Why Brazil’s youth turned against the World Cup
The streets of Rio de Janeiro have been Michel Oliveira’s workplace for almost a decade. The 23-year-old has never set foot inside an office or had a boss. At the age of 15, Oliveira dropped out of the city’s public school system to earn money selling sandwiches and snacks on Rio’s famous beaches, Ipanema and […]
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Soccer Will Never Be a Slam Dunk in America
Has the time finally come to slap a Do Not Resuscitate bracelet on soccer’s prospects for popularity in America? If it were up to me, the answer would be no, because soccer players are among the strongest, fittest, most strategic athletes in the world. But, for various reasons, the sport itself does not seem destined […]
The World Cup and Ramadan
On June 28, two noteworthy global events begin: the second round of the World Cup and Ramadan, the Islamic month observed by fasting. For some of the dozens of Muslim players on Algeria, France, and Germany, this will pose a problem: having to play world-class soccer after having abstained from food and water since sunup. […]
The Business of the World Cup
How big of a business is soccer’s quadrennial tournament for FIFA (International Association of Federation Football), the sport’s international governing body? World Cup Brazil will generate $4 billion in total revenue for FIFA, or 66% more than the previous tournament in South Africa in 2010. The vast majority of the money will come from the […]
The Problem of Soccer in the US
Lackeys of Youth Soccer, That ‘Arrogant’ Sport By SHARON VAN EPPS The edict from my daughter’s soccer team manager arrived Monday morning: A state cup match had been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday in Vancouver, Wash., a two-and-a-half hour drive from our home in Seattle. Families were expected to travel and check into a hotel Saturday […]
Dream Town: Trailer
A look at soccer in Ecuador Source: Remezcla Like UrbanStreetSoccer on Facebook. Follow UrbanStreetSoccer on Twitter @UrbanStSoccer
Pele talks about US youth soccer
Pele is widely recognized as the greatest soccer player of all time. He developed his unparalleled skills playing against other shoeless kids on the dirt streets of Brazil with a ball made from old socks and newspapers. But now Pele says the best grass-roots soccer programs in the world are not in Brazil, but in the […]
Spike Lee: Football in Brazil
A Mexico World Cup No-Show Would Be an Economic No-No
Something terrible is happening in Mexico: The country’s national soccer team is nearing the abyss of elimination from next year’s World Cup in Brazil. A bit hyperbolic, I know. After all, Mexico is besieged by much greater ills. But in Mexico, the importance of soccer and its quadrennial celebration can’t be so easily dismissed, and failure […]
Learning from the Ghanaian model of Football
Great article… The US might want to take a few pointers.. Following England’s limp exit from the World Cup much has been made of the relatively high average age (28.1) of Fabio Capello’s squad, with questions being asked as to the structure and effectiveness of youth football in this country and the manner in which […]
