25 Things Which Defined FIFA World Cup 2010: Part II (20-16)

20. The Return of the No 10?
A curious side effect of the sudden uniform preference for the 4-2-3-1 was the crucial role of a central attacking midfielder, the classic No 10 or, as they call it in Italy, the trequartista in dictating the attack. It is no secret that for various reasons the No 10 has been dying a slow death. Clubs have discarded it for a while now as the recent trend of have inside out wingers exploiting the space which he would normally occupy leaving the CAM superfluous( there are some notable exceptions though, current Champions League winners Internazionale come to mind). This trend was curiously not replicated in the World Cup as the performance of several teams hinged on how successful their trequartista was. Germany had Mesut Özil, Brazil had Kaka, Holland had Wesley Sneijder, Argentina had Lionel Messi, even Spain played Xavi in an uncharacteristically (and not very effective) advanced role. All of them had the traditional No 10 role of exploiting the confusion between defense and midfield and putting the telling ball in. It will be interesting to see if this catches on in club football as it has been detrimental for several players in the No 10 mould to have been shoehorned into the playing 11 as a winger cutting in or a second striker, something which they are not necessarily suited to, Sneijder's contrasting fortunes in Real Madrid and Inter being a good example.

19. The First Upset - Spain 0-1 Switzerland
The first round of group matches had been such a slumbering drag that everyone was just crying out for something, anything to jolt the Cup into life. It took the very last of the matches of the round between Spain and Switzerland to do so, where Spain after battering, machinegunning and target bombing the Swiss goalmouth inexplicably conceded and never got their grip back in the match. As a World Cup upset this ranks right up there with the best, Spain were arguably the strongest and most gifted team around and they proved it either side of the match, but during it the legendary Ottmar Hitzfeld's stifling tactics stymied them. Although Spain recovered marvelously from the defeat, it set the tone of the World Cup where the favourites kept underperforming and several less heralded teams successfully punched above their weight. In a way, it kick started the World Cup as the lesser teams became more bold and actually looked to drive home the advantage which made the rest of the group stage a bit more interesting. It all contributed to a rather unusual knockout stage lineup.

18. 1966 Revisited
One of the greatest controversies of the World Cup is the 'Ghost goal' in the 1966 final where Geoff Hurst's shot in extra time bounced down the crossbar, hit the ground and jumped out. The goal was given although it was never clear whether it had crossed the line and England won its one and only Cup based on which they delude themselves to be a footballing superpower to this day. The Germans have been crying hoarse ever since to anyone who cares to listen and, to be fair, they may have a point, recent technology indicates the goal should not have stood. What goes around comes around and a major talking point of this World Cup arose when England, 2-1 down against Germany, saw a Lampard shot identically cannon down the crossbar, drop a good foot behind the line and jump out. Everyone in the world saw it cross the line, except the referee and his assistant. Germany would go on to beat England handsomely, and for once the English had the sense not to use the injustice of it as a crutch and accepted that they deserved to lose anyway. Nevertheless, it single handedly renewed the debate on using goalline technology with everyone throwing in their two cents/pennies/paise and the egg on the faces of the FIFA dinosaurs getting poached from the heat of their increasing shame. Well, one would like to believe that but FIFA has been incredibly thick skinned for a long time. At any event, one thing is for certain, Frank Lampard just cannot score in the World Cup, even when he does.

"Come on Ref, even Wenger saw it!"

17. South Africa Shows Us How To Do It
There may have been many things about this World Cup which did not live up to expectations, but the organisation certainly wasn't one of them. Before every tournament there are always noises that the host nation will botch the job. These noises were uncharitably loud for months this time around, probably because it was the first event of this magnitude being hosted in the continent interspersed with a degree of European snobbishness as well. They need not have worried, South Africa had shown in recent years by hosting the cricket and rugby World Cups that they can do the job and they kept their promise. The stadiums were architectural wonders and by all accounts wonderfully crafted, every seat having an unimpeded view of the pitch. There were few complaints on how the influx of people was handled. There were no muggings, no killings, no cannibalism and none of whatever other horrors which had been conjured up by the naysayers who clearly had a 200 year old view of the continent. The World Cup provided a
lovely advertisement of the African people and they took the opportunity in both hands. It may likely go down as one of the best organised World Cups ever.

