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| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday, May 25, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Stars who have dominated the World Cup India snores as World Cup nears |
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Kudos to Ratra for maiden ton
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Stars who have dominated the World Cup Giuseppe Meazza’s twinkle-toed shuffle; Pele’s sumptuous
skill as the world’s most talented forward; Just Fontaine’s
astonishing 13 goals in six matches in 1958; Bobby Charlton’s
exemplary skill in unleashing ferocious shots with either foot; Gerd
Muller’s record 14 goals in 10 matches and Diego Maradona’s famous
‘hand of God’ goal — yes these feats and much more is what the
soccer World Cup has been all about. Every four years, prolific
goalscorers, acrobatic goalkeepers, tough defenders and intelligent
playmakers, arguably the best in the world, ignite the World Cup only to
fade away in a blaze of glory. Ever since Uruguay first lifted the World
Cup in 1930, scores of soccer stars have set the tournament alight
through breathtaking performances. Giuseppe Meazza can easily be
described as Italy’s most successful international ever. He played a
key role in Italy’s back-to-back title wins in 1934 and 1938 and
earned the reputation of a ruthless finisher. The twinkle-toed shuffle
in one-to-one situations was his trademark which left rival left
clueless. But it was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or Pele, who held the
spotlight thereafter. Even today, Pele is regarded as the most complete
player ever in world football. A veteran of four World Cups, he played a
major role in Brazil’s victories in 1958,1962, and 1970. At 17 years,
Pele became the youngest player to play in the World Cup in 1958. In the
1970 edition in Mexico, Pele’s gigantic contribution towards Brazil’s
victory still serves as a motivating factor for his countrymen
today. At Sweden in 1958, it was French man Just Fontaine who rose to
set the championship ablaze. Fontaine’s astonishing feat of 13 goals
in six matches still holds good although Germany’s Gerd Muller scored
one more spread over two editions. But soon after taking the soccer
world by storm, Fontaine broke his leg and subsequently retired at the
young age of 28. For the Englishmen, Bobby Charlton still remains the
hero with a spotless reputation of sportsmanship. His unique collection
of medals in the World Cup, European Cup, English League, and FA Cup
remains unmatched. It was his thunderous shooting in the semifinal
against Portugal in 1966 that is regarded as his finest hour. The fear
induced in the opposition singled Charlton out for special attention by
rival defenders. As a contemporary of Bobby Moore and Gordon Banks,
Charlton remained a key member of the England team at Mexico in 1970.
His substitution by manager Alf Ramsey in the quarterfinal against West
Germany spelt doom for his team and three years later he hung up his
boots for good. As the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup
final, England’s Geoff Hurst emerged from the shadows to become a
national hero in 1966. Goals coming off his boots carried England all
the way to the famous victory on home soil. Born in Lancashire in 1941,
Hurst turned professional with West Ham in 1959 where his career was
carefully nurtured by Ron Greenwood. It were his strong natural
attributes which made him stand out from the rest — strong build,
height, powerful shooting and excellent heading ability. The explosive
speed and ability to shoot with frightening velocity puts Germany’s
Gerd Muller in the top bracket of attackers. Known as ‘Der Bomber’
Gerd Muller’s 14 goals in 10 matches in 1970 and 1974 is by itself a
record. In 62 appearances for West Germany, Muller scored 68 goals. The
1974 finals was Muller’s last appearance in the World Cup. The Dutch
can never forget the great revolutionary of the football pitch, Johan
Cruyff, who lit up the seventies. He could do everything, from setting
up movements, flying down wings, running into the penalty area, and
heading the ball in. He led Holland into the 1974 World Cup final and
even put his team ahead through a penalty against West Germany but his
team could not hold back the Germans and ultimately lost 1-2. Cruyff was
also crowned European ‘footballer of the year’ in 1971, 1973, and
1974. Franz Beckenbauer of Germany will be remembered for his
outstanding vision and steely resilience. A distinguished career spread
over three World Cups, Der Kaiser played a major role in revolutionising
football in his role as an attacking libero. His brilliant
organisational qualities helped him become only one of two men to have
won the World Cup both as player and manager in 1974 and 1990
respectively. He retired in 1977,one year after being named European ‘player
of the year’. For the Italians, Paolo Rossi is still one of the
brighest stars who inspired his team to victory in the 1982 World Cup.
