Ageless Wonders, Crazy Owners, And Ultras: Our 2014-2015 Serie A Preview
Italy's Serie A is a league of stories, full of characters, narratives, plots, tensions, climaxes, and clichés. Time and again, the line between fact and fiction becomes so blurred that you just have to throw your hands up and shrug. You really couldn't make a lot of this stuff up....
How Russia Evolved Into One Of The World Cup's Most Dangerous Teams
Russia's march to Brazil began at the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland/Ukraine. The Russians, led by Dutch manager Dick Advocaat captured the attention of Europe with a comprehensive 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic in their opening game. The free-flowing, explosive Russian attack, a product of Ad...
Can Ghana Break American Hearts Once Again?
Ghana locked up a spot in Brazil by first cruising to the top of their African qualifying group, then demolishing Bob Bradley's Egypt over 2 legs by an aggregate 7-3 score line. The Black Stars allowed only 6 goals in their 8 qualifying games, while scoring 25 of their own. They were led by veteran ...
Portugal Might Be Ronaldo And The Rest, But That's Still Scary Good
Portugal made a surprising run to the semifinals of Euro 2012, narrowly losing out to Spain on penalty kicks in a game many thought the Portuguese deserved to win. It marked the second straight tournament where Portugal were eliminated by their archrivals, as Spain won a 1-0 Round-of-16 matchup in S...
Why Nigeria, Now Hardened Veterans, Will Be A Tough Out In Brazil
Nigeria come into Brazil with as much international tournament experience in the last few years as any team in the world, having won the 2013 African Cup of Nations and subsequently playing in the 2013 Confederations Cup. These experiences gave manager Stephen Keshi, a former Super Eagle himself, mo...
Overmatched, Costa Rica Can Still Make It Rough For Everyone Else
Do they have any shot? Not really. But that doesn't mean Costa Rica can't put the fear of God into the Group D favorites for a half or so....
Uruguay Are Inevitable
Many believed that Uruguay's dramatic run to the World Cup semifinals in 2010 was somewhat of a surprise. It wasn't....
Even Without Superstar Falcao, Colombia Is Still A World Cup Terror
First, Colombia had to navigate the difficult South American World Cup qualifiers. It was easy. Led by superstar striker and certifiable beast Radamel Falcao, Colombia booked their tickets for the tournament after easing to a second-place finish in CONMEBOL. Going into 2014, Colombia looked a world ...
A Shadow Of Themselves, The Netherlands Need A World Cup Miracle
In 2010, the Netherlands shocked the world by making it all the way to the World Cup final in South Africa. This year, many believe this team diminished. The oldest of their squad have since moved on, and injuries to stars like midfielder Kevin Strootman and keeper Maarten Stekelenburg have further ...