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AFTER a week of watching disaster movies, all that comes to my mind is just games, so here I am, booked for three days more in Lisbon. My task here is to keep an eye on everything happening out there in the middle, but I am not here to judge events as a referee. My job is far more complicated than that. I come into the picture when things are more relaxed, like now. All I have to do then is ensure that all games go into the extra time and no one is having an easy time. Science and sport are combinations of two things: logic and magic. Magic when explained is logic, but sometimes magic defies logic. Although there’s a lot of sunshine here, a chill is blowing across Europe. When Euro 2004 is on, Europe comes to a standstill; even the continental drift stops. I don’t think science can explain that. Logic says England should have won; magic ensured that two Zinedine Zidane goals in added time at the end of the match gave France an incredible win. Beck, incredible Beck, how could he miss that penalty! England are still very good and it looks they’re going to go far in the tournament. For that, they’ll have to work on the mental aspect. This is what David Beckham is thinking as we enter the English dressing room. The locker-room layout is rather smart. It comprises 12 squares, one for each member of the team and the coach. The squares are labelled according to the shirt number of each member. David Beckham: "My heart was not in the game." Sven-GÖran Eriksson, England coach: "I think it was your mind. Because your mind is somewhere else, your aggression is no longer calculated." "I disagree with that." "I see, now you disagree with my views. Everyone, please come here." "That’s Beckham’s square; it’s a prime number. No one comes in." "Not anymore. We are all going to divide your square." "I alone was not responsible for that defeat." "No, of course not. Frank Lampard, Paul Robinson and John Terry were equally to blame. I am going to ask for their squares to be divided as well. That’ll leave you out." "There’s no chance of that happening." Like I said, sometimes magic happens. Beckham is indeed left out and
he can’t think of a reason for that. "Put your mind into the game
and you’ll get the answer," says the coach. Lampard: "That
was close. Maybe we should look for a new job, as classical musicians,
perhaps. If kicked out, I’ll be Mozart." Robinson: "I’ll
be Beethoven." Terry: "I’ll be Pavarotti." Beckham puts
on his sunglasses, gives the dressing room one dirty look and says:
"I’ll be Beck." Why did Beckham have to stand out? Put your
mind in the game, that’s your goal of the week. (Write within six
weeks at Mind Games, Saturday Extra, or aditya@tribunemail.com) |
