Football in New York

Last week I spent in New York. This fantastic city is not known for its football, but nevertheless I had some good footballing experiences in the city.
There is surely vast footballing talent in the USA, but only in recent decades has it begun to seep through to the highest level, although the potential surely remains unexploited. So it was very interesting to me when a friend invited me to see a High School match in Brooklyn between the two local schools, Brooklyn International High School and Prospect High School. Although organisation and great variety in skills, there were surely some skillful players on both sides, but most importantly, eager to play football! The match ended 2-3 to the Prospect side, much to the disappointment of Brooklyn International, who had been leading and playing better way into the second half. But both teams are in their play-offs, and I hope they both do well!

On Saturday evening, after enjoying a beautiful day in the city, I went to have a beer in the great local football bar, Woodwork, in Brooklyn. Watched the last minutes of FC Barcelona's 4-5 victory against Deportivo La Coruna, but then greatly enjoyed watching the MLS match between the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City.
New York is probably one of the more known teams in the MLS, counting in its ranks such greats as Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez. But the fact is that Sporting Kansas City are the leaders of the MLS Eastern Conference with a Danish goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen. He has already become one of the highest ranking goalkeepers in the MLS, making it twice to the all-stars, and is close to becoming the number one goalkeeper of the season. With some great saves Nielsen contributed to the 0-0 draw, and their first place in the Conference, but it should be mentioned that the New York Red Bulls are already in the Play-offs as well.

Ukranian travels

Over the last week I have been in Ukraine, exclusively to watch football. A lot had been said in an exaggeratedly eager English media to put down the country, but truth is that the English should be ashamed.
Ukraine is a beautiful country, and under the most difficult circumstances, they have prepared as well as anybody for this tournament (and I am not saying that they do not have problems).

The first match we went to was Denmark-Portugal in the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv. We had travelled on an all-night train to get to Lviv, and without a reservation at all, got a hotel room at the first place we walked into.
So much for all the stories of sold-out places....
There was a good atmosphere in the small charming city of Lviv, with fans happily mingling and drinking beer before the match. That said, if I have to criticize anything in Lviv, it must be that the stadium is situated on a field quite a distance from the city, and although a caravan of busses transported people to and from the stadium, it was tedious to get there. Also, since there was nowhere to go near the stadium, we had to bring a few beers along which we could enjoy on the grass outside the stadium.
After Denmark's sensational victory against the Netherlands in their opener, expectations were high among the Danes. However, the Portuguese are strong, and after Denmark won the group ahead of them in the last two (World Cup and Euro) qualifiers, Portugal also went into the match with a high degree of respect for a Danish side that nevertheless is far inferior to the talented Portuguese. And Denmark did indeed seem to start best until Pepe brought Portugal ahead. When Helder Postiga brought Portugal ahead 2-0, I think most of us Danes in the stadium started to fear what could happen, but on the other hand we have to admire the tenacity of the Danes, and the poor attitude of the Portuguese (Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed some horrible chances, was later quoted as saying that they had thought that victory was pretty certain with 2-0). First, Nicklas Bendtner, who always scores against Portugal, scored a first for the Danes before halftime. And then in the second half Denmark put pressure on the increasingly nervous Portuguese, Bendtner scored the equalizer for Denmark, it seemed that Denmark could in fact take home a very important tie, or perhaps even better, a victory! All of us Danish fans were very excited!
But sometimes in football things are not to happen. Substitute Silvestre Varela scored the winner for Portugal in a bit coincidential situation, where he hit the ball perfectly.
A great disappointment for the Danes, but great for the Portuguese. In fact, after the match, trying to drown our sorrows, we ended up drinking beer and singing karaoke until the early morning with a group of Portuguese fans.
An excuse to party no matter if you win or lose.... That is really what all great football fans should consider such a tournament.

