Get your football fix with Libby
Published on 21st May 2020
The fizzing sound of a football hitting and nestling in the back of the onion bag is a part of the lingua franca understood by all football fans around the world. This spirit of football internationalism imbues the pages of World Soccer: everything from the political chicanery of FIFA and regional football federations to the rabid rivalry between Shanghai Shanghai International Port Group FC and Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC ('Come on you Red Eagles'/'There's only one team in Shanghai') is covered in this monthly publication.
World Soccer
The journalism ranges from the 'water carrier' effectiveness of the Didier Deschamps-esque Jim Holden to the flamboyant wizardry of the Zinedine Zidane-esque Brian Glanville. In depth reporting, player profiles and results and match reports from around the globe are the staple of each edition. April's issue includes a special report on the imbroglio involving power hungry UEFA and the sport-washing, UAE owned Manchester City; Alf Ramsey's 'wingless-wonders' tactical legacy is re-evaluated; how the Coronavirus is causing a turf war between FIFA and UEFA; how financial doping has turned the Czech top league into a one horse race; and why Brazilian footballers won't wear the number 24 on their jerseys. World Soccer is the fix par excellance for the football cognoscenti suffering from cold turkey during this sporting drought. Golazo!
FourFourTwo
If one considers World Soccer as Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan: classy, pragmatic, ruthless, clinical, dogmatic, then one can compare FourFourTwoto Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United: gauche, gung ho, brassy, unpredictable, exciting. A much more Anglocentric publication it has the style of a nineties 'lad-mag' but few of the sensibilities. Ian Sampson's article on The Rise and Fall of Michel Platini is the May edition's Man of the Match. If it please the court, the prosecution wishes to present Exhibit A in the case against Eamon Dunphy talking through his hat: Michel Platini is a 'good player, not a great player'. Le Roi was peerless between 1982-1985: Le Carre Magique; 1984; Cappocannniere at the The Old Lady. After his retirement: la quintesse de bureauratie - the blazer who was caught with his fingers in the till.
The magazine resembles the football equivalent to one of the more decadent Roman purge festivals: Shamrock Rovers tribute to Altern-8 at The Showgrounds; Dirty Terry Hurlock, the barra brava; Lukas Podolski's kebab shop empire; Julian Dicks taking a peno; The Greeks waiting in the long grass; CR7 as a step over show pony, CR7 eau de cologne, CR7 as a goal scoring freak of nature; The Swan of Utrecht slaying the Der Nachtkrapp; The Top 50 Championship Players (no James McClean - Plus ca change Ingerland, plus ca change); Bruno Fernandes the new Ralph Milne;1980's crack East European outfit Steua Bucharest; Sir Alex tapping up Andy 'personality clash' Cole; Seconds out - Fash the Bash versus Sumo; Portuguese custodian Ricardo's classy 'My Perfect XI' except for Pauleta.
Submitted by Tom in Drumcondra Library. Register for Libby magazines.