Archives for category: Thumbs up

Laurent Blanc “guillotines” French World Cup team

July 26, 10 //

Brilliant move last Friday by new French coach Laurent Blanc. The “President” as Blanc is called since his days playing with France, outsmarted all those that wanted to have the entire French squad banned forever. Blanc kicked out the team that had ashamed the whole of France for the first friendly againt Norway on August 11. Hmmm the real punishment would have been to send them all play that game! Blanc knows his stuff and most of all that this 2 year contract with the French Football Federation will demand to the minimum that the tricolores qualify for the 2012 Euro. Since there is shortage of real talent right now, Blanc can’t afford to kick himself in the foot and not count on the likes of say Lloris, Toulalan, Diaby, and Malouda. With this smart move, Blanc can then start with a clean sheet and build the team best fit to qualify for the Euro. And that will certainly mean keeping some of the 23 “black sheep”!

Maracanazos are not all Saint-Justs!

Goodbye South Africa, Hello Brazil!

July 13, 10 //

Spain has done it! They have become the 8th country in the history of the World Cup to proudly boast a star on their roja shirts! I am very happy for Iniesta who scored the winning goal. First of all he proves wrong all those that think that you need to have a body builded corpulence to make it in football. Then I like this player’s style. He plays forward, knows when to pass the ball and when to keep it and is one of the rare confrontational dribblers out there. In my mind he was the best player of the final. Another decisive factor in Spain’s win was Fabregas’s entry. He brought fast forward movements to the Spanish side who I felt was sometimes playing too laterally with Xavi.

I was very disappointed by the Dutch. Where have they left their flamboyant football? It is now the second time that they leave a violent mark on the World Cup, the first time being the infamous eighth final against Portugal in 2006. The quatuor which I had thought could make the difference was unable to get sufficient ammunitions from the midfield and Van Persie was transparent.

Apart from the final, here is my take on this 19th World Cup:

There were no new revolutionary or even marked evolutionary strategies.
The first round was as non-Cup like as usual.
I missed one single breathtaking game like Germany-Italy in 1970, Argentina-Peru in 1978, France-Germany in 1982, France-Brazil in 1986, England-Cameroon in 1990. The closest was probably Uruguay-Ghana for the incredible cliff-hanging suspense of that game.

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Letter to Sepp Blatter

July 2, 10 //

Dear M. Blatter,

You are a lucky man, millions, no billions of people cherish the sport you are at the head of. I am part of those, ever since I first went to the Parc des Princes stadium when I was 5 or so. I have cried, laughed, supported, gone wild, criticized, shown compassion, replayed legendary matches in my mind, you name it, all the emotions that football fans undoubtedly go through. You have a dream job M. Blatter.

Recently though I have started to sense that the sport we so enjoy is in danger of becoming forever changed, distorted, destroyed by events that you need to take action against. If you don’t, then I fear that football will become a living nightmare, a sporting equivalent of Blade Runner, an unworthy MMOG.

The most imminent and prominent danger is what I call the demand for instant gratification. We live in an era of the instantaneous. Instant access to information, instant pleasure, instant emotions, instant relief, instant everything…Now you will ask me what does this have to do with football? The fiery debate about the use of video to “help” referees has all to do with the search for instantaneity. The Video God freezes a football action to bring an instant picture of “truth” to the millions, billions of people watching the most popular sport in the world. We want to know the truth and we increasingly rely on machines to hand it to us; right away. Is this the way to go M. Blatter?

Football is a played by humans. With their qualities and shortcomings. That is why this blog has the tagline “Football is the universal sport because it is the closest to human nature.” Some cheat and then geniously make up for it, others have the highest sense of ethics, and the majority just do the best they can. The good and the bad have been part of this sport since its start somewhere in Middle Age Britain unless it was in some Tuscan village. Forwards have scored goals “outside of this world” while others have missed the unthinkable. Defenders have shown incredible bravery while others displayed remarkable actor talents…

The character who orchestrates that this commedia dell’arte is played according to the rules is another human; namely the referee. He is almost alone to do this helped in his task by 2 side line referees. These 3 people have to keep a hawks eye on 22 players, knowing that thousands in the stadium and billions behing their tv sets are ready at any moment to hunt them down as soon as the first blunder materializes. Enters the video. The hunters want to rely on the image freeze magic to instantaneously condemn the man in black. The machine made truth replaces the human factor. Is this the way to go M. Blatter?

M. Blatter, you are probably asking then what is the God sent solution here? Don’t blame the men in black as you did after the Mexican and English events at the World Cup. Reinforce the human factor as Michel Platini advocates by adding more referees – one behind each goal post – so that the men in black become a team in themselves. Football is a collective sport which ironically has less referees than the individual sport tennis is. Help referees by betting that the collective judgement of 5 well trained professionals will make for better human backed decisions; not machine ones please M. Blatter!

