Fittingly, the game’s two transcendent superstars of the past decade, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo, bow out on the same day. France & Uruguay advance; and we celebrate the spectacular two goal performance of 19 year-old Kylian Mbappe with Hanson’s teen-smash M’Bop.
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The Group Stage has ended: 16 teams remain, 16 are heading home. Sadly, Senegal goes out…for accumulating more yellow cards than Japan! …and with their exit, the dreams of Africa are deferred once again. We question the justice of this system, and also feature two guests who traveled to Moscow for the opening of the tournament: Esteban Zul (aka The Ambassador of Aztlan) and Bob Edelman, author of Spartak Moscow: A History of the People’s Team in the Workers State.
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It’s Day 10, and the competition is heating up! In this podcast, Alan and Meleiza recap the last two days of group play, including: Brazil’s journey back on its feet against Costa Rica’s Ticos; Nigeria’s fairytale upset of Iceland; the political drama of Kosovar Muslim refugees scoring the winning goals for Switzerland against Serbia; Belgium and Mexico continuing their winning runs; and the last-minute thrills as Germany prevails against Sweden.
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It’s already been quite an eventful week for FIFA – but watch out, because The People’s Game is coming back to the airwaves!
What will be the ‘state of play’ when the 2015 Women’s World Cup opens in Edmonton, Canada? Join co-hosts Karen Anzoategui and Bobby Gordon on KPFK/Paciica Radio as we kick off the 2015 edition of The People’s Game on opening day.
Tune in for our first show @ 10am on Saturday, June 6 2015 – on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, 93.7 FM in San Diego, or worldwide right here on the web at kpfk.org / thepeoplesgame.org!
You can also follow The People’s Game coverage on Facebook and Twitter! Click the “Like” or “Follow” buttons on the left column of this website for live updates, game commentaries, and more!
As the World Cup 2014 knockout rounds progressed, the bombs began to fall in Gaza. The latest Israeli campaign against the Palestinians has, as of this writing, devastated homes, schools, hospitals, and has killed over 800 Palestinians – including four boys playing soccer on the beach.
Football holds a special significance for the Palestinian people. In an embattled and occupied land with devastated infrastructure, football is a vitally important outlet for youth; as one young footballer put it, “the only hobby Palestinians have left is football.” Like the Algerian team in the 1960s, the Palestinian national team – which is ranked 74th in FIFA standings (its highest ever) and has just qualified for the Asia Cup – is an important representative for Palestinian national identity, humanity, and dignity within the international community; a powerful way of showing the world that the Palestinian people survive and continue to struggle for freedom.
Perhaps because of this, Israeli forces have especially targeted Palestinian football – kidnapping, imprisoning, killing, and severely injuring players (in two cases, shooting them in the legs), imposing travel restrictions on the national team, and bombing the Palestinian national stadium in 2006 and 2012. Just two weeks ago, nine Palestinian civilians were killed as an Israeli missile targeted a beach where football fans were gathered to watch the World Cup. Since 2010, several international organizations have been documenting the attempts on the part of Israel to destroy Palestinian sport, and have brought grievances to FIFA and UEFA (the European football confederation, of which Israel is a member).
Mahmoud Sarsak, a player for Palestine’s national team who went on hunger strike while imprisoned in Israel, said that “Israel works endlessly to repress Palestinian football, just like it does many other forms of Palestinian culture…There can be no place in football for segregation and oppression.” Sarsak, like many Palestinian footballers, citizens and their allies, continue to speak out against Israeli occupation and oppression, and stand up for the freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people.
Solidarity with the people of Gaza! Free Palestine!
The tragedy of El Tri, and the triumph of Los Ticos. CONCACAF takes center stage, as the nerve-fraying drama continues. Alan and Meleiza review the day’s action, and are joined by a heartbroken Fernando Romero, as well as fans from a Bay Area public screening of Mexico vs Holland. We also preview tomorrow’s matches with Laurent Dubois, who discusses the significance of Team Algeria across North Africa and the Middle East; and Bob Arnot and Suzi Weissman discuss the Nigerian team’s success in the context of that country’s ongoing political violence.
On today’s podcast, Alan and Meleiza recap today’s games, including Costa Rica’s impressive upset of the Azzuri, and look forward to tomorrow’s matchups. KPFK’s Suzi Weissman gives us a view from the South, as she sits down for a chat with two Chileans, Arturo Cifuentes and Oscar Mendoza, as well as Brazilian economist Pedro Paulo Zahluth Bastos. Finally, we look on the funny side of this year’s World Cup with a hilarious roundtable from KPFK’s Pocho Hour of Power, hosted by Lalo Alcaraz and featuring comics Matt Kirshen, Mike Bridenstine, and Ryan Conner. Finally, we get a glimpse into LA’s Ecuadorian fan base with a report from Alan Kuey.
The People’s Game co-host Jennifer Doyle is producing some of the most insightful analysis of this years Women’s World Cup final on her great blog From a Left Wing.
Listen to Jennifer’s interview with Sonali Kolhatkar about the early rounds of the World Cup finals in Germany – as well as an overarching dialogue about political and cultural subtexts of the women’s game.
Also, Listen to KPFK Radio this Friday at 5 pm as Jennifer previews the USA-Japan Final and looks back at the dramatic games in the knockout rounds of the tournament.
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