Virat #Kohli has changed the face of Indian cricket by imbibing a great fitness culture within the camp and has lead by example. But there's still a long way to go as the Pakistan cricket team has better yo-yo test numbers than their Indian counterparts.
Time for a 🧵
A departure from this World Cup that may be overlooked: Granit Xhaka, one of the last remaining members of a Switzerland golden generation that once featured Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Fabian Schär and more.
In his fourth World Cup, Xhaka reached the furthest stage of his career. He’ll be 38 by 2030, so there’s a chance we may have seen him on this stage for the final time.
Salute to a Swiss football icon 🫡
32 year old footballer who has played in 1 ucl ko tie, only 4 seasons of ucl football, never performed for his country, captained his team to 15th and has never been in a title race or competed for anything meaningful
bruno fernandes ladies and gentlemen
0 - Since the introduction of yellow and red cards at the 1970 edition, no player has ever received a red card and gone on to play in his team's next match at the FIFA World Cup.
Unprecedented.
Realized United pundits and ex-pros just can't take Arsenal being the best team in England again.
The hate is embedded deeply into their hearts and it gives me incredible joy seeing them this deluded.
The idea that Arsenal became a cultural phenomenon because it signed Black players is too simplistic.
Like much of London, Arsenal positioned itself as a club that extended belonging towards the margins. Not racial margins alone, but the margins of football's imagination.
Kanu arrived after heart surgery that could have ended his career. Bergkamp arrived carrying the weight of a disappointing spell at Inter. Henry arrived as a talented but unsettled player still searching for his place. Kolo Touré was potential before proof. Arteta arrived as a midfielder many thought was entering decline, only to be entrusted with the captaincy. Wenger himself was a foreign manager challenging the assumptions of English football.
The pattern was not diversity for its own sake. It was recognition before validation.
Arsenal repeatedly seemed willing to see people not simply as they were, but as they could become. It trusted before consensus arrived. It built a reputation for offering a second chance, a fresh start, or a path to fulfilment where others saw limitation, uncertainty, or decline.
That is why former players, injured players, and out-of-contract players so often found their way back to Arsenal. The club developed a reputation for treating people as more than their immediate utility.
Representation matters. But recognition creates loyalty.
People did not just see players who looked like them. They saw an institution that appeared willing to enlarge its definition of who belonged.
People expect Laura Woods and a panel made 66% of Arsenal fans to be completely neutral when representing an English TV channel, but have no issue with Neville and Carragher spouting their anti Arsenal agendas that feed into everyone’s shallow minds every week 😂 we see you all
nobody wanted Arsenal to win the Prem because we thought their fans were gonna be unbearable and annoying, but whats ended up happening is everyone else has become completely unbearable instead, crying and belittling their achievements as much as possible just to fuel agendas
We made the trip from Chennai to North London. For the parade. 14 hour flight in and we weren't the craziest ones - there were fans who'd flown in from Sydney.
What a turnout. What energy. The 5 hour wait on the streets was nothing; we've waited 22 years.
One-year-old baby to 80-year-old grandpa, all drenched in Arsenal colours.
Maniacal. Magical. Monumental.
North London Forever. ❤️🤍 #COYG
@RohRamesh@vadalondon@Arsenal@ArsenalChennai