The second match we had tickets for was England-Sweden at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. This is a beautiful stadium where the final of the tournament will be played, situated centrally in Kiev and with good accessibility. The atmosphere was also excellent before the match, with an overwhelming majority of merry Swedish fans in the zone we got in through (barely any English fans, which I guess had been directed in through another part. Apparently there were indeed some problems with English behavior in spite of the heavy police presence that we saw during the match). And wearing our Denmark shirts, we got a lot of sympathy from our Swedish neighbors.
We had extraordinary seats on second row behind the Swedish players box for what turned out as the best match of the tournament so far. I was happy to see Sweden play so well against an English side that in spite playing better than against France, still seems overly defensive. Still, Steven Gerrard is a crucial player for England, and gave the perfect pass with which Andy Carroll brought England ahead, and the English were leading at halftime to the disappointment of the many Swedish fans, as well as me.
But Sweden started the second half the best: only five minutes went by before Olof Mellberg equalized, and ten minutes later all Swedes were delighted when Mellberg scored again to bring Sweden deservedly on front.
Maybe this is England's year, as they are lucky at the right moments. Theo Walcott equalized for England on a goal where the Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson looked somewhat confused. After this, both teams had chances, until Danny Welbeck scored a spectacular and lucky goal for England. After this, Sweden seemed broken, and England was closer to 4-2 than Sweden on an equalizer. Sweden was out, but has been a good side in the tournament.

The two matches we had bought tickets for before the tournament were Denmark-Portugal and Sweden-England, and had originally planned to stay the last days in Kiev.
But on our way into the Sweden-England match we were approached by a young Canadian guy who offered us two tickets for the Germany-Denmark match in Lviv for 30 Euros a piece. Following the principle of not planning our trip, we immediately bought the tickets, and the next morning we had to go out on a mission to get train tickets back to Lviv, as well as a return to catch the flight we had from Kiev on the day after the match. Our luck did not leave us: we got the last tickets on the night train that same night, and return tickets on the new fast-train between Lviv on Kiev, arriving 3 hours before our flight.
And in Lviv, we again got a hotel room in the first place we walked into.
Not planning a trip is the best way of travelling.
The atmosphere in Lviv was if anything livelier than for the previous match, but this time the Danes were heavily outnumbered by a lot of German fans who in my view turned out to be some of the best fans I saw during this tournament. Friendly and with great songs, there was a slight feeling that Denmark had already been defeated before the match started.
Still, there were high hopes among the Danes knowing that the match also depended on the other match being played as the same time, Portugal-Netherlands, where the Dutch vice-World Champions had to win to avoid the total humiliation of exiting the tournament with three defeats.
I was surprised to see Germany play with controlled respect for the Danes, even after they went ahead on a goal by Lucas Podolski. But Denmark again fought back, and Michael Krohn-Dehli equalized for the excited Danish fans. In the meantime the Netherlands was leading Portugal, and Danes started singing happily. In the second half Denmark played fine, although too controlled as news came in that Portugal had equalized, since Denmark then needed a victory. There was not increased pressure, and instead, ten minutes before the end of the match, Lars Bender scored the winner for Germany.
In the meantime Portugal had scored a winner against the hopeless Dutch, and it was certain that Denmark would be out of the tournament together with the Netherlands.

It was of course a disappointment that Denmark was out, but in fact I think that Denmark did far better than I would have expected before the tournament.
And of course, it was a great experience to see these matches and experience the atmosphere of the tournament in a beautiful and friendly country such as Ukraine and with a great friend!

A football tragedy

Besides the human loss, it is sad that the attention of the world on African football during a great tournament as the African Cup of Nations, is drawn away by the game, to the catastrophe that happened in Egypt.
I am certain that this is not what Egypt is about, with its great people and fans, and it is not what African football is about.
There seem to be many theories about what happened at the match between Al Masry and Al Ahly, and with the political turmoil that Egypt has been undergoing, this tragedy can only feed into the tension. It may be "only" a game (it is!), but in a real world where passions are at least as much a part of politics and society as anything else, football is a very important part of society. This is not new; football has been part of society since football was born, and been used by violent thugs as excuses for their destruction.
But football also unites, and as football fans, we must show our solidarity with the fans and football of Egypt.
Peace.

