KOSOVO head into their first competitive fixture on Monday evening, still waiting to hear whether players of Kosovar roots who have represented other countries will be eligible to play. Continue reading Confusion clouds Kosovo debut
Tag Archives: World Football
“Celebrating” the first two years of kieranrobinson.com
TWO YEARS AGO I found myself between jobs and in need of something to keep me out of the pub.
Occupying that period of time some men call “gardening leave” with actual horticultural pursuits was never going to be an option, so on May the 1st 2014, I accepted a challenge to write 500 words on the “positive aspects” of the Lance Armstrong affair, and so kieranrobinson.com was born.
Since then, my ramblings and half-baked observations have received some really positive feedback from many people with brains much bigger than my own and led to some quite interesting invitations. In fact, I’m proud to say that articles from this very website have been seen by people in no fewer than 118 countries across the globe from Zimbabwe to Albania (though strangely we still await our first visit from North Korea).
Continue reading “Celebrating” the first two years of kieranrobinson.com
Alcides Ghiggia: Remembering the man who silenced the Maracana
- Alcides Ghiggia died 65 years to the day his goal won the 1950 World Cup for Uruguay
- Ghiggia was oldest living World Cup winner
- Played club football for Penarol, AS Roma, AC Milan and Danubio
- Represented Italy as well as his native Uruguay
ON THURSDAY 16th JULY, Alcides Ghiggia’s heart beat its final beat, his lungs drew their final breath and his eyes closed for a final time. According to his son, in the final moments preceding his death, he had been talking about football.
At the age of 88, Ghiggia’s passing prompted Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez to declare 3 days of national mourning in his honour.
Sixty-five years ago to the day of his death, in the final match of the 1950 World Cup, those lungs and that heart had propelled Ghiggia’s 5′ 6″ frame and match-stick thin legs into the penalty area of the newly built Maracana stadium.
With ten minutes to go, and with Brazil only needing a point to be crowned World Champions, two nations held their breath:
Continue reading Alcides Ghiggia: Remembering the man who silenced the Maracana
Top 20 footballers on Twitter
Forget the WAG, Bentley or Ballon D’or, the must have accessory for today’s footballer is a Twitter account with more followers than the Pope or the Dalai Llama.
Ready to Launch: Indian football set for lift-off
The much-anticipated Hero Indian Super League kicks-off tomorrow (Sunday) with the 8 team, 10 week tournament seeing Atlético de Kolkata host Mumbai City FC at the beginning of an exciting new chapter for sport on the sub-continent.
Atlético de Kolkata, co-owned by La Liga champions Atlético Madrid and cricketing super-star Sourav Ganguly, must seek to unite a city usually divided by the East Bengal v Mohun Bagan “Kolkata derby.” Continue reading Ready to Launch: Indian football set for lift-off
India: Football’s next emerging market
Football in India may finally emerge from cricket’s shadow with the launch of the Hero Indian Super League, an attempt to bring the game to hundreds of millions of fans and ultimately capitalise on the potential for the game’s development in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
With a young, aspirant population comprising 25% of the world’s under-25s and an economy forecast to be the world’s 3rd largest by 2030; backers of the league know that football on the sub-continent has enormous potential.
The new league’s 8 team franchise format draws inspiration domestically from the success of cricket’s IPL Twenty20 tournament, which brought genuine international stars to Indian stadiums. The inaugural season will kick-off in October
Continue reading India: Football’s next emerging market
Double identity ends Cup of Nations dream
Rwanda’s dreams of qualifying for their second African Cup of Nations tournament, came to an end as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) upheld its earlier decision to expel the Amavubi from the final round of qualifiers for
Colombia: An altered image 20 years on from Escobar
Colombia face host nation Brazil in the Quarter Finals of the World Cup tonight, in possibly the biggest game of their footballing history; the game taking place 20 years and 2 days after defender Andrés Escobar was shot dead having scored the own-goal which eliminated his team from the 1994 World Cup in the USA.
Continue reading Colombia: An altered image 20 years on from Escobar
David Villa and a tale of two (new) cities
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
The opening words from Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel “A Tale of Two Cities” go some way to describing the feelings of A-League side Melbourne Heart’s fans after two announcements on Thursday.
News that Spain’s all-time leading goal scorer David Villa, 32, was moving down under to join Melbourne Heart as a loan signing from sister club New York City was promptly followed by the unveiling of the club’s re-branding as “Melbourne City.”
Continue reading David Villa and a tale of two (new) cities
son-of-robin.com 