Sunday, bloody Sunday

Sunday's a lifeline for us all. The day off from work, school, or college. A day for home, family, rest and peace. Catch up with whatever you can't do during the week. Make the most of it before another grinding week starts. Enjoy yourself, basically. We all experience Monday blues, but for me Sunday has always had this uncomfortable undertone to it. While it's a relief to have time off, it tends to give you this 'going nowhere', purposeless sort of feeling.

Sunday to me has always been like the neighbour we tolerate, but can never quite trust. We simply have to coexist with her because we have no choice; we can't do without her, we appreciate what she has to offer, but the unnamed feeling persists. It's a mystery because everyone else around you celebrates her; you nod your head but can never fully agree. Just as you lie waiting in resignation for what bombshells your neighbour may drop on you, Sunday is the perfect metaphor for the lull before (and after) the storm.

I guess my weird relationship with Sunday started by associating her with homework, or likening it to 'homework day'. Homework was usually the matter of spnding an hour or so in concentration. Try as I did, work would never get done the way I liked it. And it only served as a reminder Monday was coming up. Over the years, my attitude to Sunday has evolved from being a love-hate kind of thing to "well alright, her she comes again".

The 'lazy' aspect of Sunday which people really enjoy is overrated. I too love the idea of being able to wake up at10:30 in the morning just for once in the week. However, i do that on Saturdays as well (apart from the time we have work or college then) and I either get the feeling of freshness, or a desire to return to my comfortable sleep. With Sunday, you feel like getting up but can't drag yourself out of bed. You wrestle with this so much, that by the time you're up you've given yourself a headache. For the rest of the day, it's either depressingly hot or depressingly cold, as if to neutralize the pleasing effects of Saturday's weather. Whatever you feel like catching up on simply won't happen. Everything gets postponed. Life seems to come to a standstill - but only for you. Everyone around you seems to be enjoying a holiday for what it is. Sunday afternoons seem to give you an inexplicable rumble in the stomach. The 'long dark tea times of the soul' as Douglas Adams said.

Sunday isn't all that bad. For example, it's the all sports day of the week. However, when I saw my favourite teams and players sinking to defeat on Sundays, it turned me against her yet again. It's a bit like how in the mid nineties, Indian cricket fans would dread watching those matches with Pakistan at sharjah on Fridays (the local holiday). However much they tried, azzu bhai's team could never win on a Friday. The moment a second match was held on a Monday, they won.

All said and done, a holiday's a holiday, so i can't live without Sunday. I guess it's a question of pushing yourself do do something, to take your mind off the emptiness, as you would do on a Monday or Tuesday. That's why I'm blogging on a Sunday without any apparent thoughts in my head.

Paying the penalty, and a strange exit

There's not much I can really say about the world Cup final that hasn't been said. I'm still not convinced on the issue of using penalty kicks to settle a drawn final, though. Surely there must be a better way to resolve a game as big as the WC final? My mind goes back to what the Sportstar said after the 1994 final which also saw a penalty shoot out "Not the perfect solution, but the best we have". And I tend to agree, in a resigned sort of way. It would certainly be unfair to make them play another game. The toss of a coin, as suggested by one paper, is ridiculous. In the 1950 world cup, I noticed, they pitted the final four times against each other in a round- robin group, meaning instead of semifinals and a final, each team played each other once and the team which finished on the highest number of points at the end, won. As it turned out, the last game between Brazil and Uruguay was effectively a final match as the team which won would finsih on top, and thus get the title. I don't think such a method would go down with the fans too well today, though. Penalties are here to stay.

These days, the penalty shootout has become serious business. Arguably, it's a test of skill as much as nerves although most of us like to believe it's pure luck. Strategies have actually evolved to the point where we see Sven-Goran-Errikson bringing on Jamie Carragher late in the game specifically for the shootout. Likewise in the final, when Frank Ribery was substituted for for poor David Trezeguet. All the talk in the closing moments was about how "France are without their best penalty takers" namely Zidane and Henry. In the quarterfinals, Portugal's Ricardo produced a superhuman effort to block three England penalty kicks and the commentators went on about how he "revels in these situations". Goes to show that the shootout has not become merely an accepted, but a necessary part of strategy. To digress a bit, there was once an ICC experiment to decide abandoned ODI cricket matches on a 'shoot-out' meaning five bowlers on each side try to knock over the stumps with one delivery each, and the winner is the side which is able to hit the stumps more often. Seems an unthinkable, just as the penalty shootout was ages ago, but ten or twenty years down the line who knows?

