[EADF Shorts] Catenaccio – Rappan, Herrera and the birth of a revolutionary philosophy

Tactics

by Enzo Karema - June 2, 2020

Only on rare occasions do managers get more famous than their players. Pep Guardiola is recognised globally for his use of positional play or Juego de Posición at Barcelona but the recognition his players received was consistent with the attention he garnered. On the other hand, the famous 'Catenaccio' defensive style of

Dani Olmo – Following the footsteps of great Spanish playmakers

Player Profiles

by Varun Kumar - May 31, 2020

In the modern-day football world, teenagers and youth players seeking to deviate from their academies to foreign leagues for first-team chances seem to be the path trodden, as opposed to breaking into the home-grown club's first team. Although Jadon Sancho is the first name that comes to mind seeing that

Sarri’s last chance; The return of Serie A

by Alex Barker - May 30, 2020

With the return of Serie A set for June 20th, we are set for perhaps one of Europe's tightest title races. Just a single point separates Simone Inzaghi's Lazio side from Maurizio Sarri's Juventus. With the Premier League, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 sewn up, Europe's prying eyes will be drawn

Remembering Croatia’s World Cup run in 2018

by Shiv Tiwari - May 28, 2020

The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia had 3,031,768 fans in attendance to witness the epitome of the beautiful game, and the glory, heartbreak, despair, heroism, hope and belief that went with it. Over 3.03 billion people tuned in from all over the world to watch the action unfold between

No Tonic for Marseille’s ‘Chronic Instability’

Originals

by Ritwik Sarkar - May 27, 2020

For a season that has seen Marseille return to form, seal a return to European competition, the club on the south of France have predictably turned wine into water, again. The club itself admitted to it, lamenting in an official statement "For the last 20 years, Marseille is a club that has suffered

The Rundown for ‘Der Klassiker’

Originals

by Adibir Singh - May 25, 2020May 26, 2020

The biggest game in German football needs little introduction. Record winners Bayern are looking to for their 8th straight 'Meisterschale'- but the Bavarians have had their backs against the wall for a large part of the season. Bayern made a sluggish start to the season with three draws and two losses

Nobby Stiles vs Eusébio – One of football’s underrated tale

Down Memory Lane

by Aadharsh Shrimanikandan - May 24, 2020May 24, 2020

27th July 1966: Eusebio of Portugal (left) and Nobby Stiles of England in a duel for the ball during their World Cup semi-final match at Wembley, which England won 2-1. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images) Living in the Messi-Ronaldo era, we have gifted our eyes to a decade of stunning performances.

Aritz Aduriz – The lion retires without the swansong he deserved

Player Profiles

by Aaryan Parasnis - May 23, 2020May 23, 2020

At the beginning of the 2019-20 La Liga campaign, veteran striker Aritz Aduriz announced that he would hang up his boots come the end of the season. An announcement, followed by a stunning overhead kick that inflicted defeat on FC Barcelona in the very first matchday of the season. Aritz

Joga Bonito – The Brazilian foundations of ‘The Beautiful game’

by Enzo Karema - May 22, 2020May 22, 2020

Over the years football has come to be known as the ‘The Beautiful Game’.How did this phrase stick? It got its relevance from the Portuguese form of the word -‘Joga Bonito’. So then the questions beckon - When did this phrase become popularized in football folklore? What exactly is Joga

The cost of winning – Athletes as role models

Opinion

by Suwaid Fazal - May 22, 2020May 22, 2020

With the world of professional sports teetering on the edge due to the coronavirus crisis, Netflix's 10-part documentary series-The Last Dance, chronicling sporting icon Michael Jordan's emergence in the NBA until his final days in the empire that he built with the Chicago Bulls, has been a welcome consolation during

Wes Brown – More Than A Mere Passenger

by Pavan Pillai - May 19, 2020May 19, 2020

Role players who feature for perennial contenders often do not receive their just due. Our obsession with superstars has conditioned us to think of these players as mere passengers who were launched to the promised land by the "big names". Wesley Brown is one amongst many Red Devils from their

Eden Hazard – The journey so far

Player Profiles

by Anirudh Srinivaas Eswaran - May 17, 2020May 17, 2020

These days the term 'generational' is bandied about a bit too often. There are several players, who with all due respect, on the basis of a few performances get anointed with this term when they are probably not exactly of that level. However, when it comes to Eden Hazard, there

Tracing the roots of Women’s football in England and India

Down Memory Lane

by Vaishnavi Lingsur - May 16, 2020

Football has existed in our world for centuries. Its first existence is traced back to the 3rd and 2nd century BC in China, where the game was called Cuju. However, women, who throughout history have been the oppressed sex, were given little importance when it came to their participation and

The making of Leroy Sané – The German speedster coming of age

Player Profiles

by Sidharth Suresh - May 15, 2020May 15, 2020

"I don't have any problem with criticism. It's an incentive to refine myself." - Leroy Sané. One of Europe's most talented wingers, 'The Wattenscheider Robben', has been ripping apart defences with his blistering pace and a wand of a left foot for quite a while now. Still only 24, Leroy Sané