Life and football

In life there are many things you cannot choose: you cannot choose your parents, where you are born, even whom you love is a difficult one: against all logic, a man may fall madly in love with some third-rate, cranky, controlling, selfish, unfaithful and evil bitch with a minority complex.
Football is most often a mere reflection of life itself, where a man walks from happiness to sadness, from expectations to disappointments, and as in life itself, you most often do not choose whom you love: you may end up supporting a third rate, violent, defensive, half-corrupt, arrogant piece of shit team that would make the entire world a favour by playing curling.
But they are still whom you love, against all logic. It is simply proof that football is not about logic, but about love.
I am not trying to defend the fact that all teams I support continue without winning shit, and making me frustrated more often than they make me happy. I am trying to understand why I reflect all lack of success in my life in general, against the backdrop of my love-hate relationship to groups of guys who kick a ball around for a living. Hey, or perhaps it is the other way around? A strange inverse law of attraction? Perhaps a loser like me is simply just attracted to a bunch of worthless losing sides…?

But as in life, hope remains: I am still hoping that one day, maybe one single day, I can walk proudly down the street, with my head raised and my team's shirt on, knowing that on that very day, I was victorious.

Things that do not exist in football

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has made another brilliant comment, this time about the scourge of racism in football, saying that on-the-pitch racism is inexistant.
Already Mr. Blatter has been harshly criticised, but I would like to give my support to the FIFA President by reminding him of other things that do not exist in football:

• Homophobia


• Match fixing


• Doping


• Sexism


• Corruption


• Bad language and swearing


• Diving

I am sure Mr. Blatter himself could make the list much longer, and of course, since none of these problems exist in football, FIFA does not need to tackle them.

Norwegian party-animals

Last week Denmark won a crucial home victory, 2-0 (two goals by Nicklas Bendtner! I didn't know the guy could score any more!), against Norway on the way to the EURO 2012. Denmark now has all the cards to qualify, while Norway has to be very lucky if they are to be in Poland/Ukraine next summer.
As is often the case in these matches, the build-up was further motivated by the neighbourly rivalry between the two nations, for whom the match was crucial.
Thus, it is all the more strange to see now that many players of the Norwegian team were out partying in the nightlife of Copenhagen the day before the match, some of them not getting home until the early hours of the morning.
Notwithstanding that Denmark is a much better football team than Norway, one has to understand the poor Norwegians: Oslo is a pretty boring city where a beer costs some 10 Euros! Can anyone blame these poor guys for not being able to withstand the tempting charm of wonderful Copenhagen???
Hey, next time the Norwegian football team is in Copenhagen, beer is on me!!!! Skaal!!!!

Colombian nightmare?

I was recently in the most wonderful country in the world, Colombia, where the U-20 World Cup is currently taking place. The atmosphere is great as Colombians greet the world with their usual smiles, hospitality and friendliness.

Except if you are Argentine...

I had made nothing of an incident between the Argentinean team during a match against Egypt and the fans in Medellín until, last Saturday, I was sitting in a bar ("The Eight Bells", in Usaquén) waiting for Colombia-Mexico to start, and was surely wanting to support Colombia. I arrived early, waiting for some friends and family, and the match showing was Argentina-Portugal. Although u-20 football fails to excite me as much as other football, I was surely (quietly) cheering for Argentina as the match went into penalty kicks. It started well for Argentina, when Portugal missed two, but Portugal managed to pull up, and won.

I looked around in astonishment as the entire pub in rose in a loud scream of joy. I had to ask one of my recently arrived friends: "Are there many Portuguese in this bar?"

"No, we just do not like Argentineans"

In the match that followed, I wanted to support my dear Colombia, but couldn't help but have a strong sense of spiteful revenge as a far more efficient Mexican side defeated the hosts 3-1, to the enormous disappointment of the fans who had been so delighted for Argentina's defeat.

I am not going to dwell into the 2000 lousy reasons that Colombians have given me for not liking Argentines, but it baffles me. The continental solidarity that makes Africa so wonderful is all but unexistant in a continent of "brothers and sisters".

I do hope that all these Colombians will have nightmares where Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar castigate them with verbally eloquent insults, while Carlos Gardel, Fito Paez, Andrés Calamaro and Gustavo Cerati threaten to beat them up with their guitars, while a giant Mafalda chews them up and spits them out onto a football pitch with Alfredo di Stefano, Diego Maradona, Mario Kempes, and Lionel Messi to polish the other other guys shoes.

