Sunday, November 18, 2007

One plus One Not Necessarily Adds Up ToTwo


How cruel can the game of football be? Scotland versus Italy at Hampden Park, the Euro Qualifiers. Forget about the over hyped England who now have their Euro Championship hopes in the hands of Russia, they’ll most probably lose out anyway (I’m actually an England supporter). I’m not a big fan of Scottish football, but it can really be entertaining watching the Scottish national team play.

Scotland have not qualified for a major tournament in a very long time, how long I don’t know (obviously because I’m not a Scotland fan), but now they have a chance of qualifying for the Euro Championships to be held in Switzerland-Austria in 2008. In fact to be still in for a chance for qualifying for the championships was deemed impossible considering the fact that the world champions and world cup finalist respectively, Italy and France were in the same group. Everybody had written Scotland off even before the qualifiers had even started. But now in the last game of the group for Scotland, they were in for a shout for a place in the championships. The equation was simple, beat Italy and they’ll get through, draw Italy and they’ll have to hope Ukraine beat France to get through, and lose to Italy, all hope will be lost.

Hampden Park, Scotland. Attendance was over 60 000 (it’s Hampden Park, not Old Trafford or the Nou Camp for goodness sake) with the bulk of the crowd made up of, obviously Scottish people. They were silenced at the start when Luca Toni, Italy’s tall striker put the ball in the back of Scotland’s net to lead the host. If the Italians thought that an early goal would kill off Scotland’s, they were very wrong indeed. Instead of hiding in a nut shell, the Scotland players came back fighting. I assume that you guys know Gennaro Gattuso, the fiery Italian midfielder who plays with his heart on his sleeve and who had a short spell at Scotland and who is married to a Scottish wife. Imagine 11 Gattusos’ on the pitch, fighting for every ball as if their lives depended on it. Italy were technically superior, but the Scots had passion. 1-0 to the Italians at half time, but only just. Andrea Pirlo had to clear off the line for Italy following a corner which was headed by a Scottish player.

Do the names Alan Hutton, Scott Brown or Barry Ferguson ring a bell? These players may not be as famous or well known as their Italian counterparts, but they were by far the better players of the night. Scotland huffed and puffed, but the Italian defense stood strong. Scotland were good on the all, passing it around nicely and outwitting the Italians. Not even the fresh legs of Iaquinta could catch Barry Ferguson who managed to escape his marker on many occasions. Then Scotland got a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Up stood James McFadden, the player who have delivered for Scotland on so many occasions, to take the responsibility. He struck the ball which deflected into the path of a Scottish player who aimed his shot at Buffon. The ‘world class’ keeper fluffed the ball and the rebound fell to Scotland’s captain Barry Ferguson who gratefully thrashed the ball into the net.



It was all square and it looked like Scotland might even go on to snatch a victory. They played with purpose and direction; on the contrary the Italians seemed content to leave Hampden Park with a draw by having their players waste time in set pieces. Alex McLeish was so worked up by the equalizer that he pumped the air and jumped up and down, I got to admit I did the same thing. How could I not root for Scotland after them giving such a brave fight to come back against their so called superior opponents? They even threw Kenny Miller on to get the elusive second goal to win them the match. That was how much confidence that was brimming in the Scottish camp.

However, thing do not always work out as it seems. A defensive player, Chiellini was thrown into the fray by the Italians, who took off the more attack minded Camorenasi. It was a clear signal of intent by the Italians to play their so called defensive football. As the Scotland full back was trying to clear the ball, Chielline came charging at him at knocked him to the ground without any attempt to play the ball. Amazingly, Manuel Fernandez, the Spanish ref managed to see thing the other way and award the free kick in Italy’s favor. Scotland players were furious, but they just got on with the match. The ball was floated in; Panucci rose highest to get his head to the ball. Silence…and the Italian players reeled away in enjoy, celebrating the goal that never should have been. The brave Scottish hearts were well and truly broken. They didn’t deserve this after such a spirited performance by the whole team. The scene of Italian celebrations contrasted the dismay of the Scottish players, with Craig Gordon, the Scottish keeper in particular looking dumbfounded. Time was running out and Scotland was staring exit of the championships in the eye. To make matters worse, the ref blew his whistle only after a couple of minutes of extra time, after so many time wasting tactics by the Italians. The goal was a mockery to the game, a total shame.

A teary eyed Alex McLeish came onto the field to congratulate his heroes after their unbelievable and brave performance. It was truly an undeserved result for the Scottish. They now have to bear another missed opportunity, but it was not their fault, it was the officials who obviously left their glasses at home. The game of football does not appear as simple as it is. The better team does not always win, and defeat will not appear in a crueler form than this…By the way, Israel beat Russia, which means England now have a chance to qualify, not that it matters anyway.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Heart Wrenching



I can take it no more...football is going to kill me sooner rather than later, and I’m just watching it. My heart is still pounding as I’m writing this. Man Utd vs Arsenal, clash of the top two in the EPL. Both teams are in irresistible form at the moment, both teams playing caviar football and both teams looking undefeatable. Try pitting these two together in an EPL match, and what do you get? Fireworks, lots of em’. The match was build up as a season decider, which means that the winner of this fixture will go on to win the title. I’m now back at my grandparents house enjoying the comfort of having my family around me and enjoy a mouthwatering clash between the two titans of English football. Looks like the Arsenal-United duopoly are starting all over again, although Liverpool and Chelsea do deserve a mention.

