Chances for Argentina to win World Cup 2014

Blue / aquamarine Sky. And white clouds floating there.
Sometimes, when Argentina football team plays, I visualize the whole sky has come down on the ground. The sky reminds me about Argentina’s jersey.
Who am I? I am a Bengali and an Indian. Then why should love & support Argentina? Because Argentina loves and respects the art of football just like Bengali people do. Because Argentina and the whole of Latin America have economically middle class people who are very knowledgeable or skillful like, we Indians are. Because we love Maradona just like they do. Because we are also crazy about Lionel Messi as they are.
I know that India does not have proper infrastructure to play better football and make it to the final rounds of World Cup. So, during FIFA world cup, I look forward to the teams who have rich football culture. During world cup, city of Kolkata gets divided into several parts namely, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, etc. These countries will hardly know about our deep passion for their football culture. It may be an one-sided love from us. But after all, it is nothing but love.
So, I was talking about Argentina. Argentna’s win is my win. It is also a win of all the crazy Argentina supporters out there in Kolkata. There is just one game remaining for Argentina to win the world cup 2014. This one game is equivalent to 10 games for the Argentina team. Because the opponent team’s name is Germany. Playing with Germany has been a nightmare for Argentina. In the year of 1990, Maradona’s Argentina lost to Germany in the world cup final. In 2010, Germany crushed Argentina with a 4-0 victory. So, Argentina needs to seriously consider this Germany side which has defeated Brazil with a score line of 7-1 in the last game and Portugal with a 4-0 score! That is not a joke. That is shocking!
Argentina has been one man show in this world cup. That is Messi. Apart from that there are other names like, Sergio Agüero, Gonzalo Higuaín, Ángel di María, Marcos Rojo. But if we forget one goal each from di María and Higuaín, then they have only filled the quota system of 11 players. In the final, they will have to play extraordinary to nullify the attack of the German team. Germans are clever enough to block Messi to score a goal. So, while Messi will take their attention, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Gonzalo Higuaín and Ángel di María (if he is fit to play) have to score goals (yes, it is a must!) for their country. Argentine players have just one match to create history or get abolished from history.
The German side has great names in their team. Mesut Özil, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Götze are the players who can penetrate through the opponent defense at any point of time in the game. Argentine player Javier Mascherano will have great responsibility in handling the German attackers. The Argentine defense should remember that earlier 4-0 score and should play ultra-defensive football. They should believe that they are the better team and try to score goals from the counter-attack.
The Argentine side is having a goal-drought in this world cup. And it is raining goals for German side. If these trends get continued till the final, then Argentina will lose the game. But if Argentina gets good number of first-half goals in the match, then German side may choke. Argentina can take the revenge of the previous world cup loss and finish as the new world champion.
Argentina is saying that ‘el Dios’ is on their side. I also believe that God is on the side of Argentina. But to defeat a team like Germany, Messi and his fellow players should remember that God helps those who help themselves.
Best of luck for every player in Argentina national football team before playing the final of FIFA World Cup 2014. Even if they lose the game to Germany, Messi & Maradona will continue to be soccer heroes in my life.
One footnote: I have heard that Argentina will play in a Blue jersey in the final. But I prefer to see them in their Aquamarine-White jersey. I think that colour bears a good luck.

FIFA World Cup 2010

Football lovers love Maradona as much as they hate him. When he was a player, football critiques spent thousand of printed lines describing his football playing genius, coaches tried to find his weaknesses and strengths. Opponent teams cursed him for his amazing goal scoring ability. Now that he has become national coach of Argentina, he is again in the spotlight! He was never away from fame, though. Maradona did not play this world cup as a player. So what? He drew attention than any of the present Argentine footballer. His admirers said that the God had come back to take the charge of his dynasty, the world of football. His enemies said (before that Argentina Germany match) that he has grown a ‘devilish beard’ with his age (they found no other fault in him!). After that shocking match, his critiques and enemies have found at least 10,000 errors of coach Maradona. Maradona was partly responsible for Argentina’s miserable loss. But main reason was Argentine defenders who failed to defend their goalpost from German blitzkrieg. Just like old days, coach Maradona is hiding his footballers from media attacks that he once did as captain of his national football team.

Germany started their world cup journey with a 0-1 loss to Serbia. They failed to reach the world cup final with the same 0-1 loss to Spain. In the middle of playing these two games, they knocked out two big teams, namely, England and Argentina. In the previous world cup also, they made Argentina’s exit. Neither they can win the world cup, nor they will let Argentina to win it. That’s a bad game approach. 

What will happen in the final?  Netherlands and Spain are facing each other in FIFA World Cup 2010. Both the teams have consistently played well in the whole tournament. The way Netherlands defeated Brazil was exceptional. The way Spain dominated Germany was extraordinary. Both the teams deserve to win in the final. 

Spain defeated that Germany who swept away Argentina in this world cup. Naturally, Argentine fans will support Spain. Also, Messi’s playing at Barcelona may be another cause for supporting Germany. On the other hand Netherlands beat Brazil to reach in the final. So Brazilian fans may not support Holland. They may indirectly support Spain. But football is an 11 versus 11 game. More support does not mean the game is going to be in Spain’s favour. I am waiting to watch an interesting battle between Spain and Netherlands which may be unpredictable till the last whistle.  

   

Who will star in the final? From Netherlands’ point of view, it will be superstar Arjen Robben. Along with him Holland boasts off Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie. In Spanish side, excellent footballer David Villa, Fernando Torres may steal the show. But I don’t understand why Fabregas was not given much opportunity to play in this tournament.  