Well, at least we all now know that Argentina's and Colombia's u-20 sides are the same shit. The semifinals of the u-20 World Cup will be as follows:

• France-Portugal
• Brazil-Mexico

Football ignorance

I have in general been happy about Venezuela´s performance in the Copa América, mostly because it is nice to see people here so happy for their side. However, I have before said that Venezuela is a footballing ignorant country, and I think that the TV broadcasting today showed it all: while the final between Uruguay and Paraguay was taking place, the TV channel that has shown much of the tournament, kept showing the arrival of the Venezuelan national team, which was being received by thousands of people, who preferred to see these guys than the actual final.
No matter how disappointed a fan may be (and I was not to see any of my favourite teams there), real football fans would watch the final, instead of clapping at some guys who lost 4-1 in the bronze match to Perú yesterday. And this is not to diminish the fact of Venezuela´s great performance! But it just shows to me that Venezuelan´s happiness was more about nationalism than about football interest. This is not uncommon in many countries when they do well; during World Cups suddenly a lot of people are interested in football, and I often hear people saying, "I only like football when it is countries playing".
That is really when you know they are fucking football-ignorant donkeys!
Although many do not seem to get this, football is a sport, and it is not a defining moment for nations! Venezuela is no more or less great after its performance in the Copa América; Venezuela's football team is, and hopefully its almost non-existant footballing culture may grow with this.
And football fans want to watch a football final!

Football tears

I am a MAN, and men don't cry.
Unless it is football of course.
As the last times disappointments pass, although leaving a scar, it leads me to reflect about times when football has, if not made me cry, at least made me so fucking depressed that I swore never to watch football again.
Mostly until the following match…

In no particular order of depression:

1. Denmark_Spain, 1986: I remember this as the very first game where I cried, the greatest Danish side lost 1-5 to a mediocre Spain...
2. Denmark-Spain, 1993: the defending European champions did not qualify to the 1994 World Cup after losing 1-0 on a lame goal to a lame Spanish side.
3. Norway-Brazil, 1998: I could not accept that the greatest footballing nation on Earth lost to a Norwegian side that played as exciting as watching paint dry.
4. Brondy-Widzew Lodz, 1996: To qualify for the Champions League Brondby had lost the Poles 2-1 away. Leading 3-0 at home, it all seemed sure, but it ended 3-2…
5. Brondby-Roma, 1991: Rudi Volley scored a late winner for Roma to deny Brondby a place un the UEFA Cup final.
6. Valencia-Real Madrid, 2000: Real Madrid won 3-0 in the CL final in one of the saddest days of my life.
7. Valencia-Bayern Munich 2001: A devastating penalty shootout gave Munich the Champions League title.
8. Italy-France, 2006: I was a big Zidane fan, and besides being sad that he ended like that, it was sad to see the Italians win an otherwise great tournament.
9. Ghana-Uruguay, 2010: All I can say is that Ghana should have been the first African semifinalists in a World Cup.
10. Argentina-Uruguay, 2011: Fucking piece of shit...
11. Brondby-Sporting Lisbon, 2010: I actually didn’t watch the matches, but Brondby's away victory had given me hope that they were back in Europe, only to be shattered one week later.
12. Argentina-Cameroon 1990: It wasn't the loss itself, but it was the rejoicing of everyone at the time who seemed to hate Argentina, and not thinking that Cameroon had played extremely violent.
13. Argentina-England, 2002: Argentina lost 0-1 to its European arch-rivals, and was out of the World Cup.
14. Argentina-Netherlands, 1998: In spite of a great Dennis Bergkamp loss, I felt Argentina should have made it further.
15. Denmark-Brazil, 1998: If Norway could beat Brazil, Denmark surely should have in this World Cup quarterfinal; they played great, but lost 2-3…

More women in football!

