‘Istanbul still hurts’

When I think about tomorrow’s Champions League final showdown, my football intelligence tells me that Liverpool should win it comfortably. They have an astute manager in Benitez, a master tactician who knows how to dissect Europe’s best teams. Just ask Barcelona. Liverpool have a larger squad, and younger, fitter players. In case, the game goes to extra-time, Liverpool can be expected to last an ageing Milan team. If it comes to penalties, they have an outstanding shot-stopper in Pepe Reina. All of the above combined with the typical English resilience they embody should make them favourites for tomorrow’s final.

Yet why does something tell me that Milan’s name is written on the trophy? They had a difficult season in the Serie A, just escaping demotion and starting with an eight points deficit. At the start of the season, no one gave them any chance to win anything. And yet, here they are, one game away from winning club football’s biggest prize.

Carlo Ancelotti said in the build-up, “Istanbul still hurts.” Gennaro Gattuso has vowed revenge and proclaimed that a repeat of the 2005 final would not happen. The stage is set for Milan to exorcise the ghosts of Istanbul forever.

And something tells me, they might just end up doing it.

Champions!

Its excruciating to watch your loved club stutter and descend into mediocrity. With all the odds against them and the financial might of Chelsea, Manchester United have completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in sport ever.

The architect of the turnaround is undoubtedly Sir Alex Ferguson, plotting Chelsea’s unimaginable downfall when none believed he had the stomach for it. The genius of Ronaldo, the guile of Giggs and Scholes, the passion of Rooney, the power of Ferdinand and Vidic, and every player who wore the red shirt with pride. They’ve shown what they’re made, and what Manchester United are all about.

Nick Hornby wrote in Fever Pitch –
I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women : suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.

Its been paining for four long years. Today I feel like going out onto the street and breaking into a long, rambling song.

‘Still alive’

In an excellent essay in The Guardian, Marcela Mora y Araujo talks about the enduring enigma that is Diego Maradona. Titled Diego Maradona, living legend, she talks about how the highs of sport are never equalled by the life that follows. This probably explains the story of excess in Maradona’s life – the eating binges, the drinking problems and of course, his well-known addiction to drugs. Its a poignant sketch of the legend who is struggling to channelise his energy, now that his life as a footballer is over.

Araujo recalls amusing anecdotes, and thankfully stays away from the cliches that we usually encounter in relation to Maradona. Her correspondence with Maradona stretches back to 1995, she also translated his brilliant, raw autobiography El Diego into English.

With a sense of wonder and enchantment as if viewing a miracle, she says -

If we were to be able to study him cognitively, I think we would find evidence that he is a true genius. Perhaps, the greatest one alive in the world today.

Still alive.

Man United

Last night reminded us once again why we all love being Man Utd fans.

Last week, Man United lost 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. It was a fighting 10-man display after Scholes was sent off.

If that wasn’t enough, Portsmouth sprung up a surprise at a visibly tired and depleted side at the weekend in a highly charged fixture at Fratton Park, reducing Chelsea’s deficit to just three points.

After that defeat, I was attacked by premonitions of disaster. Could this be a false dawn? On the threshold of another treble, could we end up winning nothing at all? Mourinho’s words could no longer be carelessly dismissed.

Football fans are a unique breed. Yesterday arguing with a friend (a Liverpool fan), I was again talking up the case of the Treble. I was didactic in my predictions about how United would demolish anyone and everyone this season. Talking about the second-leg against Roma, I was vehement in my declaration that United will rip apart the Italian giants at Old Trafford. I felt less certain about it when I was thinking about the game later. Yet the pride of a football fan is a prized thing – it must be defended at all costs, at all times.

And last night, as carnage happened at Old Trafford, I was a little close to understanding just why I am a Man Utd fan.

Enduring Genius

When Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Manchester United in 1986, Wayne Rooney was a toddler just learning to walk, the Berlin Wall was still standing, the footballing world was still recovering from the stupor of Diego Maradona’s heroics in Mexico, and the Indians were world champions in cricket (how far away that sounds!).

United was in shambles, when he took charge in November 1986. They were on the verge of demotion in the league, the players regularly went on drinking binges and reported to training drunk. With a steely determination that has become legend in the world of football, Ferguson turned the fortunes of a club that was deemed to have lost its way eternally. “In his first conversation with the squad,” recalls Bryan Robson, then captain of the team, “we realized that he meant business.”

In 1993, after an evolved resurrection process, United finally got its hands on the league title after 26 long years. This opened the floodgates for a trophy-laden decade, with an astounding eight league titles and a European Cup. Smart buys like Eric Cantona (1m pounds from Nottingham Forest) became United legends. The pinnacle was of course, the unprecedented Treble in 1999, with Man U playing some of the most thrilling, attacking football in Europe.

