In this exceptional extravaganza, Tiki Taka football
proved dead and buried. When Barcelona failed in the UEFA Champions League and flunked
in the L Liga race, alarm bells rang and the flashing lights beaconed. It never
made headlines for sentimental reasons, until Spain came and proved the fact.
The converted, the believers in the philosophy still think there is life, that
it can still be taken to the intensive care unit and be resuscitated. One can be
hopeful and claim that Spain were just ‘victory fatigued’.
Barcelona won too much in the last few years, so did
Spain. Basically, the two (Barca and Spain) are more or less the same thing. Vicente
Del a Bosque lacked motivation. After the 2-10 South Africa Fifa World Cup
victory, he should have resigned. The new coach would have inspired the old warhorses.
For the glory and employment reasons, he must have stayed, a noble idea. In
that case, he should have overhauled that team. Having the World Cup medal,
European championship medal, the UEFA Champions League and Club World Cup
medal, I would never break a sweat, let alone a leg. Only the foolish would expect
that anyway, that is why Spain left early for home.
Italy always present themselves as tough customers
in any situation. After the horrible 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa were
they were eliminated on the first round, few would bet against their resurgence.
They have the quality of Andre Pirlo and Mario Balotelli to name just two. The
former champions became the centre of attraction with their football and the discipline
and defensive behaviour and pressing of their football godfather, Arrigo Sacchi.
The 3-1 loss to Costa Rica embarrassed them, ushering the Azzuri through the
shameful exit door for the second World Cup on the trot. It could have been
they dwelt much on that, forgot to mould forward movements associated with
modern football.
One could argue that Pirlo’s age had adverse
effects, but he stood between the Italians and bad defeats many times. One
thing best left alone, is the racist Italian football community. Balotelli never
got the support of the ball supply needed to make an impact. This is not to say
that his blackness had anything to do with it, but with a single quality pass,
fortunes could have been changed. One must note that a record equalling 171
goals were scored in Brazil, proving the offensive modern game. Pressing remains
the single most important tactic as proven by the champions, Germany.
English football organisation and preparation proved
insufficient. Talent and experience in imbalanced proportions became their
downfall. The English Premier League quality came under the microscope. Given
the touting as the best league, the team never measured up, neither did any
team with a good measure of players plying their trade there. Belgium were one
example of a team littered with talent gracing the Backlays English Premier
League. They flattered to deceive. Few teams would relish the prospects of
facing the team with Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Buckley, Lallana, Bailey
and the like. Friendly matches do not demand the best of the teams.
Based on that fact alone, misjudging the
capabilities of performance is the biggest setback. That team needed to go
through the mill and face adversaries and adversities to mature. Until then,
with all the razz mataz of the most watched league in the world, England will
remain the laughing stock of the World Cups. Roy Hodgson started an excellent
project which I think some else need to take to the next level, and now. One of
the best qualities of the Englsih Football Association, is their poor choice of
managers. From where I am sitting, they will let Hodgson stick it out, fatally
blowing their chances away. As good as he is, he may not have the energy to
transmit to the young Three Lions.
African talent counts for nought as
maladministration reigns. The worst part of it is that the continent is proud
of it. The way the football associations compete to display their folly is
mind-boggling. As if that, the duels to portray the incompetence at top level
had top prize money, the single mindedness and total focus on self-destruction,
generation after generation, cannot be compared with anything in hell or earth.
The continent boasts of top athletes in top leagues. These players trade with
the best, they compete against the best. To leave their home leagues, they
prove to be a cut over the rest. They get exposed to top training methods by
the greatest managers of the game. Time and time again, they provide evidence
that they can never be intimidated or under-estimated.
All the organisations do, is to prove to them that
their overseas statuses mean nothing, that in Africa it is dog eat dog, and if
one does not like the heat, they should leave the kitchen. No one is greater
than a village donkey and the team listens to one army general, usually the
receptionist at the national offices of the association. The lack of
understanding that these players need huge insurances in case their careers are
compromised, that they need a back-up system to enable them to afford medical
treatment and surgery if need be, cause the unnecessary squabbles and
in-fighting. The experienced players begin to bully the inexperienced and they
pull their weight around. In retaliatory fashion, the young players begin to be
selfish for the benefit of their future contracts. The tug-of-war, World Cup
after World Cup, leads to one thing and one thing only – embarrassment.
How Fifa does not intervene, I do not know. I guess
they do not care as long as Africans skin each other. What should happen, is
the sanctions against teams behaving in that manner, for bringing the beautiful
game into disrepute. In other words, ban the associations, the leadership and
the countries from participating in the next two or three World Cups. By the
same token, the ill-disciplined players holding the countries at ransom, should
never have their big team contracts sanctioned. Such moves would be serious
food for thought, if they affected big brothers in Europe and less so in South
America. Probably you could be asking where they would get money and insurance
to pay the mega stars. If one leads an organisation and they have no plan, they
should leave their jobs. What does it profit an organisation to have a blind
tour guide?
Many should have shared the revered blueprint of
Germany success. The youth policy whose philosophy leads to national team
football, is actually inverse. The national team philosophy is played
throughout Bundesliga 6-9 (amateurs) as, of course from Bundesliga 1-5 (professionals).
The schools follow the same. Actually, all football is played to produce the
cup won on the 13th of July 2014 in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana
Stadium. Many countries try to do that, but the quantity of perfection is the
difference. Few elements add up and the end product is there to see.
We wish to hear your thoughts and we next check on the football trends observed in Brazil.
We wish to hear your thoughts and we next check on the football trends observed in Brazil.
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