I put in for a personal day for April 27, 2009.  It was rejected, fairly, under the clause in my teacher contract that states that personal days cannot be used to extend school vacations.  However, the superintendent reserves the right to make exceptions.  Here is my plea.

As I discussed in an earlier post, I will be traveling to Manchester to see Manchester United play Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on the 25th.  To be back at work on Monday, I’d have to fly out of Manchester the next day, which presents a problem.  Any American who follows English football knows that the games take place on Saturdays, Sundays, Monday nights, and occasionally on Wednesdays.  The schedule is released in the summer but is hardly in its final form at that time.  No, the Premier League, much like the NFL, employs the “flexible schedule”, which allows games to be moved with only seven days notice.  That makes booking a flight home rather difficult.   The game, currently scheduled for Saturday, could possibly be moved to Sunday, so if I bought a ticket for a Sunday flight, I’d be out of luck.  Flights to North America tend to leave in the morning, and finding an evening flight has been impossible.   If the game were guaranteed to take place on Saturday, there’d be no problem.  It seems the safest way to make plans would be to fly on Monday, but that would require missing a day of work.  Therefore, I put in for the personal day, which has already been rejected.

This is a trip I’ve been planning for years.  I took on after school detention duty, a job that almost no teacher wants, to help pay for its hefty cost.  If I could go in the summer, I would, but the summer is the offseason for soccer.  Believe me, my wife would be a whole lot happier going to see Wimbledon than going to see Liverpool’s Anfield stadium, the new FA Museum, and Old Trafford.  The weather would be much more pleasant in the summer months, but I’m not going for the weather.   

I started this blog as an example to my Essay Writing class, and the concluding experience is this trip to Manchester.  I’d be willing to write about my trip for the school paper, too.  While I’m bargaining, if I’m allowed to use this one personal day, I won’t use the remaining one I have for this year.  In the two and a half years that I’ve been employed here, the vast majority of days I’ve missed are due to the deaths of my sister and grandmother.  I’ve never been late and I’m very good at my job. 

When I told friends and colleagues of my quandary with scheduling my trip, some told me to “just call in sick.”  I said no.  I have a standard.  I only call in sick when I actually am sick.  I don’t lie, I don’t “bend the truth”, I don’t cut in line, and I don’t cheat.  If I’m going to get this day off, I want to be honest and straightforward about it.  If I don’t get the day, so be it.  I’ll schedule the trip, schedule the flight out of Manchester for Sunday, and pray the date does not change.  If it changes, I’ll figure out what do do then.

  Actor Tim Roth…                     and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich

  Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry…               and Lost’s Matthew Fox

Everton’s Lee Carsley…           and his teammate Andrew Johnson

Chelsea’s Avram Grant…                 and Star Wars’ Boss Nass

Striker Michael Owen…             and actor Michael Biehn

United’s Carlos Tevez…                and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer

Everton skipper David Moyes…         and Rome actor Kevin McKidd

Legendary/tragic footballer Paul Gascoigne…          and The Thing

Ageless Aryan keeper Oliver Kahn…and actor Thomas Hayden Church

I will never curse black clouds on the horizon again.  If not for rainfall, Chelsea, and not United, are champions of Europe today.  If not for a sodden pitch and an unplanted plant foot, and I’m writing a very different column today.  A penalty shootout is the worst possible way to end a long Champions League season, but I will say the drama of the finale kept my heart thudding like the kick pedal on my Rock Band drum kit.  Rivalry aside, my sympathy goes out to John Terry, a great captain and a class player who doesn’t deserve to live the rest of his life wondering if longer cleats or a slower approach could have made him a European champion. 

     United was outplayed for the majority of the match.  Consider they could easily have been up 3-0 at the half.  Ronaldo’s precision header found the net, but United missed opportunities on Rooney’s dead-on pass into the box that skidded by Carlos Tevez, and Cech’s brilliant double stop of a Tevez header and Carrick’s follow-up. Tevez, playing a head game of anticipatory football, had come off stride, expecting his defender to reach the ball before him on Rooney’s cross, but he fooled himself and came up short.  Running on to that ball, it’s a near guarantee that Tevez slides it into the back of the net.  Of course, only a fortuitous bounce off of Rio Ferdinand’s turned back allows Lampard a tap-in goal just before the whistle, but that’s the nature of the beautiful game. 

     In the second half and extra time, Chelsea were clearly the better side.  Outshooting United nearly two to one, they deserved to be in the lead at the end of regulation.  John Terry in particular was huge in this game, making a number of plays in the first half and a game-saving body-moving-one-way-head-moving-another save on Ryan Giggs left-footed extra time shot.  Chelsea’s defenders can be proud today.  They held Rooney and Tevez in check admirably, and aside from Ronaldo’s headed goal, managed to continually frustrate the best player in the world.  Offensively, only two shots that clanged off the post prevented Manchester United from failing in their quest for the double.

