Robert Enke German goalkeeper Robert Enke recently commited suicide. He was suffering from depression associated with the pressures of football and “the fear of failure.” As we have learned in this course, football is followed with extreme, sometimes fanatical passion, especially on the international level. However, while a player can become a national hero by… Read More »
Ghanaian players feel the need to play for countries abroad for a high salary in order to provide for their families and achieve a standard of living above the extreme poverty line. However, this leads to a downward spiral of national development opportunities through football. If Ghana is robbed of its best players, how will… Read More »
Tuttosport of Italy has been publishing a list of U-21 players for its Golden Boy Awards since 2003. The award went to Raffael Van der Vaart in 2003, Wayne Rooney in 2004, Lionel Messi in 2005, Cesc Fabregas in 2006, Sergio Aguero in 2007 and to Anderson last year. 2008 witnessed the tightest competition as… Read More »
This article from goal.com tells the news of a sensational Spanish player, Jesús Navas, who has been lighting up the Primera División for a few years now with Sevilla. Before this call-up, Navas had been unable to play for the national team largely due to an anxiety problem in which severe homesickness and fear of… Read More »
In conference championships going on around the country, Men’s and Women’s collegiate teams are definitely playing more physically. New Mexico, however, took physicality to a whole new level in a game with BYU in the MWC tournament. For sports struggling to gain popularity, I’d argue that events like these do more to harm the sport… Read More »
I’m something of a latecomer to following professional club soccer. Although I played the sport growing up in Western North Carolina and have watched every World Cup final since 1990, I’ve been oblivious to the comings and goings of the top European and South American leagues—mostly due to my typically spartan television habits. That’s all… Read More »
Do citizens have a right to watch football? The Argentinian government has recently proposed that they do. The Washington Post — which as the previous post on this blog attests has recently been providing interesting coverage of the politics of football in Latin America — reports in an article published today that President Cristina Fernández… Read More »
|