Why Hajduk? I asked. “I had no idea about Hajduk before my friend gave me this shirt. However, since then I became interested in the club, and that beautiful city in Croatia.” To my great surprise, Yuya came that day to work wearing a snow white Hajduk shirt. He said good morning and quietly sat to have our usual tasteless bowl of miso soup and rice for … Continue reading HAJDUK SPLIT, YUYA
Why Schalke 04? I asked. “I don’t know Schalke. This is Adidas.” It’s five in the morning and I’m having my first coffee at a street café in downtown Phnom Penh. Across the table from me, wearing a blue Schalke 04 shirt sits a man who can easily be an actor or a professional poker player. His face is like a rock, his left eye … Continue reading FC SCHALKE 04, WONG MENG
Why Manchester City? I asked. “Mancini! Because of him.” Wait a second! Did he really say Mancini, Roberto Mancini? Will someone, please, stop this ferry – I’m afraid otherwise very smart and beautiful boy is not feeling well and he might need some assistance. I asked again, he said “because of Mancini” again. I know, Myanmar is just waking up from decades of isolation and can … Continue reading MANCHESTER CITY, NAING
Why Liverpool? I asked. “What is Liverpool?” I suspected that would be the answer even before I asked the question we usually ask for this blog. Nurul Amin simply doesn’t know Liverpool nor does he know much about other teams and players. However, he knows football and loves it. Nurul Amin is a Rohingya refugee and that is as bad as being a Bosnian but … Continue reading LIVERPOOL, NURUL AMIN
Why Milan? I asked. “Because I’ve got this shirt at the lucky draw organized by our church before we played football.” At about the same time as Baptist missionaries started harvesting souls in the northern Kachin state, a journalist George Scott introduced the game of football to what was sometimes known as “the Scottish colony”, the great country of Burma. Besides being a reporter for … Continue reading AC MILAN, BRANG SENGLI
Why Thai Port? I asked. “Well, the stadium is only five minutes from where I live. That’s how all started.” The rest is a long and ongoing story. On her twitter profile (worth following for some thoughtful and funny observation about football and Thai society) otherwise very cool Lillian describes herself as “Artist/Photographer. Dirty Liberal Feminist. Apathetic Gooner. KlongtoeyArmy Conscript”. There @TheLilyfish mentions two football … Continue reading THAI PORT, LILLIAN
Why Milan?, I asked. “I like it because of that striker. I forgot his name.” No wonder he can’t remember the striker’s name. Last time I’ve been drinking what Soe is drinking on a hot and humid summer day I had serious difficulties recalling anything. Thai rice whiskey, although less than 30 degree strong is a dangerous thing. The myth, truthless as only a myth can be, says … Continue reading MILAN, SOE
“Why Roma?”, I asked. “Gialla com er sole, rosso come er come mio! Chi tifa Roma non perde mai.” (Yellow like the sun, red as my heart! Who supports Roma never loses.) When recently Lazio beat Roma (Senad Lulic, 71min) in the finals of the Italian cup, my natural reaction was to immediately send Dario a teasing text message saying that such a tragedy happens only … Continue reading ROMA, DARIO
This is a fantastic news for all of you Footballists fans: Damir Šagolj, a friend, and a reporter who works for Reuters news agency and is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand, joins Footballists and will be our regular contributor. Here is his first post. Enjoy! Why Arsenal? I asked myself. “Because Samir brought me this shirt.” Indeed, although it is bit awkward for one displaced … Continue reading ARSENAL, DAMIR
F O O T B A L L I S T S 