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Hosting

The Branding and Unbranding of Olympic Football

Guest Post by Chris Bolsmann (c.h.bolsmann [at] aston [dot] ac [dot] uk) After the disappointment of Banyana Banyana’s loss to Sweden (read my post here), I looked forward to the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games and the parade of athletes in particular. The three hour spectacle turned out to be full of contradictions. […]

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Players

Banyana Banyana Lose with Dignity to Sweden at 2012 Olympics

Guest Post by Chris Bolsmann (c.h.bolsmann [at] aston [dot] ac [dot] uk) COVENTRY–In a week when South African cricketers and golfers recorded convincing victories, a hat trick of results would have seen South Africa’s women’s national team celebrate their first appearance at the Olympic Games by beating Sweden. But facing a team ranked 4th in […]

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Players

Afritalians: Past is Prologue

The Africanization of Italy may have started 2200 years ago as Hannibal of Carthage led his troops and elephants across the Alps on the way to Rome, but Mario Balotelli’s two-goal performance in Italy’s defeat of Germany in the Euro 2012 semifinal may be mainstreaming it. Italians across the political spectrum are gushing in their […]

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Video

Germany’s History of Failure vs. Italy: Part 2

July 11, 1982: the World Cup final at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. Four years earlier, West Germany had drawn 0-0 against a young, enterprising Italian side in the second group stage of the 1978 World Cup — the Argentinean Generals’ Mundial. (Video highlights here.) 1978 was also the year of the assassination of Italian […]

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Video

Germany’s History of Failure Against Italy

Germany is favored to win Thursday’s Euro 2012 semifinal against Italy. While Die Manschschaft has played the best and most consistent football in the tournament, the Azzurri have won just one game in regulation and reached the semifinal only after surviving a penalty shootout against England. History provides a counterpoint to soccernomics-style prognostications, however, because […]

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Hosting

Resuscitating Football on the Zambian Copperbelt

Guest Post by *Hikabwa Chipande NDOLA — Zambia’s victory in the 2012 African Nations Cup has spawned a new fashion on the Copperbelt — the country’s industrial and football heartland — where people now wear Chipolopolo (Copper-bullets) replica jerseys as well as chitenge (women’s waist wraps) in the national colors. Selling Chipolopolo regalia has also […]

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Players

Benni Leads Orlando Pirates to PSL Title

Benni McCarthy’s two second-half goals earned Orlando Pirates their second consecutive Premier Soccer League title. It was sweet revenge for McCarthy writes Rodney Reiners in the Cape Argus, “He’s been put down, trampled on, ridiculed, and dismissed as an over-weight, over-rated charlatan more often than any footballer should have to endure. Yet, each time, the […]