Notes from Babel: ‘To win a World Cup you must be at your most virtuous’
In football, does Man the Player reject Man the Maker by having devised a game played with the feet? So asks sportsBabel’s Sean Smith before the World Cup.
Soccer as a second language
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Recent articles
- Football made in Nigeria | A short story by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
- ‘Before funny things started’ | A World Cup monologue by Tapuwa Moore
- Taking a turn ‘in the woods,’ confronting the goalkeeper’s choice
- Koman Coulibaly, refereeing and the electronic scrum over ‘truth’
- Excavating American soccer fields, uncovering buried layers of sport
Video
We don't include advertisements on this site, but this is Marta, and she kisses the ball at the end. Lovely.
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- Bosnia | 'Joyful fandom' & the flares of Sarajevo (w/ podcast)
- A portrait with fluidity | Preserving Zidane's day of work on 'the green of the field'
- Dramatic figure | Roy Keane saga continues on the boards
- Africa | Showing Mugabe the red card proves a difficult trick
- Villains, for a moment | New York Times' Fugee tale exposes soccer-challenged Southerners to public ire
Press & publicity
"It's a global game, indeed. Thank you ... for an incredible resource of a website" (Hannah Sung, “Soccer Is a Global Game,” CBC Book Club, 14 Jun 10). More »
Anthology
David Goldblatt calls The Global Game: Writers on Soccer "the first truly global survey of writing" on world football. Buy from Amazon »
Podcasts
Our podcasts include conversations with authors Aleksandar Hemon, Gay Talese, Jennifer Doyle and Paulo Coelho. Go to archive »Site tools
Grassroots
- Football Unites, Racism Divides Sheffield, England, group provides a resource library and encourages participation in football from minorities and women.
- Global Voices Online Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society spotlights “bridge blogs,” sites that help explain unfamiliar cultures. Frequent posts on football.
- Play the Game “Home for the homeless questions in sport.” From Copenhagen, advocates for sports journalists and improvements in sports coverage.
- Soccer in the Streets Atlanta-based group emphasizes positive choices in bringing soccer to urban areas across the USA.
- Street Soccer Organizers of the Homeless World Cup.
- Street Soccer 945 The street soccer program of the Urban Ministry Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.
- streetfootballworld Based in Berlin, the organization acts as a clearinghouse for information on grassroots football worldwide.
Recent comments
- Rick on When Kanoute scored and Iraq exploded—a Spurs’ supporter’s prison diary
- Felicity Jones on In disaster, soccer infrastructure becomes Haitian lifeline
- ALYCE on Books | For centuries, life has had its uppies and downies
- Nonso uzozie on Football made in Nigeria | A short story by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
- Jim Harte on Morocco | Players on a masculine stage
Most e-mailed articles
- History | Were Paterson FC the first stateside association football club? - 6 emails
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- History | Remembering New Jersey’s immigrant soccer past - 5 emails
- Books | Born in ‘invisible town,’ Marta gains life in visible ink - 4 emails
- Iran | ‘As if one were under water’ - 4 emails
- South Africa | At the top of our thoughts, near the bottom of the world - 4 emails
- Remembering Eudy, KwaThema’s brightest, killed on its darkest night - 4 emails
- In places without a name, ‘Pelada’ films the football we never knew - 4 emails
- Taking a turn ‘in the woods,’ confronting the goalkeeper’s choice - 4 emails
- Historically black and proud | At Spelman, women’s soccer pushes beyond expectation - 3 emails
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