On Belgium
I wrote this analysis of the U.S. vs. Belgium match for The New Republic. An earlier analysis of the Belgian team, in comparison with the French team, is here.
Author Archives: Laurent Dubois
Algeria’s Historic Victory
For the first time, Algeria moved on to the Round of 16 in the World Cup yesterday. As the game ended, a crowd hoisted a man in a wheelchair up above them to celebrate. Here is what the scene looked like from above in another plaza where a crowd waited out the final seconds of… Read More »
A Prayer for the Goalies and Referees of the World Cup
(I wrote this for the Goal Posts Blog at The New Republic, to which I will be contributing throughout the tournament. I didn’t realize then I was writing it for Iker Casillas) Here is one thing I can predict with total certainty about this World Cup: an as-yet-to-be determined number of goalies and referees are… Read More »
Carla Overbeck and the 99ers
Next week in our Soccer Politics class we will have the honor of having Carla Overbeck, the captain of the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup team, visit our class. She’ll be offering us her perspectives on the broader history of women’s soccer in the U.S. In preparation, we’ll be exploring a range of materials that… Read More »
Lilian Thuram’s Autobiography
Published in 2004 in France — and not yet translated into English — Lilian Thuram’s autobiography 9 Juillet 1998 is a fascinating portrait of contemporary France and of the world of football. In it, he describes his childhood in Guadeloupe and his family migration to the suburbs of Paris, where he grew up in a… Read More »
When Football Modeled Democracy: Socrates in Brazil
This short documentary film (narrated by an inimitable, bearded, Eric Cantona) tells the story of Socrates, a Brazilian footballer who along with his teammates turned a football team, Corinthians, into a space for democratic practice and ultimately contestation against the dictatorship in Brazil. The film is part of a larger series co-produced by Al Jazeera… Read More »
Hunting White Elephants: Christopher Gaffney’s Take on Brazil
Christopher Gaffney’s book Temples of the Earthbound Gods offers us a rich geographical, culture, and ethnographic look at the way lives in Brazil and Argentina intersect with and our transformed by the space of stadia. Based on this long-term research, Gaffney has recently been blogging from Brazil in advance of the 2014 World Cup, providing… Read More »
The Global Theatre
My piece, “The Global Theatre,” is now up at Sports Illustrated, part of a partnership with a online magazine called Roads and Kingdoms. A new essay on soccer will be posted there every two weeks until the 2014 Brazil World Cup. I’d welcome your comments and thoughts about the piece here! Also, be sure to… Read More »
The Goal that Qualified Honduras for the 2010 World Cup
Honduras stunned Mexico last night with a 2-1 victory in the legendary Azteca stadium. It was only the second time Mexico lost a qualifying game at home, and placed Mexico 4th in the current CONCACAF rankings. If they remain there, they will have to compete for a slot in the World Cup in a game… Read More »
Remembering Algeria vs. Egypt
As we enter into several days of World Cup qualifying matches, it’s worth returning to some of the more dramatic moments of the 2010 qualifiers. This excellent short documentary (brought to my attention by Peter Alegi, editor of the blog Football is Coming Home) brings us back Algeria’s qualification. Their victory of Egypt incited mass… Read More »
