EN / Behind the Curtain - review

Rather than yet another football travel book, it is a story of corruption, crime and mismanagement that reflect the way how football has been run in Central and Eastern Europe.

At first a dream task of travelling and writing about the beautiful game, it quickly emerges that football is just a background to systematic problems still faced in a reality hidden until recently behind Europe’s Iron Curtain. And its legacy, it seems, continues.

PL / Wcale nie kijowo

(Pył po Euro2012 już dawno opadł, więc na chłodno skleciłem pewne przemyślenia ze zgiełku wydarzeń wokół finału tej imprezy. Poniżej fragmenty – momentami wyrwane z szerszego kontekstu – pochodzą z tekstu opublikowanego w lipcowym numerze FutbolMaga - rb) 

***

Do Kijowa przyciągnął mnie futbol. Ale też i potrzeba rzucenia wyzwania tkwiącym we mnie stereotypom o naszych wschodnich sąsiadach. Tak naprawdę w idei Euro, jak i każdej dużej imprezy sportowej, rywalizacja o puchar to tylko pretekst, aby odwiedzić nowe miejsce i czegoś się nauczyć. Także o sobie.

EN / The Leaderless Revolution – review

(Spoiler alert)

Anarchists have a bad name. At best, your first thoughts are the rebellious Iroquois hairdo punks wearing leather jackets and listening to the Clash. An ancient picture, really. At worst, and most likely, they are the masked youth carrying vigorous aggression in their eyes. A suited and booted former British diplomat enjoying highlife and business class airline tickets would not be your first guess, surely. 

Yet, in his latest book Carne Ross fiercely advocates that various forms of anarchy should be the means and end of what we strive to achieve in building local, regional and international communities. Being honest, if I was introduced to The Leaderless Revolution in that way, I would not have bothered ordering it from Amazon. I would have missed out on a very well-argued and thought-provoking read, too. Convincing? Comme ci, comme ça...

EN / A football book against the time

It is every author’s dream to write a book on contemporary affairs that will still have a sensation of freshness in twenty years’ time. This task becomes even more challenging when the story is composed with evasive bits that can change their meaning and importance with one kick of the ball.

Or, perhaps, the role of football does not actually depend on one kick, whether shot into the roof of the net or wide into the row Z, and, instead, it is much deeper than that? Maybe football and its social legacy can defend itself regardless of an outcome of a 90-minutes match?

PL / Azzurri i widmo 1966

Euro zaczyna się na nowo w angielskim obozie. Bramka wypoczętego Rooneya cieszy, ale powracają objawy choroby, która wykończyła poprzedników Hodgsona. Przezwyciężenie jej jest równie istotne co sam bój o półfinał.

EN / Early take on Poland's Euro campaign

I spoke to EuroTwentyTwelve blog ahead of Poland-Russia match last night to discuss the Greece match and what could have been expected in a Tuesday match against arch-rivals. I got it right with some points, eventually... ;) 

Smuda got it 'wrong' against Greece

Poland got off to a blistering start against Greece in the opening match of the tournament but reversed all their good work in the second-half. One Polish journalist believes the coach, Franciszek Smuda, got his tactics wrong and doesn’t believe Poland will be able to beat Russia when they meet them later today.

EN / Colourful nature of world affairs

The world is colourful. It is, at least, a conclusion that can be drawn from enjoying the Mappa series by Alighiero Boetti that until recently were displayed in London’s Tate Modern.

The exhibition, by name – “Game Plan” – with geopolitical connotations, offered an opportunity to experience how international affairs can be presented in arts.

EN / Talking to the Beeb

Kudos to Andy Brassell for making this one to happen. I always enjoy the lightness of his writing, particularly when he produces another interesting piece despite me troubling him with some chit-chats during or after the matches. 

I might have been in the middle of packing for a trip to Munich but when Andy asked me to share some thoughts of Poland's bumpy road to the Euros it was an opportunity that one simply cannot let slip. 

PL / Rozmowy w Monachium

Pasja jest najważniejsza. Są miejsca, sprawy, ludzie, rzeczy, które powodują, że uśmiech natychmiast gości na naszych twarzach i natychmiast inaczej patrzymy na codzienne bolączki. Czasami ma to charakter niesamowicie wysublimowany, choć wyrażony w trywialnych formach. 

PL / Demonizacja Europy Wschodniej

(Artykuł został opublikowany na łamach iGol.pl 17-ego kwietnia.) 

Poranne doniesienia o rasizmie na stadionach Euro 2012 i potencjalnych „wypadkach”, do których może dojść podczas imprezy, to nie pierwsza próba podważenia pozycji Polski ze strony FIFPro. Problemy istnieją, ale rewelacje międzynarodowej federacji piłkarzy to bełkot i próby manipulacji wizerunkiem.