Twenty years ago, Maradona’s international ended suddenly and dramatically in the World Cup USA when he tested positive to a drugs test in an early group match played by Argentina against Nigeria. Later today Messi will lead out Argentina to play against the same country, a player determined to prove in this World Cup in the great rival Brazil that he is not the only best, but better than Maradona. Brazil has been invaded by Argentine fans dreaming of a World Cup held up by Messi. It was Pep …
La Roja en Brasil: Una historia anunciada?
Nada quizá resumió con más intensidad la tragedia de la salida de España de los Mundiales en Brasil que la instantánea de David Villa y Xavi Hernández, juzgados por Del Bosque excedentes a sus requisitos , en el banco de suplentes. Villa ha marcado más goles en la Selección de España que cualquier otro jugador en la historia, mientras que Xavi Hernández ha sido la columna vertebral de y de hecho ha definido un estilo de fluido juego de ataque basado en la posesión y pases rápidos que pocos equipos …
La Roja in Brazil: A story foretold ?
Nothing perhaps summed up more acutely the tragedy of Spain’s exit from the World Cup in Brazil than the snapshot of David Villa and Xavi Hernandez , judged by their manager surplus to requirements, on the substitutes bench. Villa has scored more goals for Spain’s national team than any other in history, while Xavi Hernandez has been the backbone and indeed defined a style of fluid attacking play based on possession and quick passing which few teams have managed to emulate with such success, either club or national …
Spain’s La Roja needs to get back in touch with its best
Watching Brazil’s last two games, helped me focus in thinking what a tragedy it would be were Vicente del Bosque’s team to be knocked out in the early stages of this World Cup. For all the media hype surrounding the host nation in the run up to the tournament, this Brazil team has yet to convince me that they are worthy pretenders to the crown. My scepticism is provoked in large measure by Neymar, whose reputation has been fuelled less by any enduring evidence of his exceptionality than by …
La Roja- Its not over yet
Just days after Rafa Nadal lifted the Roland Garros trophy in Paris, declaring Prefiero morir siendo valiente( ‘ I would rather die being brave’) , Spain’s national football team –the defending World Champions- capitulated without passion or glory to a Dutch team that played with fury and style. Nothing perhaps summed up the sheer humiliation of Friday’s game than the utterly dejected, almost haunted face of Iker Casillas after letting through the fifth Dutch goal in the most crushing defeat suffered by La Roja since breaking with decades of underachievement …
El Casteller aun por construir
Pocos actos colectivos de actividad humana son tan impresionantes y de hecho tan conmovedores como la realizada por los Castellers catalanes (constructores del castillo). La actuación consiste en un gran grupo de hombres fuertes que construyen una torre humana. La base, que se puede aumentar con aliados si es necesario, se forma en una llamada Piña, una relativamente gran anillo que lleva el peso de las capas por encima y por tanto estabiliza la carga y actúa como una red de seguridad. Capas-conocido como el tronc (Catalán de tronco …
The human castle yet to be built in Spain
Few acts of human endeavour are as impressive and indeed moving as that performed by Catalan Castellers (Castle builders). The performance involves a large group of able-bodied men building a human tower. The base, which can draw on helpers if needed, is formed in a so-called Pinya, a relatively large ring which carries the weight of layers above and both stabilises the load and acts as a security net. Additional layers-known as the tronc (Catalan for tree trunk) vary in numbers and according to how many are involved, …
Catalonia: A story foretold
Catalonia increasingly is taking on the aspect of a story foretold. The huge turn out last summer- a peaceful human protest chain stretching across the region- on Catalonia’s national day, and this week the emergence of the pro-independence republican party Esquerra as the most voted Catalan party in the European elections , were predictable developments given the Madrid PP government’s utter inability to address the Catalan nationalist question with any sense of statesmanship. Now three days of rioting in Barcelona, while seemingly motivated by neighborhood concerns, represents the kind …
El buen fútbol , el Papa Francisco y Dios
El autor Vargas Llosa hace algunos años escribió que un partido de fútbol carecía de las cualidades estéticas de una pieza clásica de la música , sobre todo en lo que afecta a la inteligencia , la imaginación , el corazón y el alma. Como amante de la buena música y el buen fútbol se me ocurren sinfonías y canciones cuyo eco en mi subconsciente me traen lágrimas de alegría o tristeza , y algo mas inexplicable, así como partidos memorables, no porque mi equipo ganó , pero porque …
On Football, Pope Francis & God
The author Vargas Llosa some years back wrote that a football match lacked the enduring uplifting, aesthetic qualities of a classical piece of music, not least in what affects intellect, imagination, heart and soul. As a music lover and football fan I can think of symphonies and songs whose echo in my subconscious bring me to tears of joy or sadness, as well as matches memorable not because my team won, but because I saw football played nobly and creatively, turned into art form-poetry in motion- and because of …