16. The Greatest Entertainer, Even On The Bench
Think of the World Cup and you think of Diego Maradona. He is the one person unequivocally associated with the highs and lows of the competition. And he was back for one more hurrah at the grand stage, but on the other side of the line as Argentina's manager. In a Cup where few players really shined, it was up to him to steal the spotlight and do something memorable with it. Which he did, from having the winning team in a training match pelt footballs at the losing team in a bizarre exercise of building team spirit to putting in free kick after free kick in the top corner to show that the beach ball Jabulani can be tamed. New chapters were added to the childish tantrum throwings between Maradona and Pele. He saved his best for the bench though in his dapper suit in which he looked as uncomfortable as a cat in a dog pound, as he became one of the players, sharing the joy in every goal and cursing openly for every miss. Every time the ball would come near the bench, he would go over and touch that, the desire to put on a jersey and walk into the pitch was palpable. Maradona's antics went some way in lighting up the tournament. Whether you like him or hate him, hell, you can never ever ignore him.

Maradona shows Higuain that to play football you must use the feet

25 Things Which Defined FIFA World Cup 2010: Part I (25-21)

The 19th football World Cup ended a week ago and now that the proverbial dust is settling down, it seems a good time to take stock of what was an underwhelming tournament but nevertheless one which had several gripping moments, for better or for worse. This is the first in a series of articles about the 25 things for which this World Cup will be remembered.

25. A Worthy Curtain Raiser and the Diski Dance
It seems a long time ago, but it should not be forgotten that in a World Cup saddled with several insipid matches, the first one was an absolute cracker. South Africa 1 -1 Mexico was a see-sawing, gripping game and although it could be argued that Mexico shaded it in terms of performance, no one could begrudge the home team taking something out of it. The opener was an excellent passing move topped off by a wonderful strike from Siphiwe Tshabalala, easily one of the goals of the tournament. The Diski dance celebration became a rage across the continent and will probably become one of the most enduring World Cup goal celebration moments. Mexico's equaliser, although heartbreaking for the majority in the stadium, was fully deserved and a draw was a fair if unsatisfying result. The match left a marker which rest of the tournament could not leave up to.

Tshabalala - A commentator's dream name to scream out

24. USA - No Flash in the Pan
For a country with a considerable sporting culture, the USA has always been a minor player in the international arena at the best of times when it comes to football. However, the signs that it is on the rise have been seen in recent years. After a very commendable performance in last year's Confederations Cup where they were leading 2-0 against Brazil in the final before losing, they have followed it up with a solid showing in the World Cup. A spirited draw against a lacklustre England was followed by an amazing comeback from two goals down against Slovenia to draw the match, a wrongly disallowed goal being the only thing preventing them from winning it. They needed a win in the next match, and Landon Donovan's last minute winner propelled them into the next round as group toppers. The significance of the goal cannot be understated if it does provide the catalyst for the country to continue this progress. A loss in an entertaining match against another tournament find - Ghana - cut short their World Cup adventure but this team has the steel and spirit to spark a revolution in terms of how the game is viewed in the country. In the years to come we may well recognise this World Cup as the tournament where the USA woke out of its slumber.

23. The Stars Fizzle Out
A World Cup is the ultimate stage for any player and the world's best are always expected to shine in it. The reputations of so many players have been defined by their World Cup performances. This World Cup will be known as the one where they simply didn't show up. Some of them were abject failures - Ribery, Rooney; some sparkled in patches but were overall disappointing - Kaka, Ronaldo; some were hampered by injury and fitness issues - Drogba, Torres, and some gave their level best but ultimately could not carry their teams on their own - Messi. It is interesting to note that the one big team which uncharacteristically discarded all individual license and reliance on one player - Brazil - disappointed as well. The teams which did well were the ones who kept a team discipline while allowing for enough creative spirit along the way. There were other players who showed that they could replace these stars and some of them did so marvelously, but so many of the pre-tournament favourites tanking at once merely contributed to the underwhelming tournament.

22. Using Your Head
I will admit to being slightly biased here as I love to see good headed goals, but it cannot be denied that we were treated to several great headers in the World Cup. That is not to say that most of the time the Jabulani did not fly off the the head into orbit but when they got it right, it was a treat. There was Gabriel Henize's fine diving header against Nigeria, Klose's heroic rush in against Australia, Juan's thumping effort against Chile and Tim Cahill's typically wonderful 'header of the tournament' goal against Serbia. Of course, the cherry on top was the now iconic "un-Spanish" goal by Puyol against Germany which sent Spain to their first ever final. Many have commented on the irony that the current flagbearers of 'beautiful football' had to resort to a set-piece routine to finally settle matters but this writer says that a good header is just as beautiful a way to score a goal as anything. So there.

