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“All nationalistic distinctions – all claims to be better than somebody else because you have a different-shaped skull or speak a different dialect – are entirely spurious, but they are important so long as people believe in them.”
—
George Orwell
WORDS: LAYTH YOUSIF
The MLS may be a relatively new league, but the passion of the Great Northwest Derby, between Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers, runs deep. We take a look at a rivalry based on two distinct civic identities, with a hostility driven by subtle distinctions in principles and ethos…
WORDS: DOMINIC BLISS
The narrative of Fulham’s season has largely been defined by the sultry performances of Dimitar Berbatov, but while the stylish forward has been making the headlines two other former Bundesliga stars have been quietly impressing the Craven Cottage crowd with their neat combination play…
The rivalry between Mexico and the USA doesn’t need much extra spice but, for the first generation Mexican-Americans living north of the border, there is a big decision to be made. Dominic Bliss spoke to US soccer fan and journalist, Luis Bueno, about a dilemma that involves much more than sport…
One of the fiercest rivalries in international football attracts very little attention here in Britain, but the passion in the Azteca Stadium on Tuesday as Mexico host the USA in a World Cup Qualifier will be fiery to say the least. Dominic Bliss asked Guadalajara-based journalist Tom Marshall all about it…
WORDS: BRYAN DAVIES
As we celebrate the immense durability of Ryan Giggs and Kevin Phillips, and the dash and daring of Gareth Bale, lest we forget it is 20 years since the man who inspired them hung up his boots. We recall the playing career of a man who helped footballers reevaluate what was physically possible…
WORDS: LAYTH YOUSIF
This is a story about a man who not only survived the Second World War, but who played the game of his life in order to save his life in a prisoner-of-war camp. Nine years after Fritz Walter’s ability had saved him from near-certain death in a Siberian gulag, he would go on to win the World Cup…
WORDS: TOM BARNETT
Hooked by the sights, the sounds, the smells during a snore draw with Huddersfield, it’s fair to say picking Bristol City on the back of a 0-0 at Ashton Gate was not the most glamorous beginning to a footballing love affair. But joyous pitch invasions and tear-stained defeats were just around the corner…
WORDS: JOHN HYNES
Twice in the Sixties, Bill Shankly’s Liverpool secured the league title and on both occasions the Football League trophy was absent on the day of triumph. With the Reds players waiting to celebrate, the fans in the Kop produced a makeshift cup of their own, which has gone down in Anfield folklore…
INTERVIEW: DOMINIC BLISS
When Alan Black moved from Glasgow to California, he discovered that the kids in suburban America didn’t react too well to his Scottish coaching technique. After writing a critically acclaimed book about his experiences, he spoke to TheInsideLeft about the game’s transatlantic cultural differences…
WORDS: CHRISTOPH WAGNER
The “Bundesliga 50″ series continues with the third part of our history of German football. After two strong decades, things couldn’t possibly get any better for German football fans in the Eighties, but they didn’t get much worse. However, a worrying trend for losing in major finals began to emerge…
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