     Penalty shootouts are desperately un-American.  Even the rest of the world can agree they are no way to conclude a grueling season or tournament.  How ironic that the last World Cup in America was decided on kicks!  After playing an entire season, to have the competition come down to what is largely a matter of luck—guessing correctly—undersells the athletes and the competition itself.  I don’t care if it was one-thirty in the morning.  It’s the last game of the season.  Play until someone scores a legitimate goal!  I also don’t understand why so many tournaments eschew the golden goal.  Nothing is more infuriating than having a team go ahead in extra time and for there to be an equalizer, and then the game goes to penalties anyway.  Golden goal should always be in effect, with the referee’s discretion to determine adequate possession.  As far as I’m concerned, if both sides touch the ball in extra time, a golden goal stands up, and the tourney ends.  The inherent drama in that and the instant celebration that would ensue are just as dramatic as a penalty kick finale.  As far as player fatigue and substitutions, allow an additional sub for every fifteen minutes of extra time, and if the game goes deep enough—here’s a revolutionary idea—allow now-rested players to retake the field.  Every football pundit I read writes the same thing about penalties deciding a final—it’s always the least desirable way to end a match.

      For years, come April break, my wife Audra and I have arranged a dogsitter for Daisy, packed up our beach clothes and sandals, and sojourned to sunny Florida.  It’s a welcome break from the New England weather, which at that point in the year is a mix of chilly and rainy, following a winter characterized by short, snowy, bleak, frigid days.

     Next April will be different.  Next April the plan is to travel to England and attend at least two football matches.  For many years, my sporting dream has been to attend a match at Old Trafford, and it looks like next year it will finally happen.  Still, there are potential pitfalls: the schedule, money, travel arrangements, tickets, my wife’s tolerance, and the EPL standings. 

     First is the schedule, which won’t be released until mid-June.  If it turns out that United’s schedule won’t align correctly with my own school break, then the trip is off.  I’m not going to see United play an away game, and while going to see Arsenal at their new stadium is a secondary goal, I won’t be satisfied by that moving into the main position.  No, it must be United and it must be at home.  If the schedule cooperates, then the plan is to fly into London on a Saturday and attend a Sunday match at either Stamford Bridge or Emirates, but if those teams had played on Saturday, seeing West Ham or Fulham will suffice.  We’ll follow that with a few days enjoying London, seeing the sights, taking in a show, or generally doing things that my wife wants to do, since I will be dragging her there primarily to watch football.

     Again, depending on the Premier League schedule, the next step is to catch a midweek game at another Premier League city, hopefully on the way to Manchester.   Aston Villa might be a nice midlands stop to make for a night.  After the rare Wednesday night game, it’s on to spend the rest of our visit in Manchester and Liverpool.  I’ve been to Liverpool before, as a twelve year old, and I’m looking forward to going back, this time with my wife, who is a huge Beatles fan.  We’ll do the touristy thing (the Cavern, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, Magical Mystery Tour, etc.) just like I did in 1984.  I also want to see the cathedral in Manchester, and take in some local history there, of course.  Being a Stone Roses/Smiths/Happy Mondays fan, I’m eager to get to know Manchester, the capital of the North.  Old Trafford tours are available on non-gamedays, and I’ll have to go on that.  The whole trip has been building to this concluding event, and the final weekend will finally give me a chance to see United play on their home field. 

     How much will this cost me?  Let me put it this way.  I am writing this as I sit in the detention room of my school, monitoring miscreants and perenially tardy students as they serve their debt to our institution.  I took this (profoundly negative) job to help raise a few extra bucks for this trip.  I figure the two of us will spend between four and six thousand dollars for this trip, given the state of the American dollar and the significant cost of tickets.  Once the schedule is published, and I contact travel agencies that specialize in these types of packages, I’ll have a better estimate.  This summer I plan to contact Manchester United’s affiliated travel agency–Travelcare–and find out more about how to do this affordably. 

It came right down to the final few minutes of the final game of the season, but yesterday, Manchester United wrapped up another spectacular season by celebrating a League Championship.  Chelsea, needing a win and a Man U point drop, settled for a one all tie against Bolton. 

A foul in the penalty area set up Cristiano Ronaldo goal from the spot, and a deft pass from Wayne Rooney allowed Ryan Giggs to walk in alone on Wigan goaltender Chris Kirkland.  Giggs, playing in his (approximately) twelve millionth match for United, slid the ball past the helpless keeper to ensure Manchester’s celebration.

Celebrating a championship is nothing new to the people of Boston.  In my 35 years, I’ve celebrated three Super Bowl victories (2001, 2003, & 2004), 2 World Series Championships (2004 & 2007), and 3 NBA Championships (1981, 1984, & 1986).  I was born in 1972, in the afterglow of the last Bruins championship.  There are plenty of other cities in this country that would love to have that kind of 35-year achievement.  On average, that’s a championship in one of the major sports every four and a half years.  Imagine being assured of a championship parade at least twice a decade.  Imagine what such a guarantee would mean to a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan!  Cities like Chicago, New York, Boston, and Los Angeles are so spoiled in that American sports (like their European counterparts) are driven by big money, and as such the biggest cities that generate the biggest revenues tend to see the biggest rewards, namely trophies.