Maracanazos will always defend the human factor.

Long live the garra charrúa!

June 26, 10 //

Uruguay plays against South Korea ina few hours in the first eighth final. This could be a historic moment for the Celeste. The last time Uruguay made it through to the quarter finals was in 1970. As often at this stage of the competition, much will depend on the the mental strength of each individual player and the collective willpower of the team. This is the moment to display the famous Uruguayan garra charrúa. Astolfo Cagnacci defines in football terms garra charrúa as a “survival instinct running on the field, cementing a team in its collective definition.”

The Charrúas were a small Indian population of about 1000 living on the Uruguayan coast when the first conquistador Juan Diaz de Solis arrived in 1516. Solis was killed and this was the beginning of the legend of the Charrúas who were then gradually eliminated from the Uruguayan soil after Revolutionary leader Artigas left the country.

Garra is a combination of interior force and a ferocious willingness never to abandon. The combination of garra and charrua forever defines Uruguayan football. This small country of 3 million inhabitants, stuck between its 2 neighbouring giants Argentina and Brazil, has embraced football as the symbol of its own identity, a sport which can bring the best in the sacrifice of each player for the benefit of the team.

One of the most memorable definitions of garra was that of Jules Rimet, the President of the FIFA after the 1950 World Cup final in Brazil: “The fight was even. The Brazilian technique was drowned by the “garra” of the Uruguayans, who played well technically but who also showed the rage that makes their victory so well deserved. In football, playing well is not sufficient, you also need to feel it profoundly as does Uruguay.” And he went on to add: “It was one of the best games I ever saw during my long life as a sportsman, both in its technical virtousity and extraordinary fair-play.” Jules Rimet’s statement is important as too often non connaisseurs think of garra as just some form of violent behaviour which it is not!

I really like the following video showing a moment of garra charrúa just before Uruguay enters the pitch to play in the decisive qualifier against Costa Rica before this World Cup. Look at how captain Lugano shows (1’18) his team that football is “won in the head”.

Maracanazos have pride in the garra charrúa.

Shoes for Life

June 19, 10 //

How many pairs of shoes do you own? 5? 10? 20? I have a friend named Donte who works at a shoe store and owns over 70 pairs of shoes. Yes, Donte has too many shoes, and this truth becomes even more apparent when you stop and think that there are people on this planet who don’t have any shoes at all.

This summer, during the World Cup, SoccerPro.com is funneling the excitement over the global soccer event into a charitable movement called “Shoes 4 Life”. They are raising awareness of the fact that millions of people every day, many of them children, do not have shoes. Without shoes, walking long distances to schools or jobs is nearly impossible, and bare feet are prone to injury. By donating money to Shoes 4 Life, you can help make a step in the direction of ending this easily fixable problem.

One dollar sends one pair of shoes to a barefoot child or adult, and can deliver much more: hope.

SoccerPro is thanking everybody who helps in the movement by giving away some of their inventory. Some lucky winners will receive $800 worth of soccer shoes.

Take a look at Shoes 4 Life – it’s a positive way to celebrate how the World Cup is bringing the world together.

Maracanazos try to help when they can.

A World of Football!

June 10, 10 //

Tomorrow starts the 19th World Cup.

I love this event because of its scarcity, drama, joys, exuberance and passion. In all the 32 countries participating, the World Cup fever is mounting. People are getting organized to watch the games of their home team wherever they will happen to be; at work, at home, travelling, camping, commuting, anywhere! Some governments like the one of Honduras are even letting their civil servants go home earlier so as not to miss any second of their favourite team! Football fans are getting together, in bars, pubs, cafés, restaurants, in front of tv shops, any spot where they can see the World Cup at play. The populations of the supposedly weaker teams are thinking; what if this time we get through to the 2nd round?!

Dreams are running wild, everyone becomes the head coach of their team, 16 million Chileans are convinced they each own the magic formula for the best Roja team ever! Mexicans are thinking to themselves, and what if they get to the semi-finals for the first time in their history? Americans are praying to beat England again as they did in 1950. Paraguayans are thankful that the golden goal doesn’t exist anymore. Argentinians are already chanting Vamos Vamos Argentina! Brazilians are already counting their 6th star. All 3 million Uruguayans will be listening feverishly to radio and tv channels at the same time. Algerians will be humming, “one two three, viva l’Algérie”! Cameroon will come to a halt and children from the Ivory Coast are hopeful Drogba’s arm heals asap! South Africans are already proud of all they have accomplished so far. The whole of Ghana is in trance and Nigerians are counting the seconds. The All Whites are hoping to do as well as their All Black brothers. The Aussies would like avoid bad refereeing again. North Koreans are waking up from 1966 and South Koreans are alive with memories from 2002. Japanese are stacking up with sake. The Nati followers are making sure their watches are on time while the Germans would love to revive Lineker’s famous quote. The Dutch are convinced this is the right one. Espana is hoping that the favourite’s curse won’t affect them. Slovenians , Slovakians and Serbs are excited to be in World Cup for the first time. Greeks are relieved Maradona is off the pitch this time. England fans will be on their best behaviour. Italians are sorry Zidane isn’t there this time and all of France wants to get rid of their coach. Portugal is living and breathing with Cristiano and the Danes are just enjoying it as usual.

