Colombia (II): The Colombian Wave

Colombia (II): The Colombian Wave

By Craig Rimmer 1986. THE AZTECA. The moustache. The sombrero. Lineker. Argentina. Diego Maradona. “The Hand of God”. “The Goal of the Century”. “The Mexican Wave”. “La Ola” (The Wave), a common sight at sports stadiums across North and South America. It gained iconic...
Italy (I): Italian Majesty

Italy (I): Italian Majesty

By Simon Hughes I WAS IN ITALY during the 1990 World Cup. I was six years old and on holiday with my parents in Sardinia, cossetted up near Alghero: far away from the fun and games. I knew I liked football a lot by then. Liverpool had won the First Division...
Croatia (I):  The Other Openers

Croatia (I): The Other Openers

CAMEROON. Bolivia. Scotland. Senegal. Costa Rica. Mexico. What joins these six countries together may not be initially obvious to the untrained eye, but to the World Cup aficionados out there, and there are many, they can be defined as “the other nation”. They are the...
PODCAST: WELCOME HOME LAD

PODCAST: WELCOME HOME LAD

NEIL ATKINSON, Paul Cope and Jim Boardman are joined on the phone by Andi Thomas, Roy Henderson and Kristan Heneage as they chat about the return of Rickie Lambert and the impending bohemouth that is the World Cup. Get issue 9 of TAW’s monthly digital mag free...
Ecuador (I): I Wanna Be Ecuadored

Ecuador (I): I Wanna Be Ecuadored

By Neil Scott AH YES. ECUADOR. Jewel of the Andes. Home of the banana. A land steeped in history and natural splendour. With its mountains and its music and its extensive collection of luxury tortoises. And its bananas. Did I already mention its bananas? Push on, I...
PREMIER LEAGUE MUST WAKE UP TO THE GRASS ROOTS CRISIS

PREMIER LEAGUE MUST WAKE UP TO THE GRASS ROOTS CRISIS

FORMBY, an affluent suburb on the outskirts of Merseyside, has been home to enough Premier League footballers to put together a star-studded mixed age representative team. Steven Gerrard, Leighton Baines, Jordan Henderson, Alan Shearer, Neil Ruddock, Glen Johnson,...
Belgium (I): Low Country Feedback

Belgium (I): Low Country Feedback

By Daniel Fitzsimmons BLOODY Brussels, eh. I’ve got nothing against Belgium. Some of my best friends are Belgian. I’d happily let a group of Belgian men move in next door. I was used to having Belgians as neighbours for a while, and they were alright. No harm in them....

Let our hearts rejoice, for we are young and free

AUSTRALIA. I have a few problems with Australia. First up there’s the whole ‘red centre’ thing. I’m red/green colour blind. Stood with a thousand people cooing ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ and ‘look at the colours, they’re amazing’ as the sun set on what, to me, looked like a...