Yet despite all his success, he has always been courageous and dynamic, never averse to change. The introduction of Giggs, Scholes, Neville and Beckham in 1995 after dismantling the 1994 team that won the Double will surely go down as one of the masterstrokes of his career when everyone had concluded he’d lost his mind. Throughout his career, he’s never been afraid to make controversial decisions as long as he thought it was in the interest of the team (though I cannot really forgive him for dumping David Beckham, my teenage icon).
There has also been the constant tenacity to enforce discipline, in a somewhat authoritarian manner. Yet he has remained an essentially modest man, always looking to the future and reluctantly brushing off the successes of the past.

The two decades have not been without its lows. The frustrating failure of not being able to win the league title in the early years of his tenure, the humiliating exit in the opening round of the Champions League in 2005, the shocking upsets in the FA Cup. Inevitably almost, he has emerged stronger every time.

In the prelude to this season, critics were calling curtains on his reign at Old Trafford – they saw a disastrous season ahead for Manchester United. After a solid three months, Man U has scored more goals than anyone else and look commanding at the top of the league. The critics are again eating crow.
Innumerable amount of paper and mental energy has been wasted in predicting the end of his glorious tenure. Yet he stands as firm as the Theatre of Dreams – his giant stature remains undiminished.

More than any player in the last two decades, Sir Alex Ferguson has come to symbolize the undying spirit of Old Trafford. Yet not surprisingly, he remains interested only in the future.

Pulsating London derbies

Watched pulsating back-to-back London derbies last Sunday, with wholly unexpected results.

Arsenal beat West Ham 1-0 in a controversial game in which Arsene Wenger and Alan Pardew almost came to blows, after Harewood had scored an 89th minute winner to send Upton Park into delirium. Arsenal are once again bearing the brunt of their inconsistency, switching between woeful and scintillating performances. They are now 10 points adrift of the top. Their league hopes look once again in jeopardy.

Tottenham handed Chelsea a lesson in football in a high-tempo game at White Hart Lane, the home team pulling off a 2-1 upset through a sensational Aaron Lennon goal. Chelsea ended the game a shadow of their former selves, unable to find an equalizer despite all of Abromavich’s millions.

Just reiterates my belief in the strength of the English Premier League to throw up unbelievable surprises.

As dull as Italian

The Italian Serie A is once again turning out to be an exercise in boredom.

The brilliant Milan derby that culminated in a 4-3 win for Inter remains the exception than the norm. The Serie A brand of slow paced, inexorably dull football seems set in stone. The brutal competitiveness of the 80’s when it became one of the most attractive leagues in the world is also sadly lacking.
Juventus is gone, the Rossoneri are a wreck after the match-fixing scandal and the departure of Shevchenko and the likes of Roma and Inter are slugging it out for the top despite playing strictly average football.

It needed a Maradona in the 80’s to spark the league with his revolution at Napoli – what will it take now?

Head nods in agreement

The Guardian columnist Simon Hattenstone (a lifelong Manchester City fan), with delectable vindictiveness, sums up his hate for Chelsea.

“My prejudice knows no bounds. I detest Chelsea. I detest everything about their soul- destroying, peasant-plundering, oil-pimping, wallet-waving, ref-abusing, knee-falling, opponent-cussing ways. I despise the fact that they have made me a bigot. I despise the fact that I get more pleasure from seeing Chelsea lose than Manchester City win. I despise the fact I’d rather Manchester United won the Premiership than Chelsea. I despise the fact that I tick off every week Andriy Shevchenko doesn’t score a majority as another victory for the unmoneyed majority. I despise the fact that I take pleasure in Shaun Wright-Phillips having never scored for Chelsea despite the fact that I once loved him so tenderly. I despise the fact that I take comfort in the belief that Chelsea are getting worse and worse – two seasons ago they lost once in the league, last season twice and less than a third of the way through the season they have already been beaten twice. I despise the fact that I know the word schadenfreude means something akin to bitter, vengeful bastard.”

Can’t but agree with delight.

It’s About the Bite

Are you, as I am, intrigued by the bite Jermain Defoe gave to West Ham’s Javier Mascherano?
The UK tabloid The Sun carried pictures of Defoe seeming to bite the Argentine’s upper arm as they sat on the ground following a challenge at White Hart Lane. The Tottenham Hotspur striker was apparently frustrated by a series of rough challenges in the previous ten minutes. Both Mascherano and Defoe were booked and the incident escalated into a mass bout of shoving.
Football fans, including me, are worried. The Times of India was quick in delivering a sharp witticism. It said – First the butt, now the bite.
Tottenham coach Martin Jol has been infinitely ridiculous describing it as ‘part of the game.’
What do we expect in the near future then? More Evander Holyfield moments? Substitutes charging on the pitch with boxing gloves? Players coming on the field armed with cutting instruments in their pockets?
Tottenham coach Martin Jol has been infinitely ridiculous describing it as ‘part of the game.’
He said, “They kicked Defoe thrice in 10 minutes and he wanted to show his frustration in a nice, comical way.”
I would rather have action on the pitch than such divine comedy.