Despite the exit of big teams like Portugal, Germany, Argentina, Italy and Brazil, this world cup is special because it has given us new finalist teams. Also, I am happy with the performance of Asian team Japan and African team Ghana. New powers are emerging in this world cup. FIFA World Cup Final between Dutch and Spain is a proof of that.

My only condolence is for coach Maradona and that psychic Octopus named Paul. In this world cup, whatever the psychic Octopus predicted became true. Germans are planning to fry it up in a frying pan. If that happens that will be a bad news for football astrologers! But think about that creature’s unbelievable predictions. Doctor Octopus should hire Paul as his assistant and should check his own fate in his next tussle against that amazing Spiderman!  But that’s another story and has nothing to do with football.

Maradona, Maradona, Maradona…

Your left foot had the power

Of a great painter’s brush,

You made the football

To talk to your

Body’s changing moves.

Defenders all over the world

Tried to scare you, tackle you, fowl you,

Could they snatch your external body part,

A football?

You moved like a white lighting

In the dark cloud of opponent’s defense;

Other strikers saw opponent’s goal post,

You aimed to shoot there,

There was one word that fed you

In your entire football career –

Goal, goal, goal.

Not only Argentine fans

But football lovers worldwide

Were crazy because of you,

You were crazy for them, too.

You risked and sacrificed your body

For the enjoyment of millions of fans

Who saw unarguably best skills of

Dribbling and body movement

In entire football arena.

Some say, you are the football God,

Some say, you are the prince of football,

I say, you are a tiger

In white and Indigo stripes

Who started hunting with a ball

In the slums of Buenos Aires,

Who made his mark

In his play for Boca juniors,

Who eventually became

Greatest football sensation

Because of his creativity, fighting spirit,

God gifted football skill;

He was the ‘God’ in world cup

Not because of his hand

But truly for his excellence

In football dribbling with magical left foot,

And don’t forget his contribution

In club football like Napoli and Barcelona,

But there lies his fall from grace

Although that can’t erase his passion for the game,

And all his achievements

Are well preserved in the hearts

Of millions of emotional followers

Who kissed football instead of lover’s lips

And loved shouting –

Maradona, Maradona, Maradona…

Even if they loose, I love Argentinian footballers

My heart is not a commodity that can be sold to the winning world cup football team. I may like Spain, Portugal, England or France but I want Argentina to come out as the champion. So, I wish them a great success in this FIFA World Cup 2010.

Sports

Beijing Olympics And Football
Beijing Olympics has put a very tough challenge for London. It was well organized and the Chinese officials leaving no stone unturned to make this event a huge success. If you just look at the opening and the closing ceremony then you will understand how the organizers have perfected the art of big event management.
Two big gain from this Olympic was Abhinav Bindra’s winning Gold in Rifle Shooting and Argentina winning gold for male football. Abhinav’s case was India’s first individual gold medal and Argentina again came to spotlight of football after her gold medal. Although a frustrating outcome was Roger Federer’s loss in Tennis Singles (myself a Federer fan and not a Rafa supporter). Kudos to Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt for getting their ‘Legendary’ athlete status at Olympics.
Argentina has been struggling for a long time for winning a championship. Forget about their last world cup performance, even at Copa America cup, they lost to arch-rival Brazil in the final. Great frustration was built after that. But a true champion’s career graph is NOT all about winning, stupid! An emphatic win will hardly teach you anything. You will be surrounded by your fans and nobody will question about your tactical faults and game strategy. But after a Great loss, you will be brutally criticized and some of the criticisms will be positive criticisms. After their unwanted debacle at some championship finals, Argentineans learnt many things and they tried to apply those at Olympics. Thankfully, they are true champions and they know how to come back in the game and how to take Revenge. After Argentina’s 1-0 triumph over Nigeria, one Bengali newspapers’ journalist has written that Argentina won the title due to luck factor and Messi Magic. Luck can give you one goal. But not three goals. Argentina should not be called ‘lucky’ after crushing Brazil 3-0 at Olympics. Actually most of our media persons are Brazilian football supporters. So they disliked or hated Argentina’s victory over football giant Brazil. That’s why they show bitter ignorance to Argentina’s gold winning football team. When Brazil wins any football title, all the TV channels repeatedly show the replays or clippings of the strikers’ goals. But now, I have not seen any match replay on television after Argentina’s historic win. Also, Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium’s fans showed the football enthusiasm breaking all geographical boundaries to prove that we are one-football world.
A clever politics: When Brazil wins you will see the photograph of how a Brazilian striker pushing the ball into net and how frustrated the opponent players are after the match.. When Argentina wins, you will see Messi and Ronaldinho shaking hands at the center line before the match started, showing a false picture or creating an image of how Brazilians have always been supportive to Argentina’s football culture. And like due to sympathy and friendly attitude Brazilians gifted the match results in favour of Argentina! Argentina’s win against Brazil clearly proves that Argentina is simply a better team than Brazil at present. And the match was not gifted to Argentina. I don’t say Brazilian football team ‘get’ victory since I don’t want to show disrespect to Brazilian football fans’ emotions. But I must mention that Argentinean football team knows how to ‘earn’ victory and ‘achieve’ success. Football legend Maradona’s followers get yet another feet to celebrate. Whatever be the opposition from football playing rival countries and ignorance from media persons, Argentina will continue to be world’s one of the greatest superpowers in the game of football. Long live Maradona, long live football!