Apalak

The 1978 FIFA World Cup was staged in Argentina. It was the last time that just 16 countries competed in a World Cup. This tournament marks another dark chapter in the history of the World Cups, as it became the perfect occasion of…

Most football fans have one or a few iconic stadiums that come to their minds when asked what ground they would wish to experience a football match at. Some say Anfield, while many votes go to the Signal Iduna Park, and others suggest…

When I was growing up, often in my neighbourhood playground, there were heated arguments between groups of kids who wanted to play cricket and those who wanted to play football, respectively. One of the many justifications regularly…

FIFA hates it if someone commits the heinous sin of “mixing politics and sports" unless of course it's their kind of politics. And in FIFA’s more than a century-long history, their brand of politics has often been very difficult to evaluate…

Leverkusen, where Son would also join three decades after Cha's arrival, finished an unsatisfactory 11th in the 1982/83 season. Cha scored 12 times in the league in 1983/84, including a brace against Düsseldorf, important goals against FC…

The tireless work ethic that Cha Bum-kun exemplified had impressed the Eintracht manager Friedel Rausch, who called him “the best and the most willing forward" he had ever seen, soon after Cha joined Eintracht. His first goal came at the…

When Son Heung Min played his last game for Tottenham in a friendly game at Seoul, there were widespread discussions surrounding the proper place of Son in the pantheon of Asian footballers who have excelled in European club football.…

The FIFA World Cup was held in West Germany in 1974. It is a tournament remembered for the Johan Cruyff-led contingent, hailing from what had been considered relatively footballing backwaters, dazzling the world with their dynamic and fluid…

Something miraculously beautiful is happening in Scotland now. And no, I am not talking about another lock ness monster sighting. However, the utter rarity and near incredulity of the event have left me with no other parallels. The Scottish…

The board with two numbers goes up – one number in red, the other in green, and a player trudges out of the ground as another darts in. Substitutions have been a part of the game since the 1950s. But for the first thirty years, there could…