French Football has taken a hammering in the last few months. Thierry Henry embarrassed a nation with his “Hand of Frog” antics in the World Cup play-off versus Ireland and the national team behaved like spoilt brats in South Africa culminating in a players strike, insipid displays and early elimination at the group stage. No sooner has the dust settled (and a Presidential inquest) and another scandal has dragged the nation further into the mire.
 
This time Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich) and Karim Benzama (Real Madrid) have been questioned and subsequently …

The end of another World Cup and yet more bitter disappointment for England fans. The country was more hopeful than ever after a near flawless qualifying campaign that saw comprehensive 4-1 and 5-1 wins over Euro 2008 spoilers Croatia, which led to increased expectation for the World Cup, with many experts tipping England to reach at least the semi-finals for the first time in 20 years.
This expectation turned to hope after two disappointing draws against the USA and Algeria to start the group stages, with a narrow 1-0 win against …

In the opening decade of the European Cup, a Scottish club reaching the latter stages of the competition was to be expected. Hibernian reached the semi-finals in 1956, losing out to Stade-Reims of France. Four years later, the famous Rangers side of 1960 reached the semi-finals being convincingly knocked out by Eintracht Frankfurt, who won 12-4 on aggregate. Two years later, Dundee also reached the same stage but were defeated by eventual winners AC Milan. Then finally, the trophy came to Scotland with Celtic lifting the cup in 1967 against …

First it was Beckham, then, albeit on a lesser scale in terms of coverage, Freddie Ljundberg. Now, another Premier League great has joined the MLS in the shape of Thierry Henry. At 33 and having been demoted to a bit-part role in a tremendous Barcelona side, it is easy to understand why the Frenchman has decided for pastures new. But surely a player of his pedigree could have found a two year contract at a top European outfit to see out his days at the highest possible standard. Indeed, three-quarters …

The typical characteristics of a German team: Efficient, dull, ‘big tournament team’, lucky, hard-working.
The typical characteristics of a Dutch team: Flamboyant, creative, Total football, counter attack specialists.
Many would argue that this cliched assessment of these great rivals bares much truth. How often do you hear people talk about “those fluky Germans” or how they “just love to watch Holland”. Well, if this is your first World Cup, then you may be slightly befuzzled; Isn’t it the other way round?
Yes, suring this tournament Germany have become the team to watch. If they …

Tactical innovation has played a gargantuan role in the development of football over the last century. Only a scarce number of people are still alive who have witnessed some of the formations used in the first half of the 20th century.
These formations ranged from the incredible 2-3-5 pyramid to the intriguing WM formation used by Herbert Chapman’s Arsenal in the early 1930′s. These formations received plenty of accolade at the time but in today’s football, managers even barely mentioning these formations would get a therapist recommendation instead of a Christmas …

Best Young Right-Back
Gregory Van Der Wiel
 
A graduate of the famed Ajax youth academy system, Gregory Van Der Wiel made his debut for Ajax in March 2007, but was forced to wait a little longer to demonstrate his full potential in the first team, as injury struck him down for the majority of the 2007/08 season.
He began his career as a right-sided centre back, until former coach, Marco Van Basten elected to switch him to an attacking right full-back role to fully utilise his speed. During the 2008/09 season, Van Der …

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, many Portugal fans would barely have heard of Fabio Coentrao. Fast forward twelve months and he’s the name on the lips of every Portuguese supporter.
The young defender began his career with hometown club Rio Ave, before joining Portuguese giants Benfica in July 2007 as a highly rated 19 year old. Having spent much of his first two years with the club either on the bench or out on loan, many may have questioned his potential to make the breakthrough at …

As we have seen already at this tournament, a solid goalkeeper can be the difference between success and failure. And being a good ‘keeper is not just about making fifteen saves a game, but also about making saves when you have had nothing to do all game, but keep your concentration. Here, I will look at the goalkeepers who have given the most to their respective teams.
Eduardo

Portugal may be out of the World Cup, but largely thanks to Eduardo, they bow out having only conceded one goal. He managed to …

Date of Birth: 24 January 1987 (age 23)
Height: 181 cm
Position: Forward/Striker
Current club: Ajax (captain)
International Caps: 34
International Goals: 13
Luis Suarez had had a fairly quiet World Cup up until last Saturday’s 2nd round versus South Korea. The 23 year old had impressed in spells and even opened his World Cup goals account against a nervy, Mexico but there still remained the sense that he was playing in the shadow of his strike partner, Diego Forlan.
However, this all changed in the 80th minute in a rain soaked, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Suarez …