All About The Beautiful Game
South Korea is, without a doubt, one of Asia’s best footballing nations. In fact, they are one of the world’s most consistent footballing nations. South Korea has been to every World Cup since 1986 and will be in Qatar this year, too. That will be their tenth consecutive appearance at the tournament, giving them the … Read more
Across the world, new leagues and seasons are beginning. Recently, the Premier League kicked off, joined by many of Europe’s most elite leagues. In the United States, however, professional leagues are nearing the end; most of the USA’s leagues start in the spring and end in the fall/winter. That’s not the case for all of … Read more
Not long ago, Hamburger SV was one of Germany’s top teams. In 1983, they won the European Cup, the precursor to the Champions League. In 1987, they won the DFB Pokal for the third time, the last time they’ve won it up to date. They’ve won the league a further six times, but not since … Read more
With the World Cup rapidly approaching, many nations have started recruiting dual nationals. Just look at Ghana: they’ve convinced Mohammed Salisu, Iñaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey, Patrick Pfeiffer, Stephan Ambrosius, and Ransford Yeboah to swap allegiances. However, while strong moves, sometimes nations need to look closer to home when picking their squads. In 2018, zero African … Read more
Recently, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis made headlines after declaring he wouldn’t sign any more African players. The Italian, seemingly forgetting that many of his best players in recent years are African, stated that it was ridiculous that he paid their wages and they left in the middle of the season. De Laurentiis further stated … Read more
In 2021, French side LOSC Lille stunned the world. The club, located in northern France, had gone a decade since their last league title — stuck behind heavyweights PSG and Monaco. This changed two seasons ago — Lille’s smart recruiting saw them finish first in the league, beating PSG and clinching Champions League football. However, … Read more
Schalke 04 have one of the best academies in the world. Over the past few years, many of Germany’s top names have come from their academy: Manuel Neuer, Leroy Sané, Ilkay Gündogan, Julian Draxler, and more. Mesut Özil joined the side at a young age, while US international Weston McKennie did the same. Despite this, … Read more
Australia is heading to their fifth consecutive World Cup, having bested Peru on penalties earlier in the year. Unfortunately for the Aussies, they also have struggled at the tournament: five total appearances and they’ve made it out of the group stages once. That was in 2006 when they promptly lost in the Round of 16. … Read more
For the second consecutive time, Italy will not be heading to the World Cup. This is no recent development: they’ve known since March’s loss to North Macedonia in qualifiers. However, a lot has changed since this occurred, particularly an important—and brutally honest—complaint from Italy coach Roberto Mancini directed at the lack of young players and … Read more
Barcelona’s academy has always been special: the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta graduated from the legendary La Masia. Just look at some of their academy prospects in 2016: Ansu Fati, Eric García, and Nico, among others. However, even with academies as good as Barcelona’s, sometimes talents slip through the cracks. One that … Read more