Este artículo es un poco tarde, quería escribirlo hace unas semanas. En el mes pasado, Arsenal ha ganado casi todos de sus partidos, pero sin embargo, creo que esta articulo es todavía pertinente. Aficionados de Arsenal han experimentado mucha de la decepción durante las años recientes. Arsenal tenía mucho éxito en los 1990s tardes y… Read More »
Since as far back as I can remember, Arsenal has been my team. The team that I would get butterflies in my stomach for before matches, the team that I would find myself whole-heartedly arguing with others in support of, the team that could leave me both endlessly smiling in victory, or absolutely distraught in… Read More »
Swedish director Mattias Löw, of the production company Freedom From Choice, shared with me a short documentary called “The Referee,” about the unfortunate Martin Hannson, who officiated the France-Ireland qualifier last fall and failed to call Thierry Henry’s decisive handball. I wrote about the case here at the time, and later did penance for the… Read More »
It’s strange to say, but I felt a powerful sense of relief after France’s defeat by Mexico. I’ve been rooting for France steadily since 2006, through the crash-and-burn of Euro 2008, through a qualifying campaign that constantly seemed like Waterloo (with Serbs instead the English), through the ire of Ireland, optimistic to a fault. Now… Read More »
My second post to the “Pilgrimages” Blog is up, this one on how France is the Caribbean team in this World Cup. “When the French team takes the field against Uruguay, and later against Mexico, history will be lurking. In 1924 and 1928 the Uruguayans famously took the Olympic football competition by storm, leaving a… Read More »
On the eve of the World Cup, after four years of anticipation and hope, tactics and
maneuvering and hype, interestingly, it is possible to sum up the mood of the French capital on the state of the national team in a word: pessimism.
Thierry Henry may have handled the ball to pick up an assist in France’s 1-1 tie against Ireland, but that doesn’t mean he can’t also score goals all by himself, or all by his hand. That’s at least the point of this game. Click the link and then click on “Joeur” to see how many… Read More »
With the furor surrounding the France-Ireland game, and Thierry Henry’s decisive handball, dying down a little, it may be time to think through what just happened, and what it illuminates for us about the sport of football. After receiving a barrage of criticism, a not inconsiderable amount of it openly racist, Henry redeemed himself in… Read More »
I found myself strangely elated after the France-Serbia qualifier last week. As a fan of the French team there was, of course, no good reason to feel this. It was one more poor outcome by a team, under the questionable guidance of Domenech, that has an incredible roster but nevertheless has been limping along for… Read More »
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