Manchester United has won an astonishing ten Premier League titles in the short history (16 years in its present formation) of the league.  That’s more than half of the total titles–it’s five-eighths, to be exact.  I will admit, it’s kind of lame that the team that I follow, the team I consider myself a fan of, is winning so often.  I’d won’t say they are winning easily, but they are winning often.

It’s a drag that I really can’t be any part of the celebration, since I live 3000 miles west of Manchester, but it’s still nice for my team to win.  Given the Patriots’ collapse in the Super Bowl, I don’t think I could have taken another heartbreaker had United lost and Chelsea won on the final day.  Missing out on the party, or even having other fans to watch with, isn’t so big a deal, because of course had they lost, I wouldn’t have had to hear about it the way I did when my obnoxious Giant fan brother-in-law called at 11 PM to gloat.  Fandom works both ways.  I don’t have anyone to celebrate with, but I also don’t have to suffer as publicly in the face of a high-profile loss.

Congratulations to the Red half of Manchester.  I wish I could be there to celebrate, but it will have to wait ’til next year.  Here’s hoping there’s even more to celebrate when the 21st rolls around, and the Red Devils have the chance to send Chelsea home without a single piece of silverware this season.

Three weeks from now, the first all-English final in Champions League history will take place.  While some will bemoan an all-Premier League final as less than representative of the best intentions of the Champions League, the next three weeks offer a rare opportunity.  Manchester United and Chelsea will compete on two different levels.  First, they’ll compete in England for points and the Premier League title, with United only slightly at an advantage due to goal differential.  On May 21st, the teams vie for the title of champion of Europe, in a direct match-up at the neutral site of Moscow.  This game will provide a rematch of last week’s, when Chelsea outworked United and got a deserved 2-1 victory on Michael Ballack’s penalty kick goal in the 85th minute.

Though I am a United supporter, in European play I always support English teams, so in a way an all-English final is win-win for me.  On the other hand, I hate Chelsea.  It’s always dangerous to characterize a very large group of people, but I’ve heard too many anti-Semitic and racist comments from Chelsea fans to ever consider the group less than despicable.  Avram Grant has been buffeted by rumors of his imminent firing all year, and has never gotten the credit he deserves for stepping into the shoes of the popular and charismatic Jose Mourinho.  That task could never be easy, given Mourinho’s success with the club, but on top of all he’s handled with aplomb, Grant must hear anti-Jewish chants from his own club’s supporters.  Grant certainly deserves to be back next season, given the comeback Chelsea has pulled, bridging five points in the past few weeks.  He also deserves to hear those horrific chants replaced by something more fitting a civilized nation, but sadly, there’s little chance of that happening.

There are so many compelling leagues in the world’s most popular sport.  Picking a league to devotedly follow is difficult.  It’s impossible to follow them all, unless it’s your job as a football journalist.  For me, which league to follow depended on American television coverage.  On Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV, I have access to a limited amount of games from many different leagues.   In South America, Brazil, Columbia, and Argentina boast highly competitive leagues, but many of the best native players play in Europe.  GolTV broadcasts the German league, which boasts many of the German players who always contend for World Cups.  German powerhouses like Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen dominate the league and acquit themselves ably in European competition.  France’s Ligue 1 powers historically include Marseilles, Lyon, Nancy Lorraine, and St. Etienne, but as is the case in South America, the best French players play in other leagues. 

The Spanish, Italian, and English leagues offer the most coverage for American football fans.  These also happen to be the best leagues in the world, offering by far the largest sampling of the world’s most exciting and skilled (not to mention richest) players, and the clubs that continually compete for Europe’s most prestigious honor.  Spain’s elite, Real Madrid and Barcelona, are among the most valuable clubs in world football.  Italian clubs like Juventus, Roma, Inter, and AC Milan offer stacked international rosters, plus nearly every Italian who played on the 2006 World Cup championship team.  Finally, the English Premier League is exemplified by its “Big Four”: Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and of course Liverpool, the most decorated English club in European history.

While I keep an eye on the other leagues and make certain to tune in to derbies and high profile match-ups, I dedicate the vast majority of my time for viewing soccer to the English League.  First of all, the language is a huge factor, and having commentators, managers, and players who speak English helps my understanding of the game.  The English league also gets the most coverage on American television and the majority of column inches of coverage on American sports websites, such as espn.com and si.com.  My favorite players from Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006, namely Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Ballack, and Steven Gerrard, also play in the English league.  Many of the English national team’s newer stars, like David Bentley, Theo Walcott, Gareth Barry, and Jolean Lescott play for the other teams in the Premiership. 

Another reason for following the English game is its style of play.  The English, who are often credited with inventing the modern game of football, play a very physical, aggressive game that still allows for sublime skill.  Witness the contrast of a Rooney and Ronaldo pairing.  Rooney, the British bulldog, tenaciously covets ball possession in the final third of the pitch, and is nearly impossible to knock off the ball.  Ronaldo often flops to the ground at the slightest of touches, and draws plenty of free kicks in dangerous areas.  Ronaldo will finesse his way by defenders and Rooney will attempt to sledgehammer through them.  Dogged will and hard, physical fouls pair nicely with athleticism and elegance in the English game.

