The current form and the quality of the players show that Spain may prove to be the biggest deterrent for Maradona madness. But then his greatest rival Pele may already have done him a favor by merely naming Spain as the favorite. Pele’s prophecies have become legendary for being off the radar in stark contrast to his on-field exploits that gave Brazil then unprecedented feat of three World Cups.
From Colombia in 1994, to Brazil in 1998, Argentina in 2002, every team has experienced what it means to be termed favorite by this legend. There was also this classic that an African team would be world champion before the turn of the last century, but no team from the African continent has been able to get past the last eight till date. So much so that fellow Brazilians have become the biggest critics of his footballing intelligence. “Pele is a poet when he is quiet. When he opens his mouth, it’s all shit…,” Romario, the hero of the World Cup-winning Brazilian squad of 1994 who has been at the receiving end of Pele’s criticisms, once said.
The coach of Brazil’s victorious 2002 squad Luiz Felipe Scolari went much farther and said, “I believe Pele knows nothing about football. His analysis always turns out to be wrong. If you want to win a title, you have to listen to Pele and then do the opposite.” So, if you believe in fate or even black magic (no pun intended) forget about Spain lifting the Cup this time around.
The current form and the quality of the players show that Spain may prove to be the biggest deterrent for Maradona madness. But then his greatest rival Pele may already have done him a favor by merely naming Spain as the favorite.
England has been handed a favorable draw and the only realistic obstacle, if it can be called one, ahead of semifinals looks to be a disjointed and bickering France. Its coach Raymond Domenech is known more for his fetish for horoscope and birth charts despite guiding the Blues to the final in 2006. “When I have got a Leo in defence, I’ve always got my gun ready, as I know he’s going to want to show off at one moment or another and cost us,” is just one of the classics of the amateur dramatist and astrologer who didn’t pick Robert Pires for being a Scorpio.
England is historically prone to pressing the self-destruct button and should have had much more than the 1990 semifinals to show after its 1966 victory if one considers the quality of victorious Italian teams of 2006 and even 1982 to some extent. Here’s where the Italian don Fabio Capello comes into the picture. He has been hired precisely to control this Pom tendency and prevent such bizarre incidents like David Beckham’s famous lunge on Argentine skipper Diego Simeone in the pre-quarterfinals of 1998 or Wayne Rooney’s stamping on Portuguese Ricardo Carvalho in 2006 quarterfinals.
But controlling Wazza’s legendary temper is easier said than done and he has already dished out the famous F-word to a South African referee during a friendly against a local outfit. There’s already rumors that Brazilian Carlos Eugênio Simon, who will referee England’s first Group C match against the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday, and his assistants have been given a list of 20 English profanities to clamp down on by FIFA. Rooney – who’s said to utter a profanity every three words – will, therefore, have much say in English fate.
Brazil, as always, will be a contender but its coach Dunga faces a genuine chance of being ostracized for not playing beautifully despite delivering the goods like he methodically did as captain cool way back in 1994. Germany always knows how to get through the knock-out rounds despite lacking in quality and has some exciting youngsters in its wing despite injury to skipper Michael Ballack.
Italy was written off ahead of the last world cup as well, much due to the match-fixing scandal in Serie A. But coach Marcello Lippi had the critics eating their words by beating host Germany and France in the last two matches to land the fourth title. But his already ‘experienced’ squad of 2006 has now further grown older and the prospect of 36-year-old Fabio Cannavaro, who has been refused contract extension by Juventus, once again lifting the trophy appears bleaker than Maradona maintaining sanity after winning this World Cup.
Holland has always been strong since the 1970s but as the country’s midfielder Mark van Bommel says, “You never know what will happen - warranties and guarantees are for washing machines.” If Arjen Robben gets fit, the Dutch team has enough firepower to land the elusive trophy. But far better teams from the country have flattered to deceive.
The Asian teams like South Korea and Japan, and even Australia which qualified from the Asian quota, are expected to sparkle in the event but it would be hard for them to get beyond the round of 16. The same holds true for USA and Mexico. The African teams are expected to do better in the home world cup but the strongest contender Ivory Coast is now sweating on the fitness of its talismanic skipper Didier Drogba, if drawing Brazil and Portugal in the group was not enough.
Portugal, on its part, also may like to call itself a contender but it takes much more than one Cristiano Ronaldo to go all the way through and the fact that Nani has been injured doesn’t make things easier. One Maradona has already dragged an average team to glory in 1986 and Ronaldo may prove me wrong. But I am not even a Pele to care.
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