Tim Spiers

London

Journalist at The Athletic

Articles, podcasts and shenanigans for @TheAthleticFC 🐺

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Articles

FIFA Club World Cup: Ranking all 32 participants

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Nick Miller |Tim Spiers

It’s been nearly a decade in the making, but Gianni Infantino’s big idea, the expanded Club World Cup, is finally here. The plan was for the best 32 club sides to finally end the arguments over who is by far the greatest team the world has ever seen, but whether it will or not is another matter. We’ve never had a tournament like this, not on this sort of scale.
Ronaldo being Ronaldo

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Tim Spiers |Dermot Corrigan |Stu James

Alvaro Morata had his spot-kick saved as Portugal beat Spain on penalties to win the Nations League at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The match was between two teams who should be among the favourites for next year's World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and gave a glimpse of some of the players who could be stars of the tournament, though it was a rare tough night for 17-year-old Spain forward Lamine Yamal.
Germany 1 Portugal 2

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Sebastian Stafford-Bloor |Tim Spiers

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 137th international goal to help Portugal beat Germany for the first time in 25 years and qualify for Sunday's Nations League final. The Portugal captain netted the winning goal in the 68th minute, staying onside and tapping home from close range after being set up the brilliant Nuno Mendes. Germany had led shortly after the break through Liverpool target Florian Wirtz, the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder nodding home following a lovely dinked assist from Joshua Kimmich.
Reviewing TNT, CBS Sports' Champions League final

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Tim Spiers |Pablo Maurer

Paris Saint-Germain's historic 5-0 thrashing of Inter in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final was a sight to behold - and to viewers either via TV or streaming on either side of the Atlantic, they were treated to quite the range of viewing experiences. There's never a shortage of former players-turned-pundits when it comes to Champions League coverage, and this was no exception.
Gianni Infantino takes on Cristiano Ronaldo for the humility award

4 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Tim Spiers

Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic 's weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every Friday throughout the 2024-25 season we have brought you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the sport we all love. We'll end on a high (low) note today with the Row Z 2024-25 Season Awards. Good luck Gianni, we're all rooting for you...
Why failing in the Premier League doesn't make you a bad player

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Tim Spiers

Some peculiar occurrences took place 20 years ago when Liverpool beat Milan to win Europe's premier football competition. The 'miracle of Istanbul' they call it. People watched stunned at the incredible sight. Yes, that's right, Jon Dahl Tomasson played in the Champions League final. OK, let's nip this in the bud straight away, we mean no disrespect to Tomasson, who enjoyed a hugely successful career with Denmark, Feyenoord and Milan.
Who made the biggest Villa mistake? Is Maresca Chelsea's most likeable face? Why pick Liverpool over Newcastle?

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Tim Spiers

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic has discussed three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend's football in England. This was the weekend when Premier League clubs definitely said goodbye to Kevin De Bruyne, probably said farewell to Alejandro Garnacho and might yet have said see ya mate to Ange Postecoglou.
Sheffield United 1 Sunderland 2

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Philip Buckingham |Tim Spiers

Tommy Watson said he's looking forward to meeting Sunderland "in the big time" after scoring the goal that won the Championship play-off final in his final game for the North East club before joining Brighton & Hove Albion. In a remarkable turnaround, Sunderland trailed until the 76th minute before Eliezer Mayenda equalised after Tyrese Campbell had put Sheffield United ahead in the 25th minute.
Should one match change the fate of Tottenham's Postecoglou or Manchester United's Amorim?

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Tim Spiers

It was just one match. A very bad match, admittedly, settled by a very poor goal, but it was still just one game decided by one moment. Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson's attempt at scoring went backwards, hit Luke Shaw and rolled apologetically over a white line. And with that, the immediate fates of Ange Postecoglou and/or Ruben Amorim are immediately brighter or darker. One might keep his job after all, while the other has half-volunteered to leave his. Perhaps it shouldn't be that way.
Fast, furious and laughably bad

1 month ago | bvmsports.com | Tim Spiers

May 22, 2025Updated 5:46 am EDT It should have been an own goal. Brennan Johnson's scuffed, mis-timed, bobbly, ricocheted two-yarder deserved to have 'OG' splattered all over it. Sometimes, a wonderful goal will be described by a commentator as "good enough to win any football match", or perhaps even "a strike fit to grace a World Cup final". In this particular case, Johnson's ugly goal was utterly befitting of the 2024-25 Europa League final. This is not an article for fans of Tottenham Hotspur.