Technology to save the Ballon d'Or

The Ballon d'Or is considered the main individual award in football (as silly as it is to have an individual award in a team sport), even more important than the FIFA player of the year award (FIFA used to participate in the Ballon d'Or award, but created its own, something that powerful people always do if they cannot have it their way). Over the 2010s the award was largely a competition between two of the most gifted players of all time, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But as they have entered the winters of their careers the prize is now open for competition among many great (but not the greatest) players, and this year it was PSGs Ousmane Dembele who took the title that is decided among a vote from football journalists from all over the world.

In my personal and deeply subjective opinion, Ousmane Dembele is the correct winner in 2025; he has been on fire for PSGs Champions League and French champions, and has also become an important player in the French national team, finally showing the quality he was only able to show sometimes in FC Barcelona. He is a great player - but not one of the greatest, as were none of the other candidates to the title.

Of course, in a world of narcissists and sore losers nobody congratulates the winner but rather bitches that they should rather have won it, and invent conspiracy theories about the voting and the "objectivity of the voting journalists.

As if there was such a thing called "objectivity" when it comes to football...

So I have a proposal for everyone: why not let AI choose the best player in the world? We feed it all information of all players in the world for a year, and based on number of goals, passes, touches, minutes played; and partly on tournaments won and ranking of the teams played for and against, the AI could find a completely objective winner of the Ballon d'Or that you can not argue against!

Just as objective as VAR! 

Firpo

In 1923, Argentine boxer Luis Ángel Firpo faced heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in what many hailed as the fight of the century (little did they know greater spectacles were still to come). All of Latin America rallied behind the powerful Argentine, who even managed to knock Dempsey out of the ring in the first round. Yet, in a controversial decision, Firpo ultimately lost the match. 

Just months earlier, in the small Salvadoran town of Usulután, a football club named Tecún Umán had been founded. Inspired by Firpo’s epic bout, its members voted overwhelmingly to rename the team Club Deportivo Luis Ángel Firpo. Along with the new name came new identity: the club adopted the red, white, and blue colors of Firpo’s beloved Argentine side, San Lorenzo de Almagro, and chose as its emblem a bull, honoring the boxer’s nickname—El Toro de las Pampas (The Bull of the Pampas). 

During the 1980s and 1990s, Firpo became one of the most successful teams in El Salvador’s top division, where it still competes today, proudly carrying forward the fighting spirit of the legendary Argentine whose name it bears.

New CL season

Yesterday was Mexico's independence day, so after seeing the parade I took advantage of my day off to see the start of a new Champions league season with Real Madrid facing Olympique Marseille over a few beers.

It was a good match with Real Madrid winning 2-1, after going 0-1 down on a great goal by Timothy Weah (whose father George had incidentally scored for PSG against Real Madrid in 1994). Real Madrid equalised on a penalty kick taken by Kylian Mbappe. A correct penalty in my view, but a pity for a well-playing Marseille. In the second half Real Madrid put more pressure, but Marseille held well, and it was only a penalty gift from the referee, on one of those "handballs" that should never have been given. Kylian Mbappe made it 2-1 again, and Real Madrid starts with a win with referee help... 

Euro qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup

This weekend In have watched a couple of European World Cup qualifiers. Denmark and Scotland tied 0-0 in a match where Denmark had the ball all the time but there was as much passion and wish to score as in a funeral. Scotland defended, Denmark had the ball, and nothing happened... They are in a qualifying group with Greece and Belarus; one of these teams will qualify straight to the 2026 World Cup, and although I support Denmark, I have my doubts whether any of these sides are good enough to be in a World Cup; they will just defend and not try to win a match.

Alongside Argentina, Spain are surely the best team in the world right now, and they gave a class act in Turkey, winning 0-6 and hardly sweating. The Spaniards were impressive, with Pedri in particular directing the orchestra with two goals, but also Arsenal's Mikel Merino scoring three goals, one better than the other. Spain is in a group with Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria, and after tonight's trashing they are surely on the way to a World Cup where they will be among the favourites.