May, 2012
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Blatter opens a door for Kosovo… will Gibraltar be next?
0May 31, 2012 by David Bolt
At the recent FIFA Congress in Budapest, amidst his usual bungling, and a strange statement calling for Franz Beckenbauer to look for an alternative to penalty shootouts, despite him calling for penalty shootouts to be used to decide tied group games at the World Cup a few years ago; Sepp Blatter pushed through his executive permission, much to the chagrin of Serbia and their close political ally Russia, for Kosovo to start playing friendlies against FIFA teams.
Category General, International | Tags: blatter, gibraltar, gibraltar uefa, kosovo, sepp blatter fifa
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Pinochet, The Cold War, and the Most Pathetic Match Ever Played
0May 29, 2012 by Vadim Furmanov
November 21, 1973. Estadio Nacional. Santiago. The match to determine the final participant of the 1974 FIFA World Cup is about to take place between Chile and the Soviet Union. The Chileans take the field and line up for the national anthem. They wave to the fans and kick off. But this is no ordinary World Cup qualifier. It is, rather, one of the most absurd sights ever seen on a football pitch. The reason? The Soviets are not there. Chile dribble the length of the field unopposed and roll the ball into an unguarded net, a strictly symbolic goal to ensure victory. The story behind this mockery of a match is yet another example of the inevitable intersection between sport and politics, a narrative of Cold War intrigues spilling over onto the pitch and producing what the legendary Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano deemed “the most pathetic match in the history of football.”
Category General, International | Tags: Allende, Chile, Cold War, Pinochet, USSR
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Picture of the Week: Thank You Pep
0May 28, 2012 by Rami El Chamaa
Category POTW | Tags: pep guardiola champion, pep guardiola resigns, pep guardiola sabbatical, pep guardiola statistics, pep guardiola trophies
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Fun facts about Euro 2012
11May 27, 2012 by Rami El Chamaa
- Ireland is the only squad that doesn’t have any players from its own domestic league while England is the only squad that only has players from its own domestic league-system.
- Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy, MLS) and Christian Wilhelmsson (Al-Hilal, Saudi Pro League) are the only two players that play outside of Europe
- The oldest player in the tournament is Kostas Chalkias (38 years old). The youngest is Jetro Willems (18 years old).
Kostas Chalkias (38 years old)
- There are 3 coaches that are not from the country they are coaching:
Fernando Santos [Portuguese] coaching Greece
Category EURO 2012, Funny, General | Tags: euro 2012, euro 2012 cup, euro 2012 facts, euro 2012 slogan, euro 2012 stadiums, euro 2012 worth, euro facts, how much does the winning team win, slavek and slavko, zozulica
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The curious case of Venky’s: Astute Indian business people or ‘confused’ cowboys?
1May 25, 2012 by Andrew Howells
Venky’s could have taken a step towards reconciliation with angry fans by making the decision to sack Steve Kean and by bringing in an experienced manager and chairman to set plans into motion to help Rovers bounce right back from the Championship. Instead, Kean, labeled by Venky’s as ‘unsackable’, is seemingly set for a stay, with Venky’s set to continue running the club themselves.
As the owners march on, making puzzling, baffling and incomprehensible decisions, are they really successful, intelligent business people or simply plain ‘confused’?
The case for astute business people
Category Premier League | Tags: allardyce, blackburn, BLACKBURN CHICKEN, Blackburn Rovers, BRFC, Championship, CHICKEN, english football, ewood park, FA, ferguson, football, formica, jerome anderson, john williams, kentaro, myles anderson, paul hunt, premier league, Premiership, relegation, rochina, rovers, sacked, sem, SIR ALEX, Steve Kean, The FA, venky's
