Thesefootballtimes
How Simone Inzaghi stepped out of Pippo’s shadow to become Italy’s best young manager
How Simone Inzaghi stepped out of Pippo’s shadow to become…
IT SEEMED AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK, but by the end, Lazio had made it possible. For more than two years Juventus had been undefeated in Turin, an imposing, inexorable force with six successive Serie A titles behind them. No-one really expected their imperious record to be ended so unceremoniously. In the Lazio camp, though, there was […]
The gentle Spanish mastermind: Rafa Benítez’s eventful journey to Tyneside
The gentle Spanish mastermind: Rafa Benítez’s eventful…
FOOTBALL IS ALL ABOUT INCLUSIVITY. The most beautiful element of the sport is that it is available to anyone, and holds no regard for creed, colour or ability. This applies to players thrust into the spotlight and coaches who have to be thick-skinned and impervious to even the harshest criticism. With the right combination of […]
Michel Platini vs Paulo Roberto Falcão: a calcio rivalry for the ages
Michel Platini vs Paulo Roberto Falcão: a calcio rivalry…
THE POWER OF ONE FOOTBALLER can often have an immeasurable impact on a club. Although the collective efforts of 11 players ultimately trump the effect of a single player, teams can easily be driven on the genius of one man. At Juventus in the 1980s, the genius-in-chief was Michel Platini. The supremely gifted Frenchman was […]
Carlo Sartori: the Italian Busby Babe
Carlo Sartori: the Italian Busby Babe
BEFORE MATTEO DARMIAN, FEDERICO MACHEDA AND MASSIMO TAIBI, there was another Italian on the books at Old Trafford – the Red Devils’ first ever non-British player, Carlo Domenico Sartori. Born on 10 February 1948 in Caderzone, it a municipality with a population of fewer than 500 people, outside the northern territory of Trento. One of […]
Ali Adnan: the Iraqi who allegedly gave up football to fight jihadists
Ali Adnan: the Iraqi who allegedly gave up football to fight…
WALKING THROUGH TEHRAN’S WESTERN DISTRICT OF EKTABAN, one can do little to avoid the magnificent sight of the Azadi Stadium, the biggest sports structure in Iran. Its name means “freedom” in Persian, but before the end of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, it was known as Aryamehr, literally “the light of the Aryans”. The Azadi […]
Gianfranco Zola and Diego Maradona at Napoli: the student and the mentor
Gianfranco Zola and Diego Maradona at Napoli: the student…
DIEGO MARADONA IS AN IMMORTAL ICON IN NAPLES, a figure with almost divine right within his adopted city and the Stadio San Paolo. In the Campania capital, there is no Pelé, Ronaldo or Messi. There is only Maradona. A symbolic hero among the supporters, the Argentine is Napoli’s all-time leading scorer with 115 goals and led […]