Finally, having other people in the area who also follow the English league helps.  There’s another teacher in my school—a genuine Englishman—who follows Tottenham, and is able to offer insights based on a lifetime of following football and actually attending games.  For as many Man U, Liverpool, and Chelsea shirts I see on the backs of folks in the Boston area, virtually none of them have ever been to a game in England.  I will be remedying this gap in my sporting resume next year, when in April my wife and I will travel to England, and hopefully take in three games in a week.  Look for details about the long-awaited trip to England in my next entry!

In my last entry, I detailed my reasoning for proclaiming Cristiano Ronaldo the best active player, and since then, he’s received the Professional Football Association’s Player of the Year Award for the second year in a row.  Whether he wins the FIFA POY award remains to be seen, but I’d wager a hefty sum he’ll be collecting that silver soon.

While Ronaldo takes the prize for best club footballer, I feel it necessary to mention the most valuable international footballer I’ve seen play in the past year.  While he may not be as flashy as Ronaldo, Juan Roman Riquelme’s deadball striking, playmaking, and defense drove his Argentina squad to the final of the Copa America, where they lost to Brazil.  Having watched the entire tournament, I expected a much better showing in the final from Argentina, but it seemed to me that only Riquelme showed up, and even his talents were not enough when facing off against Kaka, Ronaldinho, and Brazil’s other superstars.

While Riquelme has had an up and down professional career—up with Villareal, down with Barcelona—on the international stage he has shined brightly, even when threatening to be eclipsed by striking stars the likes of Carlos Tevez, Hernan Crespo, and Lionel Messi.  No player was more invaluable than Riquelme in the Copa America, and in international play since then, both World Cup qualifiers and friendlies, he’s been a player that must be stopped to have any hope of beating Argentina.  Since he plays his club ball in South America, he largely goes ignored when award season rolls around, especially in non-World Cup years, but I’ll break the mold and say he deserves recognition for his performance last summer on the international stage.

All too often the discussion of the best player in the world is limited to goalscorers.  Goalies?  No.  Holding midfielders?  Nay.  Stalwart backs?  Never.  The main complaint that Americans have about soccer is the lack of scoring, and in a similar fashion, the soccer-appreciative world goes away disappointed from a nil-nil draw, while understanding that those score lines are part of the game, and that the game is not necessarily defined by its final tally.  The simple fact is that while spectacular tricks and pinpoint long, diagonal passes are recognized for their importance and flair by football fans, goals, with their relative rarity, take on even more importance in a sometimes scoring-starved sport.  FIFA, which is charged with the promotion and health of the game, somewhat counter-intuitively rewards goalscorers in their Player of the Year award.  Since 1991, only three defenders have finished in the top three.  Fabio Cannavaro broke through in 2006 with the only POTY win by a defender, riding a ferocious championship performance in the World Cup.  Roberto Carlos and the ageless Paolo Maldini were runners-up after career years. 

Even though scorers are favored, many midfielders, invariably of the attacking variety, have won in recent years.  Zidane, Kaka, Ronaldinho, and Luis Figo lead the list of recent winners who fit this mold.  It’s fair to say that with the most diverse role, a midfielder is a logical pick that represents a well-rounded player, capable of creation, attack, and defense.

I have other criteria for my own selection.  I respect players who play with passion.  While they may not have the pace, the finishing ability, or creativity of the truly elite player, dogged footballers like Wayne Rooney, Gennaro Gattuso, or Nemanja Vidic appeal to me on a different level.  Like the ice hockey defenseman who drops in front of a 100 mile-per-hour slapshot to ensure it does not reach the net, these players are the gutty grinders who sometimes go unappreciated.  That being said, none of those three deserves consideration for this award this year, though Rooney (who I’d hardly describe as underappreciated) will have his chance in the future, especially if he can lead England to the finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  Gattuso has been out of form all year, and is one of the foremost reasons for AC Milan’s slip to mid-table this year, and their inability to defend their Champions League trophy.  Vidic is a beast who clashes heads so fiercely, so often, that I’m surprised he’s not a swollen, unrecognizable lump of scarred, misshapen flesh by the ends of most matches.

If you haven’t read my other posts, or haven’t figured it out already, I follow Manchester United as much as possible, even resorting to grainy, stop-action peer-to-peer internet connections to watch the games not televised on American TV.   To the best of my understanding, the English population has to pay for all the games, since the broadcast rights are extremely valuable and are held by BSkyB, a pay service.  If I could pay a reasonable amount (say $250-$300, which is an amount similar to NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL packages) to see every Manchester United game for the season in high definition, I’d sign a contract tomorrow.  I can’t devote all of my life for the Premier League package, nor could I afford the expected exorbitant fee, so I’ll have to make my “best active” judgment based on United’s opponents in the Premier League and Champions League.  I see about thirty United matches a year now, between Fox Soccer, ESPN, and the internet.  In addition to following United, I watch all the highlight shows on those channels, and I read SI.com and ESPN.com daily for more football news, so I’m certainly not limited to English football.  (Why am I so devoted to ensuring my credibility?)  I’m going to cheat a bit here on picking my “best right now” selection.  I’ll pick one man based on his international play in recent tournaments and friendlies, and I’ll pick the player who has separated himself from the pack in club football.

