THE UYGHUR WORLD CUP 2014: A SEARCH FOR A NATIONAL IDENTITY
On June 14, 2014, two days after the Fifa World Cup opens, the second Uyghur World Cup will take place over seven days in the Central Anatolian city of Kayseri in Turkey.
ANGEL WINGS, BRUISED AND RESTRAINED: HUNGARY, URUGUAY AND THE GREATEST DAY
In many regards the 1954 World Cup can be looked back on as the greatest ever. It was the first time that matches were shown live on television, it boasted more goals per game than any other edition in history, and it had a final that was truly memorable with a late twist in the tale.
CHICKEN BREE AND THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD: THE STORY OF RENTON FC
If you were asked to name football’s first world champions, what would be your response? Uruguay? You would not be mistaken, of course, if you held that view; they won the first FIFA-organised tournament of nations in 1930 after all.
BÉLA GUTTMANN: THE MAN WHO CURSED BENFICA
A man kneels by a gravestone, hands clasped together he implores the heavens. Tears roll down his face and into the Austrian soil where his great mentor now rests. But this visit is not a chance to pay respects to an old friend; it is a heartfelt plea for mercy.
BUENOS AIRES, ROME AND BIRMINGHAM
Fans of the Premier League, cast your minds back to April 12th, 2008. It was the day that Mauro Zárate truly caught the attention of English fans, following up goals in March against Reading and Manchester City, with a sumptuous free kick to equalise late on against Everton for relegation threatened Birmingham. Zárate’s brief cameo in England’s second city was just one of several unusual stops in what has been an intriguing, frustrating and often perplexing career.
FROM PORTLAND TO BAHIA BLANCA: EL TRENCITO FINALLY ON THE RIGHT TRACK
Alongside afternoon tea and a vast quantity of incongruous place names (Hurlingham, Banfield, City Bell), perhaps the biggest legacy of Great Britain’s century-long economic intervention in Argentina was the rail network left behind by traders and industrialists.
THUNDER IN SARDINIA: RIVA, CAGLIARI AND THE MIRACLE OF 1970
Juventus President Giampiero Boniperti thought he finally had his man. “Every time he played in the north of Italy I would ring him up,” he would later say. Desperate to land Luigi Riva, it was said six Juventus players were to be exchanged for just one. But what a player.
THE UNKNOWN PLEASURES OF ESFAHAN
2010 was shaping up to be a tough year for Iranian football. The national team had embarrassingly failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa under the tutelage of the legendary Ali Daei – sacked after an unthinkable 2-1 home defeat to perennial rivals Saudi Arabia.