Archive for the 'Football' Category

For everyone who watched the World Cup final between France and Italy, there was an aura of unreality about the proceedings. Yes, it was supposed to be a sporting spectacle; but more importantly, it was the last bow of a soft-spoken French magician, widely acknowledged as the greatest footballer of his time.

Yet the sporting climax that it was supposed to be was hijacked by arguably the most dramatic curtains to an illustrious career. That head butt… that red card… Rest assured, it will be talked about for a long, long time.

The truth is, the game would always have been as much, if not more, Zidane’s Final Match rather than World Cup Final, even had he not head-butted Marco Materazzi and got himself sent off. Thousands of football fans from all corners of the world switched on their TV sets as much to catch a last glimpse of Zidane as to find out who would take home the cup.

Zinédine Zidane always had a habit of mesmerizing his audience. Be it with those sublime passes, those dizzying shimmies past a handful of defenders, or a perfect shot curving into an inviting net. It is not just his extraordinary footballing skills that make him an object of interest. It is as much his enigmatic personality, his Algerian origins and his humility.

Zidane has always been fiercely protective of his private life, but because of his origins has had to field queries as well as accusations regarding his loyalties. Born in Marseille of Algerian immigrants, he was brought up in La Castellane, a council estate in the northern suburbs of Marseille. However, his stature overshadows any religious/racial divide that simmers in present-day Europe. He has always refused to get drawn into political arguments and steadfastly refused to take sides. That in part has been what has earned him the respect of family, friends, fans and players alike.

Despite fame and fortune, humility has remained one of Zidane’s most endearing qualities. As Michael Owen testifies:

[Players] are full of respect for him, and not just for his skills…. As we walked in after the final whistle [of a Euro 2004 game where France beat England in dramatic circumstances, with Zidane scoring both France's goals], I looked up and saw Zidane heading straight towards the dressing room while the rest of the French players were dancing around on the pitch…. He’s an unbelievable player, but what we respected most about him was that he wasn’t rubbing our faces in it, unlike some. There’s no messing with Zidane. He doesn’t need to tell anyone he’s brilliant. He just is.

(Michael Owen, Off the Record: My Autobiography, pp.316–17)

On-field rushes of blood have not exactly been alien to Zidane. And though his dramatic exit from professional football shocked many of us, he might have done the footballing world a great favour. For the first time FIFA has owned up to the possibility of verbal abuse being a serious issue in the game. Zidane may have muddied his graceful exit, but it might well end up being a compromise towards making the beautiful game a little less ugly. And:

perhaps we’ll never know what was said or what he was thinking. Perhaps the greatest riddle of all is that in destroying his legacy as a sporting hero, he might have immortalised himself as the man who stood up to bigots, real or imagined, no matter the price.

(Simon Hattenstone, Guardian Unlimited Sport)

It is impossible—from any point of view, for any reason—to condone what Zidane did. But it is equally impossible to say with certainty that his rash action “snuffed out” his legacy, as the Hattenstone says in his Guardian article.

For Zidane’s legacy was more than the goals he scored, the titles he won, the honours he was awarded. His legacy is a testimony to the fact that good guys need not finish last.

Zinédine Yazid Zidane: Farewell. And thank you for the music.

~PD

The only problem with having a blog is that you don’t just need regular ideas, but also have witty and funny things to say about them! That said, things have been a bit hectic lately—not that it has stopped my very limited fan club from asking for updates! Anyway, here goes (this is a bit of cheating as what follows is my Goal Post write-up for the current issue! [In case you don't know what the Goal Post is, it is a free e-mail football newsletter. If you want to subscribe, please drop me a mail.]):

If the Wayne Rooney fan club—in other words about every commentator, analyst and other mediaperson covering football—is to be believed, aggression is an asset.

In keeping with the tradition (?!) of the Goal Post, we beg to differ. And if you don’t agree with us, how about we take this outside and
settle it with our fists, you ****?!

Apologies ;), but that was just to make a point. Getting worked up seems to be universally acknowledged as the best way to get an adrenaline rush, but it also is a shortcut to saying goodbye to reason. Case in point: Mr Rooney! And, indeed, if it were that easy—get angry and snarly and get a high from it—there would be more of us playing professional sport! Why would we need to bother to actually play—have rules and adjudicators? Why not just line up and hurl obscenities at each other? No warm up and stretching required, either! You could argue that sport is a competition and any competition has an element of aggression. True, but competitions also have rules so that the competitiveness does not get out of hand. Sport is just entertainment; not life and death. It is irresponsible to millions of watching youngsters to hype being aggressive as a positive personality trait. Apart from the fact that it is shockingly bad manners, it is
bad for health!

Gary Linekar—who, we all agree had a reasonably distinguished career?—never got booked in his professional life. Michael Owen shows Aes Sedai calmness, usually even in the face of extreme provokation. Don Bradman didn’t average 99.9 in Test cricket because of his expansive vocabulary or iron-hard fists. Martina Navratilova isn’t playing (and still winning) at almost 50 because of her aggressive personality traits.

Sport—and life—ain’t that easy! Funny that, as intelligent beings, humans invented sport. And now they take that same sport as an excuse to behave like animals. Of course, technically we *are* animals… Oh, perhaps that explains it!

~PD

What happened at Edgbaston on Sunday, 7 August, must surely go down as one of the most amazing Test matches of all time! Down and out for all counts, needing over a 100 runs with just the two wickets standing, no one in their right minds thought that it would take more than a quarter of an hour at the most.

Two hours later no one was moving from their seats, for Shane Warne and then Brett Lee took Australia to within sniffing distance to what would have been arguably the most remarkable victory of all time. In the end, they fell short of just two runs, and England levelled the series. What is sad is that the decisive finger raised by umpire Billy Bowden (Michael Kasprowicz caught behind) was, as TV replays later showed, and as the Significant Other’s keen naked eye caught even without the benefit of slow motion, was incorrect.

Honestly, I don’t think Australia are going to make a song and dance about it. (Mind you, if this was India, they would have crying racist conspiracy!) If anything, the Aussies came out of it with their heads held relatively higher than it looked likely at the end of the third day’s play. Though, perhaps, a sound thrashing would have served them better in the long run because:

1. It would have sent the Australian think-tank back to the drawing board to sort out their batting.
2. Ricky Ponting’s captaincy would have come under scrutiny, mainly, why he put England in after winning the toss.

It’s back to square one for the Ashes. With three more Tests to go, it is anybody’s urn this time around. Remember, drawing the series means Australia keep the Ashes. For England to win it back, they have to win the series.

Meanwhile, rejoice! the football season is under way. Arsenal and Chelsea locked horns in the Community Shield this weekend. The Blues won, and hopefully have used up their silverware quota for the season ! Traditionally, the winner of the Community Shield has a quiet season.

We shall see!

~PD