nazakatblogger@gmail.com There is a particularly unpleasant image of Brian Daboll that I return to in my mind from time to time. You can see it in the 2024 Why Your Team Sucks entry for the New York Giants; the image in that story is a photo of my TV, from an episode in the team’s turn … Read more
Victor Montagliani (Concacaf president) Like Infantino, he was elected in 2016 promising governance reform. A former president of Canada Soccer, as co-chair, Montagliani was heavily involved in the build up to, and delivery of the 2026 World Cup, the first to be hosted by three nations. He is fluent in French, Italian and Spanish, as … Read more
After beating MK Dons 3-0 in a training-ground friendly last weekend, Arsenal truly begin their pre-season programme against Girona on Saturday evening. It marks a return to action for the Premier League champions, who will want to show their success last season was not a one-off. Retaining the English title is incredibly difficult if you … Read more
What has been happening? It has been a week that has rocked football. The news caught everyone by surprise. When reports first emerged on Tuesday afternoon that Fifa, world football’s governing body, was to launch a vehicle to control the commercial rights to the World Cup, and would sell a stake of this company to … Read more
With its superstar striker Erling Haaland and its fans doing the Viking Row in the stands, Norway was one of the better storylines at the 2026 World Cup. The team reached the quarterfinals after last appearing at the tournament in 1998. Spurred by Haaland’s goalscoring prowess, Norway finished second in Group I with wins over … Read more
In the spring of 2004, researchers monitoring a population of wild bearded capuchins in a Brazilian woodland saw an infant clinging to Chiquinha, one of the adult female monkeys. The baby was not a capuchin but a marmoset—a much smaller monkey species. The researchers dubbed the infant Fortunata. Chiquinha became Fortunata’s primary caretaker until the … Read more
While Uefa members are among the richest on the planet, many other nations rely on Fifa funding for basic infrastructure. While the AFC opposes Infantino’s plan, unlike Uefa it has not threatened to boycott Fifa competitions. AFC members would not be obliged to vote against the proposals. Rogers Byamukama, of the Ugandan Football Federation, argued … Read more
Installation view: “Tran Luong, When sky merges with Earth” at Bortolami, New York, 2026. Image courtesy the artist and Bortolami, New York. Photography by Guang Xu There is something both unsettling and engaging in the menacing yet naive visual universe of Vietnamese artist Tran Luong. His hallucinatory stratifications of symbologies connect and collapse fluidly across … Read more
Arsenal have reached an agreement with Newcastle United for the transfer of captain Bruno Guimarães after raising their bid to €90m plus add-ons. The Brazilian midfielder has already agreed personal terms on a long-term contract and requested a delay in his pre-season travel to finalize the high-profile move. Gunners close in on Guimaraes agreement Arsenal … Read more
Casemiro has expressed his delight after completing a free transfer to Inter Miami, calling new teammate Lionel Messi the “God of football.” The Brazilian midfielder also addressed Norway’s Erling Haaland after Brazil’s painful exit from the World Cup. Casemiro presented as Inter Miami player Former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro has officially become … Read more