soccer

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• 4/2/2023
  

  This Year Marks the 50th Anniversary of a Dark Episode in the History of Sports Stadiums

  by Matthew Kastel

  As Americans return to stadiums with hope and joy at baseball's Opening Day, it's worth remembering that stadiums have been the sites of absurd moments of political theater and dire human rights abuses. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  12/18/2022
  

  The Qatar World Cup is History

  by Laurent Dubois

  The World Cup, more than any previous version, symbolizes the contradictions of the joy of play being entangled with nationalism, global capitalism, and repressive theocratic autocracy. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  12/9/2022
  

  Is Messi the Avatar of a Post-Macho Argentina?

  by Brenda Elsey

  Lionel Messi's tenure at the top of the soccer world has coincided with an upsurge of feminism in Argentina and its sports culture, changes Messi has quietly supported. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/24/2022
  

  Despite Defeat, Iran's Footballers Won

  by Golnar Nikpour

  Iranian players' show of solidarity with protesters facing government repression has been more important than the results on the pitch. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  11/22/2022
  

  Eastern Europe Brought Soccer Into the Modern Age. Why is it a Wasteland Now?

  A legacy of innovation spurred by Hungarian clubs in the 1930s and 1950s sustained high quality soccer in eastern Europe through the fall of communism, but changing economic and social currents have diminished the competitiveness of former eastern bloc countries in today's big-money game. 

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• SOURCE: Jacobin
  11/20/2022
  

  Qatar Isn't The First Regime to Polish its Image With a World Cup

  Despite "disappearing" 30,000 political opponents, FIFA allowed Argentina's military dicatorship to host the 1978 World Cup. 

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  12/8/2021
  

  The Cinematic Sainthood of Diego Maradona

  "The passionate relationship between a legendary soccer player and an Italian city lies at the heart of The Hand of God, the new movie from Paolo Sorrentino."

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  12/4/2021
  

  Lesley Lloyd: Honor to Have Won First Womens' FA Cup 50 Years Ago

  "On 5 December 1921 the English Football Association had declared the game to be 'quite unsuitable for females' before barring women from playing on grounds belonging to affiliated men’s clubs."

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  7/8/2021
  

  What Euro 2020 Has Revealed About Englishness

  Sporting teams are one of the few officially English, as opposed to British, institutions. The national team's multiracial composition and embrace of social and political causes may be advancing a more inclusive form of Englishness. 

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• SOURCE: ESPN
  12/14/2020
  

  Barcelona, Lionel Messi and the Napkin: Oral History of his Transfer, Arranged 20 Years Ago

  Revisiting the negotiations that brought a 13 year-old Argentine soccer prodigy to Barcelona and launched the career of (arguably!) the greatest player of the world's game. 

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• SOURCE: The New York Times
  4/10/2020
  

  A History of Soccer in Six Matches

  From the Hungary team that shattered England’s delusions to the club that came to define the sport, through Pelé and Johan Cruyff, here are six games that explain modern soccer.

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• SOURCE: The New York Times
  4/10/2020
  

  Women’s Soccer Was Having a Moment. Then the Clock Stopped.

  As the coronavirus pandemic forces soccer clubs and sponsors to tighten their belts, a women’s game poised to break out hopes it doesn’t have to bear the cost.

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• SOURCE: NPR
  3/11/2020
  

  U.S. Soccer Apologizes For Saying Male Players Have 'More Responsibility' Than Women

  The soccer federation made the claims in hopes of convincing a federal court in California to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit filed by members of the 2019 World Cup championship team.

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• SOURCE: National Geographic
  7/5/2019
  

  Soccer pioneers recall the first Women’s World Cup

  Female soccer players have made great strides since the quadrennial tournament was first held in 1991. But the fight for equality continues.

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• SOURCE: CNN
  6/17/2019
  

  Yes, the US women's soccer team is dominant. That's because most of the world is playing catch-up

  The growth of women's soccer is a microcosm of the fight for gender equality.

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• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  6-8-14
  

  Eduardo Galeano, The World Cup and the Corporatization of Soccer

  by Eduardo Galeano

  "These days, soccer fanaticism has come to occupy the place formerly reserved for religious fervor, patriotic ardor, and political passion."

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• SOURCE: Associated Press
  11-20-13
  

  Some Croatian fans, player Joe Simunic celebrate World Cup berth with pro-Nazi chants

  Simunic and fans chanted a war call used by the Croatian Ustashe, pro-Nazi collaborators.