The only logical choice for club football is Cristiano Ronaldo.  If you want to complain about my United bias, now’s the time, but I will say that I thought Ronaldo did not deserve the award last year, and that it fittingly went to Kaka, a player of supreme grace who I was lucky enough to see play live in Foxboro in September.  If there is another indication that Ronaldo is the best player in the world right now, it’s expressed through media outlets.  No longer is Cristiano Ronaldo referred to as C. Ronaldo to differentiate him from the oft-injured, past-his-prime Brazilian striker just-plain-ole Ronaldo who played such a pivotal role in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win.  While Cristiano finished third to Lionel Messi and Kaka last year, this year the race for POTY is not going to be close.  It’s Ronaldo and everyone else.  Witness the swerving, drunken dead ball (dead drunk ball?) he struck against Portsmouth, a contender for goal of the year.  How about the between the legs, blind flick against Villa last month?  If Ronaldo gets plenty of credit for his goalscoring, he does not get enough for his ability to change the game by drawing defenders and opening up the pitch for his teammates to find space.  It’s fear that leads to that space—fear of being made to look foolish by a trick or a burst of speed.  Defenders confront a catch-22:  close on him and he may well draw a foul, leading to a free kick that he may put into the back of the net OR give him space and time and he’ll kill you in innumerable ways.  Witness Roma’s 7-1 Champions League destruction at Old Trafford in spring of 2007, where the Italian squad chose to give him space.  He created Michael Carrick’s opener, then scored a brace himself, and could have scored two more if not for saves from Roma’s besieged goalie.

If I have a complaint about Cristiano, it’s his on-pitch behavior.  His pretty-boy looks stand in sharp contrast to my preference for guys who look like bulldogs (Gattuso) and behave accordingly.  I was particularly annoyed when Ronaldo, who, to his credit, was playing a very physical game, was cut over the eye after a collision.  In the next match he sported a yellowish, painful looking black eye, but did not let it impede him from scoring.  It was his celebration after scoring that ticked me off.  Realizing the cameras were on him, he covered his black eye and grimaced at the camera because he felt he wasn’t looking his prettiest.  It was a second-rate show of callow vanity, and I was surprised not to see Wayne Rooney vomiting on the corner flag at witnessing it.  His obnoxious narcissism was also on display when interviewed.  He stated, “I will be beautiful once again!”  Shut up and play, Crissy.  Have you guessed I’m not really a Beckham fan, either?

Lately Cristiano has been criticized by other top pros for his disrespectful arrogance.  After a Champions League game, Roma midfielder David  Pizarro recently said, “He does certain spiteful things on the pitch. This is the ugliest thing for a player. In the return leg, I will have something to say to him.” 

Ronaldo responded, “There are plays that I do for the good of the team and never to ridicule my opponents. I tried to do the best for Manchester United and not to make a show. It’s just a part of who I am.”  Uggh.  I can’t stand the all too common “That’s just the way I am” excuse for irresponsible behavior.  That’s a dismissal and a refusal to change, or to even acknowledge the criticism in the first place.  I am a fan of Cristiano.  I love that he plays for United.  I hope all attempts to pry him away from Old Trafford fail.  That said, he is arrogant and disrespectful of his opponents.  His goal celebrations lack the pure joy and crowd connection of a Steven Gerrard charge to the corner at Anfield, instead focusing on himself and his “I’m so gifted”, “This game is so easy”, and “You don’t belong on the same pitch” facial expressions and body language.  His celebrations are the soccer equivalent of the chest-thumping, choreographed NFL wideout celebration that makes it seem like the player isn’t even playing a TEAM game. 

Sir Alex Ferguson apparently has no problem with Cristiano’s behavior as long as he keeps up his form, and maybe that’s a good thing.  Cristiano seems petulant enough to have his form decline after a public chastisement, such as Fergie’s famous “hairdryer treatment”.  Ferguson had no problem criticizing Beckham.  Will things reach that point with Ronaldo’s behavior?  It’s a delicate dilemma for Fergie, who has other stars to keep happy, and the need to protect Ronaldo from the very hard tackles he draws.  In being sent off and subsequently banned three games early in the season, Ronaldo fell for the bait after a hard challenge.  While Ferguson has stated that he respects Ronaldo’s professionalism, he has also criticized the young star for letting himself be trapped.  I don’t envy Ferguson the responsibility of balancing Ronaldo’s protection with his professionalism.

That brings me to my other major issue with Ronaldo—the diving.  I haven’t seen so much diving and crying since Greg Louganis retired.  The scary thing about Ronaldo’s diving is that he has actually reduced his fakery.  Compared to his behavior (and the behavior of many of his Portuguese teammates) at the 2006 World Cup, he’s actually at a tolerable level.  Add in the fact that English referees are taking a hard line on diving, and not such a hard line on physical challenges, and I redouble my concern about Fergie’s dilemma. 