Tarzan goes flying

21. Uruguay - The Surprise Return of a Former Superpower
You have been a brave man if you had bet that out of the unprecedented situation of all five South American teams making it to the knockout stage, the only one which will make it to the semifinal would be Uruguay. They may be two-time former champions but Uruguay's star has long lost its dazzle. Therefore, to see them rubbing shoulders with the world's best again till the end made a welcome and refreshing sight, even though the unsavoury nature of their quarterfinal victory made them the tournament villains in the process. They were powered by the out of the world performances of Diego Forlan who was ably assisted by a solid spine of Diego Lugano, Diego Perez and strike partner Luis Suarez. Yes they had a favourable draw, but let's not take the sheen out of a commendable and deserved run from a team which battled injuries and suspensions throughout and played some fine football along the way. Their match against Germany was probably the best of the tournament. That the age of the team most likely means that this performance will not be repeated in the near future makes their efforts all the more poignant.

Very Comfortably Numb

It took a long time to hit me. I had an outsider's shot at best in the beginning, the interview went well but they didn't really ask me any really tough questions. But at the end of the end, I got the job, and it is the ideal job I could have reasonably expected. Hell it is above expectations, I am a 3 point someone after all.

When did it start sinking in? Not immediately, that is for sure. I was experiencing a surreal perspective where I was looking from outside as a spectator when I first heard it. My mother broke down when she first heard it, and a part of me wondered why she would do that. Even when I shakily signed the contract, it was mostly because of nerves on seeing the big numbers swimming in front of me.

I suppose it first started hitting me in the pub afterward. The more drunk I got, the more the import of what I had just achieved started to sink. If I had to pick a moment, it finally hit me when Comfortably Numb, one of my all time favourites, started to play on the TV. For any graduate of Don Bosco 2006, the song has a special significance. Furthermore, it is the song which really shifted me to rock, a transition I have never had a need to regret. It is a song which has been a constant companion since I first heard it, it is fitting that it capped the declaration of the beginning of the next chapter of my life. The more things change, the more they remain the same. And yet, the only constant is change, one can only hope it is to one's liking. May this next step be as fruitful as I hope it will be.


Enough senti, up next, my top 25 things which defined this World Cup. Watch this space.

And. Here. We... Go

It's been just four years. It's been too long.

The World Cup is starting in a few hours. It is about the only event for which 'the world will stand still' is not just a cliche. It is the first and most vigorously marked day on every football fan's calendar. It creates legends and destroys myths. It is the ultimate test of greatness for any great player, you have not made it until you have performed admirably in your quest for this elegant and coveted trophy. It is contested by teams which are not together for more than a few weeks a year and yet manage to show a solidarity and enjoy uncontestable support unseen in any club. It is the one title which any player says he wants more than anything else, and for once he is not being diplomatic. It is, quite simply, the greatest show on Earth.

So sit back, cross your legs and let the television remote grow cobwebs for the next month. The show is just starting, sunshine.

Homesickness

Very rarely have I felt this emotion even though living away from home is a part of life I had to accept long ago. Then again, almost a year without going home would make even me fidgety to back to Cal, I'm still just a college kid after all. It's been too long since I saw family, friends and the city. It's time I did.

EDIT: Didn't realise this was the 50th post. Wouldn't have wasted it on something emo if I did. Oh well...

The Tractor Goes On And On

About a year back I wrote a small tribute on the greatest defender and one club player in the modern era - Paolo Maldini. His undeniable skill was only accentuated by his longevity, which saw him play at the top level well beyond the age of 40, picking up Champions Leagues like loose change till his late 30s.

Maldini is not alone in giving top class service to their chosen clubs till an age when their contemporaries have switched the ball for other pursuits long ago, although he might be the most successful. Another legend who has arguably achieved as much of a legendary status and will join him when he hangs up his boots shares the same San Siro home stadium, but for the other side. It is of course, FC Internazionale's heartbeat and soul - Javier Zanetti.

Il Trattore

Javier Zanetti, moved to Inter from Banfield at the age of 22, and fifteen years later is still the first name on the teamsheet. By trade a right back, he has unfailingly filled in a variety of positions in defence and midfield for both club and country over the course of his career. Such is his strong association with the team he is the one player any Inter fan can currently definitively identify with among a team bereft of club products or Italians, despite being neither himself. And he shows no signs of stopping.

By trade a right back, he has unfailingly filled in a variety of positions in defence and midfield for both club and country over the course of his career. Not just filling in, he has proven to be a vital cog in the wheel in each of those roles. This is typified by the recent Champions League final which brought the title to Inter after forty five years, he played in centre midfield and stopped Bayern's biggest strength - their midfield - from bossing it, and then left back when the clock was winding down, to keep Arjen Robben quiet. Versatility is sometimes an overrated trait, it is usually attributed to players who are not exceptional in any position but are useful in a variety of positions and can be used to fill in the gaps as a squad player. True versatility is someone who can excel in any position and Javier Zanetti belongs to this rare category. He is 37 now and he runs as much as his younger colleagues and plays every match. Like Maldini, his is not a sentimental selection, Inter still won't know what to do without him.