In my view and experience, football breaks down barriers of nations, race, class, age, and well..., gender!
However, in spite of advances over the years, football culture remains very male-chauvinistic, perhaps blocking the complete breakthrough of women's football (I think the main problem with women's football is that it is not as technically good as men's, but it surely could be! Look at Marta!). But also, the attitude of many men block women from actually participating and engaging in football. I must say that some women I know are football-fanatics and experts as much as the next guy (of course not as much as me; but few people are!), and this makes football culture richer.
It is therefore only refreshing when the English Premier league introduces women referees, who surely are as capable, good, our lousy as the next male referee! It is therefore also very deserved when two renown football commentators, Andy Gray and Richard Keys are fired for making demeaning and chauvinist comments on TV about a female referee! What they said is, besides being idiotic nonsense, completely unacceptable, in particular for commentators, who may be football fans, but have a greater responsibility that a normal football fan because they are speaking to the world, and have the great power that comes with that.
In any case, I hope this only contributes to less discrimination, also based on gender!

Best and worst of the 2010 football year

It is time for a review of football-year 2010, and I will start by my personal top-10 of best and worst football things this years.

Saving the good for last, here comes the worst (a list that has, fortunately, been a bit difficult to make!):

10. Paraguay not becoming World Champions, to be summarized in one name: Larissa Riquelme...

9. Not having played football once during the year.

8. Time difference: Living in Venezuela has made it difficult to watch many mid-week matches, as they are in working hours.

7. FC Copenhagen doing so well; as a Brøndby fan I am green of jealousy! But of course, it is impressive!

6. Ghana's defeat in penalty kicks to Uruguay: so close, and yet so far from being the first African team in a World Cup semifinal! An emotional roller-coaster of a match that I watched with hundreds of people in Brussels!

5. People who normally don't watch football, who suddenly become all too passionate during a World Cup.

4. Argentina's elimination from the World Cup, which was more painful as I had really hoped for the best for them under Maradona. I do admit though, that his choice of tactics against Germany was poor.

3. FIFA and refereeing: although some small changes have been made, there is still too much conservatism and lack of openness in making refereeing better. In the World Cup, although in general good, some lousy decisions still haunt all fans.

2. The Octopus

1. Brøndby: not only that they are generally doing bad, but I was hugely disappointed for their loss to Sporting Lisbon.

And now, the best, a list much harder to limit!

10. BBC's World Football Phone in: the best football show ever.

9. Inter Milan's impressive victory of the triple. Although not a popular team, they had José Mourinho, whom I consider the world's greatest coach.

8. Germany: impressive in the World Cup with a diverse, young and entertaining side, and the Bundesliga has also improved to become one of the leagues in Europe with most excitement and most goals!

7. That Valencia CF are back in the Champions League, and have done well.

6. I have not been to many matches this year; a couple of Copa Libertadores matches in Caracas, but Benfica-Braga in Lisbon, was surely the best!

5. The way FC Barcelona have been playing in the second half of the year, notably their 5-0 victory against Real Madrid, which I watched in the office, was a truly impressive display of awesome football.

4. Spain as World Champions made me most happy for all my family and friends there!

3. The marvelous Black Stars and their performance in South Africa, and in particular their fans!

2. A wonderful World Cup in South Africa! South Africans were the best hosts ever!

1. Watching World Cup football in five different countries, with friends, family and drinking beer!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Happy Birthday Pelé

One of the best players of all time, surely the most legendary and the one with the most goals, and icon of football, sports, and in fact, of Brazil and the century, turns 70 today.
Pelé.
The birthday is being celebrated widely in Brazil, where Pelé is emblematic for the rise of Brazilian football with his debut as a 17-year old in the 1958 World Cup (scoring two goals in the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden) and then reaching his pinnacle as captain of the 1970 Brazilian World Cup side; perhaps the most entertaining and awesome national team ever.
Who the best player in the world of football is, remains one of the most fervent discussions in world football. It is not a fair discussion, since great players have contributed different things at different times. I know my personal favourite (Diego Maradona), but I also know that perhaps nobody has meant as much for the spread of football as Pelé. Every football fan in the world should today take a moment and make a toast for this Giant.
Happy Birthday Pelé!
And cheers.

The presidential kick

President Evo Morales of Bolivia plays on a football team, and a couple of days ago he came on the world media when he did something that was not so fair-play:


A lot of people would perhaps think this is a bad example to set by a president, but on the other hand, football is about passion, and if he has to lose his head, surely better he does it on the football pitch!
The referee didn't give him a red card - of course, it is the president!

