When Barcelona acquired Alen Halilovic from Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb in the 2014 summer transfer window, he was billed as one of the best young talents in world football. Many of the major European clubs were after his coveted signature and it was considered somewhat of a coup that the Catalans managed to get him and that too at ...

Eduard Streltsov is one of the greatest footballers that the Soviet Union produced. The gifted midfielder, with his ability to dictate play and thread sumptuous passes, was a joy to watch on the field. However, his story went in an unexpected direction in 1958. The handsome footballer was also known for his activities off the pitch. Particularly his womanising ways, ...

It is hard to find a fairytale in football that would trump Denmark’s triumph at the European Championship in 1992. The Danes had failed to qualify for the competition, but after Yugoslavia were disqualified from the tournament due to the Yugoslav wars, the Danes – runners-up in Yugoslavia’s qualifying group – were invited to take their spot in Sweden, completing ...

  A certain Swiss man named Hans Kamper took on a voyage to Africa to join his uncle’s business, but on the way he took a detour to the Catalan city of Barcelona. Little did the young man know that once in the Catalan capital he would end up founding one of the greatest European football clubs. A club whose ...

  Bela Guttman is credited with creating the cult of a manager. The Hungarian was a pioneer of his era and introduced many innovations to football management. Not one to remain at one club for a long time, he moved far and wide, but one thing remained constant: he left a legacy everywhere he went. The Hungarian began his management ...

In a Manchester City squad that has proven strikers like Sergio Aguero and Wilfried Bony, Kelechi Iheanacho was a relatively unheard name before the beginning of the 2015/16 season. But the youngster has gone on to enjoy a breakthrough campaign at the Etihad Stadium, having bagged 13 goals and seven assists in the Citizens’ cause this season. The Nigerian forward ...

Through the course of his long and distinguished career that saw Thierry Henry win almost all the major honours at both club and international level, he had a relatively spot-free record when it came to on-field infractions. Except for that one 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off clash against Republic of Ireland. France had drawn the Irish in their playoff ...

  In 1966, North Korea made their first appearance at a FIFA World Cup. A relatively new team against the giants of world football was, quite naturally, not given many chances of causing any trouble to their more established rivals. But there was a surprise in the offing. The Asian nation was placed in Group 4 in the tournament hosted ...

When you score one of the most significant goals in the World Cup history, chances are you would be lauded and feted with all kinds of rewards and, in all probability, would be set for life. However, things turned out completely opposite for the hero of the United States’ unprecedented victory over England at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. ...

Ottmar Hitzfeld is regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of Bayern Munich as well as the greatest to have graced the German football. And rightly so. The German began his playing career with Swiss outfit FC Basel in 1971 and went on to feature in 92 league games for the club, scoring 66 goals as a ...