Jack Lang
@jacklang
Football writer for The Athletic https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/jack-lang/ https://bsky.app/profile/jacklang.bsky.social
Igor Jesus, one of the breakout stars of the Club World Cup, celebrates his goals by imitating a character from a Japanese cartoon. Team-mates at youth level called him Sapinho — Little Frog — because he used to leap around when playing in goal. As a kid, he spent his weekends…
What a day out for Ireland’s Ben Healy. A battle throughout, from break formation to his second escape. Van der Poel reclaims yellow by a second - and passage through Kevin Vauquelin country. Tour de France stage six briefing with @jacklang: nytimes.com/athletic/64855…
Lucerne was the perfect setting for Wales’ first match: a city surrounded by imposing, confounding heights that, before kick-off, felt scalable. Memories of Euro 2016 abounded. It was giddy, real, tear-stained. The first steps of a long-awaited journey. nytimes.com/athletic/64758…
“He was a symbol of this region.” “We felt he was ours.” In northern Portugal, a community mourns Diogo Jota, a blue-collar footballer who never lost sight of where his journey began nytimes.com/athletic/64751…
Being here, among the queuing locals waiting to pay tribute at the Matriz de Gondomar church, it was impossible not to think about roots: those that ground us, that keep us connected to where we come from, if we allow them to. It is obvious that Diogo Jota nourished his.…
Stand-out performer so far at this Club World Cup? The case for Jhon Arias, the softly spoken, Gabriel García Márquez-reading dreamer who has come from relative obscurity in Colombia to bring his brand of magical realism to Fluminense 🇧🇷🇨🇴 #Fluminense nytimes.com/athletic/64645…
“He will soon be seen as one of the top managers in the world.” How “restless” Filipe Luis went from coaching novice to Brazil’s most promising manager in the space of eight months nytimes.com/athletic/64576…
Igor Jesus took the scenic route to the brink of global stardom. It might just have been the making of him nytimes.com/athletic/64546…
Two games into Real Madrid’s Club World Cup campaign and it was fair to wonder when Vinicius Jr would turn up to the party. But by half-time, Vinicius had flipped the narrative on its head. First came his opening goal, a thrilling reminder of what he can do when the service is…
Thou shalt not take Guti's name in vain nytimes.com/athletic/15722…
Argentine fans lit up the Club World Cup. River and Boca’s football? Not so much nytimes.com/athletic/64525…
“It's impossible, terribly hot. My toenails were hurting; I couldn't slow down or speed up. It was unbelievable.” "Today was too hot and the time of the day when we played did not help." "It would have been better to play at a different time." Players, fans and executives have…
▪️ Salem Al-Dawsari ▪️ Igor Jesus ▪️ Gonzalo Garcia ▪️ Pedro Neto Our writers pick six players who have caught the eye in the opening week of the Club World Cup. nytimes.com/athletic/64439…
It’s Brazil’s Club World Cup; the rest of us are just living in it nytimes.com/athletic/64443…
