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Total Football

Why You Can’t Truly See Bastian Schweinsteiger

The milky refractions of history: Brian Phillips at Slate argues all soccer romantics (i.e., lovers of Dutch soccer history) should be rooting for Holland’s true heirs Spain Sunday, saying that “great teams in other sports beat their opponents. Great teams in soccer beat both their opponents and the game.” Stefan Fatsis at The Goal Post wonders for whom Papa Cruyff will be rooting. And Charles Holland (!) at Minus the Shooting says such “myths of the near past” obscure our clarity of vision for national teams — so we can’t see how boring Spain really is, or Bastian Schweinsteiger as subtle and sophisticated.

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African Footballers: Set Them Free

Why do African teams often fail in internationals? “We talk about their football in Africa in an almost infantile way. The need for discipline is always the answer and is a characterization that extends beyond the pitch into African governance, development, and almost every other African industry.” But the issue might be less one of regimentation and more one of finding an authentic style. As with Total Football and Brazilian samba, “a footballing philosophy originating in a particular country succeeds when the philosophy has a relationship to that country’s way of life.” (Clive Longbottom-Fellow/Nutmeg Radio)