Alda Carvalho (ISEL), Carlos Pereira dos Santos (ISEC), and Jorge Nuno Silva (FCUL): Mathematics of Soccer. Ozgur Dirim Ozkan (METU): Perception of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Qualification to FIFA World Cup 2014 by Different Ethnic Groups. In his 35-year presidency of Real Madrid, Santiago Bernabeu transformed a middling team into the greatest club of the 20th century. The end of the World Cup as we know it: Club soccer has surpassed the international version of the sport in just about every way — better pay, better players, better teams. Jacqueline S. Gehring on how the left and the right talk differently about the ethnicity of German soccer players. Uri Friedman on why Americans call soccer “soccer”. Eric Wills reviews Why Soccer Matters by Pele. The introduction to Beautiful Game Theory: How Soccer Can Help Economics by Ignacio Palacios-Huerta. The cyborg era begins at the World Cup. A philosopher's theory of soccer fandom: Simon Critchley on why there is no such thing as a bad World Cup. James Dawson on why the World Cup is not a reliable political football. The beautiful data set: Ignacio Palacios-Huerta on how the World Cup can help test economic theories. Why did Borges hate soccer? Shaj Mathew on how mass culture was anathema to the Argentine writer. Omer Aziz on how the World Cup doesn’t bring people together — it tears them apart. Pele, Cruyff, Best, Maradona, Zidane — and Pindar: Brian Cummings on football’s offer of hope against experience, and its roots in a classical past. David Runciman on why goalkeepers don’t catch the ball. How much do Americans really hate soccer? Nicholas Hune-Brown wonders. The not-so-beautiful game: As it becomes trendy, soccer is losing its old frisson of hooliganism. Poor, poor pitiful you: Nick Paumgarten on diving at the World Cup. Aaron Gordon on how the U.S. military shaped American soccer.
