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Football Soccer Formula 1 Rugby Racing Golf Blogs TennisPublished: September 10, 2015
For a long time at Wembley on Tuesday, England were toothless, lacking the incisiveness or guile to break Switzerland down. Then Harry Kane came on, and there was a spark, a sense of ruthlessness that within 10 minutes had yielded a goal, setting England on their way to an eighth win out of eight in qualifying. Welcome as Kane’s goal was, and more penetrative as England looked once he’d...
Published: July 9, 2015
There was something baffling about the reaction to Lionel Messi’s performance in last Saturday’s Copa America final, which Argentina lost on penalties to Chile. It wasn’t just that he was criticised for his performance—which was understandable enough given how little impact he made on the game—it was the clear glee certain people took in the assessment and, most particularly,...
Published: April 1, 2015
The problem with international friendlies, at least in terms of assessing the development of a team, is that they encourage managers to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily consider. It’s a chance to experiment, pundits always say, and yet what coaches probably should be doing, given how few opportunities they have to play against sides of a similar level, is fine-tuning and finessing, using...
Published: April 23, 2014
Raheem Sterling is a player whose sense of adventure and willingness to try the unusual brings a sense of glee. No neutral fan could watch him running with abandon at the Norwich City defence on Sunday and not feel a warm glow, while his goal against Manchester City, nonchalantly sending Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany to chase an imaginary foe, was breathtaking. There is something...
Published: December 30, 2013
During the press conference after Nigeria had beaten Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations quarter-final in February, Mark Gleeson—the doyen of South African football journalism—raised his hand to ask a question. Stephen Keshi, Nigeria’s coach, saw him and recognised a figure who has dominated reporting on the African game for a couple of decades. “Big man,” he beamed...
Published: November 21, 2013
Croatia made it through their World Cup play-off against Iceland on Tuesday night with a level of comfort, despite having Mario Mandzukic sent off before half-time, but for all the quality in their squad, they are still some way short of reaching the sort of level they should be aiming at. Niko Kovac took over as coach from the deeply unpopular Igor Stimac at the end, and he acknowledged there is still...