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Black player history in England: Who broke through first at the 92 clubs and the prejudice they had to overcome
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Wednesday, September 30, 2020
The authors list the first Black players at each of the current ...
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What happened to the conversation about the future of soccer?
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Paris St. Germain's star ego Neymar has left Nike after 15 years ...
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'Thanks, ref' -- two simple words to boost the game
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Tuesday, September 15, 2020
When that basic human interaction doesn't happen, you start to feel resentment ...
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London, loneliness and a long, hot World Cup summer
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, September 7, 2020
The prose is as understated as his presence at the back of ...
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Knockout soccer for Europe's top competitions? Only if we go the whole way
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, August 31, 2020
All of a sudden, the single-game format was "more exciting" than games ...
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After five-month break, German amateur soccer is back up and running with the usual flare-ups and square-ups - but for how long?
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, August 24, 2020
There's an intense and pointless argument about, of all things, a throw-in. ...
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'Blood and Circuses' delves into the post-communist chaos of eastern European soccer
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, August 17, 2020
Storied teams were deprived of state support and had to rely on ...
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Coaches instigate brutal foul play, and get away with it too
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Tuesday, July 28, 2020
It's just over four years since I turned off the television half ...
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World Cup winner's early retirement shows: Players need more help to be themselves
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Germany forward and World Cup winner Andre Schurrle announced his retirement from ...
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Meeting the coach who preaches Imagination Soccer
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Sunday, July 12, 2020
While talking tactics with a fellow coach the other night, I ventured ...
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What is handball? Nobody knows any more
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Friday, July 3, 2020
There was a video question in my online refereeing exam concerning a ...
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Salary caps in Europe -- is Schalke making the first move?
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, June 29, 2020
Schalke, through high transfer fees and salaries, has sought to buy success ...
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Investigations closing in on FIFA boss Gianni Infantino
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, June 22, 2020
FIFA President Gianni Infantino came to power in 2016 on the heels ...
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All rise for the anthem. Or not. It's a choice
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Friday, June 12, 2020
When I was a lad, the Scottish national anthem was the jaunty ...
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Bundesliga's road-win stats prove the power of the crowd
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, June 8, 2020
The statistics have always shown that, broadly speaking, home advantage is a ...
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Dispatch from Germany: 'The world is watching and waiting to see if we pull through' says the Bundesliga chief
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Friday, May 22, 2020
DFL chairman Christian Seifert outlined a staunch defense of the Bundesliga's attempt ...
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More subs, less drama, less dissent: Assessing the Bundesliga restart
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, May 18, 2020
FIFA introduced some tweaks and recommendations specially tailored to the game in ...
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Soccer in empty stadiums -- a Thatcher dream come true
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Thursday, May 14, 2020
When the Bundesliga restarts this weekend behind closed doors, the wishes of ...
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Dispatch from Germany: Bundesliga restart plagued by doubts and criticism
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Thursday, May 7, 2020
True, there are pro hockey, basketball and team handball leagues, but you ...
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'Ultras' -- better than your average hooligan movie
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Friday, May 1, 2020
In his novel The Magus, John Fowles wrote that being a physical ...
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Soccer in Propaganda, War and Revolution: Author Ronny Blaschke on the wretched relation between sport and politics -- and a hopeful path forward
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Thursday, April 23, 2020
German author Ronny Blaschke recently traveled around the world to explore how ...
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Movie Rewind: 'The Workers Cup' - giving a voice to Qatar's exploited construction laborers
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Last month, the "supreme committee" organizing the 2022 World Cup reported that ...
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'Weird and Wonderful' soccer shirts celebrate a unique branch of fashion
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The 1990s are "widely regarded as the decade when football shirt design ...
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What if people are falling out of love with soccer?
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Around 15 years ago a British soccer journalist called Will Buckley published ...
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Urgent reforms for European soccer in a post-viral world
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Sunday, March 22, 2020
The wholesale suspension of soccer activity across Europe has opened us up ...
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Please spare us from games behind closed doors
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Tuesday, March 10, 2020
If the government ordered that a Taylor Swift concert was shut to ...
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The problematic timing of the Bayern-Hoffenheim player protest
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, March 2, 2020
The sudden outbreak of collective political action under the players is not ...
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Going to Barcelona just to ignore Lionel Messi
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Last week I was sitting at home watching Rangers FC of Glasgow ...
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Manchester City ban and quitter Klinsmann highlight Champions League stranglehold
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Last week Manchester City was banned from the Champions League for two ...
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Reiterating the obvious point -- winning's not important in youth soccer
Soccer America Confidential, Ian Plenderleith - Monday, February 10, 2020
The Bundesliga's Eintracht Frankfurt has taken the club's U10-U13 age groups out ...
