The Hollywood Pass
Two days before the 1992 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand began, Pakistan captain Imran Khan was a broken man. Khan, an allrounder, had torn the tendons in his right shoulder. “I was in no condition to bat or bowl or even do any fielding. I played with pain killers and cortisone injections […]
Mikel Arteta looked crushed. He was sat in front of the Arsenal goal mouth at Stamford Bridge, his legs stretched in front of him and his arms resting on either leg. The Arsenal captain glanced to his right to see Oscar, the Chelsea winger, trot away jubilantly towards a Chelsea huddle celebrating the goal he […]
It was June 18, 2006. Miami Heat, the NBA team from Florida, had just won a close game against the Dallas Mavericks to win their third straight game in the NBA finals to race to a 3-2 lead in the 7-match series. The Heat’s achievement was all the more impressive because they had bounced back […]
“Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it’s OK to lose,” Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen once said. “I don’t. You have to be merciless.” Carlo Ancelotti, one would think, would be inclined to agree. “We just think about winning matches, not thrashing teams,” the Real Madrid manager said in the […]
Alf Ramsey, the English manager who led the Three Lions to World Cup glory on home soil in 1966, was once interacting with his players after an England match at the old Wembley stadium. “I had had a fairly good game and he’s shaking everybody’s hands,” recalled Gordon Banks, England’s legendary goalkeeper who was also […]
José Mourinho chose his words carefully. “I think,” he said and paused. “It hurts me a little bit to say this, I want to give 99% credit to (Erik) Ten Hag, the beautiful work he did with this team. But I have to be critical in one per cent.” “I think in this second half, […]
“It’s football. Football, football, football. I don’t think he has any other interest in life.” That’s Sven-Göran Eriksson describing Roberto Mancini in the podcast ‘The Big Interview With Graham Hunter’. Eriksson, who coached Mancini for 9 years — first at Sampdoria and then at Lazio – must know what he was talking about. However, if […]
Florentino Pérez embraced Raúl González. The former Real Madrid captain said something in Pérez’s ear, which made Pérez playfully slap across Raúl’s face. The pair hugged again before Raúl walked away to let Pérez enjoy the presentation ceremony of the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 final at the Stade de France. As Real Madrid players came […]
The last miracle in Italian football occurred on a Sunday in May 1991, when U.C. Sampdoria won their first – and so far only – Serie A title, pipping defending champions AC Milan to the Scudetto. Thirty-one years later, Milan conjured a miracle of their own on a Sunday evening in May in the northern […]
Franck Ribéry looked peeved. The clock showed 75 minutes at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Stadium in the Der Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund. Ribéry had opened his team’s scoring, lashing home, on first touch, a cross from the right by Philip Lahm in the 4th minute. He had also made an assist. Now the fourth official was […]