Offside Sarah

In another league: Foreign Football Players in Europe

(via European football: In another league | The Economist)

Seriously, Madrid has aged Benzema at least 10 years! Look at all those wrinkles! 

(via thelastcartonrouge)

Wow, Ronaldinho was so adorable before all the fame, trophies, and glory! 

(via pitchinvasion)

Reading Rec: TNC’s Deadline Day Exclusive Interview with Tom Williams

Interesting interview on pursing career in journalism, #Euro2012, titles races across Europe,fielding ‘B’ sides in Championship, and more… 

Read the full interview at Transfer News Central. 

Reading Rec: Real Madrid need a hard-man, but Pepe isn't it

Excerpt: 

‘Yet, at the same time, it’s an oversimplification. To use the aforementioned four examples, Vidic, Terry, Baresi and Desailly – the more aggressive of their pairings – might be able to both take it and dish it out, but they are not merely lunatics. The Venn diagram of imposing centre-backs and violent madmen might have a significant overlap, but it’s not an exact correlation. Such players will always be wildcards, and it doesn’t take a tactical genius to work out that if you have a wildcard in your team, they’re best kept the hell away from your own goal. Which brings us to Real Madrid, and Pepe.’

Read the full article at The FCF.

afootballreport:

By Eric Beard

Doesn’t vehement hatred get kind of boring after a while? I mean, sure, if you want to let a little schadenfreude and anger out a couple of times a year, that’s fine. Everyone’s entitled to their fair share of irrational fandom. Maybe I’m not as creative as the Spanish press and [insert name of your Superclub]’s fans, but hatred gets kind of circular after a while. Millions and millions of fans watched the superb match at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, where violence and drama were plentiful. They saw Messi assist and Ronaldo score. They saw a comeback that arguably could have overshadowed Liverpool’s triumph in Istanbul. The match, in itself, was fantastic, but the shoving, pushing, accusing, and general unabashed conduct that has become the status quo took over as the final whistle approached.

Unprofessionalism can be as equally entertaining as it is surprising, don’t get me wrong. But only if it’s unexpected (and relatively non-violent). I remember seeing an MLS playoff game in 2007 between the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. Michael Parkhurst of New England had been presented two awards before the match: the MLS Defender of the Year award and the Fair Play award. Within 20 minutes of kickoff, Parkhurst gave away a freekick, which prompted an inordinately audible Cee-Lo Green-esque “eff you!” for everyone in the stands to feast their ears upon. It was appalling, yet also hilarious given Parkhurst might as well have been the league’s Dalai Lama. When is the last time you heard say, “that Pepe, he’s amusing isn’t he?” When expected, unprofessionalism is quite simply as boring as it is disgusting.

With Spaniards consuming a half dozen Clásicos every year, stories elsewhere are welcome, yet difficult to be granted attention by the Spanish media. Two unexpected figures have been uniting Spanish fans, one though genius and one through sheer spirit. The first is Marcelo Bielsa, the manager of Athletic Bilbao, who has done remarkably well in his first season with the Basque club. Bielsa has earned the full support of Athletic fans, managing to get results through an enjoyable style of play. The second is a Spanish club based in Spain’s Segunda División B, Group 2 named CD Mirandés, who have managed to somehow transcend the boundaries of what is imaginable for a club that can only seat 6,000 in its stadium. Indeed, Mirandés did the ineffable by progressing into the Copa del Rey semifinals courtesy of an injury-time winner from Pablo Infante, Mirandés’ midfielder-turned-Spanish hero. 

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captainfabfro:

I love Pepe but I love Marcelo more in this pic… it’s like he’s keeping an eye out so no one tries anything funny

(via thelastcartonrouge)

Wow, Diego is TINY… 

bundesligaclassic:

After the 1982 World Cup, Maradona transfered to Barcelona where he was welcomed by former Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern München coach Udo Lattek (right). The pair later had a difficult relationship after Lattek left without Maradona after the Argentina failed to show up to the team bus on time.  Also pictured is Argentina coach Cesar Luis Menotti.

Video: Incredible El Clasico Images

No so sure about the Adele soundtrack, but you really appreciate the athleticism and raw emotion from all parties involved (players, fans, coaches,etc) in slow motion! Check out the video on the Canal Plus site. (via @dng22)