Andy Mead/ YCJSoccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa. Regular league games in South Africa typically draw 8,000. RIO DE JANEIRO—The 2010 World Cup is history. Spain were deserving winners over a preternaturally violent Dutch side that should have been sent to Robben Island for a week of rock breaking. The juxtaposition of the villainous anti-football of […]
Chris Gaffney
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Semifinals begin today: Previewing Uruguay—Holland (and why Uruguay shouldn’t apologize)
Richard HeathcoteWesley Sneijder of the Dutch RIO DE JANEIRO—There are 3,510,386 Uruguayans living in Uruguay. As with 21 of the 23 players on the Uruguayan roster, some three million more Uruguayans live and work outside of the República Oriental del Uruguay. Uruguay is nestled snugly between Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay is lovely. It is fun […]
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Brazil play beautiful football and lose to the Dutch; the conspiracy theories mount
Richard HeathcoteArjen Robben made key contributions on the cut-up pitch of Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil were brilliant for 53 minutes. Holland were terrible for 75. For about an hour, Brazil had constant midfield pressure, were recovering the ball with ease, winning the tactical battle, attacking with fluidity […]
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Previewing Brazil-Portugal; racism in Brazilian media
RIO DE JANEIRO—It’s pretty amazing that Brazil, year after year, Cup after Cup, is always the team to beat. It’s hard for Brazil not to be in the group of death, because they are death to opponents. Not only has Brazil won more cups than any other nation, they have more victories and the highest […]
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Reflections on watching Brazil with Brazilians
Andy Mead/ YCJIvory Coast’s Emmanuel Eboue takes down Brazil’s Kaká. RIO DE JANEIRO—The Rio de Janeiro FIFA Fan Fest (FFF) is a textbook example of how space can be manipulated to create and reproduce socio-economic hierarchies, cultural value systems and accelerate patterns of consumption. Watching Brazil versus Ivory Coast there on Sunday afternoon was a […]
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Reviewing Argentina-South Korea and other things, like stadiums
Andy Mead/ YCJSoccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa RIO DE JANEIRO—The irony of the name Soccer City is probably lost on FIFA. From the air, the stadium looks to be surrounded by nothing, a world apart, a huge bowl of money, a colorful tip jar sitting in isolation from the dichotomous reality of Johannesburg. FIFA is […]
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Brazil, de Brasil
RIO DE JANEIRO—Today marks my first ever World Cup game in Brasil. The streets are painted, everyone is getting off work early, the country is moving insanely quickly and is totally paralyzed at the same time. Today’s front section of the O Globo newspaper, p. 14 says: “Copa: Metro and trains will have special scheme.” […]
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World Cup, carioca style
RIO DE JANEIRO—It’s the night before the World Cup and I can’t sleep. These four weeks, these 64 games, this World Cup will define the rest of my life, in one way or another. The life cycle of football fans is linked to seasons, temporadas, campeonatos, fixtures and World Cups. I frequently count backwards in […]
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RailHawks eat Aztex hearts, 3-0
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/CARYOne can always gauge the attendance figures by looking at the “kids tunnel” that forms to welcome the referees and players onto the field. Last night there were 40 kids and an official attendance of 2,138. On the bright side there were two pantomime cows, Swoops, and several dozen dogs, as it was […]
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RailHawks, blistering sun, chase away Blues, 4-0
WAKEMED SOCCER PARKIt was bloody hot, 2 p.m. on a Sunday. It took effort to get to the stadium. Surely, there were cooler things to do. When I sat, the backs of my legs burned until they absorbed the heat of the plastic. It hurt but I consoled myself with the realization that I was […]