Like many South American nations, football spearheads sporting interest in Colombia. The passion can be found at international tournaments amidst a sea of yellow, with exuberant fans flocking in their droves to cheer on Los Cafeteros.    But less than 20 years ago, football in Colombia was a sport that went hand in hand with…

Facing Hungary in the quarter finals, Czechoslovakia once again were seen as outsiders. The Hungarians didn’t have the stars of the Mighty Magyars like Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis or Zoltán Czibor (all fleeing Hungary to European clubs after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution), but they still boasted a competitive squad.    They had a spine of…

Since its inception in 1930, the FIFA World Cup has been rich with a plethora of Cinderella runs, underdog heroics, and undeterred dominance.   From the glory of Italy in the 1930s under Vittorio Pozzo, Uruguay’s triumph at the Maracana in 1950, the brilliance of Brazil in 1970, the tour de force of Diego Maradona…

Magic Squares are square grids within which every row, column and diagonal adds up to the same number. Used by Arabic astrologers to predict horoscopes as far back as the 9th century, the perfect mysticism of this formula has been noted throughout history.   Reason and logic may denigrate the astrological routes of this theory,…

“We want to have fun, so stop firing your guns” – one team’s plea to a nation. African Footballer of the Year on two occasions. Champions League victor and four-time Premier League champion. Didier Drogba’s career has been filled with unforgettable trophies and goals, but his proudest moment came in a tiny changing room in…

Feyenoord’s somewhat unexpected triumph in the 1970 edition of the European Cup was a watershed moment for Dutch football in general, and the country’s club football in particular. For the next few years the Dutch dominance continued with an impressive total of five European trophies in as many seasons, and peaked with the Netherlands’ national…

  It was David Beckham’s birthday last week, and it’s been 13 years since he made the momentous decision to move from Real Madrid to MLS side LA Galaxy. Since then, football in the United States has grown enormously, with teams becoming wealthier, viewing figures increasing and more high-profile players joining.   One of those…

Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels utilised the Total Football system during the 1960s and 1970s to form a strong Ajax and Holland team, resulting in a new era of Dutch and European football. The footballing prosperity in Holland mirrored the cultural changes and resurrection that occurred after the destruction of Amsterdam during World War II.…

It’s midway through the 1986/87 season, and Arsène Wenger has just touched down in North London. Fresh-faced and by no means the heralded revolutionary he would become in these parts, the then Monaco manager has made arrangements with countryman Gérard Houllier to watch what he perceives to be the envy of European football.    It…

In recent years there has been an almost overwhelming influx of football documentaries, some good some less so.   And with more time on my hands than usual, I re-watched one of the better ones, that being Gabriel Clarke’s and Torquil Jones’s exhaustive ‘Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager.’   The film painted the picture…