A Football Report

Can Católica go full circle?

By Joel Sked

Small moments can have significant consequences. Like one 90 minute game of football – good or bad. The 2011 Chilean Primera División Apertura play-off final second-leg was one of those games; contested between great rivals Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica.

UC had finished the regular season – 17 games – on top of the league table, where they had finished in 2010 when the league was a single championship of 34 games due to the World Cup in South Africa, and they led 2-0 from the first-leg. But what was about to transpire would see the fortunes of two of Chile’s tres grandes diverge in quite spectacular fashion.

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An early exit after 27 years: Sir Alex steps down in his own style

By Anthony Lopopolo

The numbers pop out of his resume like eyes out of a cartoon character: he won 27 major trophies with United over the same number of years; he outlasted 116 managers on seven major European clubs; and he’s won 75% of his home games at Old Trafford. Nothing satisfied his hunger for success, and his diet never consisted of anything but winning. He’s always the first man at Carrington, the team’s training facility in Greater Manchester, there before staff and players as early as 5 a.m. He’s said over and over that he has trouble envisioning life without football. Retirement was something he wasn’t exactly ready for. “Nobody’s getting rid of me,” Sir Alex Ferguson told The Guardian in March.

Nobody – not the media, not the club, not his body – but himself did.

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Tomhet, Idel Tomhet: Remembering Ivan Turina

We tend to have a habit of talking about a ‘football family;’ a sort of community of fans, journalists, players and coaches who all interact to make our small corner of the world possible. Though we may bicker over rivalries, and obsess over insignificant rumors, we are all nevertheless interconnected. Our successes and moments of joy are shared, just as those moments of pain. This past week, the football family suffered a great loss with the sudden death of AIK goalkeeper, Ivan Turina. Here’s Özgür Kurtoglu, remembering Ivan.

The first time I met him was outside a modest but popular bar called L’Angolo in the posher part of Stockholm. My best friend was DJ-ing that night, probably a mix of mild house and odd techno tunes, and the bar was in the same building, just a few floors down from the Croatian Embassy. Outside the embassy, in a corner of the bar, sat Goran Ljubojević and Ivan Turina, new signings to a team on the brink of implosion and relegation on the heels of a treble-winning season. Six months later, Goran left, tearing up his contract in mutual consent, saying “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you with more goals, but I can help by not taking your money when I leave.” And Ivan, well, Ivan stayed. I haphazardly thanked them both that night for coming to our rescue with an embarrassed laugh. They laughed in return, thanked me for the support, and Ivan went back to drinking his wine (as Croatians do) and smoking his cigar. 

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Take two takes the Montréal Impact closer to its identity

By Matthieu Labaudinière, a French Bostonian based in Montréal. Quotes collected by Eric Beard.

“This is a cosmopolitan city, a much more European city than most North American cities… we are playing in a way that’s more similar to what people would like to have, looking more like Europe. I think [Impact] Montréal is reflecting a lot about what Montréal is. The team is reflected also because we are [composed of] Americans, Canadians, Europeans. Hopefully we can continue to represent Montréal very well.” - Patrice Bernier, a Québécois midfielder for the Montréal Impact.

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Thought Trail: Sheikhs, Queens, and a new home for MLS in NYC?

Eric: The details have been hidden in the shadows, but it comes as no real surprise to see the NYTimes reporting that Man City owner Sheikh Mansour eager to stretch his empire of influence in the world of football to America. Before we fly through this topic in our private jets, I think it’s worth recognizing that - to a degree - it’s impressive that MLS has a Middle Eastern oil tycoon fawning over it, right? Or do you see this as more of a “I want to be a part of it, NY NY” attraction?

Maxi: I get the cynicism towards the Sheikh’s interest; it’s the same sort of public opinion that trails oil barons whenever they buy clubs. But as a whole, this seems to me primarily a decision based in business. Or, as much as it can be given that football clubs aren’t usually all that profitable.

That said, it seems to vindicate that MLS is a league developing on a variety of fronts: whether in terms of quality, global recognition, or financial potential, there was something in New York that prompted the Sheikh to include the city in his plans for a global portfolio. It might be the global reach of a city like New York and the gratification that accompanies it, but does it matter when there had to be a functioning league in place to prompt the decision?

