The Beautiful Game

My first date with big-time soccer was courtesy the British Council Library in Kolkata that invited me,for the price of an annual membership,to its office at Theatre Road. I rummaged through the drawers looking for soccer videos and picked one that had the Manchester United’s holy trinity on the cover. For the first time I saw serious football. I saw Bobby Charlton,Denis Law and George Best. I am yet to see better football and a better player then Bestie. The ‘Fifth Beatle’ never played in the World Cup. Who cares? For us,the United fans,a Stretford End legend is always bigger than a World Cup hero.

In my para addas I have never tried to drive home my point though,for I don’t like fighting a losing battle. Diego Maradona is huge in this part of the world and it is not advisable to put him under the scanner. This time Maradona is once again at the World Cup,as the coach of Argentina,and Kolkata is divided. Half the city swears by Maradona and his team and the other half is supporting Brazil. I am not going to challenge their wisdom,but I feel this time the European style will prevail over Latin American smile.

Brazil under Carlos Dunga have adopted the European style though. So,no Ronaldinho in the squad. “He (Ronaldinho) becomes a dead man once he loses the ball. He doesn’t tackle and is poor defensively,” Dunga said. Perhaps he talked logic.

When will India play in the World Cup finals? National coach Bob Houghton thinks by 2018 we should be ready. Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra sniggers: “India at World Cup? Not in the next 100 years,” he says while hitting out at the All India Football Federation for toeing the Houghton’s line. According to Houghton,the focus here should be on the national team rather than club football. The Big Three — Mohun Bagan,East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting,however,beg to differ.

World Cup month is the best time for some local ‘experts’ to make quick bucks. I remember how a former Bengal player had explained Franco Baresi and Roberto Baggio’s missed penalties in the 1994 World Cup final. According to him,Baresi and Baggio’s penalty hitting technique was wrong! Then another former Bengal player once described John Terry as an “ordinary player”. You can laugh at them but they will never change. They have already started to sharpen the nibs and believe that they have the last word on all football-related matters. Just want to tell them that India are ranked 134 in the Fifa listings and except Bhaichung Bhutia our football doesn’t have anything to show for.

So,we can happily forget them and let them do whatever they like.

This World Cup will be played under Jose Mourinho’s shadow despite the fact that the “special one” will be missed in South Africa. But his defensive style that made Inter Milan the European champions is likely to be followed by many teams. The Messis and the Kakas will find it tough to express themselves on the field. There is already a premonition that eventually negative football might triumph. The football “romantics” better remember winners always play to win.