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Dictators and Soccer: Popes, PR and the Vatican Soccer Sin Bin

May 17, 2013 — by Rob Kirby

[Editor's note: This is the 4th installment in the ongoing Dictators and Soccer series. See also the previous installments on Kim Jong-il and North Korea (or Football, Famine and Giant Rabbits), Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania and Mobutu Sésé Seko of Zaïre. Stay tuned for Col. Gaddafi next.] Sovereign city state nations with populations less than 1,000 find themselves irresistibly drawn to soccer. Or perhaps that pertains only to one-man rulerships like Vatican City, right smack in Rome, that can't help but intersect with soccer and watch it blow up in their faces. When soccer runs amok, it self-inflates beyond all suggested parameters and eventually explodes, pressure pumped beyond the limits. (Picture serious, furrowed Vatican eyebrows in 2012, of which more to come.) But after a period of Catholic guilt, soccer redeemed itself when the offbeat priest-and-seminarian Vatican league called the Clericus Cup came to the papacy's rescue in 2013, relaunched

Two Days of Destruction! (Part Eins von Zwei)

April 25, 2013 — by Suman

The two epic Champions League semifinal ties did produce two memorable and perhaps historic 1st leg matches this week, but not in the way that any of us expected. One wordsmith needed only five of them to sum it up: "Two days of destruction. Unbelievable." Tuesday was Bayern Munich-Barcelona, Wednesday was Borussia Dortmund-Real Madrid. The Bavarians were favored in the first match, playing at home and in incredible form this entire season, while Barcelona have been wobbling for months. But surely no one predicted a Bayern's 4-0 shellacking of Barça, nor Dortmund's 4-1 decimation of Real Madrid the next day. On Tuesday, Bayern dominated start to finish, playing with speed, power, and finesse. The first two goals came off corners--which Barcelona were conceding at an alarming rate, indicative of the fact that although Bayern predictably had less possession that Barcelona, their possession was much more potent. Bayern was especially dominant

Clash of the Titans II: Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

April 24, 2013 — by Suman

Well, yesterday's clash of the titans turned out to be bloodbath. Bayern was favored, but no one saw a 4-0 demolition of Barcelona coming. More on that later in the week.. In the meantime, we're looking forward to the 2nd semfinal 1st leg later today, another Bundesliga club hosting a Spanish club, with Real Madrid at Borussia Dortmund. A somewhat unusual feature of this matchup is that these squads are quite familiar with each other, as they finished 1-2 in the Goroup of Death in the group stage in the fall. Dortmund unexpectedly finished top of the group, drawing 2-2 at the Bernabeu (a game they probably should have won), and beating (and outclassing) Madrid 2-1 at home. As yesterday, here's a few preview links to get you ready for today's big match: As usual, if you have time to read only one thing, read Zonal Marking's tactical preview. Two

Champions League Semifinal Today: Clash of the Titans

April 23, 2013 — by Suman

It is upon us, a clash of the titans: Bayern Munich hosting Barcelona in the 1st leg of their Champions League semifinal tie. The German superclub and Bundesliga champions against the Catalan superclub and La Liga champions-elect. Both of them 4-time European champions (Bayern in 1974, 1975, 1976, & 2001, Barcelona in 1992, 2006, 2009, & 2011). The two great sides of our era, perhaps--with a man who won't even take part today sitting at the fulcrum between them. Here is Jonathan Wilson today in the Guardian: Football too often denies us the truly epic tie, the meeting of the two great sides of the age, and it's perhaps that more than anything else that makes Tuesday night's Champions League semi-final between Bayern Munich and Barcelona so enticing. This has the sense of an era-defining encounter: Barcelona, who have dominated Europe for the past half-decade (it's a remarkable fact that, even in their sixth successive semi-final, it still feels as though they have

Larry’s WC2014 Qualifiers Roundup

March 29, 2013 — by Larry

Bullet-pointed observations from the mind of Coach Larry on last week's World Cup qualifiers from around the globe.

The Americas United States

USA Bests Costa Rica: Report from our Man in the Stands

March 23, 2013 — by Tyler

"If you don't like the weather in Colorado, just wait five minutes and it will change." Douchebaggish local saying, but consistently true.

Champions League News

This Week’s Champions League Results: Dortmund-Shakhtar, PSG-Valencia, Juve-Celtic

March 7, 2013 — by Suman

The week's Champions League oxygen was mostly sucked up by Tuesday's memorable and controversial Manchester United 1-2 Real Madrid match, but with three other second legs also in the books, we've now got four of eight quarterfinal spots set: Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, and Juventus. Next week's remaining 2nd legs matches will determine the other four: Barcelona-Milan & Schalke-Galatasaray (Tues); Bayern-Arsenal & Málaga-Porto (Wed). Of this week's three "lesser" ties, only PSG-Valencia was close. Dortmund convincingly beat Shakhtar 3-0 at home yesterday, to win 5-2 on aggregate, while Juve won 2-0 at home to post a manita on Celtic. But while the Qatari-funded Parisians had won the 1st leg at the Mestalla a couple weeks ago 2-1, they gave up the goal very late, and also Zlatan saw red in the closing minutes, leaving the door slightly ajar for the Valencia. And indeed, they were down 1-0 at home today at

An MLS Moment: What the Chivas USA Controversy Tells US About the State of US Soccer

March 6, 2013 — by Ryan

In a recent podcast for Grantland, Roger Bennett and Roger Davies reflected on MLS’s current fortunes. After nearly two decades, they argued, the league had made it through the leanest years intact, financially healthy, and ready to expand its market share. Indeed, soccer remains one of the nation’s most popular youth sports and perhaps more importantly, among 17 – 24 year olds, as was widely reported last year, soccer ranks second just behind American football in popularity. Undoubtedly, as evidenced by their recent success in the English Premiership, American players, most of them former or current MLS standouts, have become increasingly common. From grunge era throwback Brek Shea’s recent debut for and Geoff Cameron’s starting role in Stoke City’s side, Clint Dempsey and Stuart Holden’s (when healthy) long standing runs, and Landon Donovan’s past successes at Everton not to mention Jozy Altidore’s 24 goals for AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands,

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