As the World Cup approaches, let’s jettison all the worries we carried around with us for years now, so that this first football world championship in Africa will be a success.
Most of the time we’re fortunate that the game of football is able to smooth over social and ethnic problems, or at least lets them be forgotten for a few weeks. One is permitted to hope.
It will be interesting to see what kind of football will gain the upper hand in this tournament. In lower temperatures, the fast-paced football of the Dutch style, the kind which manager Louis van Gaal cultivated at Bayern Munich, could have a chance. This would be a good thing for Germany.
However, it is Spain which play the most Dutch-like. Simply because every piece fits. They are perfect at shifting the spaces. Every step taken by Xavi, Iniesta and Co. seems to have been planned ahead of time.
My only bit of concern is that the long time lost to injury for Fernando Torres might weaken the team. Torres is both asthetic and athletic. He charges towards the goal at the highest speeds and is dangerous.
At least Torres is back, and appears to be healthy again, just in time. But when you make a list at the moment of all those who have been injured in the past few days, you could put together a really strong side. Up front, you would have Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast and Arjen Robben from The Netherlands. In midfield, there are Andrea Pirlo of Italy, Frenchman Lassana Diarra and England’s David Beckham.
In the backfield, there’s England defensive stalwart and captain Rio Ferdinand, John Obi Mikel from Nigeria and Michael Essien from Ghana. It is striking how many key Chelsea players are on the list.
And with the German team, the injured and missing list of key players includes goalkeeper Rene Adler, midfield boss Michael Ballack and defender Heiko Westermann.
This should make us stop and think. I am an advocate of the 20-team leagues such as those in England, Spain and Italy. But the many injuries lead to the conclusion that we are now demanding too much from our stars. The Champions League and the national league title races require larger squads, which permit giving individual players a rest now and then.
I have a lot of respect for Dunga, and with him Brazil is one of this year’s favourites. But the same kind of handicap that Spain has in their injured star Torres is one which Brazil shares with Kaká, who too, was repeatedly injured over almost the entire season. But a jewel which clearly stands out is something which every team needs.
Naturally Argentina, under trainer Diego Maradona, can win it thanks to his nimble striker Lionel Messi, who is perhaps the best footballer on the planet.
It is the enormous pressure which these days makes the legs of the football players heavy. Of course the good players are wealthy, thanks to their sponsors. But it would be a bit simpler if the players would have to withstand less pressure, and would have a little less money. We’ll have to vigilant to prevent football from becoming the battleground of the businessmen. That for a brief time, football steps back to consider things —and then let itself be swept up in the joy and enthusiasm of the fans on the street.
(c) SKK 2010, distributed by GMS