Postscript – By the way, what’s happening to West Ham? They played some sensational football last season, and were only denied the FA Cup by a piece of Steven Gerrard magic. The arrival of Tevez and Mascherano was expected to light up Upton Park and propel this wonderful club with its very dedicated fans into the big league. Quite the opposite has happened – the club slumping to its eighth consecutive defeat and rumours of a takeover. I, for one, am hoping for resurgence.

Getting Real

Enjoyed watching Real Madrid thrash Barcelona in the el clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu. The resurgence of Real holds good not only for Spanish football, but European football in general. For far too long, they have been reduced to a cosmetic outfit boasting of massive talents but delivering little. Barcelona has played some fantastic football meanwhile, running away with the league title for the last two seasons. But as much as I admire Barcelona, I believe they have come winners in a largely one-horse race, with Real in tatters and the likes of Valencia not offering much resistance.
Getting back to the match, I thought Real played some fantastic counter attacking football. The star of the night for me, without a doubt, was Robinho. His swift runs (along the wing and cutting inside towards the centre) tore the Barcelona defence apart – the likes of Puyol and Thuram rendered helpless. Raul and Van Nistelrooy put the Catalans away with clinical finishes in the early minutes of either half.
This resurgence has to be attributed in a large way to Fabio Capello. Arriving this season from the wreck that was Juventus, he has swiftly dismantled the star system. The likes of Beckham and Ronaldo are no longer first-team fixtures, the latter not even getting a look-in from the bench. The defence has been strengthened with the arrival of Cannavaro and Emerson from relegated Juventus. More than anything, they now look like a team at last – prepared to slug it out for each other. Capello warned at the beginning of the season saying he wanted ‘eleven warriors on the pitch.’
The galactico nonsense firmly ended, we might finally have the Real Madrid of yore.

The Red Devils on Fire

Manchester United hammered a listless Liverpool 2-0 at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have been on fire this season taking the fight to Chelsea. Not even the most fervent Man Utd fan expected such a thunderous start to the season, with the lack of summer signings and the controversial decision to offload van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid.
Paul Scholes made it perfect in his 500th United game by opening the scoring, getting easily past a snoring Liverpool defence. Later Rio Ferdinand scored a cracker in the second half to all but end Liverpool’s title hopes. Rafael Benitez though thinks he can still win the league. His own players seem to disagree, with keeper Reina warning in the prelude to the game that a defeat at Old Trafford would finish any title hopes for another season.
However it is getting exciting in the EPL, with the battle for the top spot all set to become a triangular battle. Chelsea is being as boring and as firm as ever, not losing sight of United. Arsenal are not far behind, in fourth spot, with a game in hand. They are finally getting in the groove and playing some delightful football, ridiculing Reading with a 4-0 mauling at the Madejski Stadium.
The stage is getting hotter.

Smashing TV’s for Fun

If you had any doubt that footballers were cranks, here is more proof. Cristiano Ronaldo smashes TV’s in his spare time. In an interview to ManUtd.com, he talked about how he unwinds at home, away from the pressures of top-flight football.

He said: “When I was mad once I put a television set up in a tree in my garden and tried to knock it down by kicking a football at it. And it worked! I was mad, really p***** off.”

For us lesser souls, such ways of de-stressing would cost us a fortune within a month.

Super Sunday

A breathtaking football weekend awaits us. Lined up on Sunday evening are two massive games involving the Premiership’s top four teams.

Chelsea vs Liverpool – 6 pm

The animosity between Liverpool, the most successful club in England and Chelsea, the club whose ambition is to go beyond anything Liverpool (or the legendary Real Madrid) have achieved, has already reached epic proportions. However this one has some interesting twists to it. Liverpool have a meagre 4 points from their 3 games, including a 3-0 drubbing in the derby at Everton, which is a mini-disaster for their title hopes considering the amount of money Benitez has spent on players this season. Mourinho was quick to rubbish Liverpool’s chances in pre-season saying Arsenal and Man U were more serious title contenders. Steven Gerrard, who played only 18 minutes in the Champions League opener against PSV Eindhoven, saving up for this crucial game might be the one to show(as he once told Mourinho) that Liverpool ‘deserve respect.’
Chelsea meanwhile are caught up in the infancy of team coordination. With as many as six new signings, the holding champions are having a rough ride in their early campaign which included a stunning loss to Boro despite the presence of huge stars like Ballack and Shevchenko. Plus the fearful fact of Liverpool playing on an extra limb against their west London rivals. They sent Chelsea packing 2-1 in the last two games that effectively denied them two trophies (the FA cup last year and the Community Shield pre-season). Chelsea will be itching to have a go at revenge. On the other hand, Liverpool must win to stay seriously alive in this season’s Premiership race.
Either way it should be a match to watch.

