Articles
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Christmas Came Early
He sits down. The book lies on the table, reading in bold fonts, “Factotum”. After all, it’s a book by the one and only Charles Bukowski. The person fixes his retro spectacles, trying to enjoy the book. After all, it has been a hard day at the bank for him. Drinking wine and reading Factotum,…
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Los Blancos: The Famine Before The Feast
Throughout the history of club football’s most dominant franchises, it’s fair to say that at no other point have Real Madrid and Barcelona remained firmly fixed constants in the simultaneous equation of ego and honor, each laying claim to supremacy in winner-takes-all grandiose. Four years after Zidane’s moment of ethereal genius won Real Madrid the…
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Musings from Molineux: why the signing of Rúben Vinagre is proof of Wolves’ ambition
I was at Molineux last Saturday, watching Wolves defeat a full-strength Villarreal team 2-1, and I could not stop smiling. Sure, it was only a friendly, but this was different. It was an excellent performance, Wolves’ last before their Premier League campaign begins against Everton next week, one that has given me even more hope…
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Best World Cup Matches: Switzerland-Serbia
Despite not containing one of the more popular national teams at the World Cup, Serbia vs. Switzerland in round two of the group stage proved to be a memorable one. The Orlovi had defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in the first round, and after a 1-1 draw between Switzerland and Brazil, a second win would see…
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The Contrasting Tale of Two Brazilians
Two Brazilian footballers, two completely different lives. One who enjoyed success at every stage of his career, the other who endured an immense struggle over the years. While one nursed a burning ambition of being a lightning-quick goalscorer capable of scoring goals against the toughest of defences with his pace and trickery, the other was more…
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The Enduring Legacy of Chelsea’s Serbian Generals
22 APRIL, 2017. On the business end of an early Chelsea counter, Toby Alderweireld clipped Pedro Rodríguez on the edge of the area and Martin Atkinson rightly booked the Belgian and awarded the Blues a set-piece in dangerous territory. Willian Borges stepped up and struck spectacularly to send Chelsea fans wild and in the early…
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Best World Cup Matches: Belgium-Brazil
Belgium struck early and held off a late Brazil comeback to send the five-times champions tumbling out of the World Cup with a 2-1 victory in an end-to-end thriller that earned the Red Devils a place in the semifinals against France. A Fernandinho own goal and a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne strike gave Belgium a…
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Russia 2018: The Making of Group D, and the Magic of Grit
If you’re going to try, go all the way… Unlike Iceland and Nigeria, the people of Zagreb and Buenos Aires have always had good World Cup stories to tell, but en route Russia 2018, it was Croatia and Argentina who faced the embarrassing likelihood of failing to qualify. Had things turned out differently in AFCON…
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Mourinho’s Divine Comedy
Italy, 1302. Dante was expelled from Florence. He wrote of such events in The Divine Comedy in 1308, where he lacerated those in power and documented his journey through hell, to purgatory and into paradise. A humid summer’s night at Old Trafford, 2018. The Mourinho third season syndrome lurks in its night terror form, brooding…
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Why Mo Salah should win the FIFA Men’s Best Player and why Luke Modrić should win the Ballon D’Or
Earlier today FIFA released the shortlist for the 2018 Men’s Best Player Award. For clarification, this award is not the same as the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded later in the year. This particular award is determined to the best player for the period of 3 July 2017-15 -July 2018. The following list includes Cristiano Ronaldo,…
