Category Archives: Misc
The music GB gives the world
There can be few constants in Britain’s contemporary history, than the high regard that its musicians are held by the rest of the world. So it was fitting that the closing ceremony of the hugely popular London Olympics should feature musicians and songs that have crossed boundaries and appealed to the varying rock and pop tastes of the post-war generation. Less radical in its political and social narrative than Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, this was an evening that resonated with the universality of a nation’s achievement in having music, like …
This Brazil falls well short of La Roja
I twittered at the beginning of the London Olympics that the quality of national football squads should not be judged by the performance of the teams attending . I had in mind Spain as I suspected the non-informed might have been under the misapprehension they were about to see a repeat gala by the team that won the Euro 2012. As it turned out the Spain that came to the London Olympics had mostly different players, a different manager, a dysfunctional team, and yes- as Jorge Valdano had accurately predicted-did …
Neymar and the 2012 Olympics
Olympic games are not generally remembered for their football, and when they are, it is usually for the performance of a player rather than a team. Way back in 1924, Uruguay’s Gold medal in the Paris Olympics –before FIFA’s World Cup competition had been created- marked the beginning of a new era of South America dominance. La Celeste as the Uruguayan team led by Jose Leandro Andrade –the first black player to earn respect at an international level- became a legend in its time, going on to winning the Olympic …
My olympic top ten
My favourite Olympic moments so far…as the games enter second week Opening ceremony-all of it. More tickets being made available to ordinary public. Boris dangling from a wire Jessica Ennis clinching her gold in the heptathlon Beach volley ball in Whitehall Mo Farah having the strength and love to embrace daughter and wife after running 10,000 metres and winning the gold. Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s smile, win or lose Joanna Rowsell celebrating her gold without her wig Courteous attitude of an Olympic ‘volunteer’ at crowded Liverpool station Union Jack and Argentine flags …
Mourinho’s amnesty
The Spanish Federation has amnestied Jose Mourinho, and Barca fans are up in arms- well, all it seems, with the exception of Joan Laporta. The former Barca president said the federation chief Angel Maria Villar used his prerogative as newly re-elected president of the Federation to act on the side of generosity. One can only presume that Laporta speaks as he does because he suffers from selective memory failure. The Federation it was that eventually turned a conciliatory blind eye to Barca when the club was sanctioned, then forgiven, for …
Bad sportsmen
David Nalbandian, the Argentine tennis player, disqualified from the AEBOG championship at London’s Queen’s Club, joins a not unimpressive list of Argentine icons made legendary by their ‘unsportsmanlike behavior’- only they happen to be footballers. Back in 1966, Argentine captain Antonio Rattin was sent off in the England World quarter finals match against England for his alleged ‘violent tongue.’ Rattin did not leave gracefully but rather bid a defiant farewell, taking his time to leave the stadium, and wrinkling a British pennant before finally departing. Twenty years later Diego Maradona …
Messi is not a Racist
So, that admirable totem of journalistic objectivity and fairness The Sun has run with a story suggesting Lionel Messi is a racist. The only problem is that it has got its facts hopelessly mixed up, courtesy of its main and only source Everton’s Royston Drenthe’s apparent ignorance of colloquial Argentine. Drenthe-on loan to Everton from Real Madrid-is reportedly unhappy that while playing in La Liga two seasons ago Messi allegedly said Hola Negro to him . Messi is reportedly somewhat perplexed, not to say pissed off that this should be turned into …
Alves and the Grudge match
Good chemistry in today’s Guardian newspaper between Sid Lowe one of the doyenes of Spanish football reporting, and Dani Alves, one of the most entertaining and talented players of La Liga . With the British media- including the Guardian’s own new story-focusing on Chelsea’s desire for revenge over the alleged injustice of that Iniesta goal at Stamford Bridge three years ago, the Alves interview provides some refreshing reminders of what football should be about. As Alves points out, that Iniesta goal, far from representing an enduring injustice, should be seen …
Bruisers in the Camp Nou
Tonight’s second-leg King’s Cup tie between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou had a a rough edge to it that almost left a nasty taste. But edge-of-the-seat stuff nonetheless. Who said El Clasico was beginning to get too regular and boring? – I didn’t. This was a reprise performance for both sides with clear echoes of last year’s encounter in which the game was reduced by the thuggery of Real Madrid on one side, and the theatrics of FC Barcelona on the other. That said the game …
Barca’s Unanswered questions
Nothing like having a belated ten day holiday in Sitges to meditate on the affairs of FC Barcelona. This is after all the town/village, just down the coast from the Catalan capital, where much of the creative talent behind the region’s great fortunes and modernism was developed. They say that long after los indianos –those who traded successfuly and built their palaces-painters and poets used to drink champagne watching the sunset and the sunrise. Here too resided once the likes of Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gal and several …
