Monthly Archives: November 2015
One-sided El Clasico
A one-sided affair This evening’s El Clasico was a one-sided affair and therefore not a match worthy of the greatest rivalry in football. But this is not to take away the performance of Barca-its energy, skill, and team spirit- all factors evidently lacking in the team fielded by Rafa Benitez. Real Madrid played like a team emerging from a long summer break. With the exception of Marcelo and Ronaldo, the players in white were outpaced and out passed, not least on the left flank where Neymar, Iniesta, and Jordi Alba …
Football against the real enemy
Football against the Enemy, as my good friend and colleague Simon Kuper titled his seminal book on the political and cultural passions generated by the game, could well take on new meaning later this week. With an admirable sense and sensibility not common in the football world, the French and English football authorities have agreed to go ahead with the match between their respective national teams. While the game might have been cancelled on grounds of extended mourning, not to have gone ahead with it would have been an admission …