My team....

Can people's life really be measured by the football team they support...?

Indeed, I support Brøndby, who today pathetically lost 3-0 at home to Sporting Lisbon and was eliminated from the Europa League.
Brøndby is team that is full of hope every season that they will do well. And when things start going well and it looks that this might be the season, their moment, they completely mess it up at the last moment, and end up grumpy and disappointed. Their greatest success is still some matches some 20 years ago that only hardened fans still remember, and the hardened fans are that; old bitter men who never got much out of life, but are still reaching for that last moment of meager glory, like defeating a second-rate Portuguese side, before they fade out into the oblivion that they are as much as their team.

We don't chose our lives. We don't chose who we love. I support Brøndby, as much as I would like not to. Perhaps as much as I would like to be someone else... (a supporter of a good team).

Europe rules!!!

I have myself before talked about how this was in fact the worse tournament for European teams ever, as only three European sides made it to the quarterfinals. But the fact is that now, in the semifinals, all European sides advanced, easily pushing aside the South American sides that had been so talked about. Uruguay is the only non-European side in the tournament and I don't believe that they would have been there had they played any European side on their way to the semifinal (South Corea and Ghana would also have been swept aside by any European team). '

Truth is that European teams simply had an awful draw, running into each other in the last-16, but that they could plausibly have been in all the semifinal matches like it was in 2006!

Although three European giants, France, England and Italy performed poorly, the fact remains that Europe is the center of the world when it comes to football: the European championships are small world cups, and all the best football and players converges to the European leagues. When non-European players return to play for their home countries it is European styles and cultures they take with them, more so than they are giving it to European football!

In footballing terms, Europe rules the world, and it is perhaps also symbolic that the first World Cup on African soil will also be the first which is won by a European team outside Europe (no, Uruguay does not stand a chance), since Europeans brought football to Africa, and in spite of its popularity on the continent, football is as European as any other of the imperialist exports of the old continent.

In any case, no doubt that Europe rules the football world, and that this will continue for many years!

The circle is complete

North Corea and Paraguay are playing tomorrow in the first round of the World Cup. This is a repeat of one of the most legendary matches in history, the 1966 World Cup quarterfinal where Portugal defeated North Corea 5-3. But besides being a legendary match, it was also a match that symbolized the globalization of football that has led us to where we are today, at the first World Cup in Africa, and thus, there is a strange symbolism around this match tomorrow.

In 1966 all African nations decided to boycot the World Cup as it was a virtual arrogant monopoly between Europe and South America, who, besides Mexico, allowed only one participant from "the rest of the World". This participant became North Corea amid the African boycot, who qualifed and was not given much of chance against the USSR, Chile and Italy. But North Corea tied Chile, and in one of the most sensational victories in history, defeated Italy, to make it to the quarterfinals.
Nevertheless , the "rest of the world team" had only half-quieted Europe and South America, but this was to change: after only 30 minutes, the unknown Asians were ahead 3-0 against the "Europeans" from Portugal, and had the unconditional support of all fans in Liverpool, as well as most of the football fans of the world, who far ahead of FIFA wanted to see the rest of the world succeed in the sport that in spite of it all belongs to the fans (and not to FIFA...).
Portugal ended winning 5-3, but the player who led the way was Eusebio, a Mozambican and African, who played for Portugal because Mozambique was Portuguese colony at them time. However, a person from "the rest of the world" had shown the way for Portugal, against a stunning football nation from the "rest of the world". The globalization of the game really started then, although FIFA really only started it when they saw money in it...

The World Cup is now a world event: it (currently) belongs to Africa, and Europe and South America is no longer the owner of what it long considered itself to be.
Although it seems unlikely that we will have such a match tomorrow, it would be proper to remember the Asian and the one African pioneer of 1966!

Of all the unimportant things in the world, football is the most important

I was listening to a BBC World Have Your Say Podcast where they asked whether the World Cup was as important as Mandela's release.
Oh my God! Compare a football tournament with an event that changed not only a country but the entire world...!?!?

