To my dear friends in Sao Paulo who I met last year at the meeting of the World Cup protest committees at the Casa Fora do Eixo. And also the journalists and students at the Mediaon conference earlier in the week. Oscar Niemeyer (Brazil’s famous architect and socialist) would have …
Read More »A star is born: Brazil’s Neymar matches the hype
On 19 June 2013, Brazilian starlet and football’s clown prince, Neymar, became a star. And, if ever they needed extra reason to dream, Brazil fans now have something tangible to pin their 2014 World Cup dreams on after a Neymar-inspired 2-0 win over CONCACAF champions, Mexico, at Fortelaza. The upcoming …
Read More »Ramdin, Broad and the anti-West Indies agenda
A white ’ooman name Miss Black, a black ’ooman name Miss White, a red ooman name Miss Green is the funniest ting I’ve seen. A narrow-minded referee name Chris Broad… The calypsonian did not actually sing those lines half-a-century or so ago. But if, like me, he has followed the …
Read More »Totalitarian Tim: TTFA president accused of snubbing exco
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Raymond Tim Kee looks set for a collision course with his executive committee after two senior members suggested today that Tim Kee appears to be using the football body as a rubber stamp. Tim Kee, whose day job is as a sales executive …
Read More »Hart transplant: TTFA hires ex-Canada coach… locals still unpaid
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) appears set to announce another new face on its technical staff on the eve of the July 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Wired868 understands that former Canada national football team coach Stephen Hart has accepted a two-year offer from TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee …
Read More »Captain Caribbean: Bravo’s blueprint for brilliance
Not for nothing were West Indian teams prior to Kerry Packer’s crucial intervention in the late 1970’s ritually called “Calypso Cricketers.” Sparrow’s “Slave” contains a line that perhaps epitomizes the regional attitude to the game. In that classic tune, the Calypso King of the World as first person narrator describes …
Read More »Adios, Au revoir, Ciao… Time to say goodbye, Anil
It is not like Sport Minister Anil Roberts to be without an opinion that he does not want to scream into someone’s face. It’s strange then to see the Spalk Minister so timid in the face of a damning Auditor General’s report that accuses him and his miniature Permanent Secretary …
Read More »Brazil roll on and roll off Japan in Confederations Cup opener
Outside the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia, police reportedly used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters who feel the 2014 World Cup to be a burden on taxpayers who are then priced out of the showcase football event. Inside the venue, FIFA president Sepp Blatter was …
Read More »Bravo’s thoughtful Windies captaincy undone by Trini traits
7.45pm, June 14, 2013, The Kennington Oval. It is drizzling steadily but West Indian ODI captain Dwayne Bravo and his immediate predecessor Darren Sammy decline to leave the field. AB de Villiers and his South Africans, who looked hard-pressed to salvage a much-needed win, have long since disappeared into the …
Read More »Confederations Cup kicks off: Will the Samba Boys stand up?
Brazil will get the 2013 Confederations Cup under way in a Group A clash with Japan from 2.45 pm today as they aim to show football fans what they can look forward to at next year’s World Cup tournament. The Confederations Cup, which also features Mexico and Italy in Group …
Read More »The great bungle: The real reason for West Indies’ flop
So the reigning T20 champions will miss out on the June 23 Edgbaston Champions Trophy final which, with luck, could feature India and South Africa. But it was neither Mother India nor Mother Africa that did the West Indies in, as the conspiracy theorists might argue. No, say the apologists, …
Read More »The Tim-kerman: TTFA president explains Beenhakker move
Italian coach Claudio Ranieri’s penchant for chopping and changing his first team at Chelsea, even when his squad was on a successful run, earned him the sobriquet of “The Tinkerman.” Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Raymond Tim Kee, who took the helm of the local football body last …
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