The Archive

France’s national anthem was booed once more, before a game with Tunisia, provoking a political storm. Andy Brassell reports

Politicians pronounce themselves shocked by a great many things, but this was certainly one of the least shocking. The real surprise was not the whistling from the stands at the Stade de France that met the traditional rendition of La Marseillaise before the friendly against Tunisia on Tuesday, October 14, but the fact that it raised so much as an eyebrow anywhere in the country.

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Forty years ago the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Soccer League played across the baseball infield, over gridiron markings and beside a smoking teepee – called into action for goal celebrations – to bring the city its first sports championship

Stadium demolition is something of an American art form. They typically attract crowds who chronicle the devastation for later enjoyment. The destruction of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium early one day in August 1997 was no different. Some 30,000 people turned out so they could experience first-hand the seismic jolt triggered by a chain-reaction explosion that in half a minute buried a brief three decades of sporting history.

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Russian side Krilya Sovietov have two Korean players – one from the North, one from the South. As Saul Pope reports, it's a bit tricky

On Friday May 2, 2008, a small piece of history was made following a late substitution by Krilya Sovietov in a Russian Premier League game. When North Korean Choe Myong-Ho came on to join South Korean team-mate Oh Beom-Seok, it was the first time footballers from both halves of the peninsular had played for the same team.

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Brazil is suddenly keen on its football heritage – but with the emphasis on the Ricardo Teixeira years Robert Shaw reports

“The Maracaña has to be blown up. It is impossible to remake it, or even to adapt it to host a World Cup.” “This venue is simply fantastic for the history of Brazilian football.” Spot the difference. In 2004, Ricardo Teixeira president of the Brazilian football federation (CBF) was talking down his country’s most famous stadium as well as the game’s history before 1994, but by this September Teixeira could barely contain his enthusiasm for the past at the inauguration of São ­Paulo’s Museu do Futebol. Teixeira now expects a revamped Maracaña to host the 2014 World Cup final.

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Is it possible for Jamie to comment fairly on Harry?

It was no surprise that Harry Redknapp’s appointment as Spurs boss a few days later met with almost universal approval in the press. Most football journalists seem to love Redknapp – while many managers treat reporters with varying degrees of suspicion, he’s affable, talkative and funny, a constant source of good copy. In among the many phone calls he apparently made in the hours after his departure from Portsmouth around midnight on Saturday was a characteristic quip, reflecting on the £5 million compensation agreed with his ex-employers: “Pompey couldn’t sell a player in the window so we sell the manager.”

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