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Jonathan Wilson Sports Illustrated

Read of the Day: Is the Champions League Killing Small-Nation Soccer?

European small-nation champions like Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade are being boxed in by the Champions League — way too good for their respective national leagues, not good enough for the big Euro tourneys, where their lack of mental toughness and domestic challengers shows. But the CL money ensures these teams’ edges at home, while the non-competitiveness of their leagues is killing attendance at live matches. “Can [a guy] be bothered to walk 20 minutes down the road to watch Red Star beat some village team? Of course not, not when he has 10 better live games on his TV in his living-room.” (Jonathan Wilson/Sports Illustrated)

(Image: Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade. Image credit: mateo_dudek/Flickr through a Creative Commons license.)

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Read of the Day: Team Android

What do we know about Japanese football? 3-5-2s everywhere, ‘cuz that’s what West Germany won the World Cup with in 1990. Cheering during opposing goals. A lack of player initiative that brings national team coaches to tears. “I was reminded, oddly, of Tarkovsky’s “Solaris,” of the ocean producing replicas of life on the spaceship but getting key details wrong. In terms of fans and play, this was android football: it looked good, but it lacked any soul, any sense of imagination or devilment.” (Jonathan Wilson/SI.com)

Read of the Day: May the Best Team Finally Win

18 World Cups, but only 7 winning countries — what’s going on? Yes, home field advantage has played a role, but the tournament isn’t really about the best team winning, and it’s far too short for luck not to have intervened at some point. “The World Cup feels due a fresh champion….There will be, at some stage, a shocking winner — Ghana, perhaps, or Serbia, Portugal or Chile. World Cups are too short, and football too unpredictable, for this hegemony of the seven to endure much longer.” (Jonathan Wilson/Sports Illustrated)