Having two U20 tournaments in the same summer means a particular headache for federations trying to simultaneously protect and develop some of their brightest hopes while fighting on two fronts. The other six nations playing both the Toulon Tournament and the U20 World Cup have significant overlap between the two [...]

Sometimes you just know it’s the right time. There are no bad feelings on either side, but something just isn’t right. Maybe you’ll both be happier apart, one day finding love again with another. Things had started to crack before Christmas. There were rumblings of distrust; questions regarding his methods [...]

Hannover, Germany – October 1954 - Larbi Ben Barek had decided it was time to rest his aching knees. The last 18 years of his life seemed to sap the fluid in his joints; it was now time to retire. Nostalgic reveries brought him back to the scorching tar roads of [...]

Ever since he established himself as one of Ligue 1′s premier centre-backs, Aurelien Chedjou has been a player in demand. On the radar of Europe’s top clubs for a number of years, it seemed a move away from northern France was a matter of when, not if. The gossip columns [...]

It was a real Jekyll and Hyde season for Valenciennes. They were situated just one point off 3rd place after 15 games and at the halfway stage of the campaign they were in a very competitive 6th position on 29 points. However, they managed to obtain only 19 more points [...]

When they clinched promotion to Ligue 1 in May 2012, Troyes knew for sure that they would have a mountain to climb in order to manage survival in the top flight. Returning to Ligue 1 for the first time since 2007, the team from Champagne region had the lowest budget [...]

In the end, Toulouse’s season petered out somewhat after an impressive start to the campaign that harboured aspirations of making it into Europe. However, the departure of key personnel as well as an uninspiring period in the autumn and beyond resulted in a 10th place finish. They finished two places lower [...]