Blogs

You don’t need a well-manicured grass pitch. You don’t even need all 22 players, or fancy uniforms … or even shoes, for that matter. All you need is a ball and people willing to play.

The most popular sport in the world – football (known as soccer in the USA) – can be played anywhere by anyone. That’s the simple beauty of a sport that traverses borders, has brought bitter enemies together, even stopped wars, and has been a unifying force across the planet.

“As a consequence of its simplicity and g

Article by Shannon Farley

People around the world have their eye on Costa Rican football star Keylor Navas.

Not only is Navas a national hero for helping lead his team as goalkeeper to the quarterfinals in the 2014 World Cup, he also is a rising star as goalkeeper for the prestigious Real Madrid football team. Now, Navas has been appointed Costa Rica’s first official Tourism Ambassador.

In a big event at the official Costa Rica stand at the FITUR tourism trade fair in Madrid, Spain on Jan. 29, one

On June 12 one of the planet’s most anticipated sporting events kicks off in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo. And over the course of the following 30 days, 64 World Cup matches among 31 teams will rotate among a dozen of this country’s other cities. Rio de Janeiro totally. Salvador certainly. Fortaleza for sure. Capital Brasilia it goes without saying. But what do you know about Natal, Cuiabá, and Porto Alegre?  Here’s a quick primer on some of the lesser-known and (to most non-Brazilians, at

Last Sunday, on a cold day in London, I was settled in for a day of sport which of course featured the Cup of Nations final between Egypt and Ghana. The two hours of coverage on BBC2 gave me the chance to watch football in faraway lands, and enjoy a beer in the comfort of my living room; perfect. Unfortunately this was one of only three matches accessible to the masses (the semi finals were shown on BBC3) and scheduled at the same time as the big Arsenal v Manchester United match. You just have

Happy New Year and welcome to the first WAD blog of 2010! As Tom mentioned last week the last year has been a busy one, and there is going to be plenty of exciting stuff coming up too. As I’ve talked about in a previous blog there is going to be a massive focus on the African continent this summer with the World Cup Finals hosted in South Africa. For the sport hungry people amongst you there is a nice warm-up to the World Cup with the African Cup of Nations starting in Angola within the next few

by Andy Jarosz

An out-of-favor American football player turns up in Cozumel in search of a girl. They fall in love amid danger, dirty deals and murder. Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward add the necessary sparkle while a soundtrack featuring the well-known Phil Collins title song ensures worldwide success. 

But it may be the spectacular locations on the Yucatan peninsula chosen for 1984's “Against All Odds” that really steal the show. Chichen Itza, recently listed as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Wor

by Andy Jarozs

There may have been some controversy about who should've hosted the future football (aka soccer) World Cup (there usually seems to be). Few people, however, were surprised when Brazil was awarded the honor of staging what is arguably the ultimate global sporting event. For the 2014 World Cup Brazil will host 32 of the world’s leading soccer nations in an event that will be watched by millions of people in the stadiums and billions more on TVs around the world. For many of the na