Recent International Herald Tribune Articles
Manchester United offers sour face as it falls to Porto
by Rob Hughes (Result | International Herald Tribune - March 11)
The Champions League is a tournament made for television, but sometimes the lasting impressions in front of the cameras convey the worst, and not the best, of sportsmanship. more details | go to article

Howard learns fate is fickle
by Rob Hughes (Analysis | International Herald Tribune - March 17)
For Tim Howard, the quiet American goalie who stepped straight out of New York/New Jersey Metrostars into the No. 1 position at Manchester United, professional life has taken a turn for the worse. He isn't to blame, but he will need the fortitude that got him through an introverted childhood to help him cope with the disintegration of the team in front of him. more details | go to article

Sports can offer wisp of normality
by Rob Hughes (Commentary | International Herald Tribune - March 23)
What is normal sport in times of abnormal society? From Texas on Monday came a press release proclaiming that among 160 youth soccer teams from around the world expected to parade at the opening of the Dallas Cup on April 4, youngsters from Israel and from Palestine will walk side by side as a "Peace Team." more details | go to article

The sport's fiscal moment of truth is at hand
by Rob Hughes (Analysis | International Herald Tribune - March 30)
Right across the 52 nations affiliated to UEFA, the European governing body of soccer, there are clubs facing a Wednesday deadline that could finish them off. From Rome to Glasgow, the accounting of debts on players' wages, on transfer fees to other clubs, on hidden sums paid to the ubiquitous middle men threaten illustrious teams. more details | go to article

Moment to shine for young and old
by Rob Hughes (Commentary | International Herald Tribune - April 5)
On Saturday, youth had its fling on both sides of the Atlantic. On Sunday, Dennis Wise, 37, recaptured some old glory by leading Millwall to its first final in the FA Cup. In Washington, the new Major League Soccer season began with a sellout crowd and an eager national television audience for the debut of Freddy Adu, at 14 the youngest sporting pro in American history. more details | go to article

Adu the prodigy must grow up in the spotlight
by Rob Hughes (Profile/Interview | International Herald Tribune - April 6)
The boy Freddy Adu is better known in the United States than the Beckhams. From what we see and hear, it is quite possible that Freddy is a greater soccer talent than David Beckham, and already he displays composure in the media glare. more details | go to article

In The Arena: Impatient Age Devours Youth
by Christopher Clary (Analysis | International Herald Tribune - April 22)
Somewhere between ancient Greece and modern Michelle Wie, sports became a futures market. It is no longer simply about what you have done: how many records you have broken or how many trophies you have collected. It is about what you might do. more details | go to article

In Munich And Madrid, Cash Isn't The Answer
by Rob Hughes (Commentary | International Herald Tribune - May 10)
The humbling of the mighty is always a part of the attraction in sport - if only they knew how to be humble. In Germany, the Bundesliga crown has slipped from Bayern Munich and gone north to Werder Bremen for the first time since 1993. more details | go to article

Politicians Take Field As World Cup Vote Looms
by Rob Hughes (Article | International Herald Tribune - May 11)
The great and the good, the royals and the heads of African states are gathering in Zurich for Saturday's mid-day vote which will decide whether South Africa or Morocco - or outside bets Egypt or Libya - will host the soccer World Cup in 2010. more details | go to article

FIFA Aims At Opposing Goals
by Rob Hughes (Preview | International Herald Tribune - May 18)
Sepp Blatter signaled three themes in his speech on Monday: the alarming spread of deaths of young soccer professionals, the announcement of another FIFA world tournament, and the issue of responsibility for doping controls. The last, though Blatter did not spell it out, could even mean that soccer is dropped from the summer Olympic Games in Athens three months from now. more details | go to article

A Dog Of An FA Cup Final
by Rob Hughes (Commentary | International Herald Tribune - May 24)
For reasons weighted by the mists of time, England's cup final has become as much an annual rite as pilgrims' treks to Mecca. The game on Saturday was a monumental mismatch in which the famous Manchester United outclassed and outpaced the infamous Millwall. more details | go to article

Play The Match Before Lauding Brazil's Gesture
by Rob Hughes (Commentary | International Herald Tribune - August 17)
Securing the Olympic Games is costing more than $1 billion and is the task of NATO, the CIA and others. But while Awacs surveillance planes fly over Greece, there is a fresh attempt in Haiti to demonstrate that playing a game can be a frontline force toward harmony. more details | go to article

Goals That Speak Louder Than Words
by Rob Hughes (Analysis | International Herald Tribune - September 9)
There are two ways that modern sports superstars can answer criticism, but only one place to do it. In Poland on Wednesday night, England dug out a narrow 2-1 victory in the tough heart of the Silesian coalfields - and then the players took a vow of silence as they filed past their critics in the news media. more details | go to article

Blood In Rome Stains Night Of Exquisite Play
by Rob Hughes (Commentary | International Herald Tribune - September 16)
Enough is enough. UEFA, the European body that invented the most global and most profitable soccer tournament - the Champions League - should shut down Rome as a venue for the games for at least this season. Anders Frisk, a Swedish referee doing his duty, showed the red card Wednesday night to Philippe Mexès when the AS Roma defender deliberately kicked a Kiev opponent, Maris Verpakovskis, from behind. more details | go to article

United Keeps Agents Rich
by Rob Hughes (Analysis | International Herald Tribune - September 28)
As Wayne Rooney, the world's most expensive teenage soccer player, prepared for his debut in the Champions League on Tuesday night, his new club Manchester United disclosed the true cost of paying middlemen to smooth the path between clubs who buy and sell players like chattels. United's profits are down. Despite an increased turnover of £169 million, or $302 million, in the year to July 31, the club that vies with Real Madrid to be the most marketed brand in the sport, registered a fall of £11.4 million in profit. more details | go to article

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