Jose Mourinho’s move to Madrid was not the only remarkable end of the season development. Last week Italy’s soccer federation unanimously selected Cesare Prandelli to succeed Marcello Lippi as Italy coach after the 2010 World Cup. This is an excellent…
Tag: Perspective
Commentary, analysis, viewpoint on the captivating stories in the world of soccer.
Mourinho Arrives in Madrid
The word “saga” gets thrown around loosely among Anglo-American journalists, often in an effort to create a buzz about an unremarkable story, but the Mourinho episode during the past week correctly merits this designation. The “saga” ended today with the…
Inter Prevails, Celebration Tamed
Two excellent individual efforts by Diego Milito made the difference in Saturday’s Champions League final to complete Inter’s dream season and place the Italian club on course to match Barcelona’s unprecedented achievement in 2009. The moment of glory did not…
Champions League Preview
Bayern Munich’s path to today’s Champions League final in Madrid reflects the German club’s status as the competition’s team of destiny. Their passage from group stage to the semifinals had a touch of miracle just about every step of the…
Spanish Curtain Call
In front of 100,000 jubilant spectators that provided a great atmosphere at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona, Sevilla claimed La Copa del Rey in Spain with an efficient win over Atletico Madrid, the newly crowned Europa League champion. The…
Missing from the World Cup
World Cup rosters were announced during the past week to provide an indication of strategic insight, with a few teams effectively revealing their direction in South Africa. The most glaring provisional roster omissions came courtesy of France’s Raymond Domenech and…
Atletico Madrid Jubilation
It’s true, not a dream or a possibility, it really happened. For the first time in 25 years, Atletico Madrid is rejoicing in European glory, capping a season that started with the greatest expectations only to turn into a nightmare…
Liverpool Future Begins Now
In the next days and weeks, Liverpool Footbal Club will finally kick-start the changes required to return to the top of the English football hierarchy. Starting with transformations at the management level and culminating with new ownership desperately needed to…
Champions League Final: Inter-Bayern
If Bayern’s passage into the Champions League final had the look and feel of a formality in Lyon, Inter battled, scraped, cheated, resisted and frustrated a superior opponent to capitalize on the first leg advantage and survived to reach the…
Advantage Fulham and Atletico
English teams completed long, grueling journeys to arrive at their Europa League semifinal matches and it showed. Liverpool hardly created scoring chances in Madrid and will have to fight hard to overturn Atletico’s narrow advantage. Fulham fared better, managing to…
Champions League Notes – Semis
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan took important steps toward reaching the final of the competition, as Lyon missed an opportunity and the defending champion Barcelona was overpowered out of the beautiful game. Internazionale Milano – Barcelona 3-1 Mourinho’s tactic for…
El Maestro de Catalonya
Barcelona went into Madrid last Saturday with aplomb and completed the most critical week of its season triumphantly, making history in the process – Barca had never won consecutive matches at the Bernabeu. While most of the pre-game conversation revolved…
Great Choice for River
In a season where four of the “Big Five” clubs of Buenos Aires have changed coaches and endured terrible campaigns, River Plate took a huge step forward toward ending a long run of misery and mediocrity by persuading Argentine coach…
Beware of the Locusts
If Arsenal’s imminent ownership change does not seem to carry drastic immediate implications, Liverpool’s ownership situation is becoming increasingly alarming. It has now emerged that Goldman Sachs – yes, the same Goldman Sachs, the great vampire squid wrapped around the…
Que Te Pasa, Fernando?
Liverpool will take on Atletico Madrid in the marquee semifinal of the Europa League, a match-up with several implications including Fernando Torres’ return to the Calderon to take on the club he grew up with. The winner of this home…