What should the West make of the football revolution? It’s plausible that it represents the inevitable challenge that globalization poses to Islam. But that can’t be the whole story. Soccer thrives in much of the Muslim world without counteracting radicalism.
Men like Ling are expected to be a cross between a sage and a stand-up comedian, a patriarch and a pithead rabble-rouser. They are prisoners of perversity, expected to dispense summary justice despite being utterly disposable. Their names and faces are overfamiliar.
Our work was like a real whirlwind. In 90 days, we traveled through nine countries(Balkans, Russia, Brasil, Italy, Poland, Italy, Argentina and Turkey), met football fan organizations in those countries, and heard how young people who follow the orders of their leaders are exploited.
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Without Cruyff, there would be no Guardiola, no Messi, no Xavi , no Iniesta, no treble-winning nights and no adoration of the sporting world. The players would have been judged too slow, too small and the football deemed too lightweight. Cruyff’s bold brush strokes added glorious color to Barca’s Big Picture.