Under the radar of our sports inundated country, two weeks ago the United States hosted a World Cup qualifying tournament that culminated last Sunday night at PPL Park in Chester, PA. The women’s teams of the United States, Costa Rica, and Mexico all qualified for Canada 2015, while Trinidad and Tobago face Ecuador in a… Read More »
Satire can be a fantastic way to stimulate discussion about real issues; often, it can be more revelatory than straight discourse. Laughing at a joke compels understanding and examining why the joke was funny– and in satire, the humor is derived from revealing precisely how ridiculous certain serious subjects truly are. Satirists are… Read More »
Unlucky Ribery, it looks like a champions league, Bundesliga title and a Pokal Cup will not be enough to help you win the historic Ballon D’Or. After months of trying to figure out should Ribery win the prestigious award as his team won a historic Treble, or was Messi’s end to the 2012/2013 season enough… Read More »
Responding to Fifa President Sepp Bladder’s recent call to expand the number of African and Asian berths to the World Cup at the expense of European and South American nations, UEFA President Michel Platini believes that the tournament should be expanded to a forty team format. This expansion to forty teams would allow for the… Read More »
After the conclusion of the World Cup, a new cycle of FIFA World Rankings begins. Every month, FIFA releases an updated list ranking every national football team — #1 to #207. For most fans, myself included, these rankings seem arbitrary. What does it matter that Croatia is ranked #10 and USA is #13? What does… Read More »
According to the US State Department, there are 194 countries in the world. FIFA, as an international organization, acknowledges even more countries than the US, honoring 209 different nations and peoples the distinct privilege of having their own national team to support and cherish. Of those 209 national teams, only 32 teams qualify for… Read More »
Greg Dyke gave his first speech on Wednesday as chairman of the Football Association, the governing body of English football. His remarks confirmed what most football fans and pundits already suspected – that England have a poor chance of winning next year’s World Cup in Brazil. “I asked a bunch of journalists what would be… Read More »
America’s Team. Fans across the country lay claim to this label for their favorite sports team. As a result of this dilution, this moniker largely has lost its meaning. So if you’re still searching for the real America’s Team, look no further than the USA Men’s Soccer team. As you no doubt know by now,… Read More »
Five days ago, before the September qualifying games in the CONCACAF region, soccer fans everywhere were fairly confident that no matter how each of the last six teams finished their last four games, Mexico would easily qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Either Mexico would finish as one of the top three teams… Read More »
Patrick Viera. Thierry Henry. Zinedine Zidane. The list goes on and on, but these are a few of the more recent bastions of French football that have brought glory to the streets of Paris and the beaches of Marseille, players who were widely considered to be some of the world’s best. Viera’s power and guile… Read More »
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