Articles

In every World Cup, there’s a long list of players who have been the ‘breakout stars’ of the tournaments. In the days before the explosion of the Champions League, players like the Brazilian Ronaldo, Paul Gascoigne and even Michael Owen have emerged from World Cup tournaments as future stars or new talents for the world…

Sweden, one of the tournament’s underdogs this summer – after having beaten Italy in the qualifiers – are a nation with plenty of hidden gems such as Kiese Thelin, Alexander Isak, Joel Asoro, Ludwig Augustinsson, Felix Beijmo to name a few. However, possibly the biggest of them all, Viktor Claesson, has gone completely under the…

Saeid Ezatolahi was brought up in a footballing hot bed. Originating from the North Iranian town of Bandar Anzali, the dynamic midfielder was always destined to play professionally. His father and uncle both played for Iranian club Malavan, one of the most famous teams in the country. The footballing seed was sewn early and his…

Before Achraf Hakimi had even yet to emerge from the tunnel and take his first steps on the hallowed pitch of the Santiago Bernabeu, he had made history. In uniform and penciled in on Zidane’s team sheet to start at right-back against Espanyol, Achraf had officially become the first Moroccan international to ever play for…

With Lucas Torreira reportedly on the verge of completing a big money move to Arsenal, much of the international media’s attention has been focused towards him with regard to Uruguay’s prospects of success at the FIFA World Cup in Russia. However, international teammate Rodrigo Bentancur is every bit as important to the La Celeste’s chances…

Gareth Southgate chose his England squad for the upcoming World Cup in Russia on 16th May 2018, and needless to say there were quite a few eyebrow-raisers. One interesting pick was 22-year old-Ruben Loftus-Cheek, a midfielder at Chelsea who spent the 2017/18 season on loan at Crystal Palace. Although naturally a centre midfielder, manager Roy…

Nemanja Radonjić is 22 years old, has never played a competitive game at the senior level for Serbia, and now plays for Red Star Belgrade after a failed stint in Italy. He may just be Serbia’s secret weapon this summer. When Serbia coach Mladen Krstajić picked Radonjić in his 23-man squad for Russia, quite a few eyebrows…

Yet another graduate of the ever-so-popular FFA COE, Iranian-born winger Daniel Arzani is the youngest player in the Australian World Cup squad. He’s not even 20 years old, and the fact he is going to Russia is a rare feat for an Australian. However, the national media has been raving about him and they would…

In recent years, France has produced a striking amount of young defensive talent. Whether we’re talking about Raphaël Varane from Lens, Samuel Umtiti from Lyon, or Clement Lenglet from Nancy, we are now seeing many of France’s defensive exports lead defenses from all over Europe to success. This is no different for Stuttgart’s new defensive…