THE LENNY BRISCOE II REPORT

    If they had won their sixth World Cup title, then the whole nation needless to say, would’ve been engulfed and enveloped in a euphoric “feel-good” aura…at least for some time. Perhaps for a long time, even.      The struggles and protests may well have been forgotten. But as images of fans burning not just expensive-ass Nike branded replica Selecao shirts but their national flag as well flooded TV screens and the worldwide web after that semi-final loss against Germany, you couldn’t help but wonder if it was all worth it for the ordinary Brazilian.    Ordem e Progresso indeed .     This was meant to be “football coming home”. Its REAL home, that is. The one nation that is synonymous with football was getting the much-deserved chance to host the World Cup again and to show the whole world how the game is played. And show how to throw a party carnaval -style to boot. They had even recruited the manager of their last W...

                                      RUBBISH REASON WHY GHANA CAN BEAT EGYPT Growing up in Tema, Ghana, we saw lots of footballers come and go. Mostly, good ones. Oh, you didn’t know? Tema has produced generation after generation of world-class footballers for Ghana. Think Joe Addo, Simon Addo, Ishmael Addo, Daniel Addo, Sebastian Barnes, Shamo Quaye(I bet you didn’t know he was Tema-based, did you?), Paa Joe Kuma, Attakora Amaniampong, Abdul Razak Ismail, Joe Fameyeh, Matthew “Klinsmann” Amoah etc etc. Even the bronze-winning Ghana U-20 side that played in the recent World Youth Tournament in Turkey (2013) had no less than SEVEN Tema-based “youngsters”. Fact. Now, when we growing up, there was an already grown-up neighbourhood champion footballer who had a call-up into the senior national team. I am not going to confirm if his ...

Truth be told,this would have been written even if Arsenal had not lost 8-2 to Manchester United(aren't we tired of that already!). Truth be told,this would have been written had Arsenal not sold M. Almunia,S. Nasri and F. Fabregas,M. Eboue and replaced them with C. Jenkinson,A. Oxlade-Chamberlain and the pair of pre-teens from Barcelona. That is enough truths,so let's move on to the tall tales allegedly told by a long-nosed,particularly lanky gentleman.(No reference to Pinocchio). They say Mr A. Wenger repeatedly "assured" fans of marquee signings. They say he took fans for granted when he insisted neither Fabregas nor Nasri will leave the Emirates this year. He gets criticized for having an unwritten rule that any player over the grand old age of 30 is past his peak and therefore does not get more than a twelve month contract extension. Or that Arsenal is so prestigious a club that potential signees and their host teams have to accept whatever price t...