Priscilla

Egypt you have finished me 😭

In Germany, a talented 14-year-old earns his club money. In America, his parents pay the club $15,000 a year. That single inversion explains why "we will not" is the most accurate line ever written about US soccer. FIFA built a global system for this. Training compensation and solidarity payments send a cut of every transfer fee back to the clubs that developed the player, from age 12 onward. Develop one future pro and your academy gets paid for a decade. Barcelona's La Masia, Ajax, every Bundesliga academy runs on this logic. The kid is the asset. US Soccer refuses to enforce those rules. When Seattle's Crossfire Premier claimed its $60,000 share of DeAndre Yedlin's transfer to Tottenham, it got nothing. Claims on the Dempsey and Bradley transfers died partly because the federation couldn't even produce the youth training records. So American clubs earn zero dollars when a kid turns pro. They earn when a kid enrolls. Which makes the parent the customer, and the product is whatever keeps the parent writing checks: travel tournaments, hotel weekends, $500 showcase events, private training at $100 an hour. Elite pathways run $8,000 to $20,000 a year. A comparable academy spot in Italy costs about 120 euros. Follow the incentive one level deeper and it gets darker. A club dependent on fees can't cut its weakest paying players, so rosters optimize for retention over development. The scouting pool shrinks to families who can afford the cliff, which appears around age 11, exactly when development matters most. The country runs a talent filter sorted by household income instead of ability. Every four years someone proposes fixing this. The proposal always requires the people profiting from the $15,000 model to vote themselves out of business. They will not.

I don't mean this as some sort of gotcha for the OP, but really the entire World Cup should have been boycotted the moment the US prevented the Irani team from remaining in the country after every day. We are here precisely because no action was taken there.

Bring back Sepp. A proper brown envelopesman. Make corruption classy again.

And they won the battle.

My finger hovers over the add to cart button. "It can go lower," I whisper, as the Afrikaans verse of the national anthem starts.

african teams and conceding late. south africa conceded a 90+2' winner to canada, ivory coast conceded a late winner to norway, drc crumbled under late pressure, and now senegal blew a 2-0 lead to belgium, conceding in the 86th and 89th minute. there's evil afoot.

IM CRYINGGGG 😭😭😭😭 x.com/10xVini/status…

I like France but it’s always alright to hate a powerful team for no reason. One of the inalienable rights in football.

Conversation yami nomuntu wase FNB/ Centurion Home Affairs 😭I’m actually now realising how dizzy I am cause wtf you mean you’re from FNB but you’re using Discovery bank!!! Also those banking details ?😭this is not the official number moss 😭🕊️

I have served long enough in leadership to recognise a troubling pattern. Too many among South Africa’s elite - black and white - appear to believe the rules that govern the rest of us do not apply to them. As chairman of an SOE, I am regularly approached by business leaders asking me to intervene in operational or procurement matters. When I explain that my role is governance and oversight, not management, they say they understand. Yet the requests continue. This reveals a belief that exceptions exist for the connected few. It was therefore striking to see Business Leadership South Africa and BUSA, organisations that have been vocal against state capture and political interference in state-owned enterprises, actively advocate for political intervention to transfer transmission assets to the Transmission System Operator. These are the same bodies that insist on corporate governance and board independence. Where, then, is the role of the SOE board? What exactly do they believe in? Equally concerning are recent allegations involving former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. Senior figures within his own party, including John Steenhuisen and Dion George, have raised issues that appear to involve conflicts of interest and undue influence. This from a voice that has long lectured on ethical standards and clean governance. Do these rules apply to everyone, or only when politically convenient? Selective morality is not morality at all. When those who position themselves as guardians of good governance apply different standards to themselves, public trust erodes. But South Africans are watching. We see the inconsistencies. We now know where people stand. The path forward requires courage. We must expose wrongdoing wherever it occurs without fear or favour. We must demand that those who preach accountability live it consistently. We must insist that rules bind the powerful as they bind ordinary citizens. And we must model the ethical society we want to build. South Africa does not lack good people. What we need is the collective will to insist that principle applies to all. Let us find that courage. Let us call out double standards and build a nation where no one is above the law. That is the South Africa worth fighting for. #ProudlySA

when europe wins in the world cup: their team is simply superior, the global south can’t compete when europe loses: the european team woke up on the wrong side of the bed, “are penalties fair?” piece in the new york times, the air that day was heavy, the coach had a tummy ache

This is why some of us need to stay out of this and just listen to what people are saying because we’re not all affected in the same way. Spot on!!

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha Of course when Germany and Netherlands are kicked out this would be the headline.

I feel like Americans always think in excess. The tension of the World Cup comes from the fact that it is every four years and cycles through generations of players. It’s something to wait for and build up to.

I don’t even think the horses are aware

As the emotions settle, I can acknowledge Hugo Broos’s legacy. Watching Bafana Bafana over the last 5 years has been an absolute pleasure. South African football has been re-invigorated with way more highs than lows. I’m excited for the future.

Heads held high. A nation stands proudly behind Bafana Bafana. 🇿🇦💚💛 #ReKaofela #BafanaBafana #BafanaPride #GovZAUpdates

For just a moment in time, Bafana Bafana made South Africa dream. Hold your heads high boys, you did your country proud

@BafanaBafana you made us believe again, for that, we thank you. #BafanaKaofela