Feature

The Messiah. The Little Genius. The Flea. Names are many for this phenomenon from Nou Camp, Lionel Andres Messi. As a Madridista, when you are prompted to write on a rival player you admire the most, you will have no choice but to write about the best player of your eternal rivals, who just happens to be the best player in the history of the game. Now, my friends, please don’t get me wrong, and before you go all Goswami on me, let me make this clear. Cristiano Ronaldo was, is, and will be my most favourite footballer, the…

Formation : 4-4-2 Keylor Navas (GK) - Costa Rica "He's spectacular between the posts, he's brave, skilful and very agile. He maintains his concentration and he's also intelligent. For me, he deserves all the respect he gets for what he's done." - Manuel Almunia Everything could have been so different for Keylor Navas if it wasn't for a dodgy fax machine. Before the start of the 2015-16 season, David De Gea was poised to join Real Madrid in a swap deal with Navas going to Manchester United.…

Premier League Saturday on 12th September 2020 stunned football fans around the world as it did Liverpool FC, in the reigning champions’ first match of the season. Reason: The recently promoted Leeds United FC. It wasn’t a surprise when the 3rd minute of the match saw the “inexperienced” defence of Leeds concede a penalty which Liverpool’s favorite Mo Salah perfectly executed putting the champions at a lead of 1-0. But what followed was beyond a surprise. The English midfielder Jack Harrison persisted against Liverpool’s…

Sevens is the soul of Malabar's football heritage. Once the monsoon is over and the fields are dry, the fans are ready for the festive nights of a fresh sevens season. The towns from Thrissur to Kasaragod swivel their night to day, in the glow of floodlights. From Olympian Rahman to IM Vijayan, from Muhammad Rafi to Anas Edathodika, Malabar's ever renowned boots have sprinted through the rough and tuff fields of sevens. Every new season begins with the sound echoing in your streets in the loudspeaker tied on the top of…

“You don’t choose to support a club, you are born into a family that supports a club, and you dare not go against it.” What sounds like a joke is actually the reality of many in Turkey. Parallely, it is also true that “Even if you don’t follow football, you still have a club.” Turkey proudly presents its passion for football that extends beyond the game itself. It has to do with how the masses of fans connect the sport with disparate streams of origins and beliefs, especially the political varieties. When you look at…

The world knows Manchester United as the Red Devils who dominated the English Premier League and housed the biggest footballing names of not just England, but the whole world. But to become the giants of Europe that we are familiar with, they had to start small from the railway lanes of the city. Manchester thrived during the Industrial Revolution, and its people had a certain love for sports that transferred into the passion we witness till date in the realms of cricket and football alike. Hence the club that came out of…

Reasons seem many that cannot be easily concluded upon. But, one thing is obvious, Messi cannot cut off from FC Barcelona for nothing. There is a sense of uncertainty everywhere in the home of the Catalan giants. Jushna Shahin visits Camp Nou, where Messi has been everything for past two decades. Check out the video story to know more about what the six times World Player means to the club and its faithfuls.

"Either write something or read something or do something worth reading or writing". The lockdown is driving me crazy into new, undiscovered levels of boredom. So, I did the most productive and at the same time, the most unproductive activity I've done in months. I made an All Time XI of all the major clubs in Europe comprising of one player per country.  The series starts with the most successful English club Manchester United. Formation: 4-4-2 Peter Schmeichel (GK) - Denmark "Goalkeepers win you games sometimes,…

Time stood still as Jeakson Singh Thounaojam leapt higher than all in the sultry Delhi air in 2017 to head the ball into the back of the Colombian net - becoming India's first-ever goal-scorer at a FIFA World Cup. As Jeakson rejoiced, joining in the celebrations was India captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam - Jeakson's fellow midfield general and cousin - with the two having made the journey from Thoubal to the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 together. The unforgettable goal has inspired a new generation of players across the…

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui enjoyed sweet redemption after his side beat Inter Milan 3-2 in a thrilling Europa League final on Friday to hand the Spaniard a first major trophy. A highly-rated coach in Spain's youth set-up, Lopetegui landed a first job in elite club coaching when he took over at Portuguese giant Porto in 2014 but was sacked 18 months later after failing to win a trophy. He was named Spain coach and led his nation to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in style but his stay in Russia ended in surreal…