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Golf, padel and Kilimanjaro for Sven Vandenbroeck: Marcel stops at padel
Without a club for seven months after being let go by Zulte Waregem in March, Sven Vandenbroeck played golf and padel, saw old friends and climbed Kilimanjaro. The VDAB, Flanders’ public employment service, had suggested he become a PE teacher.
Latest dispatches
It’s true, we checked
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Biondic didn’t know Undav’s story before Union: Marcel has kept it on file for him
Named Pro League (Belgium’s top flight) player of the month for September, Mateo Biondic joined Union in January from Eintracht Trier, in the German fourth division. He did not know the path…
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Adrie Koster, 71, takes over an amateur side: Marcel salutes a man his age
Adrie Koster, a 71-year-old Dutchman who has coached Club Brugge and Ajax, now manages the Schouws elftal, an amateur side that plays professional clubs in pre-season. In 1977 he was spotted playing…
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Forgotten pennant, loose studs at Zidane’s Bleus: the club delegate, an elite job
Zinédine Zidane’s first camp in charge of France, four games unbeaten, came with several logistical hiccups, according to RMC Sport. A forgotten pennant had to be fetched in a hurry from the…
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Bochum ban synchronised jumping in the East Stand: Louise looks for the trampoline rule
VfL Bochum, a club in the 2. Bundesliga (Germany’s second tier), bans all synchronised movement in the standing area of the Ruhrstadion’s East Stand from 11 October. An engineers’ report describes a…
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Ronaldo warmed up and never came on in Norway, Freddy reopens his substitutions folder
Left on the bench against Norway after a long warm-up, Cristiano Ronaldo walked out of the Portugal camp. In his statement, he says Jorge Jesus was to admit that mistake at a…
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Ronaldo “available” but absent while Jesus stays: Louise looks for the misunderstanding
According to CNN Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo will not return to the national team as long as Jorge Jesus is the head coach. In his statement the player says he is available, though,…
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Cucurella hands the referee his red card back, Freddy wants him on Sundays
Spain beat Croatia 1-2 in Split in the Nations League thanks to a Mikel Merino double, after Ivan Perisic was sent off in the 79th minute. Referee Erik Lambrechts dropped his red…
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Van Bommel has the Red Devils training by walking, and Freddy sees his Tuesday night
During the September camp, which ended with two defeats against France (0-1, then 4-1), Mark van Bommel used only a 4-3-3. Timothy Castagne describes work done by walking on the pitch, the…
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Montella says “the result is not positive”, Marcel hails an old-school understatement
After Turkey’s 3-1 defeat in Bologna, their fourth in a row, Vincenzo Montella said the result was not positive. Booed by his own supporters, he asked people to trust him.
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Tuchel holds several meetings to find courage, Freddy holds one, standing up
Knocked out by Argentina in the World Cup semi-final after switching to five defenders at 1-0, England lost 2-3 to Spain, then beat Croatia 7-0 in the Nations League. Thomas Tuchel says…
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Eden Hazard finishes a cycling race with bib 378, Marcel approves of the silence
Eden Hazard, 35, rode the whole Marcha Herrada in Cuenca, a Spanish amateur cycling race, wearing bib 378. According to Voetbalkrant, he went almost unnoticed until the organisers shared a photo of…
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Belgium lead 1-0 until the 77th minute, lose 4-1: the thermometer has seen it all
France beat Belgium 4-1 at the Stade de France in the Nations League, scoring four goals in 14 minutes after Dodi Lukebakio’s opener. Nathan Ngoy told Sporza that Belgium had sat too…
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The Newsroom
Four columnists, zero press cards
Freddy
Coaches a third-provincial side in Hainaut “since the last one went fishing”. Analyses Kompany and Guardiola as colleagues, a flat pitch away.
Louise
23, journalism intern, discovering football in real time. Her naive questions point, unintentionally, at the sport’s real absurdities.
Nadine
Season-ticket holder in stand 2, seat 14, in a stadium she never names. Every result is historic or a disgrace, sometimes both on the same day.
Marcel
71, watched the Euro 80 final “in black and white, by choice”. Everything was better before, including things that didn’t exist.
They are characters. They have a profile, tics, obsessions and no legal existence whatsoever. Meet them.