Sometimes, it isn’t just about the performances on the pitch. Each of the matches on day 3 had some sort of political or historical significance.
Right from the start, a terrible dilemma for the sensitive New Age pinko liberal leftie football fan. To cheer for Iran or not to cheer for Iran? Let’s be honest, now… we all cheered when they beat the USA in 1998, even in the days before Bush and the Axis of Evil hysteria. But wait… Iran’s president denies the Holocaust, and the entire female population is banned from attending football matches. A lot of sports fans tend to shy away from politics, but football is part of everyday life for many people, and politics *is* everyday life.
[I didn't actually notice, but I'm sure none of these issues were addressed on the BBC, whose coverage so far has been pretty moronic. ITV in "better than another channel" shocker!]
Actually, these ethical dilemmas were academic as far as I was concerned… I’d been hugely impressed by Mexico’s performance (beating Brazil) in last year’s Confederations Cup and was eager to see whether they’d finally punch their weight in a World Cup. They took a while to get started, but showed great promise for the next two matches during the second half.
Serbia & Montenegro 0 – 1 Holland
The second match kicked off the first and only World Cup appearance of Serbia & Montenegro. They were Yugoslavia in the 2000 European Championships, but the never-ending labyrinth of Balkan politics means that they’ll be entering their next tournaments as two independent nations. Now, as I mentioned before, the Netherlands have been my “second team” ever since the 1978 World Cup, so I wanted them to win, but it was good to see S&M put up a good fight.
This match also provided my first contender for pithy quote of the tournament. Co-commentator Mick McCarthy pointed out: “Robben can hardly stand up”. Um… yes. Despite his undeniable brilliance and my allegiance to his team, I find it impossible to ignore Arjen Robben’s conceited attitude and constant diving. I mean, it takes something to be a conspicuously whining prima donna at Chelsea, doesn’t it? And speaking of which…
In which the African debutantes meet their former colonial masters. There was great potential for aggro here… in one of the two previous meetings (a “friendly”) four Angola players were sent off and the match was abandoned. If you rule a country for nearly half a millennium before leaving it to thirty years of poverty, ruin and civil war, you expect a few hard feelings. However, it was a spirited, flowing match, and any historical issues were overshadowed by a far more important matter. Cristiano Ronaldo must have the ball. Now. You can’t have it. It’s his ball. Give him the ball NOW! And a balloon. AND SOME CANDY FLOSS, DAMMIT! And if Mr Scolari substitutes him 20 minutes from the end, he’ll sit on the bench and cry. And probably do a big poo on the changing room floor as well.
Yes, that’s right… the Premiership’s biggest spoilt child was his usual frustrating self. While Arjen Robben’s sulky play-acting merely provided an unfortunate punctuation to 90 minutes of left-wing genius, Ronaldo’s obvious wing-play talents are frequently overshadowed by his selfish and mean-spirited attitude, not to mention those ludicrously ineffectual and over-complicated “step-over” moves.
Overall, despite an early goal, Portugal flattered to deceive and were fortunate not to concede from the many clear chances they gave to Angola, who just couldn’t match their extraordinary passing ability with a goalscoring instinct. With a likely second-round match against either Argentina or Holland, we’ll probably be seeing both an early exit for Portugal and a damn good kicking for little Lord Cristiano.
Who needs the bbc coverage, I can read this :o) You are not pasting this from the Guardian, are you?
Rumbled again! If it wasn’t for you pesky kids… :)
Speaking of the Guardian, I can heartily recommend their World Cup podcast, presented by James Richardson (formerly of C4′s Football Italia and master of the truly atrocious pun).
As a life-long Chelsea fan, I look forward to the day they get rid of Robben (because of his constant diving). Drogba wouldn’t be missed much either. It’s a shame that players who are being paid stupid sums of money because of the talent they have can’t be satisfied with that and not resort to cheating.