Manchester United vs Arsenal – 8.30 pm

Man U have had an extraordinary start to the season. They sit pretty on top of the table with four wins out of four – something they’ve never done in their illustrious Premiership history. More surprising is the fact that it comes at a time when nobody expected them to be anywhere near the top, with the lack of any new signings (except Carrick). Needless to say they will be looking to tighten the stranglehold at the top. A win against Arsenal could prove a double whammy if Chelsea succumb to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Ferguson will have the Red Devils fired up, that’s for sure.
Arsenal meanwhile have had an even more disastrous start to the season than Liverpool. Despite having played some attractive football, the Gunners have developed some shooting malfunctions in the box. The result – not a single league win and a horrendous loss against Manchester City. They currently languish at four places from bottom, something the three time champions are not used to, and will be itching to correct when they arrive at Old Trafford on Sunday. They will be bolstered by the return of talismanic Henry, and Arsene Wenger’s brilliance might harness something special out of them.
Beneath it all will be the strong undercurrent of the legendary Man U – Arsenal rivalry. This one should be a cracker.

P.S. Two powerhouses – Henry and Rooney – haven’t really fired as yet because of various reasons (fatigue, suspensions etc). If either of them turns on a show, it could be wonderful. If both of them do, it will be unforgettable.

A Prayer for Wayne Rooney

All those football fans who don’t want to witness another anodyne World Cup with Brazil just turning up to reclaim what is already with them – the golden trophy – I would urge them to send in their prayers for Wayne Rooney.
Because if there’s any force at all that can halt the Samba magic at all, its the 20 year old powerhouse. He might not be big enough to drink as yet, but he already puts fear into the mind of the world’s best defenders. Add to this a muscular figure, robust physique and an extraordinary passion for the game and you’d believe injury would be the last thing to happen to Rooney.
If the 3-0 drubbing of Manchester United at the hands of Chelsea was not enough for disappointment, we have a possibility where the world’s best young player might not play in the game’s showpiece tournament after all.
I love Brazilian football, am a big fan of Ronaldinho and would be as happy as last time if they win it again. Yet I want to see them win it against the best competition, and that won’t be possible if Rooney doesn’t play.
England are not even half the side they are without Rooney. He brings flair, creativity and passion to a team somewhat regimental in their playing techniques and these qualities offer England the only hope of posing any challenge in Germany. Steven Gerrard has already said it would be ‘impossible’ to have a successful World Cup without the Manchester United striker.
Rooney was in tears after learning that he might not be able to take part in Germany. It is a personal tragedy for the boy whose childhood dream has always been to play in a World Cup. The bigger tragedy is for the game.
Let’s just hope he is on that plane to Germany. It could make a more engrossing World Cup.

Chokers or Stranglers?

There are some moments in sport that catapult you into another world. The match yesterday between Australia and South Africa was such a moment. With both teams tied 2-2 to set up a massive finale at the Wanderers, nobody could have predicted such a game. It was as if God wrote the script. Or maybe, not even he could have thought of something like what we saw.
Inarguably the greatest one-day match ever played, the game was being played at a surreal level. Not surprising then, The Hindustan Times bore the caption – Space Age – to describe what truly was an extra-terrestrial event.
I started watching the match ten minutes into the South African reply. Smith and Gibbs were really hitting the ball well and I thought they would win until I realised what the Australian score was. 434, shit, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, followed by ‘These Australians are just too good.’ Yet I kept on watching Gibbs and Smith send the ball to all corners of the park wondering how long it would last, until the familiar collapse in pursuit of high totals happened. The amazing thing was, it didn’t stop. Not when Smith went. Not when Gibbs holed out to long-off. They just went on and on, and as I watched glued to the TV, the impossible was happening right before my eyes.
Four, six, four, six, they had forgotten that in cricket you can also score runs by running. Herschelle Gibbs, a perennial underachiever despite his tremendous talent, truly redeemed himself. So did a South African team, forever tagged with the unsavoury title of chokers, in one day of unbelievable magic become stranglers.

(And yeah, despite all my animosity for the Australian team, I did feel sorry for Ricky Ponting and Co. I mean, they scored 434 and lost. But as he said, South Africa were simply too good. Or as I believe, they were just destined to win. )