He spends too much time looking for the foul when he could stay on his feet and beat the defender.  A player does not necessarily have to hit the turf to draw a foul, either.  If he’d only improve to the point of a Rooney, who almost never goes down looking for the foul, my respect for him would greatly improve.  Get rid of all the pained expressions and sitting-on-the-pitch pouty posturing and he’s even better off.  However, in all fairness, he’s doing a lot better than two years ago, when he and his international teammates looked like a Fosbury flop parody troupe. 

That’s all for today.  Next time I’ll reveal my pick for international footballer.

You could ask the same question all over the world, and get so many (biased) answers. 

Ask an Argentine and you’ll get a one word, straightforward answer.  Maradona.  I’d be inclined to agree, with a caveat.  Maradona had the chance to end all debate as to the greatest football player of all time, but he would rather eat and do drugs than live the monkish, devoted, ascetic lifestyle demanded of the best football players.  With all of the talent he had in his pudgy, diminutive frame, he’d have been the greatest if only he had wanted to be.  He reminds me of Mike Tyson in that respect.  Tyson was the most dominant heavyweight on the planet, one of the most intimidating fighters of all time, a man who won most of his fights before he entered the ring.  The only problem was that he bought into his own hype, his Don King delusion, his Robin Givens supercouple fame, and his no-need-to-train arrogance.  Maradona was the same way, and was possessed of even more natural ability.  If he’d ever lost the weight, imagine his pace, his quicksilver shiftiness.  If only he’d spent the extra time on the pitch instead of in the clubs with the cocaine and the women.  It’s easy to understand WHY he got caught up in all those trappings—those are the reasons people want to become rich and famous, and once your talent and ambition open those possibilities up, it’s hard to stay focused.  Maradona had it all—the full range of human experience, from the ultimate high of a World Cup championship to the low of a positive ephedrine test and dismissal from the 1994 World Cup.  He was a controversial figure during his entire career, but as with all who possess ludicrous amounts of talent, he was forgiven countless times.  Maradona is still beloved in Argentina, and in Napoli, where he played the majority of his club football. 

Ask an Englishman, and he may tell you the best ever was Sir Bobby Charlton, but more likely the answer will be Georgie Best, though Georgie is more of an honorary Brit because he played for Manchester United, yet was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  As they say in Belfast: “Maradona good, Pele better, George Best.”  I have only seen Best play on old videos, and he was truly electrifying, but he only qualifies for discussion because he’s Irish and played for United.

Ask a German, and likely the names of Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller will come up.  Muller is the best pure scorer I have ever seen.  Awkward and bulky, Muller was a singleminded attacker of Herculean strength who was able to fight off tackles and score with precision or élan, yet would score ugly, gutty goals in equal measure.  I’ve always loved that type of hard-nosed player, like Gennaro Gattuso or Wayne Rooney.  Beckenbauer was the pioneer of the attacking sweeper position, able to defend skillfully and able to exert his will on the score sheet as well.  On the German World Cup teams of the 60’s and 70’s, Beckenbauer and Muller made up the Orr and Esposito of football.  Beckenbauer’s limitless talent and skill partnered with Muller’s bloodhound nose for the net proved an unstoppable combination, and they’ve got a 1974 World Cup to prove it.  Still, while both were truly great players, neither claims the top spot.

Ask a Portuguese man, and Eusebio will be his instant response.  (I don’t believe the Portuguese are ready to replace him with that young pretty boy in Manchester just yet.)  Eusebio possessed blistering speed and a turbo charged right foot.  His play against North Korea in the 1966 World Cup is legendary, leading his team back from what would have been a stunning upset.  Trailing by three goals, Eusebio scored four to ensure Portugal’s advancement in the tourney.

Ask a Frenchman, and they may (grudgingly) say Zizou.  They only say it grudgingly because Zinedine Zidane is not truly French—he’s Algerian.  There is a long history of France’s revolting treatment of Algerians, yet when Algeria produced a true footballing genius the likes of which the world had never seen, all of a sudden Zidane is French!  Without a doubt, in the years I’ve been closely following soccer, Zidane is most exhilarating, dominant player I’ve ever seen.  He could do so many things well.  I’ve never seen anyone so strong on the ball, and he played with such passion, sometimes to a fault.  His red card in the last World Cup for headbutting an Italian defender was well deserved, but I can hardly hold it against him.  I love hard-nosed players like Zidane, and the red card threat is always there.  The same zeal that makes them so good is always a risk.

