We have a little globe, which is handy for quick reference when questions of “how far we from that” and “are we further north/south/east/west than fill-in-the-blank country?” Actually, I have two little globes; the other is in the office and you might be surprised by how often I look at it for basic information. (Like, […]

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Just noticed this story on The National website, here in Abu Dhabi. I’m not even sure it made the print edition of the paper. After TP Mazembe of the Congo lost in the Club World Cup championships game, according to the Agence France-Presse story, some fans rioted in Lubumbashi, the hometown of the Mazembe club as […]

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The circus has pulled up stakes and is leaving town. But it sure was fun to have Blatter Bros. Barnum & Bailey in town for consecutive Decembers. It’s not as if we here in the Gulf get to see elite teams playing hard. They might drop by for a winter-training-camp friendly (like AC Milan will […]

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(UPDATED, with thoughtful comment below on Concacaf/MLS.) Inter Milan won the Fifa Club World Cup tonight, and that absolutely falls into “dog bites man” on the news-o-meter scale. Inter’s opponent in the final here in Abu Dhabi was TP Mazembe of the Congo, a team spending $10 million on players this season, or about what […]

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I can’t help myself. I’m starting to like the guy. Yeah, he might have compromised himself a time or 10 along the way, but the guy has almost a messianic vision for his game, and he is making things happen. They may seem strange to the First World soccer nations, giving the 2018 World Cup […]

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Received an e-mail from the Los Angeles Galaxy today about roster moves the club has made. “LA Galaxy Acquire the Rights to Juan Pablo Angel and Frankie Hejduk” I know Juan Pablo Angel, a goalscoring machine, is supposed to be the big news here. Which is why he was listed first. But what I am […]

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A night after the South American champion was beaten by TP Mazembe of Africa in the semifinals, the European champion did what it is expected to do: Crush its opponents. Final score: Inter Milan 3, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 0. This one was over almost before it started.

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As noted in the post yesterday, Europe and South America had dominated the Club World Cup. No team from any other continent had played for the championship. The Rest of the World was 0-10 against Europe’s and South America’s club champions. Then came tonight’s stunning result.

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Somehow, the gulf in the soccer world between Europe, South America … and everyone else … seems more pronounced in the Club World Cup than the regular World Cup. I know why. In the World Cup, even though you know that the odds are about 99.99 percent than a team from Europe or South America […]

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Sunday, here in the Muslim world, is like Monday in much of the rest of the world. The first day of the work week. And, thus not a day generally looked forward to. Sunday. Not Monday. And today, it struck me that a whole batch of western pop songs would have to be rewritten, or […]

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