The 2010 World Cup has seen its share of failures and fairytales, and following each team’s elimination the futures of the managers have been under immediate scrutiny. Some nations exceeded expectations, while others failed to meet them – so which bosses live to fight another day? STAYING Fabio Capello will continue as England manager despite [...]

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In claiming its first World Cup championship with a 1-0 win over a hardworking but ultimately overmatched Dutch team, Spain demonstrated that playing beautiful football isn’t a reward in itself. If you want the trophy, sometimes you’ve got to win a little ugly. And this game was no a piece of art. Spain was more [...]

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There are but four games remaining in World Cup 2010, and we shouldn’t even count the third/four place game, which is about as pointless as putting your money on England to win the whole shebang in the first place. It’s arguably worse to lose the semi-final than the final itself as, from the fans’ perspective, [...]

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European champions Spain just keeps getting better and better. They survived a stern test from Portugal to book their place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup through David Villa’s goal. Two years to the day since they beat Germany to triumph at Euro 2008, Vicente del Bosque’s side showed their slick brand of passing [...]

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Nigeria lost its first two World Cup group stage matches but still came just one goal short of advancing with their draw against South Korea. As one of the more heavily favored African nations, the early elimination was certainly a disappointment. So how is Nigeria handling that disappointment? From the BBC: Nigeria’s president has suspended [...]

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The unceremonious (and richly deserved) dumping of Italy and France out of World Cup 2010, and the travails of England, Germany and Spain — and arguably even Serbia and Denmark — are a sign that world soccer has gone multipolar. “Multipolarity” was a term coined by French foreign policy wonks fretting over the Bush Administration’s [...]

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I wonder what the eagles were doing when their fellow counterparts from Brazil requested for heated-up swimming pools when Argentina asked for nutritious meals, when the Americans requested for game rooms just to reduce the tension. I guess the Eagles, sorry the Chickens had lots of home videos to reduce the tension. Who is to [...]

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Diego Armando Maradona is a total legend. He lights up the world cup on and off the pitch. The truth is, the world cup needed him as much as he needed the world cup. Heinze’s goal vs Nigeria was straight off the training ground, something Maradona had worked on tirelessly with his players. Careful who [...]

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Former French captain Zinedine Zidane has criticised coach Raymond Domenech after the 2-0 defeat by Mexico which left Les Bleus on the brink of World Cup elimination. Zidane, a member of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning team, believes Domenech got his selection wrong by demoting Yoann Gourcuff to the bench, depriving the side of a creative [...]

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Every World Cup needs its mystery team, usually a side of minnows few know very much about — in 2006, the “Soca Warriors” of Trinidad & Tobago played that role with cuddly, heart-warming gusto. It’s a bit harder to attach that sort of sentiment to North Korea, whose dictatorial regime is one of the most [...]

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Its day 4 at the world Cup and I would do some predictions. The Netherlands play Denmark in the first match on day four of the World Cup in South Africa, with Japan facing Cameroon and Italy taking on Paraguay later. I tip the Orange boys to prevail while Japan and Cameroon could end in [...]

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Strap yourself in, make sure your diary is clear until July 12 and get set for a fantastic fiesta of football. The 19th World Cup, being held in Africa for the first time, is almost upon us. And UNILAGFACES will be covering every kick (penalty, free and those in open play), card (red and yellow) [...]

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At a party in 1998, João Havelange was asked whether he considered himself the most powerful man in the world. It was a question suitable for a head of state, but Havelange, who was merely the president of FIFA, or Fédération Internationale de Football Association, soccer’s governing body, didn’t blanch. He said, “I’ve been to [...]

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