Inter just won the Champions League, and while it is a team I generally don't care much for, the one satisfaction I got out of it is that Zanetti finally got to hold up the famous trophy. It was the least a legend of his talents and service to the game deserved and no one can really begrudge him having a Champions League winning medal. It is a huge travesty that we won't see him in the World Cup after Maradona picked a range of jokers over him in one of his more inexplicable selections (and he has had a fair few). However, he shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, and who is to say that we won't get to see him four years from now in the biggest stage of them all in Brazil.

The Greatest Title Race Ever?

The most respected achievements are always the ones which are the hardest won. A league title won by a double digit points difference merely emphasises the team's superiority over the rest of the pack but it can never compare to the romanticism and drama of a title race which goes down to the last day. After all, the worth of a team is defined by its rivals and its most satisfying when your rival is almost as good as you, almost.

Never has this been more true than the FC Barcelona - Real Madrid rivalry in Spain and never has this epic rivalry been exhibited more brilliantly than the ongoing 2009/2010 season.

It has been an unwritten law of nature that both teams undergo cycles of fortune which perfectly complement each other. When Barca is riding high, Madrid is struggling to even ride the easy waves, and when Madrid is the closest to the finish line, Barca is stumbling and vainly trying to catch its breath in a faint hope of overtaking its bitter enemy. Even when the title race between the two is close (and it has been several times), there is always the feeling that one of the two deserves it way more than the other one, and it invariably wins it.

This season has broken this law. With the last game of the season to be played in less than 24 hours, Barca hold the slenderest of one point advantages over Madrid. However, this is not astonishing, we have seen this scenario so many times. The astonishing part is the points tally of the respective teams - Barca has 96, Madrid has 95. The previous record tally in La Liga was 92, in a 22 team league. Both teams swept aside this record in a greedy nonchalance while racking up win after win after win. In fact, you'll be hard pressed to find such ridiculous tallies in the archives of all the major leagues.

What is the reason behind such a points glut? Is it, as some have suggested, simply that Barca and Madrid have pulled away from the rest of the pack so much that the other teams will be inevitably defeated and the only two fixtures which will realistically decide the title are the el clasicos? There may be a modicum of truth in that, in that the big two's spending power is infinitely more than the rest and the gap is ever increasing. But when one observes the teams, Barca is essentially unchanged from last year's historic treble winning squad, in fact the one major change - the Eto'o/Ibrahimovic swap has arguably done more harm than good. Madrid's team is vastly improved from last year, but the undiluted individual brilliance in the squad tempered with a characteristic dysfunctional play has only served to bring it up to Barca's level, as the points tally shows.

Nor have the other teams suddenly become worse. Valencia managed to keep its stars against all odds and have done splendidly to finish third after two seasons outside the top four, with breakthrough seasons from the likes of Ever Banega and Pablo Hernandez making them a stronger team than before. Sevilla is similarly unchanged and a mid season change of manager has brought the free flowing football and stability back into the team. Atletico and Villareal have disappointed, the latter very much so since meltdowns are always expected of the mattress makers, but their seasons are negated somewhat by the splendid season Mallorca has had. More importantly, none of these teams have lost any of their significant players, so to characterise them as weaker is certainly a knee-jerk reaction at best.

No, the true reason, as has always been, is each other. Barca and Madrid have pushed each other step by step all season long. Unlike in England, where also the season finished with one point separating the top two but the race was run by trying to make sure that the team stumbled the least number of times, Spain has seen a title race in the teams have made each other run faster and faster and breach previously untouched frontiers. Every comfortable win by Barca has seen Madrid match the victory with a now typical resilient performance and every Madrid thrashing has seen Barca somehow hold on to their nerves and record their own positive result. Barca has lost just one game all season and did the second successive double over Madrid, while Madrid has broken the record for most number of wins, scoring over a hundred goals along the way.

But then why this season over all the others? What makes it special? The primary reason would that the current Barca, which is being talked about in the same breath as the greatest teams ever, achieved so much and so outrageously swimmingly that its eternal rivals could not help but react to this dominance. Thus came the neo Galacticos spending spree and a complete rehauling of the squad which has forced Barca to be even better than it was before. Surely a season which is defined by pushing the boundaries of perfection instead of merely hoping to screw up less than the other fellow deserves to be called the greatest title race ever?

Whatever the reasons, whatever the legitimacy of this assertion may be, the truth is that these performances have been exceptional. Cliches are so because they are often true, and neither is more true than the one that both teams deserve their hands on the trophy. In 24 hours the curtain closes, and it is a huge shame that it has to