Respect the past, change the present
Catholic Ireland and Britain weren’t always adversaries. Rethinking the first world war has probably helped bring peace to Northern Ireland
View ArticleAnother outbreak of Blair Disease
Most ex-leaders link up with the plutocratic class while still in office. These people have been planning their careers since kindergarten
View ArticleSarajevo: the crossroads of history
On a street corner here 100 years ago, a 19-year-old Serb nationalist shot the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and triggered the first world war. The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, is still a potent...
View ArticleCan Paris Saint-Germain become the world’s richest sports club?
How a Qatari state investment company bought one of Europe’s youngest and most troubled football clubs and transformed it into a brand sensation
View ArticleThe surprising power of peace
In the current conflict, nobody seems eager to kill. Not even John McCain proposes American military intervention
View ArticleThe next big rights revolution
The new interest in disabled people reflects the belated discovery that there are no second-class humans
View ArticleManchester United’s biggest problem is not selecting next manager
The challenge facing the Premier League club after brief and troubled reign of David Moyes to compete at the highest level in Europe
View ArticleManchester United’s biggest problem is not selecting next manager
The challenge facing the Premier League club after brief and troubled reign of David Moyes to compete at the highest level in Europe
View ArticleApartheid, just less black and white
Twenty years ago, South Africa’s first multiracial elections officially buried apartheid. But I still see apartheid everywhere
View ArticleThe chains of liberation
The liberator redeemed us with his blood. He can therefore ignore whatever voters think. Anyone who doesn’t like him is an enemy of the people
View ArticleEven boom times get the blues
The poor will be forgotten amidst talk of rising tides lifting all boats, and how much the neighbour’s house went for
View ArticleGame of two halves: the ugly side of Brazilian football
The beautiful game that shaped Brazil’s national identity also holds a mirror to its problems
View ArticleHow to free yourself from email
It should have been the best business tool since the telephone. Instead email has become the biggest time-waster since television
View ArticleWelcome to age of Van Gaal and ‘the total person'
The methods of United’s new manager are well known. Here’s what to expect from him at Old Trafford
View ArticleThe rise of the global capital
Most ambitious Dutch people no longer want to join the Dutch elite. They want to join the global elite
View ArticleFandom – it’s bigger than football
Half a country’s inhabitants might watch the national team play a big game. That’s a rare taste of togetherness
View ArticleBosnia & Herzegovina’s World Cup debut
Ahead of their first appearance at the football tournament, manager Safet Susic talks strategy and national expectations
View ArticleFour good reasons to bet against Brazil
A World Cup is so short that luck plays a big role. That often confounds favourites. Also, only one of the last eight tournaments was won by the host
View ArticleDefence is the best form of attack
Know as ‘the Monster’, Brazil’s Thiago Silva inspires awe rather than physical terror
View ArticleSpain top the class at the Dutch school of football
If Holland’s golden age has ended and they cannot even qualify from the group ahead of Dutch-inspired Chile, then they can look back with pride
View ArticleFrancis: a pitch-perfect Pope
Any virgin bachelor leading 1.2 billion people will struggle to seem a regular guy. Football helps
View ArticleA portrait of Europe’s white working class
It has become one of the least understood and most discriminated-against groups in society. A study of neighbourhoods such as Higher Blackley in Manchester could change our perceptions
View ArticleEngland are probably better than fans think
If Saturday’s game resembles any past British battle, it may well be Dunkirk, 1940; after an early burst of vigour, England recreate the retreat from the beaches
View Article‘Darth Vader’ of World Cup feels the force of defeat
For years fans did not seem to mind losing; many even celebrated defeat. But now the German team is desperate to win, although it probably will not
View ArticleThere’s no man like Neymar
The personality of the 22-year-old Brazilian forward is good and bad news for Luiz Felipe Scolari as the team seeks to seal its place in the second round
