Newley Purnell

Here’re two blogs you need to be reading:

1. The Sartorialist. New York City man-on-the-street fashion photoblog. Sample image:

2. Kasey Keller’s blog. The US national team goalkeeper reflects on the squad’s preparation for the world cup.

Sample text:

The mood is the camp is really high. Everyone is confident we can achieve something this summer. Our aim is to do better than the quarterfinals of the tournament. The success of Greece at Euro 2004 gives everyone hope. That such rank outsiders could actually win the competition is a big boost for dark horse teams everywhere. The World Cup is a little different though. There are so many games you need to win against so many great sides. But you never know. The US is ranked fourth in the world right now. That may or may not be an accurate assessment based on our current form. But it’s up to the twenty-three guys in Bruce Arena’s squad to prove that fourth is an under estimation rather than an overvaluation.

A special person recently gave me a special gift: “The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup,” a collection of football-related writings that includes contributions from Nick Hornby, Eric Schlosser, James Surowiecki, Jorge Castaneda, Dave Eggers, and many other influential thinkers.

The book’s introduction, by co-editor Sean Wilsey, perfectly encapsulates the heady mix of anticipation, nervousness, and exuberance I feel as the opening match of World Cup 2006 Germany approaches (the tournament commences on Friday, June 9).

Here’re a couple of passages that I found especially poignant:

The world of the World Cup is the world I want to live in. I cannot resist the pageantry and high mindedness, the apolitical display of national characteristics, the revelation of human flaws and unexpected greatness, the fact that entire nations walk off the job or wake up at 3 a.m. to watch men kick a ball. There are countries that have truly multiracial squads – France, England, the United States – while other teams are entirely blonde or Asian or Latin American. There are irritating fans: ‘USA! USA! USA!’ (Blessedly few.) There are children who hold hands with each player as he walks onto the field. National anthems play. Men paint themselves their national colours and cry openly at opposing victories. An announcer shouts ‘GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL! GOL GOL GOL!’ on the Spanish language channel. A Slovakian tire salesman, an Italian cop, or a German concert pianist – having passed the official fitness tests and psychological examinations – will moonlight as referees.

And:

The joy of being one of the couple billion people watching thrity-two nations abide by seventeen rules fills me with the conviction, perhaps ignorant, but like many ignorant convictions, fiercely held, that soccer can unite the world.

Amen.

On a related note, I’m bemused that my four-year-old essay about America’s relationship with the beautiful game, which I penned during the last World Cup, continues to attract a large number of readers. I think my observations are still accurate, though the piece could use some updating.

To the People:

The Prospect reviews superstar Senegalese footballer Patrick Vieira’s new autobiography and says it “confirms that soccer beats banking as the world’s most globalised industry.” I’d say drugs, but soccer and banking make fine choices, too.

“Vieira was only 19 and already captain of Cannes when, in 1995, he was bundled into a helicopter and flown to AC Milan’s club headquarters to sign a contract on the spot. He had no idea what the sums in Italian lire meant—not very much, it turned out—but signed anyway. His angry agent quickly negotiated a new contract, for about £300,000 a year, or four times as much as he was getting at Cannes. At Milan, Vieira rarely played. Watching the team from the stands, he got to know the Alsatian Frenchman Arsène Wenger, who was a regular spectator despite coaching in Japan at the time. When Wenger joined Arsenal, he persuaded Vieira to be his first signing. In fact, the player arrived weeks before the manager did, and was initially deposited in the reserves.”

By my count that’s a Senegalese guy captaining a French team, taken to Italy to play. He sits while in Italy, gets noticed by a French guy who works in Japan, and together they move on to England. Cool.

Full Prospect review here.

CNN:

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Diego Maradona made a remarkable return to the football field when he played for 68 minutes in a charity match in Rio de Janeiro.

But he was later arrested by police at Rio de Janeiro airport, for causing a disturbance after missing his flight to Buenos Aires.

CNN:

At some point you knew it would happen: The U.S. would draw into a Group of Death at the World Cup.

