MetaFilter posts tagged with sports and soccer

The Hand of God, Part Deux

lovermont — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:49:12 -0800

The world of soccer has been rocked by a French player's game-defining handball in the much-anticipated qualifier match between France and Ireland. Thierry Henry has admitted to the offense, but said ultimately it is the duty of the linesman to make the call. His action and subsequent admission have drawn strong reactions, including attempts to vandalize his Wikipedia page. This sort of thing isn't new to the World Cup; in fact, Henry's move has been dubbed "Le Hand of God” by British tabloid The Sun, and “Hand of Gaul” by The Australian, both in reference to Argentinean player Maradona's “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match between Argentina and England. Is it time to introduce video replay? Tournament organizer Danny Jordaan says videos wouldn't end these kinds of mistakes. There are others who disagree. In an added layer of controversy, last month, Ireland's goalkeeper Shay Given had voiced his displeasure with FIFA's decision regarding seeding the playoffs; Republic of Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady speculates that seeding decision may have influenced the linesman, something he expressed concern about going in. Despite all the hoopla, FIFA insists there will be no rematch. See Le Hand of Gaul here.

Danish Dynamite

reenum — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:20 -0800

The Guardian recently published a beautiful article about Danish Dynamite, the '80s Danish national soccer (football) squad. Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen write about how the success and failure of the national team highlighted national traits that Denmark has. The writing about the matches is among the most inspired I have ever read. In addition to the film, a documentary about the team has also been made.

Ball ball ball, footie footie footie, ball ball ball, football!

Artw — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:14:26 -0800

The future of soccer in America is black, female and from the inner-city.

Journal of Footballing History

Kattullus — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:48:56 -0800

The Journal of Footballing History is a scholarly journal about the history of football (soccer) all over the world. You need to register (or "subscribe" as JOFH calls it) but it's free. Gloriously, gloriously free. After you've subscribed you can enjoy articles on matters such as France's footballing culture, a back and forth about the state of African football, a pair of articles about Euro 2000 and what England's dismal failure at that European Championships tells us about the national side and on shooting from free kicks. There are also short histories of kits, boots, passing and squads and a book review section.

North Korea's Soccer Hero

Chinese Jet Pilot — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:46:49 -0800

70 year old Pak Doo-Ik will lead North Korea's prestigious Olympic torch bearers to Beijing this summer. In the 1966 World Cup at Middlesborough, Pak scored the goal that lead his team to a stunning 1-0 upset win over Italy (video). Pak Doo-Ik and the team returned home as heroes, but ultimately fell under the suspicion of North Korean leadership. The team underwent "mental re-education" and were exiled, Pak Doo-Ik spending ten years as a forest laborer. Dear Leader Kim Jong-il later allowed Pak to coach North Korea's national soccer team, and a fascinating 2002 BBC documentary brought Pak Doo Ik back to the international stage.

A Great Display of Sportsmanship

Deep Dish — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:27:30 -0800

On the same day that Sevilla's Antonio Puerta passed away in Spain, Clive Clarke, a defender on loan to Leicester City from Premiership side Sunderland, suffered a heart attack after collapsing in the dressing room during half-time of a League Cup match with Nottingham Forest, a series of events was set in motion that resulted in a truly great display of sportsmanship

When Sports Fans Go Mad

papoon — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 05:48:33 -0800

When Sports Fans Go Mad. Just in time for your NCAA Final Four weekend: a celebration of sports fans' best and worst pranks, taunts, and hijinks. This ain't no Brady Bunch episode. Some require the skills of a tattoo artist. Some are confusing. Some are about public humiliation. This one, however, really takes the cake.

European Fields: Landscape of Lower League Football

psmealey — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 08:41:57 -0800

European Fields: Landscape of Lower League Football Gorgeous shots of some football pitches throughout Europe. Taken by Dutch Photographer Hans van der Meer. From SpoFi

Chris Creamer loves logos

kyleg — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:37:09 -0800

Chris Creamer's sportslogos.net is a vast archive of current and historical sports logos from leagues large and small, brand new or defunct. Some of my favorite retro logos involve mascots (often anthropomorphized) performing sports-related activities. Of course, some were retired for good reasons.

street soccer and we are homeless, homeless

kliuless — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:42:56 -0800

The Homeless World Cup: "Yes, there is a World Cup for homeless people, made possible with help from corporate sponsors such as Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola and Bank of America."

espectaculares!

CunningLinguist — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 07:06:05 -0800

Jugadas Espectaculares WorldCupfilter: clipshow of some staggeringly fancy footwork. Even non-fans should love this. (youtube)

Major Soccer/Football Prospect

quam — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:42:28 -0800

Sports Illustrated explains seven or eight professional soccer/football teams, including highly regarded Manchester United and FC Porto, are interested in "a phenomenon, probably the best player to come out of Brazil" : Jean Carlos Chera, nine years old and 4' 6". A video (additional source) [wmv format, 8MB] demonstrates Jean's abilities.