In the last post I commented about Zidane and an otherwise unmemorable World Cup. After all that, it looks like the Cup will be well remembered after all, though not in a way that would please fans and critics alike. The headbutting issue has been done to death in the papers so I won't get into it. I'd just like to say I think Zidane was destined to go out in an unpredictable manner, yet another way of keeping his fans guessing. He tantalized football fans in general and his followers in particular with that audacious penalty kick. He kept them hopeful with his midfield runs and deft passing. He almost brought them all to his feet with that header. He had them asking "Why, oh why" with his inglorious exit. Like all flawed geniuses, you never knew quite what you would get, nothing would be neat and tidy or according to a perfect script. 'Script' is actually an appropriate word....his role in the final played like a movie. But truth is always stranger than fiction, as we (and Zidane) found out. It wasn't an altogether unhappy ending, he did win the golden ball. But, in a world that increasingly loves to paint in black and white, there was to be no ordinary or straightfoward exit for him. Simply haunting, this final was.

Absorbing, but few standouts

I've really had to battle with sleep over the last couple of weeks. Given most of the crucial World Cup Games have taken place past midnight local time, I convinced myself that it's worth sacrificing several hours of sleep over it, a not-so-easy task considering I've had to work late for most part. As always, the Cup never fails to keep you glued. But, as the competition draws to a close (only the third palce playoff and final remain), I get the feeling it's not been an entirely satisfying viewing experience. Absorbing? Definitely. Exciting? Yes. Entertaining? Often. Memorable? Hmmmm....

Among the people here who've been following the proceedings, two kinds readily come to mind. The first is an ardent supporter of one or maybe two or more teams, and for him, of course, supporting 'his' team makes it all the more intense. The second kind doesn't care so much about taking sides as whether the game's good or not. I'm not sure whether I actually fall under any of these categories (though I do have a soft corner for a few teams; including the Dutch, who made a second-round exit), but the point is, apart from Ukraine, the final eight was made up largely of the Big Guns and that should have kept both those types of people happy. The first kind, because I haven't met too many Serbia or Ghana or USA supporters, and the second kind because it presented a mouth watering lineup of unpredictable games to savour. The elimination rounds of this WC edition were the most competitive ones in a long time. Yet, at the end of the semis, I feel there was something missing. For all the big matchups, there were few sparks to remember.

It's probably not fair to turn back the clock and run a comparison with previous WorldCups, but then this is (arguably) the biggest sporting tournament in the world. at the end of it, you'd have to ask: What will this world cup be remembered for? So many parallels have been drawn in the press with the 1982 edition in spain, so that seems an appropriate place to rewind and start the run-thru. In 1982 there was the coming of age of Paolo Rossi as a striker, single handedly snuffing out Brazil. In 1986 it was the brilliance of Maradona, left-foot and right-hand (was it his right? would like a clarification). In 1990 it was the battle of the two skippers, Matthaus and Maradona,even if the final was miserable, and an enterprising Italian side not able to drive 'home' the advantage. In 1994, attacking play returned and we celebrated the skills of some deadly strikers (Romario, stoichkov, Klinsmann and the unfortunate Roberto Baggio)....the mascot for that one had been fittingly named 'Striker'. In 1998 it was the coming of age of a superb French side, and the contrasting fortunes of zidane and Ronaldo. In 2002, Ronaldo set the record straight, as Brazillian magic was at its best since the days of Pele. It was also worth rememebring for unfancied but resourceful teams like Senegal, South Korea and Turkey making it to the quarters and beyond.