It finally happened on Friday as the No. 8-ranked Yanks were placed in Group E with three-time world champion Italy, the Czech Republic (ranked No. 2 in the world) and rising African power Ghana.

Here’s the full draw. More info here.

One of the best midfielders in the world has just left the most famous soccer club on earth, Manchester United. By “mutual consent,” Roy Keane is no longer with Man U effective immediatedly. He recently had a falling out with the club’s boss, the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, and will now ply his trade elsewhere.

While Keane plays with a sense of passion and commitment that is truly rare, and while his drive to win is remarkable, I think his legacy, even if he continues playing (he’s in his twilight years at 34), will finally be this: He was a player of monumental ability who lacked moral guidance and failed to subdue his inner demons (he fell victim to booze, depression, and his own blinding rage).

Never forget, for example, that he let his team and his country down when, as the side’s most important player, he got himself dismissed from the Ireland squad just before the last World Cup.

Goodbye, Roy Keane. You could have been so, so great. But you ultimately flattered to deceive.

Africans Boots of Beijing is a documentary film about an African soccer team in Beijing. The film was produced, filmed and edited by Luke Mines and Jeremy Goldkorn, long-time residents of Beijing from the USA and South Africa.

For ten years Afrika United F.C. has been a force in the amateur soccer leagues of Beijing, China. It is also a fascinating window into the growing African community in Beijing and the cross pollination among cultures that is occurring as the world grows ever smaller.

(Via Danwei.)

Absolutely amazing.

(Via #1.)

Saudi+Arabia, fatwa

This is too cool to possibly be true. Of course, “major stake” doesn’t necessarily mean “controlling stake.”

Jay-Z, Arsenal

They’re partying in Quito, Cuenca, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, and all points in between at latitude zero: Ecuador drew 0-0 at home with Uruguay yesterday to book their passage to World Cup ‘06 in Germany this summer.

Elsewhere, four teams from the African region — newcomers all — have clinched their spots: Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Togo. Here’s a complete run-down of the nations that have qualified so far.

World+Cup

AP:

LIMA, Peru — A chartered jet carrying 289 Gambian soccer fans pretended it needed to make an emergency landing so they could watch their team compete in the FIFA Under 17 World Championships, officials said Wednesday.

The plane, claiming to be low on fuel, landed Tuesday near the stadium in Peru’s northern coast city of Piura.

“It truly was a scam,” said Betty Maldonado, a spokeswoman for Peru’s aviation authority, CORPAC. “They tricked the control tower, saying they were low on fuel.”

Emergency crews were scrambled ahead of the unscheduled landing by the Lockhead L1011 Tri-Star, owned by Air Rum Ltd., Maldonado said.

The Air Rum plane, which she said was chartered by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, should have made its approach to the capital, Lima, but instead flew directly to Piura, entering Peruvian air space “without permission.”

I’d like to point out that this was only the under-17 national team — not even the full national squad — that was playing.

Peru, Gambia, soccer

Okay, so the rankings may be inaccurate, but they have implications for the next World Cup.

(Via Dana.)

Yes, that’s a real headline over at Soccernet.

Here’re the first three grafs for context’s sake:

BERN, Switzerland, July 31 (Reuters) - The supporters of Young Boys Bern have not had too much to celebrate in the 19 years since their team last won the Swiss league title.

Long since eclipsed by the likes of FC Basel and Grasshoppers Zurich, the club from the Swiss capital has even got a reputation for enjoying its status as a perennial loser.

But this weekend Young Boys sought to shake off their old image by officially opening the 32,000 Stade de Suisse Wankdorf stadium — which cost 350 million Swiss francs ($271.3 million) — with an uncharacteristically flashy homecoming party.

Last night Chris D. and I went to see Chelsea, the reigning champions of the English Premier League, play DC United in an exhibition game.

Chelsea won 2-1; their star-studded lineup was highly impressive, though DCU put up a good fight (and, in fact, scored first and held the lead for a fleeting four minutes).

