The news started coming through early on Saturday morning and as the information became clearer, it was soon apparent that the whole African Cup Of Nations would now be tainted. When the dust had settled, 3 members of the Togo party were dead and several were seriously injured. Angolan rebels had attacked the team bus […]

For every Ronaldo, there's a Shevchenko. Sometimes, great reputations come at a great cost yet fail to deliver. Shevchenko is a great player to start with. Feared throughout Europe, his performances for Dynamo Kiev and A.C. Milan saw him become one of the most lethal strikers in the world. Once he arrived at Stamford Bridge, […]

Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski titled the American version of their new book Soccernomics (review is here), but their title for the release in the UK is Why England Lose. In the book, Kuper and Syzmanski identified the US as a rising power in soccer and England as a permanent disappointment to their rabid fans. With […]

There you have it, Italy in Group F, drawn with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. A relatively simple group and one Marcelo Lippi should take the Azzurri through with comfort. Group F Italy New Zealand Paraguay Slovakia They begin the defence of their crown in Capetown at the Greenpoint soccer stadium on June 14th 2010 […]

As it's World Cup draw week, I thought I'd share one of my favourite football stories with you, about the first ever World Cup, though it was only for domestic sides at the time.I heard this story for the first time when I was nine, due to it being made in to a television drama […]

One positive to come out of Italy’s disastrous Confederations Cup adventure was the emergence of Giuseppe Rossi. Having been on the fringes of the Azzurri squad for some months, he finally made his breakthrough against the nation of his birth, putting himself firmly in the shop window this summer. Having begun his career in the […]

As the final of the Confederations Cup approaches, the tournament for one team in particular has been an unmitigated disaster. Coming into the competition, as World Champions would surely mean an easy route to the semi-finals at least, however Italy capitulated in almighty fashion. A somewhat fortuitous victory over the USA followed by an embarrassing […]

Goal.com and SI.com's South American guy Greg Sica will chat with the guys about the upcoming CONMEBOL qualifiers as we as the most recent developments in Copa Libertadores play. Juan also interviewed former ESPN International play-by-play man Randall Álvarez to talk about the upcoming CONCACAF quallies as well as his latest project back in his […]

GolTV has acquired the U.S. TV rights to the 2009 European under-21 Championship, scheduled for June 15-29 in Sweden. The eight countries competing in the tournament will be England, Italy, Serbia, Germany, Finland, Belarus, Spain and Sweden. The draw for the tournament takes place on December 3rd. For connoiseurs of the beautiful game, the European […]

It was supposed to be a classic. Two of the top teams in Europe, Italy and Spain, with some of the best footballers in the world on display. But what we saw was a dire game featuring two teams more focused on avoiding defeat than trying to win. Other than the Romania against France game, […]

One of the pleasures of going to see a live match in England and continental Europe these days is the lack of fan segregation. After leaving Wales in 1984 and returning to England in 2006 to attend a professional match again, I was shocked by how fans were allowed to mingle together in the streets […]

Experiencing Euro 2008 from the comfort of your home, office or local pub is so different than seeing the game live in person. But what goes on inside a stadium in the buildup to a Euro 2008 game? For the first round of Euro 2008 matches that began at 2.45pm ET, most — if not […]

Watching the Holland against Italy match earlier this week in Bern, the biggest relevation for me was seeing how Orlando Engelaar mastered the midfield for the Netherlands. The tall, lanky Dutchman was a key part of Holland's success.Playing in the center of the park, the 28-year-old FC Twente midfielder dictated possession. He masterminded many of […]

The Guardian's Barney Ronay wrote an excellent article this week about ticket scalpers at Euro 2008. While in Zurich, I didn't see one scalper. But the minute I walked off the train in Bern on the day of the Holland against Italy match, there were scalpers everywhere. That day, I probably saw about 20-30 different […]

I've finally had a chance to catch up on watching some of the Euro 2008 matches I missed. The jet lag hit me later in the week, so I found myself watching many of the games this week at weird hours on DVR.The one thing about football is that it can be so subjective. Earlier […]