Sir Clive Woodward to switch from rugby to football?

salmacis — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 05:42:11 -0800

Sir Clive Woodward to switch from rugby to football? Sir Clive Woodward is the head coach of the England rugby union team. Appointed in 1997, he has had stunning success, including winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. On Tuesday, the Daily Mail carried an incredible story: Woodward was planning to turn his back on rugby in favour of association football (soccer). Premiership club Southampton appear to be his next port of call with his ultimate aim, the England football team. Is it possible for a head coach to switch sports like this? Many experts think not. Is there any previous example of a coach switching sports like this?

Virtual Replay

chill — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 16:03:54 -0800

Virtual Replay - Shockwave recreation of the major incidents in all the Euro 2004 matches. Select from multiple cameras, players' viewpoints or even the point of view of the ball. note - doesn't seem to work in Firefox.

The 100 Best Football Players According To Pel?

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 10:23:37 -0800

"And The 100 Best Ever Football Players Are..." The great Pele, himself one of Time's 100 List, has just presented his very own list, not entirely as diplomatic and Kofi Annan-like as FIFA would perhaps have wished, as it includes, imo, some quirky and interesting choices. It was announced today, so there's time to bitch about unacceptable omissions and incomprehensible inclusions before the print mob get their dirty little hands on it and tell us all what to think.

Euro 2004 Draw

MiguelCardoso — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 02:07:14 -0800

Euro 2004: Now We Know Who Is Going To Play Who are we any wiser? Bets are on and early predictions from the bravest punters are welcome. Who's going to disappoint? Who's going to surprise? Who will win, dammit?!

Putting your faith in your kids.

biffa — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 02:34:53 -0800

Putting your faith in your kids. Only a little soccer story about a possible new England goalkeeper but its quite sweet.

Old Firm dialectics

skellum — Sat, 24 May 2003 14:17:14 -0800

Old Firm dialectics It's going down the thinnest wire tomorrow in the Scottish Premier League (football/soccer/fitba that is) as Celtic and Rangers, with one game left to play in perhaps the most absurd league in Europe, stand equal on points and goal difference after 37 games thus far.

Lookism Gone Awry

MiguelCardoso — Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:20:41 -0800

Perhaps This Public Image/Persona Thing Has Gone Just A Little Too Far: Luís Campos Lopes, the manager of the Portuguese football team Vitoria de Setúbal has just been sacked for "projecting a negative image of the club". [Link in Portuguese, but please read on.] The reason? Just watch the photo-sequence in the main link. Luís Lopes had trouble putting on his Setúbal vest during a crucial game with Benfica! I.e. the powerful sports media in Portugal and Brazil have had a riot with the photographs and the poor widdle proprietors were embarrassed. So? He may not be a brilliant manager - but isn't this blatant lookism? Isn't "image" becoming much too big for its boots, as it were, in professional sports? [Here is the only English language reference I could find. Please scroll down to "Luís Campos".]

xmutex — Sat, 02 Nov 2002 11:51:32 -0800

Soccer team loses 149-0 on intentional own goals. I've heard of taking dives but this sounds a bit much!

edsousa — Fri, 06 Sep 2002 14:04:59 -0800

The Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation is heaven for all football buffs (attention: proper football). For example, what is the worst football team in the world? Or when did the most ridiculous penalty shootout happen?

( .)(. ) — Sat, 29 Jun 2002 07:46:06 -0800

Ronaldo experienced a seizure on the day of the WC98 final. This is a good background article on the events of July 12th, 1998 in Paris, where Ronaldo was foaming at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably just hours before game time. Also note the various conspiracy theories; from Nike forcing Ronaldo to play, to organizers bribing the Brazilians to lose the game.

brookish — Tue, 25 Jun 2002 17:24:02 -0800

Is Univision's coverage of the World Cup, like, way better than ESPN's or what?

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 20 Jun 2002 01:09:55 -0800

Ready To Rumba? Or Samba? Will England or Brazil go through in tomorrow's crucial World Cup game? Predict at your peril. I'd love Brazil to win but, no doubt influenced by the treacherous utterances of Pele and Jairzinho[see penultimate link], say England will tragically but deservedly win 2-1.

percine — Tue, 18 Jun 2002 17:52:15 -0800

World Cup Conspiracy. Here's one for the X-Files. The Azurri believe they were the victims of a conspiracy to oust them from World Cup 2002.

Alessandro Del Piero broke his usual cool exterior as anger seeped through. "In ten years of my career I have never complained," said the Juventus star, "but in four games too many strange things have happened."