'France and Italy were finalists in 2006, but both left at the end of the first round in 2010. It is only the third time that a champion has said bye before the knockouts.'
The final was a festival of yellow cards and it would have been worse for the Oranje players if the British referee had not been so kind.
Claude Arpi captures the fan's passion for football in these entertaining e-mails to Ivan Crasto,Rediff.com's Sports Editor.
Claude Arpi captures the fan's passion for football in these entertaining e-mails to Ivan Crasto,Rediff.com's Sports Editor.
Soon, the greatest global show will be over. Life will not be the same, probably a bit boring with no octopus, no blundering referees, no Paraguayan starlet or horrible cacophony (though by the end of the competition we will be missing it!).
France native Claude Arpi shares his thoughts on Saturday's quarter-finals at the World Cup.
France native Claude Arpi shares his thoughts on the first two quarter-final at the World Cup.
The adventure is over for Carlos Queiroz's boys who had not lost 19 consecutive World Cup matches.
'Brazil possess something which makes the stuff of the greatest team: Dunga's players are good in all compartments of the game.'
Claude Arpi captures the fan's passion for football in an ongoing e-mail exchange with Ivan Crasto, Rediff.com's Sports Editor.
The Portugal-Brazil was dull, with both teams having already qualified. The players were mainly interested to evade yellow cards which could bar them for future matches and most importantly avoid injury.
Charmant property is available in old Europe for less than the price of a dream farmhouse.
As football fans arrive to watch Euro 2016, France's trade unions have undertaken a series of strikes to provoke a make-or-break situation. Claude Arpi encounters both Gallic beauty and ugliness in the country of his birth.
CLP saw early that the pollution caused by China's rush for industrial growth would lead inevitably to demands for cleaner electricity.
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