Beautiful game
Nights have stretched into morning with Solar Sports covering the Euro Cup live from Poland and Ukraine, from the group stage to the quarterfinals, from the semis, down to the final on early Monday morning (Sunday night in Kiev) between Spain and Italy, empire versus axis, the result already known just as this newspaper hits the stands, one country weeping and tearing its hair, the other bound for unbridled celebration of raucous abandon.
In sports grills and other beery dives, on flat TVs over bars or even on plain conventional sets with cable noisy foreigners and some football junkie Filipinos will be congregating to root for one or the other team, viva España or Italia mon amour, the beautiful game at its best in the troubled Eurozone, indeed all troubles can be temporarily set aside and forgotten when history takes the pitch.
Road to the final was rough, hardly paved with the golden boot of intentions, but for quarterfinalists Czech Republic, Greece, France, England, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy it was not mere fate that guided them out of their respective brackets, including the traditional group of death that left 2010 World Cup finalist Netherlands down by the wayside.
There were many new names, a few vaguely familiar from the last major competition, always the possibility of a changing of the guard or substitution of the central defender or playmaker at midfield, the beautiful game adjusting with developments but still not adopting the goal line technology, preferring to retain a margin of error when the umpire’s naked eye would be final judge if the ball crosses the line and counts for a goal.
Not so much controversy on off-sides this time, at least from what can be gleaned on slow-motion replays and the commentator’s voice of high drama droning on until the wee hours.
A couple of years ago in the World Cup in South Africa, there were renewed calls for goal line technology, especially after the Frank Lampard strike hit the crossbar and bounced clearly over the line but England was still denied a goal against Germany, which if counted would have tied the score and changed the complexion of the match, though the Germans did go on to win with a goal to spare.
In Dumaguete the retired football player Edu Adriano wrote to say that perhaps it was poetic justice, as England were the beneficiaries of a similar goal line controversy in 1966 also against Germany, which was the last time the British won a major football competition, more than a decade before members of its present roster were born.
But it’s a totally new scenario at the Euro Cup, the defenders being Spain, also the World Cup titleholders, dual champions a rarity. The Spaniards however miss some major pieces, including the defender Puyol, while the veteran Raul may have retired from international competition after collecting enough caps to last a lifetime. Attacking, precision-passing Spain are now captained by the keeper Casillas, with the battle-tested World Cup hero Iniesta ever dangerous, and at midfield Xabi Alonso and Fabregas keep things humming clockwise and counter, moving forward as if spinning a web.
Italy is the clear underdog, though not by much, soccer being a sport where perhaps the ball is most round; not only can anything happen, but to expect the unexpected is usually the norm as the most grizzled experts are stumped on predictions.
Where however is the hardnosed Gatusso, ang tusong gato, the cat who looks after himself, or the reliable Canavarro, captain of the team that won the World Cup in Germany 2006? Inzaghi too is nowhere to be found. The familiars are the playmaker Pirlo, at 33 more than capable to weave the old magic at midfield, and the keeper Buffon, a misnomer because he is anything but a buffoon when swatting away the attempts on target by the opposing team.
We’re in for a humdinger in the empire against axis, complete with ramifications and undertones, significations and Pavlov’s dog salivating, but Filipinos can identify and empathize with either team, more so Spain whose colony the Philippines was for more than 300 years, while Italy has the support of lovers of pizza and cannelloni, leaning towers and the Holy See and Galleria Duemila.
One of the best games we’ve watched of the tournament was the semifinal between Italy and Germany, a virtual rematch of their knockout encounter in World Cup 2006, when the eventual champions upset the hosts. This time it was the cocky striker Balotelli that stood out, the mohawked Manchester City mainstay accounting for a first half brace from a couple of excellent passes, which proved enough to hold the young Germans at bay. Not even an injury time penalty kick by Ozil could fend off his team’s elimination, 1-2, setting the stage for the final at Kiev between the euro rivals.
Spain had earlier booted out Portugal in a penalty shootout, after 120 minutes ended in a scoreless draw that did not lack in creativity but spare chances for both sides. The retired Figo somewhere could only watch as the present plantilla folded against the Spanish, the sudden recall and dispatch of Alves during the shootout indeed proving ominous.
Wise money will be on Spain, which before their recent magnificent run were deemed the great underachievers, a tag now certainly more befitting England. But never count Italy out, because those who do run the risk of Germany 2006 when the dark horse Azzurri surprised everyone, including the bookies.
Early in the morning it will be an attacking, zigzagging game, with di Natale rolling and tumbling on the pitch, and Sergio Ramos going in for a header, and the beer and whisky running out in the sports grills and dives, but damn if they get one past Buffon, or even one past Casillas, expect any team to pounce on the other’s slightest lapse. Will El Nino be given his time to shine? Let peerless Pirlo’s playmaking do the talking. No penalty shootout on this one. In the battle between the two most recent World Cup champions, I’ll wager on Italy by a goal.
