The much-anticipated 2014 World Cup in Brazil is just a few
days away and I for one can’t wait for the big kick-off in Sao Paulo on June 12th.
Here are my feelings – both positive and negative – about what we can
expect to see over the next month:
POSITIVES
Of course, first and foremost it should be a Feast of Football and there is really no
better way of putting it. If you love
your football as I do, then there is nothing like it. We will watch some amazing stories unfold, witness
new stars emerge as the tournament progresses and experience the usual mixture
of euphoria and utter despair that all go to make the fantastic drama of the
World Cup.
I am particularly looking forward to hearing the atmosphere
in the stadiums. I am fully expecting to
hear the true ROAR of a real
football-obsessed crowd. I still
remember that deafening roar every time the hosting Italians scored back in 1990. When I watch some of those great goals back now
that that brilliant Italian team scored, it still makes the hairs on the back
of my neck stand up. If Brazil score the
opening goal of the tournament against Croatia on Thursday (and I fully expect
them to) I think you will hear just such a noise – and it would be even better
if they were to become just a little desperate for that goal too, just like
Italy were in their opening match against Austria all those years ago. Yes, you can’t beat the sound of a truly ecstatic crowd. The best I’ve ever heard is perhaps for the
infamous “Ben Johnson” 100m final at Seoul in 1988: a whole stadium of
screaming fans who’s excitement has bubbled up for weeks, months, even years to
such a level that it is ready to explode at the given moment. When you consider how much Brazil loves
football and what a religion it seems
to be in South America, I think the noise should even surpass anything we’ve
witnessed before.
NEGATIVES
I fear that, as well as the noise of the crowd reaching a
new level, that the level of cheating and gamesmanship will also. I despise play-acting, it really is the ugly
side of the game and it seems to be getting worse all the time. At a World Cup, where it is SO IMPORTANT,
many players and teams will do whatever it takes to get the job done. There is nothing positive to say about it,
nothing sporting whatsoever. I fear that
in at least a few of the games the over-riding memory will be for the sheer
level of cheating involved. I hope I’m
wrong for I just want to remember the tournament for great football and great
drama.
I worry too that the ‘multi-ball’ system brought in a few
years ago to supposedly ‘speed up the game’ is open to abuse. I don’t think it’s a worry in the less
important games in the early rounds, but imagine a scenario where Brazil are
playing Argentina in the semi-final or final: The score is 1-1 with five
minutes to play and Argentina has a throw-in in the attacking third. They grab the ball and take a quick throw,
catching the Brazilian defence completely flat and a great chance opens up…then
another ball bounces onto the pitch. Where did it come from? Who knows, but the referee is obliged to halt
the game immediately. Can you imagine
the scenes on the pitch and on the Argentine bench? And then, in time the conspiracy theorists
will be out: was it thrown on the pitch
on purpose to stop the attack or was it an accident? We’ve also seen instances where the so called
multi-ball system becomes non-existent when the home side is winning. All of a sudden no one can find a ball when it
goes out of play. It has happened many
times in much less important games than a World Cup so why shouldn’t it be
tried here?
But let’s hope that the negatives here are far outweighed by
the positives and that we truly do see a ‘feast of football,’ the likes of
which we have never seen before! Bring
it on…
Schillaci scores at Italia '90:
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