The Hindu Business Line : Futbol magic lingers, but instant cricket losing ground

Instant cricket, French Open, a bit of golf by Tiger Woods at the US Open, Euro 2008 and the continuing Wimbledon have taken my lazy hours in recent weeks. Shane Warne lit up IPL, being the best in the business of cricket (it is no more a sport).

Instant cricket, like instant coffee, does not linger long. The French Open was all Nadal and the Spaniard seems to be enjoying his run at Wimbledon, which, according to Vijay Amritraj, is getting slower and slower. The Wimbledon courts of 70s and 80s were faster as the grass was fresher, while today the grass is less fresh and the balls heavy making for less pace and more baseline play, said Vijay Amritraj on a TV talk at Wimbledon. He also mentioned something about the strings in the tennis racket which one could not catch.

Serve and volley is absent in tennis today; spectators watch the long hauls from the baselines and along the tramlines. There is little of the top of the net rush-ins or that most winsome manner of winning an argument on the tennis court – the drop shot. Will the game change when Wimbledon dons sky covers from next year?

Vijay believes Federer will be the champion for the sixth time running to outdo Bjorn Borg though that may not make him better than Borg. One is ignorant of the rules of golf but when Tiger Woods plays, one does not need any reason to watch. Most hours have gone into watching Euro 2008 though by no means did the football teams play the game with any individual flavour. Over many nights one dragged oneself to the TV set, put it on mute and watched the matches.

When nine players man the half and back lines, as is the European fashion, football is denied forward movement and goals. In the football times of 50s, 60s and 70s, in the Maidan of Calcutta, football formation meant five forwards, three halves, two backs and one goal keeper (5-3-2-1) with coaches devising ways to hobble the wingers. Matches had to be won and there were no penalty shoot-outs.

Govy is one friend who likes football and made the interesting point that goals will always be scarce as the 2-4-4-1 model, does not allow a player to move up to the box of the opposing team. “Where is the forward to take the passes,” he asked.

After watching the matches, one would search the newspaper sites of Guardian and others to get the expert view. Possibly because England was out, the Englishmen did not seem to be enthusiastic over Euro 2008, missing quite a bit on details. They were prosaic. When Spain sank Germany, there was applause for the attacking tactics of their 69-year-old coach, Luis Aaragones. Against Germany, he quietly turned the four-man half line into a six-man forward line (adding on the two forwards at the top) and the Spanish played the ball to each other with one-touch moves leaving the German defence staring at their own feet.

The Germans were unable to muscle through the working of the diagonal, vertical and sometimes long passes by the six–man forward line, while the Brazil-born Senna of Spain gave no space to Ballack of Germany. It was pleasing to see a single Spanish tap setting up three Spanish forwards on the run with the German defence uncertain on when and whom to close in.

Xavi, Fabregas, Gomes, Senna, Iniesta, Villa and Torres did do well. In the 70th minute with Germany one down, one was upset to see a German defender on the centre line pass the ball back to his goalkeeper. David Pleat, who backed Spain ahead of the tournament wrote “creativity flourished”. On that Sunday night, Spain strode in some style when a top class game needs two teams with flair and fervour.

One thought of the Latin American teams and its players like Garrincha, Pele and Maradona setting the future terms for analysing and rating a football game. There is this book which my friend Ramki gave me: Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil’s forgotten footballing hero by Ruy Castro (Translated from the Portugese by Andrew Downie).

In Latin America, it is called “the art of the mazy dribble -- that jinking (nimble run) run that humiliates the pursuer and leaves him beaten and dejected”. His eldest sister Rosa named him Garrincha, a little brown bird with a black-striped back that lives on insects and spiders. It has a beautiful song but does not adapt well to captivity, says Castro.

Garrincha was born funny: The left leg bent out and the right leg bent in, as if a gust of wind had blown them out of position. Castro writes of the opening three minutes – the greatest three minutes in the history of football – the 1958 World Cup finals, Brazil against USSR.

“The fans are on their feet again. Garrincha moves forward with the ball. Joao Kuznetzov takes another tumble. Didi asks for the ball: 45 seconds. He sends a curved pass over Igor Netto and the ball falls at Pele’s feet. Pele gives it to Vava: 48 seconds. Vava to Didi, to Garrincha, back to Pele, Pele shoots, the ball hits the bar and goes over: 55 seconds. The pace is mind-boggling.

“As is Garrincha’s rhythm. Yashin’s shirt is soaked in sweat, as if he’s already been on the field for hours. The wave of attacks continues. Time after time Garrincha decimates the Russians. There is hysteria in the stadium. And an explosion when Vava scores after exactly three minutes.”

That was how reporter Ney Bianchi, writing in the Manchete Esportiva, described the start of the game, as if he had one eye on the ball and another on the clock. Another journalist, the Frenchman Gabriel Hannot, would say later that they were the greatest three minutes in the history of football – and at more than 70 years old he had been a witness to much of it.

The onslaught was so impressive that as soon as Brazil scored Yashin congratulated the first Brazilian to come near him — which happened to be Pele. The game was sumptuously laid out for the finest players and writers.

Will Spain stick to their futbol and help Europe out of its unimaginative ways when 2010 World Cup comes on?

P. Devarajan