Canada 2-0 El Salvador
June 24 – Fresh from emerging from a Concacaf-imposed timeout, Canadian head coach Jesse Marsch returned to the technical area at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, knowing any more misbehaviour would send him back to the naughty room. He needn’t have worried as their opponents El Salvador simply imploded in a red mist.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 2 – New York Cosmos, once the most glamourous name in United States soccer which even lured Pele out of retirement, wants to become a major force once again – possibly with Arab money.
By David Gold
November 2 – Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has followed Gareth Bale’s example and reiterated his desire to play in the Great British football team at next year’s Olympic Games by posing in a limited edition British Olympic Association (BOA) football supporters shirt.
The Carlos Tévez and John Terry affairs could not be more different. One is a case of an employee allegedly not wanting to do his job; the other is about an employee allegedly behaving badly while at work.
They both illustrate the behaviour problems of today’s footballers, more so during high profile matches which are subjected to unprecedented public scrutiny through the internet and social media.
They also illustrate that those involved in running football including the players union,
By David Gold
November 1 – Mauritius have pulled out of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil due to a lack of funds, meaning that Liberia progress to the next stage of the African qualifiers in their place.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 1 – One of the darkest days in the history of Asian club football resulted in mass suspensions being announced today by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
By David Gold
November 1 – Populous’ senior principal John Barrow has praised English stadiums as the best in the world, citing Arsenal as the best example of how to approach moving into a new ground.
By David Gold
November 1 – Lionel Messi is in line to win his third successive FIFA Ballon d’Or award after being named on a 23 man shortlist for the prize, along with seven of his Barcelona team mates.
Bar one, I have covered every Olympic Games since Tokyo in 1964. The one I missed was Atlanta 1996, when I was sports editing The Observer. Colleagues who were there tell me I was a good judge.
In all those Games, I have also covered every Olympic sport. Bar one.
Football.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – In an era of belt-tightening and battening down the hatches, the Premier League general secretary, Nic Coward, makes no apologies for promoting the brand of the most popular product in world football.
By David Gold
October 31 – Russia and Singapore will be creating a joint business venture to develop airports being used for the World Cup in 2018.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – The lawyer who helped change the face of world football has been drafted in by Swiss club FC Sion to try to win their case against UEFA and FIFA.
By David Gold
October 31 – FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Al Hussein wants rules brought in to allow Islamic headscarves to be worn during football matches.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – The cash-for-votes scandal involving almost the entire membership of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has taken another twist with the news that Oliver Camps has quit as President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) after 19 years in charge.
By David Gold
October 29 – Marcos Motta, a partner at law firm RBMF Advogados, which counts Neymar (pictured) and the Brazil Football Confederation among its clients, has spoken to insideworldfootball about the rapid growth of Brazilian football in recent years.
By David Gold
October 29 – There is confusion in Turkey after a ‘ban’ on away fans attending matches between Istanbul giants Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Besiktas, as well as those of Trabzonspor, was announced this week.