By Ben Knight
Every rare and fleeting home game for Canada’s national men’s soccer team is a snapshot of where we stand.
Saturday’s 0-2 loss to young, rebuilding Peru was a disappointment on the field, with the attacking trio of Dwayne de Rosario, Rob Friend and Simeon Jackson producing zero dangerous combination moves.
So I want to put [...]
By Ben Knight
In the wake of Toronto FC’s disturbing, dispiriting 0-1 loss away to Arabe Unido of Panama on Tuesday night, great scorn has been heaped on TFC coach Preki for his odd and indifferent lineup decisions.
A third-string goalie here, a banged-up defender who hadn’t played in many weeks there, no DeRo for the first [...]
By Ben Knight
So, let’s focus on those two lovely goals Toronto FC scored in the first half Tuesday night, whilst knocking off Cruz Azul of Mexico in the opening match of group play in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Third minute – right off the top! – and a long, high ball looks certain to go out [...]
By Ben Knight
Been a while since we did this.
The ninth in an ongoing series, chronicling the muddle-mouthed misadventures of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in the alluring, seductive presence of an open microphone.
Last week, Ol’ Blatty got caught in the open musing about how lovely it would be if group games in the next World Cup [...]
By Ben Knight
One of the truly wonderful things about watching the same soccer team week in, week out, is charting the ongoing development of talented young players.
Let’s say a good player lasts a decade in the pros. That’s four or five years of continuous development off the start of a career. Break that down into [...]
By Ben Knight
When it was almost over – when Toronto FC’s shaky passage to the group stages proper of the CONCACAF Champions League was all but assured – Red Patch Boys president Boris Roberto Aguilar locked eyes with me across a bar table and an empty pitcher of beer.
“I don’t think my heart can take [...]
By Ben Knight
Hey, folks.
I’m taking a short break to deal with a flurry of work and life matters.
All is well. I’ll be back in a week or two.
Onward!
By Ben Knight
As much as I despise cheating, the Luis Suarez last-second handball that saved Uruguay’s World Cup bacon against Ghana is a leopard of a very different spot.
It was a moment of absolute blind panic – both ways. Ghana were desperate to cash in a goal, and avoid the nightmare of penalty [...]
By Ben Knight
Sometimes, something happens that just can’t happen on its own. You see it, your brain rejects it, and you leap up, point and shout “Aha!”
(Or Yoiks!, Streuth!, Hands off the creampuffs, Molly!, or the ever-popular Gotcha!)
No, I’m not talking about match-fixing. Haven’t even given that cursed subject a blessed thought since the [...]
By Ben Knight
It’s insidious, it’s real – and as of noon Wednesday, Eastern daylight time, it’s entirely justified.
In the wake of the America-Algeria climax, my pal Rudi Schuller Facebooked in from South Africa his puzzlement that he’d found himself cheering for Landon Donovan … again.
I know how he feels – and the disorientation is a [...]