So what about 2006? It's down to the clash between rejuvenated French and the Italians who seem to be peaking at the right time. Whatever happens in that final, the reality is that the tournament has lacked the sort of spectacular moments which would be remembered for a long time to come. So far, the World Cup (to me) has largely been about two things. 1) The rebirth of Zizou, whose career could have been over in the first round itself. 2) The diappointing title-defence of holders Brazil. Most of the big games have been fairly scrappy, decided by the odd set-piece or a one-off breakaway goal. The Holland-Portugal match was a bar-room brawl which will not be easily forgotten, but it wasn't a gime you'd really like to recall either. Teams have seemed overawed and managers have been cautious, most notably when Jose Pekerman refused to bring on Lionel messi in the clash with Germany. There's been no shortage of high drama, and deserving winners and losers. But the overall quality of football was hasn't been as good as it could be. There hasn't been the sort of greatness, or feeling of higher moments, that you'd normally associate with the WC.

The elimination rounds were contesed by a motley bunch of teams and players often battling their own self-doubt. Spain, who had a marvelllous first round, made their customary early exit as they were tactically found out by the French in a dramatic shift of momentum. Holland perhaps paid the price for over-reliance on young blood, but they could just as easily have made it to the semis. Brazil appeared disinterested in the quarters - you'd have thought a rematch of the 98 final would be motivation enough - and deserved to be sent packing. The decision to play Ronaldinho up front with the lethargic Ronaldo seemed to deny them a trump card. The rest were either too old or not committed enough to the cause. Germany have had a fine world cup and were heroic in defeat against Italy. The Klose-Podolski combination worked wonders and their defence was typically resiliant when it amttered most, against Argentina. Hopefully, they'll provide some fireworks in the third place game. Portugal won few admirers for the manner in which they contested their last 3 games, full of diving and theatrics. Despite having such a talented lineup, they never looked like scoring frequently and simply did not play well enough against France and England. Both games were typically scrappy affairs. The less said about England, the better. Much has been made of rooney's sending off, and perhaps rightly so, but I looked at their quarterfinal exit as a case of being put out of their misery. They perhaps deserved a better fate than going out yet again on penalties, after valiantly keeping afloat with ten men on the field against portugal.

Argentina were probably the team which looked to have the sheer talent and (perhaps)greatness we like to remember World Cup winners by. Their 6-0 demolition job against serbia in the frst round was probably the high point of the World Cup, and Maxi Rodriguez's goal against Mexico left us with great expectations. In the quarters, however, they discovered the never say-die spirit of the Germans, which along with some questionable tactis from the coach was enough to send them packing.

Whether Italy deserved to be past the second round after the game against australia is a moot point. Superbly organised as always in defence, they've found a refreshingly attacking approach which Marcello Lippi had promised before the sart of the WC. They scored when it matted most, especially against czech Republic in the first round and that final fling in the semis (great to see Del piero come on and score). Cannavaro and Gattuso have just got better as the tournament has progressed. Francesco Totti appears to have made amends for his poor World Cup in 2002, which ended in him being sent off against the South Koreans. At the moments, they looks on top of their game and are surely favourites for the title. However, they too seem to be short of the class and the magic touch which world cup winning teams in the past have had. Unless Totti scores a hat-trick or something, their victory will be praised but not considered particularly impressive.

That leaves us with France, and for me, the one bright spark in this competition. While Zinedine Zidane has not been back to his best, he's turned the corner sufficiently enough to inspire his initially insipid teammates to lift their game. France were quite pathetic in the first round, and even in the victory against Togo, (for which zizou was suspended; it could have been his last game), both Henry and Trezeguet looked incapabl of finishing well. Since then, things have fallen into place. In the midfield, Patrick Vieira has proved a real asset, as has the speed and freshness of frank Ribery. Claude Makalele continues to perform game after game making him an indispensable part of this unit. France were also tactically ahead of Brazil and Spain, teams who were supposed to roll over them on current form.

If France were to win, it would be the perfect send off for one of the few remaining all-time greats in the game. It would also be fitting in a sense, that a team which started so poorly managed to regroup and fight their way through to the title, including a triumphant rematch with Brazil (Zidnane again proved to be a thorn in the brazilian's flesh). The magic of Zizou refuses to die at the moment, and I'll be extremely happy if he can recreate it one last time. So, while Italy look the stronger side, it's France I'll be rooting for all the way. Allez les bleus!