I interviewed Hope Sogni this morning. In case you haven’t heard of her, she’s running for the FIFA presidency. Sogni is available to answer questions from anybody, no matter where you live, and you can reach her online here. These are some of the themes we discussed: SA: What can FIFA do to increase transparency […]
Ian Plenderleith
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
When hooligans cared about their hair
Book Review: “The Little Book of Casuals: Football Fashion from the 1980s” By ‘Scottie’ (Conker Editions) * * * * * * * * * * Celtic vs. Aberdeen, August, 1986. I’m standing with my father and two friends with the away fans for this Scottish Premier League game, because the home tickets were sold out. […]
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The lesson behind David Beckham's long-range goal
We’ve all found ourselves confounded by this sofa-based dilemma. You’re flicking through the channels and the streaming services with your partner, and you can’t agree on something that you’d both really like to watch. Another breathless hospital drama filled with IV feeds, blinking heart monitors, improbably handsome doctors, and beds on wheels pounding down a […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Soccer's Biggest Lies — A Field Guide
The three biggest lies of a youth soccer coach: 1. First and foremost, it’s my job to foster a child’s joy of playing sport.2. Our parents know better than to yell at the referee. We’re not that kind of club.3. The personal and sporting development of young players is far more important to me than […]
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Germany rediscovers 'Spielfreude' — delight in playing soccer
Julian Brandt takes on Tim Ream and Sergino Dest during Germany’s 3-1 win over the USA. * * * * * * * * * * Germans are not particularly known for their love of life or their sunny disposition. In short, we enjoy nothing more than a good moan. An apposite headline in the […]
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Players, coaches, parents: turn down the volume, or shut up
During a men’s game some years ago, the right-sided defensive player who’d been marking me all afternoon asked the referee how long there was still left to play. “Five minutes!” the referee informed him. The player then whispered in my ear, “That’s still time enough to break someone’s fucking leg.” I took the threat on […]
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Johnnie Lowery's 'Match Fit' — tackling soccer's many mental health issues
• BOOK REVIEW — “Match Fit: An Exploration of Mental Health in Football” By Johnnie Lowery (Pitch) * * * * * * * * * * Author Johnnie Lowery admits that when he was struggling with his own mental health as a teenager, he would never have thought about reading a book on the subject. […]
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Soccer's moral stance is clashing with its love of cash
“The Arabs used to be in the 3rd World. They have bought the 2nd World and put a firm down payment on the 1st one,” the late Gil Scott-Heron sang in his smooth but politically devastating rap, B-Movie. That song was released in 1981, but it’s a sharp and accurate analysis of the public relations-driven […]
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The repulsive kiss sparking a necessary war
What does it take to bring about change? Hard facts have never worked, and rational arguments fall upon clotted ears. The despotic, the incompetent and the corrupt will cling on to their positions by using lies, smears and obfuscation. It seems that only when a prominent male soccer functionary, for example, oversteps all boundaries in […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
What happens when a team stops yelling at the ref?
Is it possible to play soccer without moaning at the referee? German weekly Die Zeit decided that this rhetorical question needed further exploration. It challenged a Level 6 amateur team in Berlin, SV Empor, to try and play the entire second half of last season without confronting the match officials. The resulting documentary film (in […]