Anthony Martial signed for Manchester United at the start of last season from French Ligue 1 outfit Monaco for a price that made him the most expensive teenage signing in the history of the game. A price tag like that brings with it pressure, and heaps of it. There have been several instances of expensive signings bombing at their new ...

Atletico Madrid yet again failed to clinch their first ever European Cup despite coming within touch distance of the trophy. Diego Simeone’s men lost to city rivals Real Madrid in the Milan final 5 – 4 on penalties. It seems as an opportune a time as any to revisit their past in this historic competition. And sadly for the Atletico ...

Brazil has always been the land of beautiful football. The nation takes great pride in their team playing an attacking form of the game that values individual expression and goals, plenty of goals, above all else. However, at the 1954 World Cup, it was Hungary that had taken the mantle of being the team that enthralled the world with their ...

  Heading into the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, France were the reigning world champions. Four years previously they had won their first ever World Cup and went into the subsequent edition hoping to retain the prestigious trophy. Les Bleus were placed in Group A alongside South American giants Uruguay, European outfit Denmark and first-time World ...

There are few managers in world football who boast of a CV as glowing as Giovanni Trapattoni’s. The Italian remains one of the very few to have won the league title across four European countries and he did it all with an unshakeable conviction in his methods. Trapattoni, a Milan native, spent almost his entire playing career with AC Milan ...

Of all the playing positions in football, the defenders are always believed to be the ones who reach the top of their game in the latter half of their 20s. Unlike attacking positions, where an error might not lead to very drastic consequences – at most the player will miss a chance to score – the errors from defenders are ...

If there was one match that summed up Diego Maradona, then Argentina’s quarter-final clash against England at the 1986 World Cup at the Estadio Azetca in Mexico would be it. In the 51st minute of the encounter, Maradona after a typical mazy run from the midfield that saw him go past three English players, played a diagonal pass to Jorge ...

Johan Cruyff is one of the greatest players the world of football has seen. The Dutchman was a maestro on the field and was integral to the great success that Ajax Amsterdam and later Barcelona enjoyed in the 1960s and ‘70s respectively. The man was an epitome of the hugely successful and revolutionary Total Football. He was instrumental in helping ...

  There have rarely been encounters with as foregone conclusions as the 1950 World Cup final – at least that’s what the Brazilians thought. But then what happened on that fateful 16th July at the Maracana has become the stuff of legends for Uruguayans and a nightmare for Brazilians – not just for those who were alive to witness the ...

  At Real Madrid, the manager is perceived merely as a footnote – a man who oversees the biggest stars that the club buys every summer. In such an environment it is quite an achievement to have led the club for 15 years. Miguel Munoz remains the greatest manager in the history of Real Madrid and one of the most ...