* By Sportingintelligence 9 October 2011 The online auction to raise funds in memory of Sir Bobby Robson – with amazing lots involving Lionel Messi, Barcelona, Jose Mourinho, Pele, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and many, many more – is now live. You can visit to charity home page here. You can go straight to […]
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‘In this age of media and Messi, it’s barely believable. But Argentina, world champions at the time, trained in Hyde Park, amongst a totally nonplussed English general public, sitting in deck-chairs’
** Based in Buenos Aires, Neil Clack is a writer who specialises in South American football. His book, ‘Animals!: Argentina versus England’ is now out in paperback. Below he describes what inspired him to write the history of this famously and famously acrimonious fixture, but starts with an extract from the book, and ‘keeper Carlos […]
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More popular than God: Ronaldo, Messi, Federer and Kobe (but not Beckham)
By Nick Harris 2 August 2010 Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s most popular athlete in all of global sport according to new research by sportingintelligence to coincide with Facebook reaching the landmark of 500m active users. Social networking is increasingly important in the promotion and marketing of sports stars and teams. Thus Facebook, now the […]
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‘Most players fit some conventional description, but Messi isn’t just a striker or a midfielder; he’s everywhere and everything’
By Andy Cole 25 March 2010 The latest rich list of footballers’ pay by France Football magazine was released yesterday and Lionel Messi has jumped to the top, making £29.6m in 2009 from salary, endorsements and sponsorships to put him above even David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. I have no idea how realistic these numbers […]
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Messi was king of ’09 but Becks bestrode the decade
By Andy Cole 31 December 2009 The middle of the most remarkable Premier League season we’ve ever had is as good a time as any to reflect on a great 2009, and a defining decade for England’s top division. Not that England’s top division has a monopoly on magnificent talent, which leads me nicely to […]
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The Hogwarts of soccer, Barca 2012: the story behind the story
In 2012, Grant Wahl wrote a profile piece about FC Barcelona for Sports Illustrated. It was headlined The World’s Team and for it, he was given unparalleled week-long access to the club’s new training facility – which he memorably titles ‘The Hogwarts of Soccer’. This was FC Barcelona in 2012, basking in the afterglow of […]
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Oklahoma City Thunder No1 earners in sport as gender gulf endures
By Nick Harris 26 November 2017 Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA are now the best paid team in global sport according to Sportingintelligence’s Global Sports Salaries Survey (GSSS) for 2017, published today. This year’s GSSS is a 140-page special edition, which, for the first time, includes an ‘audit’ that quantifies the gulf between men’s and women’s professional […]
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How Giroud tops Vardy, and why Arsenal fail to spend
By Joel Oberstone 18 August 2016 Arsenal began the season with a home defeat. Some fans already have their annual revolt against Arsene Wenger underway. It’s business as usual, this growing disquiet that club and manager will make a mess of hiring good new players. With the next fixture on Saturday away at champions Leicester, now is perhaps […]
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‘Manage with an iron bar, and you’d break hearts. Literally’
Screen Break By Martin Kelner 28 March 2016 My sister telephoned me just as the Germany – England match was kicking off. It’s a couple of months since we last spoke, so she wanted a comprehensive catch-up. Good timing. No seriously, good timing. She knows I have trouble getting fully engaged in an England friendly, […]
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Football Manager: Fantasy more real than you might imagine
By Alex Stewart 29 February 2016 TRANSFER deadline day this year was its usual mixture of hype, desperation and the occasional genuinely interesting deal. And of course, for me, abuse. For the last three deadline days I have been part of the BBC’s live blogging effort, offering a Football Manager perspective on the day’s comings […]
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