It is not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure, less fallible, than consciousness. One cannot explain it. A man is walking along without thought or heed;—suddenly he throws himself down on the ground and a storm of fragments flies harmlessly over him;—yet he cannot remember either to have heard the shell [...]

I’ve never seen a highlight video about Andrea Pirlo that didn’t feel wrong somehow. Mostly compilations of free kicks and penalties, mostly set to soundtracks that suggest a lack of confidence in the compiler (“Kiss from a Rose”? Really?), they seem to present not so much Pirlo as the environment of a football match, a [...]

It never should have come to the free kick they should have defended: James McFadden, ten minutes from time, should have knocked Kenny Miller’s cross into the wide open goal before him, giving Scotland the 2-1 lead and a fighting chance at victory. The free kick never should have been called: it was the Italian [...]

A quick pause before we all go back to caring whether Cesc Fabregas is just flirting with Barcelona or is planning to go home with them: Spangly Princess has been to the funeral of Gabriele Sandri, the Lazio supporter whose death sparked the violence in Italy this week, and has written a vivid account of [...]

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the death of Gabriele Sandri, and a lot we probably never will know. Journalists and bloggers have been diligent in their search for the truth, but the truth in this case is going to be buried by political interests and by the larger interests of football. Whatever [...]