Ask a Dutchman, and your answer will be Johann Cruyff.  Cruyff never gets mentioned by Americans in the discussion of “best ever” players, and it’s too bad so many of us don’t understand the game enough to recognize the Dutch influence on the worldwide game.  Cruyff led the charge for “total football”, and though the philosophy was part of Dutch club Ajax’s training for many years, only through Cruyff’s brilliance was total football acknowledged.  To continue the hockey metaphors, Cruyff was Gretzkyesque in his ability to see the field, the angles and approaches, and he possessed the skills to both deliver and finish.  While Cruyff might be one of the most influential football players of all time, and the greatest European player, he still takes a backseat to number one.  Have you guessed who it’ll be yet?  Who’s the most glaring omission on this list?

So you’ve traveled to Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro just to pose the question: Who is the greatest football player of all time?  You may be surprised at the answer you receive.  In Brazil, Pele reigns supreme, but among Brazilians, a half-step below Pele is Garrincha.  Garrincha, the “little bird”, played alongside Pele on the 50’s and 60’s Brazilian World Cup teams.  Known as the best dribbler of all time, Garrincha was somewhat like OJ Simpson (no, he didn’t murder two people) in that he suffered severe birth defects in his legs, yet did not let his physical disabilities limit him.  When he matured physically, just like OJ, who wore leg braces, he found that he possessed advantages over other athletes.  Sadly, like OJ and Maradona, Garrincha struggled off the field.  Garrincha’s alcoholism is well known, and he paid for his indulgence with his life, dying of cirrhosis of the liver, far too young at 49.

That leaves us with Pele.  A bit anticlimactic, isn’t it?  I didn’t even try to be controversial, and Pele is entirely too safe a pick for me to be satisfied, but his influence on the game is unmatched.  Even Americans know enough about soccer that this is a no-brainer.  The only player to win three World Cups, Pele brought the game to a new level with those Brazilian teams, which are considered among the greatest teams ever assembled.  More amazingly, Pele’s move to America in the twilight of his career stimulated the youth soccer craze of the 1970’s, even if his influence on professional soccer in the States never reached its projections.  There is certainly no doubting his skill, his superlative creativity, and pure genius for the game, even if he was temperamental, injury-prone, and money-hungry.  Though he is justified a bit of arrogance, and certainly is the player most responsible for soccer’s huge television revenues, Pele never met an appearance fee he didn’t like, and sometimes he puts his pocketbook before the game.

That’s plenty for today.  In next week’s entry, I’ll explore the question of the best active player.

Save your work.  I say it so many times it’s lost all meaning (but not really).  To make a lo sto sho, I already wrote this entry, last Wednesday when my freshmen were taking a test on Of Mice and Men.  I wrote my Greatest Ever, Part 3 post directly into the blog entry box on my homepage, but didn’t realize there was a time-out feature, and when I hit “SAVE” I had to re-enter my password.  By doing so, I lost every single word I’d written.  Ouch.  ‘Twas like a punch to the, er, gut.  From now on, I’m writing in Microsoft Word and pasting over when I’m finished, and only after I’ve saved, of course.

The Greatest Ever, part 3

    Having the World Cup in America was an amazing opportunity, and I’m sorry to say I did not have tickets to attend a game.  Being twenty-one years old, fresh out of college, with no job prospects, and an English degree, I had no money for a ticket.  I didn’t have money for rent or food, so a World Cup ticket was not high on my priority list.  However, I did manage to watch every game I could, even with the problem of my brother’s wedding in Chicago intruding mid-event.  Never again will I drive to Chicago!  I’ll sell a kidney for a coach ticket before I make that hellish journey again.  Despite the fact that the 1994 World Cup featured the most disappointing final (Brazil vs. Italy) ever, a lackluster, play-not-to-lose nil-nil tie that went to penalties, the rest of the tournament was riveting.  Roberto Baggio, Italy’s star goal-scorer, carried them to the final, and was clearly the best player in the tournament, though he sailed a penalty kick over the crossbar when he had a chance to keep Italy alive against Brazil.  Baggio’s failure at the last was when I decided that a World Cup final should never be decided by penalties, and I’ll even expand that to any final of a major tournament.  The managers should be allowed an extra three substitutions at the end of every thirty minutes of extra time, and the players should play until a legitimate goal is scored.  For Baggio to go down as the goat of that tournament for missing a penalty still bothers me.  I’m not exactly a fan of Italian football, with their conservative, defensive style and tendency for one-nil victories, but Baggio is too often remembered for missing that kick in the final, and not for his sublime play in the games leading to it.  It’s shameful, really.

    In any case, 1994’s World Cup hooked me.  In the time since, I’ve watched all US coverage of major tournaments, mainly the World Cups of ’98, ’02, and ’06, and the European Cups of ’00 and ’04.  I’ve watched quite a bit of club football as well.  As an American, there are many disadvantages to following the world’s most popular sport, but one advantage is that you get to pick your team to follow, since Americans are not limited by geographical boundaries.  I have to root for the Sox, Bruins, Pats, and Celtics, or I’d be removed from the family and cast out by my friends.  But when I went to pick a club team, it was wide open.  First, I’d decide on a league.  No problem—it had to be the English Premier League.  The players and managers spoke English, and there were actually some games shown on American television.  Serie A was at the time considered the best league in the world, but I’d never seen AC Milan, Roma, Lazio, or Inter on television, so even if they sported skilled players the likes of Maradona, Baggio and Maldini, Italian teams were tough to find and tedious to follow.  Remember that the Internet was in its infancy in 1994, and research was more difficult and expensive then. 

