Netherlands v Argentina pits a legendary coach, who didn’t see eye to eye with Johan Cruyff, against Lionel Messi, whose football is the Cruyff philosophy in the flesh.

Van Gaal against Messi, and the Cruyff Way   The sixth instalment of one of the…

Another shameful outing in Bangladesh, there ought to be changes in ideas!

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay All defeats hurt. Some of them sting and leave a long-lasting impact on the…

Cricket Australia statement on Warner!

“We are disappointed with this outcome as our intention was to give David the opportunity to…

The Warner tale: One can’t keep getting punished for mistake once made

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay You committed a mistake and were caught red-handed. The jury was out and found…

Cristiano Ronaldo’s best chance of glory, and of adding to his tally of 8 World Cup goals, could be as a super sub, coming on after Goncalo Ramos and Joao Felix have terrorised defences as they did Switzerland’s.

Reality Bites for CR7 as Ramos Runs Riot   There were shades of peak Ronaldo in…

Japan found out that the mental-strength gap is the hardest to bridge, while South Korea simply didn’t have the quality to take on Brazil.

Old Guard Snuff Out Asian Challenge   Asia’s World Cup hopes are over, after two contrasting…

Turbulent Mbappe becomes the fear factor!

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay “Mbapre”. Saw a tweet saying this a few days back during the course of…

How Far Will Mbappe Go? Not even 24, there are few limits to what he can go on to achieve.

Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals is just one of many under threat from…

A failure of the batting unit as much as bowling!

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay The highlight of Bangladesh’s ‘Mirpur Miracle’ was the 51-run last-wicket stand which carried them…

After years of stagnation, Africa’s teams have delivered their best-ever collective performance at the World Cup, with seven group-stage wins. How much of a factor have homegrown coaches been?

Has African football finally come of age?   More than four decades after Pele’s bold prediction,…