Quick in thought and deed, Rossi formed an intuitive partnership with
Roberto Bettega of Juventus. He returned for his third World Cup in 1986
but a series of injuries finally forced him to quit the game in
1987. After Pele, one player who came to be worshipped by the
Brazilians was Zico, or Arthur Arcunes Coimbra. Zico became famous for
his swerving free kicks. His spectacular bicycle kicks and curling free
kicks in more than 1000 games, including 71 for Brazil, made him one of
the most sought-after players. Crowned as the South American ‘player
of the year’, Zico also played in the Japanese J-League before
retiring in 1994. Michel Platini, the French midfield artist who is
often described as the finest footballer of his country of all time, was
gifted with laser-guided passing ability and unfailing accuracy in free
kicks. Born in 1955,Platini was the grandson of Italian immigrants. By
the time of the 1982 World Cup, Platini established himself as French
football’s most exciting talent. Two years later, he led France to
victory in the European Championship. In 1987, Platini bade farewell to
the game with a performance for Rest of the World against the English
Football League at Wembley, retiring with 72 caps and 41 goals. For
Argentina, the veteran of three World Cups, Mario Kempes, sparked joy on
home soil through his goal scoring contribution at the 1978 tournament.
Superb balance, pace, and dead- eyed accuracy made Kempes the focal
point of his side. In the 1978 World Cup, Kempes was shackled in the
opening round but once into the next round, the long-haired striker
teased one opposition after another before reaching the final. His six
goals saw him finish as the top scorer earning him the FIFA ‘golden
boot award’. However, the most gifted Argentinian till date is Diego
Maradona, whose ability to make headlines off the pitch was surpassed
only by his astounding performances on it. It was at Mexico in 1986
where he proved almost unstoppable. An outrageous handball goal and a
dazzling solo effort past six England defenders remains etched in memory
but it was indeed a sad end to his career in 1994 when he was kicked out
of the World Cup after testing positive. Ever since he has made efforts
to reform himself and even enjoyed a stint in Cuba in a bid to free
himself from the evil. Germany’s Lothar Matthaus who played in five
World Cups was indeed a midfield general par excellence.He combined
power, skill, and pace with a ruthless eye for the goal. When West
Germany lifted the World Cup in 1990, his brilliant individual goal
against Yugoslavia besides three more became the talking point in German
media. After enjoying tremendous success at Bayern Munich, Matthaus
retired shortly after Germany’s poor showing in Euro 2000. Cameroon’s
Roger Milla will always be remembered for his stunning impact on the
1990 World Cup. Having been persuaded out of retirement for Italia ‘90,
Roger Milla promptly helped Cameroon become the first African country to
reach the quarter-finals. In the 1994 World Cup, Milla aged 42 came as a
substitute to score a goal against Russia. One of the finest
footballers for nearly a decade was Italy’s Roberto Baggio. The
attacking midfielder with a ponytail was indeed a creative talent with
excellent balance, close control, and ability to score goals at will. In
the USA in 1994, Baggio had his best World Cup as he carried his team to
the final, scoring two goals in the 2-1 extra-time thriller against
Nigeria, the winner against Spain in the quarter-final and two more in
the semifinal against Bulgaria. At the 17th World Cup scheduled to
kick off on May 31, 2002, a couple of more stars are all set to explode
into action. While some may leave a lasting impression, others may just
fade into oblivion. Who will join the elite group during the month-long
extravaganza ? Only time will tell. |
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India snores as World Cup nears Catch the first flight to India’ is the best advice for
anyone seeking refuge from mounting World Cup fever. While large parts
of the world might be reaching dangerous levels of excitement, India on
the other hand counters with narcoleptic bliss — no ads, no
promotions, no saturation media coverage. If you skipped the sports
pages of Indian newspapers, you might not even know that the countdown
to the World Cup has begun and even if you read them, you would find a
tiny box on it, squeezed into a corner by the lush coverage of every
other sport. Why is the World Cup almost invisible in India? The reason
is that Indian football is a story of glorious underachievement. When
your country lies at 120 in FIFA’s rankings, it’s hard to get worked
up over the world’s biggest soccer extravaganza. Cricket is the
national passion in India, with important matches sometimes bringing
economic, social, political and even conjugal life to a standstill.