Here’re my photos from the night. Here’s the full match report. And here’re some extended video highlights (under the “2005 Video” heading).

One of the most frequently-accessed items on newley.com is “On Soccer and America,” an essay I penned following the American national team’s surprising success at the last World Cup. I’ve been meaning to follow up on the topic; recent news developments have brought the issue to my attention once again.

Of particular interest is the story of Malcolm Glazer, the American sports tycoon who recently purchased a controlling interest in the venerable Manchester United Football Club. Hardcore Man U fans are up in arms—they say he’ll raise ticket prices (which he probably will) and, mostly, they say he’s a clueless Yank who doesn’t understand the game (which is also probably true). But the bottom line is this: the club is a publicly traded company and that means anyone with enough cash can buy it. End of story.

Here’s an excellent article in The Economist that addresses the issue. Key passage:

To boost revenues, Mr Glazer is expected to try to end joint negotiation of television rights by the top English teams that play in the Premiership, instead negotiating separately the right to screen United games. That sort of rampant individualism, after all, is what American capitalists are famous for. In fact, American team owners tend to profit by suppressing, to some extent, their individualism, points out Stefan Szymanski, co-author of “National Pastime”, a superb new book that compares the economics of the sport business in different countries. American sports leagues—above all the National Football League, in which the Bucs play—tend to be cartels, with fewer teams than there would be in a free market, protected by the absence of relegation, and often using socialistic practices such as salary limits for players and a centralised sharing out of young players to stop any team becoming too hopeless. As the Premiership evolves, and, above all, as Europe’s top soccer teams, with United to the fore, debate how to take Europe-wide competition to the next even more profitable level, Mr Glazer’s knowledge of American sport’s anti-competitive collectivism may prove priceless.

Another interesting look at the differences in attitudes toward the game worldwide can be found in this post on the excellent Marginal Revolution Weblog, although the author’s observation that international soccer’s “days probably are numbered” is absurd. The item does, however, provide some perspective on why baseball is more beloved than soccer in the US.

My feelings about the popularity of futbol in America haven’t changed since I wrote my original article on the topic. But what I find interesting now is how globalization is affecting the economics of the game. Again, back to the Economist piece:

Mr Glazer’s main offence seems to be that he is a businessman who intends to run United as a business. That is not what owners of British sports teams—or, indeed, of teams in most of the world—are meant to do. Businessmen and other wealthy folk, even foreigners, are welcome as owners—but only if they plan to put money into a team, not take it out.

So what if by so doing they are merely trying to boost a flagging public image—as Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed and, earlier, the late Robert Maxwell, did by buying Fulham and Oxford United, respectively? Or if their aim is to cement a valuable friendship, as the Libyan dictator, Muammar Qaddafi’s, 2002 investment in Italy’s Juventus did with the team’s main owner, the Agnelli family? Better, though, if he or she is a lifelong fan whose dearest wish is to spend money to help the team they love. A star of the English soccer season now ending has been Norwich City’s main shareholder, Delia Smith, a celebrity cook, who made headlines by delivering an alcohol-assisted speech during a half-time interval urging fans to get behind the beloved team that she once rescued from the brink of bankruptcy. A more pertinent example for Manchester United fans is Chelsea’s devoted owner, Roman Abramovich, a Russian oil billionaire, who has spent a large chunk of his controversially gotten gains to assemble the team that easily won this season’s English Premiership title. His unprecedented redistribution of money from the people of an economically struggling nation to a handful of wealthy foreign sport-stars bothered fans of Chelsea not one bit.

And a New York Times article about the Man U protesters (which is sadly no longer available online) contained this telling passage:

“No offense, but it just smacks of imperialism,” said John Marchant, a 28-year-old advertising executive and Manchester United fan, walking past the team’s Old Trafford stadium the other day. His indignation accelerated from 0 to 60 in the space of a single sentence. “He stands for everything that’s bad about globalization.”

Indeed. But to Red Devils fans everywhere, I say this: welcome to the 21st century.