Yesterday I did an interview for the “How We Got Here” podcast of BBC’s The World, available here. I talk about my book Soccer Empire, about Zidane, Thuram, and the 2006 World Cup, and about my hopes for this tournament.
I just published this op-ed piece about Joe Gaetjens, Jozy Altidore, and my hopes for this Saturday’s U.S.-England game in the Pittsburgh Courrier. The piece is also appearing in several other papers, including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Seattle Times. A French version of the piece is up at the World… Read More »
People are getting ready for the World Cup in Port-au-Prince. This is a country where taptaps are decorated to reflect the drivers’ allegiance (to Brazil or Argentina) or even to honor a particular player, and where cell phone companies put up billboards with the national team that proclaim “One People. One Passion. Football! Together, we’ll… Read More »
Allright, I’ve got to come out and admit it: I’m sick of a certain kind of whining about the World Cup. I know this is an odd thing to say: after all I should be sick of all the cheesy, commercialized, opportunistic advertisements, and FIFA propaganda blah-blah about global understanding and rainbows of love showering… Read More »
Since returning to Haiti in April, I’ve gotten to know several members of the Haitian national under-17 women’s soccer team. They attempted to teach me a few moves (sternly coaching me on the basics of reception and transmission) and then told me, sweetly, “You’re really good! You just need to learn to control the ball!”… Read More »
Courtesy of Ferentz Lafargue, here is a link to an interesting ESPN Segment on Joe Gaetjens.
The New York Times just published a nice profile of Jozy Altidore — thanks to my friends at Duke’s FHI for a tweet about this! — and, despite the fact that I know seeking historical and social redemption in football matches is a dangerous game, I can’t help dreaming that this summer will bring us… Read More »
The Independent and the Carolina Railhawks are partnering up for a great series of film screenings linked to the World Cup, thanks to the organizing of David Fellerath, among others. You can get all the information here!
I’m not sure of the provenance of this particular video (sent to me by Julia Gaffield), but it does wonderfully capture one side of football: the glory of dramatic acting, for the benefit of referees, though in this case the guy obviously needs a bit more practice from our more accomplished and more highly-paid footballing… Read More »
Duke University Economics student Nikhil Taneja has just published this interesting review of Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski’s fascinating book Soccernomics, a must read in advance of the World Cup for those interested in understanding the finances behind global football.
