Tag Archives: Arjen Robben

Hopefully, the Brazilian football federation will locate the black box one day. Never in the history of the World Cup has a host team faced the embarrassment suffered by Brazil, the five-time champions, over the past five days. This was more tiki-torture than tiki-taka. It is one thing to have …

If yesterday’s 2014 World Cup semi-final was a sumptuous feast—albeit a bit rich for Brazilian football fans—then today’s affair was rice and patchoi; unsavoury and forgettable but good enough to take you where you want to go. And, for Lionel Messi and his band of brothers, the next stop is …

There were punching bags that fought back more bravely; and babies who held on to their candy longer. Even when Spain was a genuine global superpower and its conquistadores colonised most of South America, the Spaniards never managed to get Brazil under their thumb. So what chance did they have …

Spain football fans might one day log their 2014 World Cup adventure in a file titled: “How to lose a World Cup in five goals.” Defending World Cup champions have made losing starts before; France lost 1-0 to Senegal 10 years ago and, 12 years earlier, Argentina was stunned 1-0 …

If Krystal Mitchell was here, she would have celebrated 19 May 2012 as if it was her birthday. A passionate Chelsea supporter, Krystal would have been ecstatic at the England Premier League team’s dramatic European Champions League penalty shoot-out triumph over Bayern Munich. Krystal moved to France in September 2011 …