Botafogo SP · Defender · #2 · Brazil · 33 yrs
Fifa president has prostrated the organisation before Donald Trump and lost control of his own tournament as a resultEven the Nazis tried to tone things down a bit. Before the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, acutely conscious of how it might be perceived by foreign visitors, the Third Reich tried to soften some of its harder, more intolerant edges. Antisemitic signs and images were removed from shops and other public places. Der Stürmer was removed from newspaper kiosks. Paragraph 175, the country’s strict anti‑homosexuality law, was temporarily suspended.By contrast, the 2026 men’s World Cup is being co-hosted in a country utterly indifferent to what a foreign visitor might think of it. In this respect, the US of Donald Trump is tonally different to any host of a major sporting event that has preceded it: a country that actively wants you to see the darkness in its heart, the inhumanity at its core, that gets off on your revulsion. Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Liew and Philippe Auclair to preview Groups I-LRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today; our third and final World Cup preview. Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, Paul Watson and Sid Lowe to preview Groups E-HRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today; the second of our World Cup previews. Continue reading...
From high-altitude training to made to measure kits, teams have resorted to all manner of things to adapt to conditions at the tournament• Predict the winner | Daily podcast | Download our appThe heat and the altitude worried everybody. The 1970 World Cup in Mexico would not be a normal one. So the Bulgarian authorities sent their squad south of Sofia to get used to playing several thousand feet above sea level. Which seemed a great idea until somebody noticed that the temperature in the Pirin mountains was not in the mid-20s as it is in Mexico but somewhere near freezing. How then could they replicate the effect of playing in intense heat? By restricting water intake so that the players got used to performing while dehydrated.The plan was not a great success. Bulgaria lost their first two World Cup games in 1970 and had already been eliminated by the time they drew with Morocco. It’s safe to assume that preparations for this World Cup will be rather more sophisticated than they were 56 years ago. Most countries back then seemed to take the view that training at altitude was the logical way to prepare for games in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara. Israel went to Ethiopia and Colorado. Uruguay played in Quito and Bogotá. Mexico held a five‑month training camp that featured 13 friendly internationals in four months before two games against Dundee United. Continue reading...
In what will be their final pre-World Cup showdown this weekend, Canada will welcome Ireland to Montreal in the early hours of Saturday for what could be a cagey affair. With the 2026 World Cup officially getting underway in just a matter of days, there are a string of eye-catching betting promotions and bonuses available. […] The post Prediction: Canada vs Ireland appeared first on SoccerNews.
The origin of PSG’s largesse and the effect it’s had on their domestic game can’t be ignored, even as we appreciate the team’s stunning qualitySign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletterSince 1990, only one side had ever successfully defended the Champions League – Real Madrid, who won three in a row between 2016 and 2018. Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the final on Saturday elevates them to a new tier of the pantheon. No bad side has ever won the European Cup or Champions League, but only great sides have ever retained it.Arsenal pushed them much closer than Inter had in losing in the final the previous year, and there is always something slightly unsatisfying about a victory on penalties, but the quality of this PSG cannot be denied. They put six past Bayern in the semi-final – their superiority far greater than the one-goal aggregate margin would suggest. It was a similar story in the quarter-final, in which a 4-0 aggregate victory didn’t really reflect how much better they were than Liverpool. And while Chelsea may think they were slightly unlucky to lose the first leg of their last-16 tie away to PSG 5-2, the 3-0 result in the second leg was a devastating assertion of authority: three goals scored by an almost bored opponent apparently just as they felt like it.This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email [email protected], and he’ll answer the best in a future edition. Continue reading...
Is the French Open Novak Djokovic's time to finally win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam? "It could be, but only if the unthinkable happens to world No 1 Jannik Sinner," claims Sky Sports' lead commentator Jonathan Overend.
The crowd that gathered late into the night to celebrate on the streets reflected an idea of London where all are welcomeThe mounds of detritus pile up outside Finsbury Park station, like an offering to a vengeful deity. A deity gone rogue for the evening, demanding tribute specifically in the form of empty food cartons and abandoned Lime bikes. A deity that has finally decided to break the habit of 22 years.They approach via the familiar sidestreets, Gillespie Road, Benwell Road, Hornsey Road, the little shortcut past The Plimsoll pub. The night is cool and calm and still, the air rumbling with adoration and freedom, the sensation of chains being broken. As they reach the stadium, perfect strangers grip each other by the shoulders, bound by shared memory, shared trauma, a shared hymnbook. What do you think of shit? Tottenham! Thank you. That’s all right! A firework is let off, and then another. People are FaceTiming their relatives. People are getting selfies with Ian Wright. The crowd is hundreds, and then thousands, a lawless melee that in classic Arteta-ball tradition features plenty of jostling but no free-kicks awarded. Meanwhile, in the digital wilds beyond, the celebration police have laid down their truncheons and riot shields. Continue reading...
Departing Manchester City manager has left huge imprint but equally stands alone in his willingness to adaptWhen Pep Guardiola arrived in English football in the summer of 2016, there was a degree of scepticism. The quality of the football produced by his Barcelona had been extraordinary – and it’s perhaps difficult now, 18 years on, to remember the impact that side had when they first emerged, how incomprehensible the focus on passing and the manipulation of space seemed.But his Bayern Munich had not won the Champions League and it was reasonable enough to ask whether that very precise, technically accomplished style would be as effective amid the hurly-burly of an English winter as it had been in Spain and Germany. Continue reading...
Cyle Larin was a former lock starter for Canada alongside Jonathan David up front, but lost his place under head coach Jesse Marsch, who questioned the 31-year-old’s motivation. But his late-season revival has also likely re-earned him his former starting role with Canada.
