Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
FIFA is slowly overhauling itself, and the new regime are showing worrying signs about their plans for the world game
By the time you read this, FIFA’s congress will have elected João Havelange’s successor as president of world football’s governing body. Whether the winner is former chief executive and secretary-general Sepp Blatter, or Lennart Johansson, the head of UEFA, they will inherit an organisation changed out of all recognition since Havelange ousted sleepy old Stanley Rous in 1974.
England's World Cup form over the years has been patchy, as Cris Freddi analyses
Statistics probably aren’t lies or damned lies in this case. England’s first four appearances in the finals ended with a record of three wins and six defeats in 14 matches. They never really looked the equal of the tournament’s best teams – and it began to look as if the only way they were going to win the pesky thing was to stage it.
American player John Harkes is surprisingly not guaranteed a place in the USA's World Cup squad. Rich Zahradnik discusses whether he will make the cut or not
I almost choked on my Cheerios. The story was right there on page two of the New York Times sports section: Harkes Is Dropped From US Cup Team. The story covered almost half the page. I’m not sure what surprised me more – Harkes’s departure or the Times’s realisation such a big story was a big story.
Ian Plenderleith outlines the chances of Lothar Matthaus being left out of Germany's World Cup squad
The recall of Lothar Matthäus to the German World Cup squad is not just remarkable because the 37-year-old will become only the second player ever to appear in five World Cup finals. More surprising is the fact that less than a year ago Matthäus was completely ostracised by the German footballing establishment,
Wednesday 1 The start of Real Madrid's Champions League semi with Borussia Dortmund is held up for seventy-five minutes after one of the goalposts is damaged by Real fans jumping on the adjacent perimeter fencing. Dortmund lose the match 2-0 but may lodge an official complaint with UEFA that could lead to the tie being replayed. In the other game, Juventus beat Monaco 4-1.
Thursday 2 Chelsea are lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat at Vicenza in the first leg of their Cup-Winners Cup semi final. "We can blame a bit of tiredness. You are never at your best five days after a cup final," says Gianluca loftily. Wembley Stadium has been bought by the English National Stadium Trust backed by the FA. Rebuilding work will start after the 1999 FA Cup Final and might even include proper toilets.