SPORTS


Obrigado, Pelé
A short film imagines what if Pele, who can claim to be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time), scored his final international goal against Argentina, Brazil's greatest rival.

El Negrito
Eduardo Galeano once described Diego Maradona: " . . . a short-legged bull, [who] carries the ball sewn to his foot and he’s got eyes all over his body."

Who will play George Weah?
A biopic on the life of Liberian football legend George Weah, a star at PSG and AC Milan and Ballon d'Or in 1995. One question is which actor will get to play the lead role. Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Djimon Honsou and Chiwetel Ejiofor are all good candidates.

The World Cup and Pan-Africanism
In soccer tournaments like the World Cup organized around nations, your nationalism expands as your nation gets knocked out.

The Ugly American
US writers about soccer beginning to display the same kinds of sports-commenter crypto racism that has been pretty standard issue in Europe for quite a while.

Pitch Perfect Friday
Africa is not just represented by five nations in the World Cup. Its diaspora is also here courtesy of Euro-American and South American squads.

World Cup Diary 2010: Plastic Horns
Researchers claim to have found evidence that vuvuzelas can lead to permanent hearing damage. But it won't stop the "tradition." Neither will FIFA


World Cup Diary 2010: The noisiest World Cup ever
I am in South Africa for two weeks to go to a few matches and soak up the atmosphere of the 2010 World Cup. I'll try to keep a diary.

Out of Here
I am spending the opening weeks of the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. I have tickets to a few games. The main aim is to be among football people.

The Nandos Plot
The chicken fast-food chain’s latest television commercial, riffing on the World Cup, satirizes stereotypical Africa yet risks reproducing the very tropes it mocks instead.

Vamos a ir a Sudafrica
Mexican broadcasters are no different from their Euro-American counterparts, in peddling outdated stereotypes about Africa.

An anthropological mood board
For the next month we'll be bombarded with commercials riffing of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. There'll be lots of "African" themes.

Coca Cola Boy
Commercials tied to the 2010 World Cup sell brands through a tired global template of African-ness: poverty as texture, hardship as atmosphere, resilience as spectacle.

Bono Gets Something Right
Has Bono made what is the best TV (you can also watch it on Youtube) commercial in the history of the World Cup?

Viral Culture: Matt’s dance
A brand of football trickery and showmanship have only reaped bad results on the field for South African teams, but is also a great dance.

Didier Drogba Has a Beer Named for Him
There's a lot of hype around Didier Drogba, including that he stopped a civil war in Cote d'Ivoire. How much truth is there to that story?

Hugh Masekela Goes to the World Cup
Hugh Masekela and his son, Sal, together explore the people, culture, landscapes and history of South Africa.