Indeed, football is the ugly duckling of Indian sport, with none of
cricket’s status, glamour, corporate sponsorship, facilities, star
faces or passionate national following. India’s solitary football
hero is Baichung Bhutia and he hasn’t played in India for the past
three years; in fact he’s just returned to India from England where he
played for the second division club Bury, in the north of
England. Overall India’s claims to soccer fame — despite a
billion-strong population — can be written on the back of a business
card. But it was not always thus. During the 1950s, India were among the
best in Asia, winning the Asian Games gold medal twice. India also
finished fourth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In fact, from 1948-1960,
India played regularly and with reasonable distinction in every
Olympics. But since 1960, India has not qualified for the Olympics and
has never made it to the World Cup finals. A frisson of excitement broke
out last year when the Indian team stunned itself by defeating the
United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifying match. For a week, the
Indian team grappled with the unfamiliar emotions of euphoria and
success. But they lost a later match and World Cup hopes were
dashed. Failure, in fact, has been the norm since 1960, with doomsayers
even saying football in India is dying. Some theories suggest that
Indian footballers are unsuccessful because of the ‘Indian diet’ and
because they lack speed and stamina. But if this were true, how is it
that players of Indian origin in Britain such as Amrit Sidhu and Harpal
Singh are beginning to make their mark in English football? Their
success comes, admittedly, about 30 years after black Britons started to
shine in the English game, but analysts say the delay probably owes more
to ambitious Asian parents encouraging academic studies above sports
rather than a vegetarian diet being responsible for muscle mass that, so
the theory goes, can’t perform over 90 gruelling minutes. Or perhaps
it’s some kink in Asian DNA; the standards of Asian Football are
simply way below those of Europe or Latin America. ‘China is another
example of a huge Asian nation with only an average football team. But
then, no causal connection between football success and population has
ever been established, as the example of Holland shows,’ says sports
writer Binoo John. Young men elsewhere in the world seek fame and money
in soccer, the number one sport in the world. In India though, they seek
it only in cricket. Although football has been played since the 1880s
when the British brought it to India and is the second most popular game
after cricket, it has never really taken off. True, there are pockets of
football mania such as Kerala, West Bengal and Goa where matches attract
huge crowds. But elsewhere, the immense popularity of cricket
overshadows football, as it does every other Indian sport. It is the
usual chicken-and-egg situation. ‘If India had a great football team,
Indians would get excited about it,’ says columnist Jaideep Basu. ‘But
it’s hard building a great team when the game is so clearly such a
poor country cousin of cricket that the national television channel
shows big matches several days after they happened.’ With pathetic
television coverage, why should corporate sponsors invest their money in
it? Moreover, how can a good team emerge when the government, schools,
educational bodies, and sports organisations all fail to promote the
sport? `Indian football lacks marketing, infrastructure, coaching,
football pitches, plans for developing football and professional
management,’ remarked Baichung Bhutia after playing in England. ‘Despite
having a big business community that could invest money in football and
despite having plenty of local and national newspapers that could cover
the game, football is in a terrible state.’ Matters are not helped
by what critics call the ‘mismanagement’ of the All-India Football
Federation, arbitrary selection and insufficient international exposure,
factors that have prevented Indian football from evolving into a
professional game as it has in Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The
figures for international exposure speak for themselves: South Korea and
Saudi Arabia play about 25 international matches per year; India barely
plays 10. Again, it’s a vicious circle. — Observer News Service |
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Football World Cup in figures The finalists
Most
goals by a player in a match
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Kudos to Ratra for maiden ton Hats off to Ajay Ratra, the 20-year-old Indian wicketkeeper, who hit his maiden Test century in the fourth Test against West Indies. He thus earned the unique distinction of becoming the first ever specialist Indian wicketkeeper to score a Test hundred abroad. He stubbornly defied the Windies’ pacemen for more than a day to achieve the milestone. Having made his debut at Trinidad, Ratra could score only 0, 2, 1 and 13 in his first two matches. But in his third Test he gave a fine performance to silence his detractors who had written him off and were baying for his blood. Just before completing his cherished century he took a severe blow on his fingers by a rising delivery from Cuffy. But it could not deter him from achieving the remarkable feat. TARSEM S. BUMRAH, Batala Kiwis’
featMarch 16,
2002, was a great day for cricket. New Zealand had a 550-run target to
chase at Christchurch against England. Imagine the situation. The
Kiwis were 333 for 9 and were written off. Astle with Chris Cairns
took the total to 452 and in the process Astle scored the fastest
double century in Test history. Congratulations to the Kiwis and Astle
for putting up a great fight. HARJIT SINGH, Hockey
World CupThe
title in the junior hockey World Cup raised hopes of an improved
showing by India in the World Cup. But our senior team disappointed at
Kuala Lumpur and we simply managed the 10th position in the
championship. Right from the beginning we failed to make an impact.
Against Japan, we put up a poor show. Our team wasted many penalty
corners and even a ‘penalty stroke’. The dismissal of Cedric as
‘coach was not only insulting to him but also demoralising for the
entire team. By doing so the IHF bosses who rarely played hockey
themselves, did not earn a good name at home or abroad. Prof Y.L.
CHOPRA,
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