The only difference in United’s starting line up from their previous game was Evra and Giggs back in the side for O’Shea and Nani respectively. The inclusion of Giggs, in Steve McMahon’s words was because he’s been there, done it, got the shirt and still wearing it. In my words, he’s more experienced. The game was predicted to be a classic match up between the two, and no wonder. United started the game on the back foot, and Arsenal were…sigh, I hate to say it, very good. Right from the start, I could tell that it was not going to be United’s night, I just had that feeling. Arsenal were more composed, trying to break down the United defense, while United were unable to get a stronghold on the game. In previous years, United-Arsenal games are highlighted by the battles of the snarling Roy Keane and the ferocious Patrick Vieira. With Keane now managing Premiership side Sunderland and Vieira at Inter Milan, most would think that the intensity of the game would drop. Wrong. Although the hatred between the two clubs have turned into mutual respect for one another, the clash of the future stars Anderson and Fabregas not surprisingly showed glimpses of the old days of Keane and Vieira.

Hargreaves had a pretty good match, especially in the first half where United stifled Arsenal’s attacking threat quite steadily with Hargreaves in particular nullifying most of the threat posed by the Arsenal attacking front. United had Hargreaves and Anderson running the engine room in the middle of the park, allowing the front four of Rooney, Ron, Tevez and Giggs to roam upfront, finding cracks in the Arsenal back four. The first half was a cagey affair, and it was pretty boring, seriously. However I was shaking in anticipation, waiting for something to happen. That something finally happened on the stroke of half time when Rooney stole in the front post to put Ron’s cross into the net via a deflection by Gallas. Arsene Wenger was fuming as he protested about the body check given by Brown before laying the ball to Ron who in turn supplied Rooney to give the finishing touch.

United leading at half time, and I couldn’t be happier. BUT as they say, football is a complicating game. Right after the restart Arsenal got back into the game through Fabregas. Van Der Sar made a very good safe from Adebayor, but Sagna kept the ball alive with a last ditch cross which found Fabregas in front of the goal. He took his time, and then stroked the ball past the United defenders. The game had finally opened up, and it was breathtaking. Both teams used up all of their substitutes, but I’ll get to that later. Fergie put O’Shea on for Brown in the middle of the 2nd half (I really believe that Brown is not the right man to be playing at full back, he just doesn’t have the accuracy and pace). This was really edge of the seat stuff, and my heart felt like bursting out of my chest. Every time Arsenal got the ball, they looked like they might score, and the space now is so much more compared to the first half as both sides were playing attacking football. It was from one end of the field to another, and was impossible to choose a winner.

At this moment, I was just happy for a draw. It was the Emirates stadium, and Arsenal are on a roll at the moment, a draw would be a very satisfactory result indeed. Then, Fergie made a master stroke and subbed Tevez by bringing on Saha. Not many would put their money on the French striker after his many injuries, and certainly no one would want to break the promising Rooney-Tevez partnership which has rewarded United with so many goals. However football is unpredictable, and as soon as he came onto the field, Saha held the ball, fed a delightful through ball to the on coming Evra who picked out Ron with a cutback. Ron just had to put the ball into an empty net. Obviously being a Man United fan (in case you haven’t noticed) I jumped up and down in the living room. There was just 8 minutes on the clock plus injury time. I punched the air, knocked my glass over and just went wild.

Arsenal were not going to give up their unbeaten run at home that easily without a fight, and gave their all in clawing back an equalizer. I couldn’t bear to watch the ending, it was nail biting stuff and I couldn’t keep up with the pressure. Waves of attack were aimed at the United goal, and every time Arsenal would have a shot at goal, I would breath a sigh of relief, only to be clutching my pillow later on in wait for the final whistle. The presence of my aunt and mum behind me giving their opinion of the outcome certainly did not help my cause. My heart was in my mouth, and I, like the Arsenal supporters were praying, only for different reasons. Evidently, they prayed harder…sigh. The 90 minutes were already up, and we were in the 2nd minute of added time. I’m finding it hard to put this into words…I just feel so disappointed. Arsenal had 1 final attack, shot after shot. United’s brave defense held their line and blocked every single shot (I gave little yelp every time they shot). Suddenly, the stadium erupted; the ref was waving the players back to the center of the field. Certainly not, he had just awarded Arsenal the goal. Looking at the replays, it was clear that the ball had crossed the line after Gallas hit it, but it was clawed out by Van Der Sar in mid air. Rules are rules, it was goal, but my heart was shattered into pieces.

It may not be the best result, but it’s satisfying. We managed to draw Arsenal at the Emirates, and at a time when they are flying. I guess it’s not that bad after all, eh? I caught a glimpse of a poster hung by a few United fans stating the importance of Man United. It read ‘United, Kids, Wife…Importance in that order’. It was a nice and amusing sign of loyalty to United, but then family is definitely more important than anything else in the world, yes, even more important than football…


Just hope that football doesn't do this to me....