Yeah, it’s a shame. My childhood coach coaches their women’s national team. He’s the NFF’s #1 enemy because he keeps going to the press to tell everyone how dysfunctional and corrupt they are. They’ve been trying to fire him forever, but he took that team from dirt to the round of 16 (only being knocked out on PKs to England) in the last World Cup, and the players love playing for him. It’s funny to watch because they keep bashing each other in the press, but the NFF can’t touch him. My best(est) friend almost got hired by the men’s team when they were interviewing for a new coach early this year. He was in the top 3, but they ended up going with the national hero. It’d been cool if he had gotten the job (Inwould have gotten free WC tickets!), but due to politics, it’s tough. I have stories that he told me that I probably shouldn’t share, but it’s true to say that the Nigeria FF is not about football. They are playing a much bigger political game. It sucks because they could be a decent side.
That side that won the 1996 Olympics was so much fun to watch. Instead of a boring briefcase for graduating from law school, my parents got me a big package of Olympic footy tickets that year, including both semi-finals and the finals.
Yes, among other things. That’s awesome. I went to the ‘06 WC in Germany and have gone to a few friendlies, but I haven’t seen a lot of international soccer live. I was hoping to get tix to this year’s tourney, but so far, it’s not looking good.
I gave up on the confusing-and-seemingly-very-low-odds lottery process for WC tix, so now I'm just holding a little tiny hope that I might be able to use the aftermarket to pick up something in one of the 3 stadia "near" me. Or perhaps some divine intervention, i.e. fortuitous personal contact. Feel free to DM me At one point, I was thinking I'd go stay with my son in Seattle and see USMNT, but I think that's probably a pipe dream. A very long pipe at that.
In other news, apparently there's a bit more racism (or at least implied racism) with England pundits/fans. I say apparently because I haven't seen or heard the evidence first hand, only what was discussed on the latest Arsecast. Eze had a pretty goal vs Serbia, and yet the reporting around it is emphasizes Foden's pass, which was fairly run-in-the-mill. Even while Eze was being interviewed about the goal, they still were emphasizing the pass. WTF And more than a bit ironic coming from the country whose world-leading league has arguably done more to spread the "just say no to racism" message than anyone else.
With everything going presently in America, I wonder how well attended the World Cup will be? I would be curious to see how many people from central and south America, Asia and the Caribbean/Africa come given how ICE is.
Interestingly enough Foden is partially Black. Not sure if its his father or grandfather but I have read he is.
Are you mixing up Foden and Cole Palmer? It’ll be the most-attended World Cup in history by a huge margin. A friend got tickets through the Visa pre-sale and similar tickets were listed at 3x the price (and selling) on the secondary market within a day.
With the interlull still in full lull mode, this post got me thinking which Arsenal player over the years (@And_ROOS's Ronaldo/Merino avatar aside) has had the worst haircut? The Ivorian, Mr. Five Head himself, Gervinho was the first to come to mind. EDIT: upon closer inspection, @And_ROOS's avatar does not feature "the triangle" haircut. My apologies to Merinaldo.
Gervinho was the first for me as well. I’m not opposed to men with pony tails, but Seaman’s pony tail never worked for me. And David Luiz’s hair was always begging to be pulled.
I haven’t seen any clips yet, but I’m listening to the BBC Football Daily podcast from Hamden Park. I have absolutely no Scottish blood, but it’s giving me a bit of goosebumps. Really happy for Kieran and his mates. I guess it was his goal that sealed their automatic qualification. I really hope he stays fit enough to make it to the big dance, and figure into it as well.
Here’s 10mins of highlights of SCO-DEN. Well worth your time IMO. (skip through ad in middle) Seriously good goals. Serious joy amongst the Scots. On the last goal I loved the bench shouting “shoooot!”
It was really funny on social media the last week. Ronaldo red card against Ireland means he will likely miss the first WC match for Portugal, potentially the first 2. The Portugal fans online were furious with how the Irish fans took the piss out of Ronnie getting red, so when Ireland were down 2-1 to Hungary they were spamming social media taking the piss out of Ireland and telling them to enjoy the WC watching from home and then Ireland goes bang twice to win. Love a top quality backfire
Alex Song at one point bleached his hair and beard but looked like he did it himself at home. Early in his career Fabregas had a verrrrry rough looking mullet. Chamakh had a weird mullet/faux-hawk thing going as well. Gervinhos hair and headband was awful but the headband makes it a lot better than what happens when he doesn't wear it... Honorable mentions go to Ljungberg who's dye jobs were sometimes horrendous and Gallas with the bald head/wet mohawk combo. Also depending on who you talk to, if you hate ponytails then Seaman/Petit/Bellerin make the bad list too.