FOOTBALL IS COMING HOME » Portugal

Futebol tedioso

Peter Alegi — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:48:33 +0000

Brazil and Portugal delivered the letdown of the tournament at Mabhida Stadium in Durban. This was the ticket everyone wanted.

What we (62,000+) got instead was a dull, uninspired yet utterly practical 0-0 draw. Players dished off lazy passes sideways and backwards under the stern gaze of ultra-defensive coaches Dunga and Queiroz. Instead of magical Robinho we got useless Julio Baptista.

With such tedious football on display, we, the fans, provided the entertainment and fun. When the final whistle blew, disgruntled fans booed the lackluster effort of both sides, while the players traded jerseys and knowing winks. In the round of 16 Brazil will take on Chile while Portugal will clash with Spain.

Now that we are in the knockout stages, the dictatorship of results might suffocate the joyful spirit that stubbornly breathes life into our beautiful game.

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Pot Observations

David Patrick Lane — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:38:38 +0000

TEN POT OBSERVATIONS.

1. FIFA got the seedings right. Pot 1 seeds earned their ranking. France did not. France’s final appearance was four years ago.

2. Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay have come out of the pot alignment better than most. Each of the smaller South American nations will avoid the big five African qualifiers in the 1st Round.

3. Argentina and Brazil cannot avoid the African qualifiers from Pot 3. The seeds for two potential Groups of Death have now been sown. Has FIFA put Brazil at risk for an early bath?

4. The most frightening Group of Death would be: Brazil, Mexico, Côte d’Ivoire and Portugal.

5. The dark horse of Pot 2 is Honduras.

6. The tournament’s top scorer will probably find his country drawn against New Zealand in the 1st Round.

7. Slovenia will not be the dark horse of Pot 4. Slovakia might be.

8. South Africa need the luck of the draw more than most. The hosts will hope to be grouped with both New Zealand and Slovenia. So will every other team from Pots 1 and 3, for that matter.

9. Algeria could draw both France and Germany. The Desert Foxes will appreciate the luck of being thrown into that particular garlic and beer feed chicken coop.

10. Italy could renew some old acquaintances. North Korea can beat Italy, again. And Chile can beat Italy up, again.

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Football’s Michael Jackson?

Editor — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:43:26 +0000

Whether you like Cristiano Ronaldo or not, you can’t hate on the fact that about 80,000 people turned up for his “unveiling” (basically a news conference) at Real Madrid earlier today. Ronaldo may have his detractors against the claim that he is the world’s best player (he is certainly its most expensive), but he has now confirmed his status as a football pop star with all the attendant signs: the media circus, the screaming fans, the tabloid behavior.

On a related note: With Barcelona outplaying Manchester United in the European Champions League and now Kaka and a number of top players joining Ronaldo in Spain, is Ronaldo also right that the Spanish La Liga will displace the English Premier League as the most demanding football league in the world?

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The mind of Jose Mourinho

Editor — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:11:26 +0000

Reuters Football Blog reports on Inter Milan manager, Jose Mourinho (who has a gift for the soundbyte), discussing the ‘discipline” of footballers from various backgrounds:

“The Brazilians are the most difficult and ill-disciplined. If you organise a meeting for 10, they don’t care if you let them enter or not. The English arrive at 9.55, the Italian, even if he comes at 10.01, arrives in a hurry and is fed up.

The Portuguese are there at 10 or 9.59. A Frenchman, who is always right, comes at 10 but thinks there was no actual reason to be punctual. Russians arrive at 10, not a minute before and not a minute after. They need to be guided.”

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