“America pays its bills. It always has. It always will. The fact that Washington is now debating whether to honor its debts and obligations, then, should come as a surprise. But playing political football with a necessary vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling has become as predictable as a Twitter rant from Charlie Sheen.” ShouldFactsAmericaPoliticalNationsPayFootballHonorVoteRaisesBillsSurpriseDebtObligationCharlieCeilingsPredictableRantDebt Ceiling Author:Peter Welch
“There is a broad cultural current that conveys the idea that a film is like a football team, it represents a nation, it is illustrated literature, filmed radio. These are outdated concepts, totally out of touch with today's realities.” IdeasRealityTodayFilmLiteratureNationsTeamFootballConceptsRadioCurrentsBroadsFootball TeamOutdated Author:Jean-Jacques Annaud
“England can end the millenium as it started - as the greatest football nation in the world.” WorldEndsNationsFootballEnglandManagersSoccerChairman Author:Kevin Keegan
“The combination of an out-of-control tabloid press and a readership that thrills to the destruction of the England head coach is something no other country can offer. Scolari was driven out; Steve McClaren's personal life made the front pages. Neither of them even held the job. Then there was the fake-sheikhing of Sven-Göran Eriksson. That a newspaper should so brilliantly and deliberately destabilise the national head coach in a World Cup year is something no other sporting nation would consider.” WorldShouldYearsMadeCountryJobsNationsFrontsFootballOffersPagesDestructionEnglandPressesDrivenCoachesNewspapersCupsManagersSoccerCombinationRanFakeOther CountriesPersonal LifeChairmanWorld CupTabloidsReadershipHead Coaches Author:Simon Barnes
“Turkish football serves the cause of nationalism, but not of the nation.” NationsCausesFootballNationalismTurkish Author:Orhan Pamuk
“There have been miraculous stories in the history of big football events all around the globe, with host nations achieving fantastic results and even winning titles with the support of their fans.” Has BeensStoriesBigsWinningNationsResultsSupportFansAchieveEventsFootballFantasticTitlesHostGlobesMiraculous Author:Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
“I was in Athens for a football match when 9/11 went down, and it was quite spectacular - we went into this bar and tried to find out what happened, and the bartender said "it's only the American and the Arabs. They're not big football nations." So the feeling was, what's it got to do with us? Why are football games being cancelled in Europe? The intelligentsia in the West feel like they have to figure out the significance of it all, whereas people have other pressing concerns, related to basic needs.” PeopleNeedsFeelsSaidFeelingsBigsGamesNationsHappenedFiguresFootballEuropeConcernDown AndWestBarsRelatedSignificanceSpectacularFootball GameAthensBartenderBasic NeedsFootball Match Author:Irvine Welsh