    Once I decided that it would be the English League, it was time to decide on a team.  The English Premier League is really three leagues at once.  You’ve got the top four—Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United.  They play against the other sixteen teams, but at the end of a season, it’s rare that the top four teams are not some order of those four.  Then there are the ever-rotating bottom teams of the league.  They have a mini-league to decide who gets to “stay up”, instead of being relegated to the Championship, which is the next division down.  Dropping a division is a major demotion in terms of respect, and more importantly, money.  In between are the teams that are perennial middlers—too good to be relegated, but not good or rich enough to compete with the big four.  These are the Tottenhams, Manchester Cities, West Hams, Blackburns, Middlesbroughs, and Newcastles of the league.  In looking at these three distinct sub-divisions, I wanted to support a team that got some coverage on American TV, but I also wanted to support a team that WON every once in a while.

    Keep in mind that at the time I was choosing a team in 1994, we in Boston had been in a major championship drought.  The last title had come to the Celtics in 1986, and I wasn’t even a big basketball fan. Essentially, I’d never seen a Boston team I truly loved win a championship.  The closest I’d come was watching Bill Buckner let a World Series championship go between his legs on a fateful October’s eve.  I finally had a chance to choose a winning side.

    At first I figured I’d support Liverpool, because I was a huge Beatles fan, but their fans were notorious as the most hostile bunch of miscreants and hooligans in all of Europe, so I could hardly support the club whose fans were directly involved in the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters.  I realize that it’s simplistic to blame the deaths at those locations to the Liverpudlians, as many factors contributed to the tragedies, but Liverpool fans must shoulder at least some of the blame.  Their reputation is not entirely undeserved. 

    Chelsea also presented issues.  Their fans were given to reprehensible behavior, too.  They made apelike hooting sounds and threw bananas when black players touched the ball.  They even did this to their own players!  Without a second thought, Chelsea was out. 

    It was down to Arsenal and Manchester United.  I didn’t know much about Arsenal other than they had a cool name, and were known as the Gunners.  Being a Boston Irish kid, I knew the Irish star Roy Keane played for United.  Plus, I’d been into the Manchester music scene for years, and was a fan of bands like Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order,  The Stone Roses, and my favorite band ever, The Smiths.  While the guitarist of The Smiths, Johnny Marr, was a City fan, lead singer Morrissey was a fan of United.  Finally, I had heard of the Munich Air Disaster of 1958.  I was always scared of flying and fascinated by plane crashes, especially those that claimed celebrity lives.  Yeah, it sounds pretty creepy now, doesn’t it?  Anyhow, the crash suffered by United in 1958 was one the worst travel related disasters suffered by a sports team, right up there with the 1970 Marshall football team’s horrific crash.  The survivors of that crash went on to win the European Cup ten years later, and survivor Bobby Charlton, the team’s captain, was a member of the English 1966 World Cup championship team.  The story of United’s triumph over adversity and the way they chose to remember their fallen teammates touched me.  I had decided.  I would be a fan of Manchester United.

    Since 1994, I’ve followed a lot of club soccer.  I saw the coming and going of David Beckham, the triple in 1999, CANTONA, and I’ve come to understand the importance of a manager as gifted as Sir Alex Ferguson.  By following United, I’ve seen the best football in Europe, and England in particular.

    Do I need more qualifications to be taken seriously when I offer my assessment of the greatest footballer of all time, and the best one right now?  I also read about the game.  As a teacher and devoted nerd, I always believe that the best way to learn about something is to read about it.  I’ve read some fantastic books on football, my favorite being Soccer in Sun and Shadow, by the Uruguayan poet Eduardo Galeano.  It’s an account of a lifetime of following the game, written in a sparing, lyrical style.  How typical of a poet!  It’s brilliant, touching, and elegant.  Another great book is The Ball is Round, which offers a global history of the game.  The writing is more akin to a history text, but for sheer information, the voluminous tome has no peer.  For a look into the lives of the English yobs who somewhat follow the sport, but are really more interested in bashing teeth and inflicting property damage, check out Among the Thugs.  It’s the story of an American journalist who befriend these ruffians, sees their hidden humanity, understands their need to exceed, finds himself getting a thrill from being part of an unruly mob, gets pummeled by an Italian cop, and finally decides that hooliganism is for petty villains who have nothing else in their lives to make them feel empowered.  It’s a powerful book about getting wrapped up in lawlessness, only to utterly reject it in the end.  

    On top of my reading, I’ve seen the documentary The History of Football, which is a seven hour opus narrated by Terence Stamp, who most Americans will only recognize as General Zod from Superman 2.  The documentary does require a serious time commitment, but offers some rare footage and a worldwide look at the game.  It’s definitely worth checking out.

    I’m out of time for this entry, and I think I’ve accomplished my goal.  I am qualified to give my opinion on the best footballer of all time.  For next time then!