But I love the football that brings people together across religious divides, geographic divides, political divides. I love the fact that for ninety minutes in a rectangular piece of grass, people can forget, hopefully, whatever might be going on in their life and rejoice in this communal celebration of humanity. The biggest diverse, invasive or pervasive culture that human kind knows is football and I love the fact that, at the altar of football, human kind can come worship and celebrate. x

(via bend-it-like-brekken)

Source: secretariats

The Real Theater of Dreams

When talking about soccer, we all have a tendency to get a bit overwhelmed by transfer budgets, sponsorship contracts and wage allowances. The modern game is one dominated by a never-ending news cycle that’s difficult to avoid; one in which is cynicism has a certain inevitability. But while FIFA officials and fascist fans conspire to drag us down, soccer remains a children’s game; a fact that was made clear in Portland this afternoon.

Teaming up with the Make-A-Wish foundation, the Portland Timbers gave 8-year old Atticus Lane-Dupre, who was diagnosed with Cancer last fall, a moment in the spotlight. Alongside teammates from his local youth soccer side, the Green Machine, Atticus was invited to Jeld-Wen Field for a scrimmage in front of more than 3,000 fans against a group of select players from the Timbers starting eleven.

Backed by flares, signs and a variety of G-rated chants, the Green Machine took down the Timbers 9-8, with four goals coming by way of Atticus himself. Don’t let the television coverage or blogs fool you: the heart of soccer emanated from the Pacific Northwest today.

Check out the photos above (video here) and let me know whether it’s just me, or if AFR headquarters are especially dusty this afternoon. [Posted by Maxi] 

Class.

(via cheekychip)

Source: afootballreport

Part of what makes us who we are is that we love getting the LBF Squad involved in the process of making our products. We often post behind-the-scenes photos and sketches of ideas to get feedback. Back in February, we asked for your input on the snapback cap design and we took it seriously. With the new collection on the horizon, here are some photos of the hats in production.

 

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It would be an incredible disservice to describe Eric Cantona just as a football player, not only to him but to football as it would place too much pressure on a sport alone. Some players are less athletes and more artists in search of a medium, individuals who if they were not on the field, would undoubtly succeed at another medium. Nobody embodied such a range of artistic expression—not limited to sport—as quite as Eric  Read the rest here
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It would be an incredible disservice to describe Eric Cantona just as a football player, not only to him but to football as it would place too much pressure on a sport alone. Some players are less athletes and more artists in search of a medium, individuals who if they were not on the field, would undoubtly succeed at another medium. Nobody embodied such a range of artistic expression—not limited to sport—as quite as Eric 

Read the rest here

Mario Balotelli, a teammate of Zlatan at Inter has picked up the mantle as the bad boy rebel of this generation of footballers. A black Italian: orphan of Ghanaian ancestry, and a past just as troubled as Ibra’s. Known for his “wild” antics, he has set bathrooms on fire with fireworks, crashed into a women’s prison, had his car impounded 27 times among many other things. Here’s also a man who lives by his own rules and is good enough that the world has to bend to them. Read the rest here
Pop-upView Separately

Mario Balotelli, a teammate of Zlatan at Inter has picked up the mantle as the bad boy rebel of this generation of footballers. A black Italian: orphan of Ghanaian ancestry, and a past just as troubled as Ibra’s. Known for his “wild” antics, he has set bathrooms on fire with fireworks, crashed into a women’s prison, had his car impounded 27 times among many other things. Here’s also a man who lives by his own rules and is good enough that the world has to bend to them.

Read the rest here