Don't get me wrong: I love and live football!
I have a pretty average dull life of a middle aged single man, no particular talents, charms or looks, so for someone like me, football is what my life revolves around. It is surely pathetic, but in some weird sociological way I am aware of the strangeness and lack of meaning of having my life revolve around a game where 22 people kick a ball.
But isn't that the nature of passion, of love itself: I can feel it, but I cannot explain it...?
Hey, that's probably why I am single.

Football may give me meaning (to me as well as to many other fanatics), but we should not forget that this passion is joined by the rest of the world only every four years, and this year the hype is as big as ever!
Of all the unimportant things in the world, football is indeed the most important, but as such, it can and should not be compared to the important issues in this world. Perhaps the world cup can bring attention to them, build bridges between peoples (but we all know football can also create divisions!), but it should never overshadow them!

In the meantime, I shall continue living football, and during this month more than ever!

Rules for the World Cup

And a reminder to why I am single....

"1. From 11th June to 11th July 2010, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.
2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).
3. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don’t mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to stand nude in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.
4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second floor... it wont happen.
5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.
6. Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say “get over it, its only a game”, or “don’t worry, they’ll win next time”. If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less.
7. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called “words of encouragement” will only lead to a break up or divorce.
8. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying “one” game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to “spend time together”.
9. The replays of the goals are very important. I don’t care if I have seen them or I haven’t seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.
10. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because:
a. I will not go,
b. I will not go, and
c. I will not go.
11. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.
12. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying “but you have already seen this...why don’t you change the channel to something we can all watch??”, the reply will be: “Refer to Rule #2 of this list”.
13. And finally, please save your expressions such as “Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years”. I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Premier League, Italian League, Spanish League, etc etc.
14. Thank you for your co-operation.

Regards,
Men of the World"

"My" countries in the World Cup

As the World Cup is less than two weeks away, it is time for a personal review of the state of "my" countries participating in the World Cup:

Argentina: I lived in Argentina as a child, and my football heart is unapologetically Argentinean, no matter who they play against. With their extraordinary players, first and foremost Messi, I have huge hopes, but at the same time, I share the nagging doubt about some of the selected players, some of the absent players (notably one of my own favourites, Javier Zanetti, as well as Gabriel Milito), and their style. Still, I will be celebrating each of their victories!

Chile: I was born in Chile, and although never really followed them in footballing terms, I hope the team does well under coach Marcelo Bielsa. They will surely be exciting to watch, as they are the South American team participating that will be playing the most attacking football. But history is against them.

Denmark: I am Danish by passport and father, and will be cheering on the Danish Dynamite. The team is not as exciting nor talented as previous years, but it is solid, and will not be easy to play against. That said, they will probably be fighting for the second spot in the group with Cameroon, as Netherlands seems like an awfully big mouthful, although Denmark has defeated the Dutch before when grossly underestimated!

Ghana: Ghana was the first African country I lived in, and will never forget the wonderful people and atmosphere. I was living there during the last World Cup, where Ghana was a sensation, and was caught in the wonderful atmosphere. Although I am surely biased, I do believe that Ghana is the best footballing nation in Africa, and should have a great chance of getting far. However, the absence of the injured Michael Essien will be very difficult, and their continuous lack of a quality striker will also affect them. In any case, I will be wearing my Ghana shirt and cheering for the Black Stars!

Spain: I have lived in different parts of Spain, have some Spanish family, and feel closely connected to the country. In footballing terms, I have never been a huge fan of the national team (as many Spaniards, I much prefer to support a club, in my case Valencia), but was happy for their deserved victory at the Euro 2008, and recognise their wonderful players. Still, expectations will be enormous, and Spain has before crashed their heads against the walls of big expectations.

USA: I lived there for a year when young, but it was a bit like living in football wasteland, and I don't exactly support them... Still, their progress since 1994 has been spectacular, and it will be interesting to see if the excellent national team can take it further. In any case, be sure that I will be cheering for Team USA against England, hoping they can repeat the legendary 1950 match!

Well, I will obviously have plenty to cheer for! I will miss some other of "my" countries: Colombia, Mozambique, Belgium,and surely, Venezuela!

Search for extraterrestial life

The search for extraterrestial life has stoppped: it has been confirmed that Lionel Messi is from another planet.