Can You Recognise This Face

This was one corner of a photograph I came across at the War Remnants Museum, HoChiMinh City. Amongst the many startling pictures on the wall there, this one stood out, as the face seemed familiar. The face of a Nung mercenary.

The caption (*) beneath the photo says: Duc Phong, Vietnam 1966. A viet cong suspect is hung up and questioned by mercenaries of the Chinese Nung tribe. The Nungs formed a special forces unit, organised and commanded by US special forces. After 15 minute in this position, suspect admitted being the sniper who had earlier fired on refugees sheltered in a church.

The big picture explains much more. The stillness in the jungle air; eerie silence followed by verbal rat-a-tat & some rifle punches in the gonads. And finally the bullet goes off.

Those were the better days for the Nung mercenaries. Early days of the war in Vietnam - aligned with the US Forces, and widely expected to aid the South Vietnamese in sending their communist Northern brethren back into stone age. A quick buck from what they know best - killing, and eventually moving on. Perfect.

We all now know that things ended up very differently. Not many survived the war. The viet cong steadfastly pursued the Nungs all over the country well after the American departure: ensuring that there will be no comebacks. From being seasoned survivors all their life, some of the Nungs did manage to escape. Into Cambodia, Laos primarily. Few groups emerged in China, Indonesia and in South East Asia. And specifically Singapore.

On hindsight, it is quite logical that Singapore was the preferred unlikely destination for the Nungs. Not having any tradeable skill they could call their own; tried their hand at almost everything. At the same time, the island country was just emerging from the depths of their post colonial confusion - in the process of locating their identity & relevance in the modern world.
The Nungs discovered that trading came quite naturally - and so did Singapore. Commodities, textile, oil, spices anything. Found themselves slowly entrenched in a society that was filled with immigrants - and similarly looking to survive in a relatively independent, peaceful new age. No racial profiling; no checks on their past and likely intentions.

That of course was many years ago. The Nung Identity has been since forgotten, without much protest. And the absorption complete. But if you know what I am talking about, its easy to discover a Nung from time to time. And thats where I recognise the face.

Heres, the big picture:




* The only piece of truth in this post

The Midfield Chieftains

I understand geometry plays an important role in Arsene Wenger's scheme of things. The one touch passing game is built on parallel runs, patterns of equilateral triangles in offence and tangential runs by the full-backs. A new equation seems to have emerged: the size of the preferred midfield set-up is inversely proportional to the size of the home pitch.

The Invincible season at Highbury in 2003-04 saw a midfield primarily of 6 + feet individuals - Robert Pires, Patrick Viera & Gilberto Silva, Edu and ofcourse, Freddie Ljunberg who brought down the average. However, with Van Persie & Bergkamp often playing behind Henry, it helped in maintaining the mean at 6'+. Much as the small pitch at Highbury had to do with the fast-paced counter attacks that was synonymous with the Invincibles, I believe long legs also had a crucial role to play.

But in the interspersing 3 years, as everyone knows, many things have changed; crucially being the exit of Viera and thereon the exodus of the core Invincibles group. Which (along with the shift to The Emirates pitch), from empirical evidence leads one to believe that the strategy changed.

The point is: the bright first months of this season has undoubtedly been driven by the new-midfield quartet in Cesc Fabregas, Mathew Flamini, Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rocisky. Generating a good mix of offensive and containing midfield play. And this has become more apparent with their absence in the last few games of this season leading in 2 defeats and 1 draw, when at least couple of wins should have been the case.

The average height of the 4 would be around 5' 6.5" - very different in structure from the Invincibles midfield. Whilst it could be just coincidence, am sure hours of rat analysis would have helped the think tank to arrive at the conclusion that shorter centre of gravity leads to more pace over a longer pitch and 90 minutes. Also enabling them get around proponents of direct football. And this would also explain the energy of the team resulting in over 60-70% of goals coming in the final quarter.

Leading in from last season, the big surprise that many had to contend with was the fact the Flamini was the preferred number in the holding position - naturally most took it as a unreasonable considering the experience & proven capability that Gilberto brought along. The question is raised no more as Fabregas' goal scoring this season can be definitely attributed to the effectiveness of Flamini in his role.

