first World […]
With the clock showing 90 minutes the game was already in injury time. It had already been a great fight back from Newcastle United having been 4-0 down to a rampant Arsenal in the first half. However, they came out fighting in the second. Somehow they had managed to pull three goals back but now […]
This mid-week Brazilian Championship has started to have rounds twice a week and you can follow it all here! We had the 5th round of the Brazilian Championship and below you can read a summary of the main matches of the round, focusing on the leaders of the championship Corinthians and Grêmio. Vasco 2 x […]
No, Brazil don’t have a player named Boyd, or Boydinho, for that matter. The Boyd that won it for Brazil, in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup in France, was actually an own goal by Celtic right back Tom Boyd. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. I’ll back up a little. […]
The 2006 World Cup was truly memorable from start to finish. Everyone remembers the way it concluded, Italy winning a tense penalty shoot-out shortly after “that” Zinedine Zidane head butt. But eleven years on (yes, it really has been that long), not many people remember the opening game of the tournament. That is essentially the […]
As Thomas Ravelli ran, fist pumping the air, away from the swarm of his victorious teammates, their Romanian counterparts fell to the ground beneath the punishing San Francisco sun. The team that had grown together from the late eighties and suffered penalty heartache in World Cup Italia 90, failed again, this time against ten men […]
We have seen and heard it thousands of times. Managers interviewed after games where their team has been beaten. Instead of saying “they were better than us,” or “our defence didn’t play well,” they do whatever they can to take the limelight, and the pressure off the players. This in part is gamesmanship. The art […]
After the current season has come to a close it’s now time to look at who impress in the next season of the Bundesliga with these impressive picks! Guido Burgstaller – Since making his transfer from Nuremberg in January, Burgstaller had made a pretty impressive impact scoring 9 goals in 17 games and helped Schalke […]
In the wake of Francesco Totti’s retirement, the value of one-club players has never been greater. Before the explosion of transfer fees in the last couple of decades, staying with a single club was more common. After all, it’s less tempting to sell a player if the fee offered is less than the price of […]
With the 2018 World Cup starting to come into focus, the Confederations Cup this summer will offer a pre-cursor to football’s biggest tournament. While the competition in Russia will act as a miniature dry run for next year’s main event, it will also offer eight teams the chance to pick up some competitive action and […]
Summer 2017, no World Cup, no European Championships, not even a lousy Copa America. There is a Confederations Cup, but quite frankly, who cares? It could be played out in my back garden and I wouldn’t bother to open the curtains. I love the World Cup, to me, it’s the best sporting spectacle in the […]
As a growing football/soccer nation, the United States is still going through some growing pains. If it were a person, MLS would have just graduated with a degree and be moving back home with his parents to find a job. It is stable, financially viable, but still finding its way in a soccer market where […]
End-of-season tours to exotic far-flung destinations are normally nothing to do with football. Instead it’s often the brain child of a suit and tie in the marketing department looking to keep the latest sponsor happy lest they withdraw their lucrative support. During this upcoming FIFA date, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) will boost their coffers […]
