Category Archives: Football
Celtic’s self-delusion
Blame it on the fact that I’ve been doing some research recently into the 1978 World Cup in Argentina but Celtic’s defeat by Juventus in last night’s Champion’s League tie had an element of déjà vue – In Scottish terms. Let me elaborate. Earlier this season, I was among a group of Barca supporters that travelled to Glasgow for that Champion’s League group stage tie which has earned a special place in the history of Celtic. Cold and wet and blasted by the sound of the home supports, it was …
Of Gladiators, a French boy, and Mourinho
If the last days of the Roman Empire were with us once again, the people would have no need of prized gladiators-they would have Real Madrid and FC Barcelona players instead. Increasingly the encounters between the two teams have both a tension and brilliance about them that easily surpasses any other encounter on La Liga, and reaches levels of collective and individual skill hard to find in any other league, or indeed sport. The excitement was there from the opening minutes as Ronaldo led a series of devastating charges …
Casillas y el Barca
Casillas y el Barca La anunciada salida de Víctor Valdés del Barca me sugiere una idea genial para solucionar los antagonismos entre Madrid y Catalunya – que le sustituya Iker Casillas. El portero del Real Madrid se lleva mal con Mourinho pero tiene buenas y duraderas amistades con los jugadores de La Roja, entre ellos los que son del Barca. La presencia de Iker en el Barca traería tal vez el mejor portero del mundo – mejor que Valdés sin duda-a la ciudad que ya presume de no solo tener …
Pep’s wise choice
Pep Guardiola’s wise choice Well who would have thought it? Less than twenty-four hours after Pep Guardiola was quoted in England as saying that he hugely respected the Premier League, setting off a fresh wave of speculation about whether it might be Chelsea or Man City , it turns out it was all a bit of a red herring , if not a more calculating diversionary tactic designed to gain contractual time. Now that we know he has chosen Bayern Munich, it seems it is one of those decisions that …
Real Madrid vs Man City: almost a tale of two halves
I have to say that of all this week’s Champions League encounters, none will come as close to holding my attention as much as this Tuesday’s encounter between Real Madrid and Manchester City. The game is being played between two clubs that are approaching this season’s competition with a paradox in common. They share the strutting arrogance of ruthless trophy hunters whose model of big spending on star signings , while winning championships, has nevertheless fallen short of the globe-trotting success story their fans were promised. Rather than unassailable, the …
Spanish Football’s financial meltdown
By Jimmy Burns Forget about the Spanish junior team’s poor showing in the Olympics. Spain stills boasts the best soccer in the world. Earlier this summer its senior national squad, nicknamed La Roja, won the European Championship, setting a record as the first nation to win three consecutive major international tournaments in four years. Last season five Spanish clubs – Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Atlético de Madrid – reached European club competition semi-finals. Of these, Athletic Bilbao and Atlético went on to play in the final …
Why La Roja is more than just a football team
Of La Roja’s victory over Italy in the final of Euro 2012, much has been written already and having not kept silent myself during the tournament (blogs, twitters, articles, interviews) I would like to simply conclude my coverage with a few points of my own. La Roja is much more than a football achievement. It is a political, social and cultural phenomenon which Spaniards should recognise and take pride in. A country that has suffered the humiliation of being reduced to being one of the beggars of the Euro crisis, …
My faith in La Roja,my Italian priest, and Captain Terry
The Italian priest at the end of mass this morning got me to identify myself as the only Spaniard before announcing to the congregation that the Azzurri would tonight “crush” La Roja . I replied that Santiago (St James, Patron Saint of Spain) , and the Virgin of Montserrat (patron of Catalonia) might have had their own communication from God and come up with a different prediction. In truth I have no certainty which side tonight has God on its side although I did say a prayer for La Roja …
La Roja keeps the faith
Vicente Del Bosque is a wise man,generally understated in public who does not believe in courting controversy But even he must be finding it somewhat irritating to find himself having to defend La Roja’s reputation from its critics. Boring, they say. A lesser man, like Jose Mourinho would have no doubt thrown not just one tantrum by now, but several. The fact is that La Roja is a match away from setting a new record in world football. Success in Sunday’s final would mean that it will become the first …
La Roja needs an element of Furia
Watching the England-Italy quarter final yesterday Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque might well feel tempted to feel vindicated in his defence of La Roja’s performance in this tournament so far. But Del Bosque is a wise man, who guards against complacency while knowing the importance as well as limitations of self-belief of La Roja. The game was played at its most physical-the soccer ‘con cojones’ which the first English pioneers brought to the Rio Tinto mines near Huelva and the port of Bilbao the Basque country, and which became synonymous …