Maracanazos are citizens of the world.

Thank you “l’After”!

June 8, 10 //

RMC Radio has the best football talk shows by far in France. The evening one is called the “After Foot” but everyone calls it “l’After”. I believe it is followed daily by more than 400,000 listeners. I was honoured to be part of the discussion yesterday regarding the Uruguayan team. If you understand French, you can listen to the mp3, my part starts just after the first quarter. Thank you Gilbert & Co for having me participate in your great show!

Maracanazos admire the After Foot team, principally Gilbert and Daniel, but also Jean-François, Florent, Stéphane and the drôles de dames!

What Soccer Can Learn From NASCAR and WWE

May 26, 10 //

This guest post is brought to you by author Steve Wilson who’s new book “The Little Boys From Little Mexico” comes out in bookstores on June 1. Steve, many thanks for reaching out to Maracanazo and sharing your views.

Soccer faces several hurdles in its ongoing attempt to gain a foothold in the U.S. And, if soccer is ever going to really succeed, it needs to take a lesson from a couple of other sports in the U.S., NASCAR and professional wrestling.

Soccer, auto racing, and “wrestling” aren’t sports that one typically lumps together. The audiences are different for one thing. Soccer’s audience is that weird split between educated Anglos and working-class Latinos, while auto racing and WWE draw rednecks. There’s another difference. NASCAR and WWE are very popular in America. Soccer isn’t.

NASCAR and WWE both deliver to fans a narrative that soccer lacks: heroes and villans. Professional wrestling’s entire existence stems from the soap opera-like drama played out in and around the ring between the good wrestlers and the evil wrestlers. From Andre the Giant to The Undertaker, villans in professional wrestling are often far more popular than their positive peers.

NASCAR has for a long time also had its black and white hats. Jimmie Johnson, for example, one of the most successful current drivers, is synonymous with “nice guy.” But Dale Earnhardt, probably the most popular driver of all time, had the nickname Darth Vader.

To a less obvious degree these narratives extend to the NFL, NBA, and MLB, where certain athletes have reputations as nice (Joe Montana) and others as nasty (Ray Lewis). Over the years opposing fans have loved to hate the Oakland Raiders, the Detroit Pistons, and The New York Yankees.

The reputation of these teams extends off the field as well. Bad boys in many sports say politically incorrect things, go into the stands to fight fans, get caught with pistols in their luggage and marijuana in their cars. Rather than turn fans off, these stories simply add an extra and easily understandable narrative to the competition between teams.

Soccer’s perception problem for most American sports fans is just this–they don’t have a narrative to think about soccer they way they do other sports. To most Americans, soccer is nice. It’s a sport played by kids and women. There are no bad guys. No bad guys means no drama–after all, who are the good guys going to conquer? Who is there to hate? The L.A. Galaxy? Because they had the money to get Beckham? It didn’t do them much good.

The best thing that could happen to American soccer is for some player to start acting out off the field like Dennis Rodman, Lawrence Taylor, or even Tiger Woods. Maybe Brian Ching could get into a fist fight somewhere, or Landon Donovan could get caught snorting coke off a stripper’s naked thigh. Things like this happen in other sports. Athletes get pulled over for speeding and underage Nicaraguan hookers are found in their backseat. It doesn’t damage the team’s popularity, and it rarely even destroys a player’s career. It just gives fans somebody to hate.

Which is exactly what soccer needs.

Maracanazos like to share point of views.

Mourinho on top of the world

April 30, 10 //

For once that you see a coach really enjoying his team’s victory!

Maracanazos like the Special One.

What is your favourite club’s tag line?

February 11, 10 //

Great football clubs, those that last through both good and bad times, have memorable tag lines. A great tag line defines what the club is about in a few words. It conveys the spirit of the history, the staff, the players, the fans, the stadium of these clubs. It’s like a good concept, if you can’t say it in a few words then it just isn’t a good one. Here are some:

Liverpool: “You’ll never walk alone”
Barça: “More than a club”
Marseille: “Straight to goal”
Boca Juniors: “A club each day bigger”
Milan AC: “The most titled club in the world”
Penarol Montevideo: “You will forever be eternal and blossom each spring”

I really like Liverpool’s “You’ll never walk alone”, it says it all!

Do you have a favourite club tag line?

Maracanazos like short to the point phrases.