waroffutbol

  A few great countrymen trio who became the key figures in their team’s glorious campaign might be forgotten in today’s football. Modern football is probably no longer familiar with the ‘trio’ terms. Today football expects more equal contribution from all players within the team instead of relying on certain key players, as it would be more predictable for their opposition sides to simply contain or block their move to deny their chances and gain the advantage from their dependence on those star trios. The last well-known successful trios were probably Barcelona’s MSN and Real Madrid’s BBC. The former consisted of Lionel Messi , Luis Suarez, and Neymar. They became the deadly attacking trio from 2014 to 2017 under Luis Enrique. The Catalan side won treble in 2015, plus UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in the same year and a league title in 2016. Los Blancos’ Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, and Cristiano Ronaldo even won more silverware. They helped Madrid dominate Europe wit...

  Several English managers have been fairly successful while being at the helm of foreign teams in international football. English managers are not a popular choice to lead the teams at the international or club levels. Such is understandable since they are not even the dominant figures in the Premier League. In the 2024/25 season, only three gaffers are enlisted in the English top flight.  However, the appointment of Steve McLaren as Jamaican national team coach was quite a surprise at the beginning of this season. The former Middlesbrough and Newcastle United boss had been in the dugout as a head coach any longer since 2019. In 2022, he returned to Manchester United as Erik Ten Hag’s assistant. McLaren was also infamous for his failure to lead England to qualify for EURO 2008 rather than his success in winning the first league title for Twente. Yet, it did not stop Reggae Boyz from signing him. His target would be none but guiding them to their second World Cup appearan...

  Boycotts and team withdrawals for political or other reasons used to occur frequently in Olympic football. The Olympic Games have historically been fraught with political issues. Previously, there had been boycotts, team withdrawals, and even a tragic one, such as the 1972 massacre in Munich by the terrorists affiliated by Palestinian militant group . During that incident, 17 people were killed, including one West German police officer and 11 athletes and coaches included in Israeli Olympic team. Political issues frequently resulted in boycotts and team withdrawals. This primarily occurred after World War II and during the Cold War era. The latter one even triggered such boycotts and withdrawals in three Olympics editions, Melbourne 1956, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 . Fortunately, the 1984 was the last one to date. No more of such which had stained the spirit of fair play and respect in sport event. Here are the list of each and every of such which also impacted the cont...

 A few finals in football at the Olympics have been regarded as the most entertaining ones as they produced goals galore. Goals are undoubtedly the source of excitement in football. No wonder that goal galore is always preferable to stalemate. The 2022 FIFA World Cup final is one recent example. Both sides traded goals, resulting in a high-scoring draw of 3-3. It is the first in World Cup history as well as considered the most entertaining one. In football at the Olympics, the goal galore has not taken place for a while. In fact, in the past 20 years, only a few goals have been scored. In Paris 2024, the fans would surely expect the clash between France and Spain to end more like the 2022 World Cup final than the 2024 EURO final, although that does not necessarily mean the latter match is less interesting than the former. Nevertheless, the goals always prevail in the eyes of the fans. Here are the four most entertaining finals in football at the Olympics that produced four go...

  A small number of overage players on the football team at the Olympics actually did their job in helping the team win the gold medal. Overage players have been part of the Olympic squad since Atlanta in 1996. It was introduced to allow senior players to help the U23 team shine and gain optimal results in the tournament. They do not only provide assistance on the pitch but also off the pitch with their experience and skills dealing with pressure during the game. These overage players did not only take on such a role but also contributed heavily to the campaign as their team won gold medals. Most of them have won a number of silverwares in their career at the club. Surprisingly, only one of them was a FIFA World Cup finalist, but none was a World Cup winner. Here are the best of such players in football's history at the Olympics. Javier Mascherano (Argentina, Beijing 2008) The current Argentina U23 boss was included in the squad after winning a gold medal in the previous ed...