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When Rachid Mekhloufi took the struggle for Algerian independence to the pitch

By Shireen Ahmed

In April 1958, Rachid Mekhloufi, the great St. Etienne striker was 21 years old. Mekhloufi along with nine other players, left their careers in France and returned to Tunis to comprise the first FLN squad. They were playing for a country that did not yet exist. Algeria was in the beginnings of an uprising against its’ colonizer France. Their move would be analyzed, critiqued and applauded by many.

“For me personally, the page was turned because I knew I could never play for France or St. Etienne again” - Mekhloufi

Mekhloufi left France and continued to travel and play against other team in North Africa and abroad. France tried to intervene by requesting that FIFA adhere a status of non-recognition to the FLN squad and disallow such matches. FIFA was only able to implement such restrictions in certain countries.

FLN won over 65 matches in four years and their success meant that the silent and powerful gesture of voluntarily leaving Les Blues could not be ignored. Millions in France who supported the players suddenly became aware of the determination of the FNL squad to see an independent Algeria.

But it was also an intense gamble. The situation in Algeria became worse and there were countless deaths and many of the players still had family in France.

The players persevered and were able to delight their fans and their countryfolk. The FLN propelled a campaign of pro-independence through their majesty on the pitch. Without taking up arms they were able to show the highest form of nationalistic pride, using a football.

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Fans as family, not customers, and the rise of Dortmund

By Anthony Lopopolo

They’re made of steely stuff, these people, and a few stories in the tabloids and the press didn’t do much to break their nerves. After all, Dortmund almost went bankrupt in 2005, and even when they lost so much – millions of dollars, sponsorships and players – the fans never died down. That’s not their way. No fewer than 70,000 attended the matches following that close encounter with the death penalty, and now, sometimes for as little as €11 per ticket, they can watch a team that’s looking destined for Wembley and has a chance to win a second Champions League title.

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Commanding. Pivotal. Tenacious. Javi Martinez has become the complete anchor midfielder.

By Dominic Vieira

He’s worth every cent of the €40m paid for him last year by Bayern Munich, a Bundesliga record that not even Gotze managed to smash only a few hours ago. On a night when two titans clashed, an imperious and brilliant Bavarian side thrashed Barcelona 4-0, with Javi Martinez making a name for himself.

Although the praise naturally revolves around Muller and Robben, who were the fire behind Bayern’s clinical destruction, Javi Martinez was flawless. He was omnipresent throughout the 90 minutes, constantly closing down his opponents, dominating in the air and never missing a tackle. It was a rock-solid performance that became his first win over Barcelona and has now virtually placed Bayern with a slot in the final.

In fact, it was Bayern’s second victory over Vilanova’s side, with the first being last summer’s signing of Martinez. A physical, dynamic player they much needed and were determined to make a ‘blaugrana’, but his fairly high release fee clause ruled them out of the race. For once, Barcelona did not have the financial power at their disposal and opted for a more feasible option, Alex Song.

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The Rise of Vitesse Arnhem: FC Hollywood upon Rhine

By Gary Armstrong

100 years ago, Vitesse Arnhem lost a playoff final against Sparta Rotterdam and as such finished runners up in the race for the 1912/13 Netherlands Football League Championship. A century on, the trophy cabinet at the GelreDome Stadium lies vacant and still awaits Vitesse’s maiden top flight championship trophy. With only a few games remaining in the Eredivisie this year, Vitesse sit in 3rd position, just 5 points astray of league leaders and Dutch giants Ajax. Surprising many by being able to maintain their title challenge until the business end of the season, this may not be the year that Vitesse Arnhem finally fill the gaping void in their history and secure their first Dutch Championship, but they are gaining deserved recognition.

Vitesse’s golden era came at the beginning of the 20th Century as the club ended as runners up of the Netherlands Football League Championship for three consecutive seasons between 1913 and 1915. Since then, the closest Vitesse have come to securing the top league title was a third place Eredivisie finish in 1998. The achievements of the 97/98 season provided a degree of progress for Vitesse given that the club had fallen into bankruptcy in the mid-80’s and spent the majority of the decade playing their football in Holland’s second tier. The resultant drama on and off the pitch during this era earned Vitesse the unenviable nickname of “FC Hollywood upon Rhine”.  

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