The international break continues for a few more days, leaving plenty of time between now and Wednesday night’s Sounders-Dynamo match to bone up on you might have missed over this past week in the world of soccer.
To reiterate my appeal from last week’s inaugural edition 0f this weekly series: Please do forward along any submissions — or anything you think I missed — either via Twitter or email (mpentz@seattletimes.com).
– James Montague’s comprehensive feature on the birth of the Kosovo men’s national team is worth your time. It weaves the human element into a story that could have easily gotten into the weeds of the bureaucratic process that is appealing for FIFA-recognized statehood. By the end, you might even have a new sentimental favorite to root for during this World Cup cycle and beyond.
– Also over at Bleacher Report, though in a shift of tone, the title of “Goalscoring Goalkeepers and Why We Need More of Them” speaks for itself. Story manages to both entertain and inform — and left me wondering why former USMNT goalkeepers have such a monopoly on English Premier League ‘keepers goals.
– Grant Wahl’s feature story on the U.S. fans that risked criminal charges to travel to a qualifier in Cuba a few years back originally ran in 2008 but was again relevant ahead of last Friday’s historic friendly between the nations in Havana. Also timely (early shameless plug alert): I took a look at how former Cuban international Osvaldo Alonso’s momentous offseason helped inspire one of the best years of his Sounders career.
– Very much stretching the premise of good “soccer” reads, but this Roads and Kingdoms feature on the rapidly changing Cuban sports scene will hook you from the opening paragraph.
– Ever wonder about why there’s such a large disparity between home and away records in Major League Soccer? This Los Angeles Times story about a recent Galaxy road trip describes in occasionally painful detail the side effects of the league’s continued restrictions on charter flights. Take it away, Bruce Arena: “I’m embarrassed that we travel that way.”
– FIFA is considering expanding the World Cup to 48 teams, which most would agree is a bad, no-good, awful idea, in the words of the headline on Leander Schaerlaeckens’ Yahoo! story. But having made peace with the notion that FIFA cares little for what you and anybody besides its corporate overlords thinks, Will Parchman’s breaks down why, if expansion is in fact inevitable, this particular format could actually be kind of fun. Battle lines will be drawn in a similar place to that between folks for and against the current MLB wild-card setup.
– For more on Bob Bradley’s historic appointment as coach of Swansea City in the English Premier League, there is plenty of insightful background packed into Rory Smith’s New York Times story about the hire.
– Why do recent investigations into the underbelly of the sport seem to have elicited barely more than a collective shrug? Aidan O’Hara’s column for the Irish Independent isn’t the sunniest of reads but does raise some thought-provoking points.
– Shameless plug of the week: Our very own Larry Stone makes the case for why the Sounders should drop Brian Schmetzer’s interim tag and make him the full-time head coach. “One day soon,” Stone writes, “one hopes the Sounders will sort out their coaching vacancy and realize they’ve had the right man all along.”
– Classic read of the week: “Soccer in the Storm,” ESPN’s feature on Bradley’s time as coach of the Egyptian national team during a tumultuous time in that country’s history.