View ArticleVan Gaal may actually be as good a coach as he thinks he is
‘The miracle of Salvador’, as the Dutch have dubbed the Spain game, has prompted a re-evaluation of Holland’s World Cup prospects
View ArticleWorld Cup: Statistics give England cause for optimism v Uruguay
After losing to Italy in the Amazon, England must at least draw on Thursday to stay in the World Cup. History suggests they will
View ArticleBrazil united: the World Cup effect
This is the one competition in which footballers have to present themselves as citizens, fans, patriots
View ArticleWorld Cup watchers warm to Chile
Chileans of all political shades are proud of their attacking team which has acquired the status of the loveable small boys of international football
View ArticleHot and confused Italian team await their fate
Against Uruguay, as at so many past World Cups, Italy will be drinking at the last-chance saloon. If the Azzurri lose, Uruguay will go through
View ArticleFrance starts to see les Bleus in a warmer light
Didier Deschamps, who captained the victorious French in 1998, has created a reformed, more likeable, goal-scoring team that is winning hearts at home
View Article‘Klinsi’ and ‘Jögi’ meet again as US face Germany
In the historical saga that is the World Cup, Jürgen Klinsmann is starting to rival Diego Maradona and Sepp Blatter as a recurring central character
View ArticleWorld Cup: Fast-passing style slowly spreads around the globe
The most impressive teams so far in Brazil (as opposed to the one-man bands) are converging around a similar style: fast, forward passing.
View ArticleThe great Dutch football tradition
Holland’s football team may be the last surviving unmistakably Dutch cultural product
View ArticleAlgeria’s success in World Cup puts focus on Africa’s failure
African football suffers from factors such as disputes over money, so it is no wonder many former French colonies recruit players in the old motherland
View ArticleWorld Cup: Performances fail to meet Belgians’ expectations
Despite three straight victories, Belgians are starting to wonder whether the Devils are actually that good
View ArticleWorld Cup: Teams lacking shootout data will pay the penalty
A growing number of studies by academic economists and psychologists has enhanced our understanding of penalties and penalty-takers
View ArticleBefore World Cup battle with Germany, France at peace with itself
Friday’s World Cup quarter final match is arguably more about France’s struggle with itself than with Germany
View ArticleWorld Cup: Things are looking up for Colombia on and off the pitch
With its 50-year-old drug-fuelled civil war closer to a resolution than ever before, the country’s calmer political and economic climate helps the Cafeteros
View ArticleWhy Brazil’s already won
Strolling on Copacabana, you realise that a first-rate beach should be a compulsory element at all future World Cups
View ArticleWorld Cup performance is poor test of transfer value
Smartest deals are usually when a club buys a player after a tournament has cut price. Think like Warren Buffett: be greedy when others are fearful
View ArticleBrazil’s Fred and Germany’s Müller are footballing opposites
On Tuesday the two forwards meet in the semifinal. The contrast between these men illuminates how each country thinks about football
View ArticleEight lessons rock-bottom Brazil need to learn from the best
Brazil needs to revolutionise the way it plays football – by learning from how Germany transformed itself when it too hit rock bottom
View ArticleSabella takes ‘broken’ Argentine team to brink of World Cup victory
In the last two games against Belgium and Holland, we’ve seen a new Argentina: never brilliant, but a compact team that denies opponents space
View ArticleFor Brazil, it’s not the end of the world
People feel more connected to each other. Even the communal shame this week is a bonding experience
View ArticleMastery over fast-passing will prove to be the big winner
There has been a lot of chatter by commentators analysing the link between spirit and performance that, in the end, distracts from football’s central element
View ArticleBaby-faced Götze swivels and scores to crown a reinvented Germany
This was a surprisingly entertaining game, to cap a surprisingly entertaining tournament
View ArticleHow to travel: my rules
The ideal – admittedly impossible – is to arrive fully informed yet with no preconceptions
View ArticleFrom my inbox: the hot topics
Thanks to social media, I get more responses to my columns every year. Most are smart and friendly. Some aren’t
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