The Calm, Steady, Reliable Greece
Sometimes a national team looks nothing like the country it represents.
Browsing Tag
World Cup Week
17 posts
How Does Immigration Affect the Teams at the World Cup?
The number of immigrants in a country doesn't seem to have an effect on how diverse its national team is. If anything, it appears that ethnic and racial minorities get pushed toward soccer.
How Italian Will Italy Be After the World Cup?
The idea of Italian identity has always been a weak one, and the brief, oncer-every-four-years flirtation with the national team just brings those issues into sharper focus.
How Soccer Came to Define Brazil
The massive, multicultural, multiracial nation initially struggled to find a uniting identity—until everyone started playing and watching the sport brought over by the British.
The 2014 World Cup Will Be The Biggest Media Event Ever
This post recognizes it is adding to the noise—but remains hopeful that it also says something valuable about the future of media coverage.
Why This Is the Most Important World Cup Ever for American Soccer’s 99 Percent
Most domestic American players don't make that much money, but with new collective bargaining negotiations coming up, a good performance from the U.S. National Team could help to change that.
The Most Political Matches in World Cup History
A rumored death threat from Mussolini, what was ostensibly an on-field boxing match, and an egregious handball doubling as payback for the Falklands War.
Will Soccer Ever Be as Big as Football in the United States?
As soccer picks up fans and followers in the U.S., entrepreneurs are betting that they’ll be able to make a lot of money off of a sport that’s already enormously popular elsewhere. Will their bets pay off?
Brazil’s Legendary Soccer-Playing Socialist Medical Doctor
Unlike many of the great Brazilian players, Sócrates, who didn't become a professional until age 24, remained an outspoken political voice up until his death three years ago.
Why Are the Official World Cup Songs So Terrible?
It's not easy to make a pop song that appeals to the entire world.