Whilst its indulging in a bit of wishful thinking to think that this team could go on to win the League this year - however, a lot would be determined as to the availability of 4 for the rest of the season.

I refer to the 4 as chieftains - for some reason chieftains to me are people of small stature.

Over the last couple of seasons, with the team being largely comprised of youngsters with lack of experience & maturity, I always felt the need for an enforcer. On the pitch as well off it. Someone to believe in the youngsters and bullying them into playing to win matches. It was important in dealing with the pressures of a long season.

Thats where I think the scoop of the Arsenal season rests - making Gallas the captain. Which had most of us think if some screws had fallen in the manager's room. The truth was that Gallas is a whinging fuck, which wasnt a great thing for a team of neophytes. Am sure it was a big call for the manager to make - but seems to have made it with his head. Another day, another frenchman I thought - but this one prefers winning rather than mentally compiling the number of clean sheets. And again on hindsight, it appears to be the right decision for the club. His presence is as important as the midfield quartet's till the end of the season.

Despite the recent hiccups, I believe we are on our way this season - i.e. there wont be a repeat of last season where all hopes of silverware disappear over the course of 3 games in March. The manager has been making more of an effort to set expectations more realistic - which will help a squad with such little experience of dealing with a long season & expanding fans' expectations. The squad has amply shown in the last season as well the current one that they most certainly can deal with the pressure of a game. But a season is a lot different and takes much more from the squad.

As most have been predicting: todays game will not decide the season, but will certainly indicate whether Arsenal has it in them to surprise everyone.

Good Night and Good Luck

So thats that then. Arguably, the greatest footballer of all time in the English Premier League leaves Arsenal for Barcelona after 8 years in front. Whilst it is sad, not devastating though. Its not good for Arsenal at the present moment, because they needed a player of his calibre (in terms of his knowledge of the club and most importantly, the stature that he has constructed through his on-field exploits) given the team's situation in the past season. But was he capable of being 'that' player - No; and therefore it is good for Arsenal. With this move, it is clear that Theirry Henry realises that he cannot be 'that' player.

Reports suggest that Wenger has again sold a player at the right time yet again. Am not so sure of that, as the club would have got more money a season or 2 earlier I would think (esp, looking back on the value that he provided us in that time) - but that move would have quickened the chaos that has engulfed the team towards the end of last season. And in which it is firmly ensconced in at the moment.

His record at the club has been fantastic and more importantly, his playing style earned him standing ovations on away trips. Which not many of the greatest players can ever boast of. A great individual player, who provided ample evidence of his class. And it is easy to declare that he is indeed the Michael Holding of strikers - a big big complement.

However, whats become clearer to me with this entire saga of Henry and Arsenal (over the past two seasons) is that only a few have it in them to lead a team. Be it a corporate set up or a sports team. A good leader (successful or not) should put the team before oneself - which is nothing new in thought, but much more difficult (which I know very well now) to put in practice given the money and the distorted sense of self-worth that seem to prevalent these days. A sign of the Pop Culture times that is currently very integral to everyday life.

Henry would probably emerge as Pop Culture icon in the years to come - like the Che Guevara T-shirt he wore to the World Footballer of the Year Awards in December 2004 (picture above). Talking of his admiration of Che, Henry said,"He's a man that I admire for what he did. Simple as that." Which kind of describes of how Henry would like himself to be admired as - an inspiring individual. But how important is one's contribution to the greater good to be admired for? Like his idol, it appears not very much.

Who the fuck honestly cares about that? For some fucking reason, to me it does.

Much as everything else, football is all about money, alternate prospects and short-term ambitions. A contract with a club tests the same level of loyalty that you and I are expected to show the organisation we work with. Very little that is. Its an open market, and one moves on based on one's personal compulsions. But the romanticism of sport, makes it hard for fans to accept. Such is life.

And I suppose, big players moving on from Arsenal is something that will continue to happen - given the present philosophy of the Club - bringing in players regardless of their passports and consistent abhorrence to consciously blood English players at ridiculous prices.

Where does this leave Arsenal for the upcoming season? Nobody knows. Will it be the same, or worse than the previous season? Fuck knows. Will Wenger stay for more than a season? He doesnt know himself apparently. Will Wenger fashion a miraculous season with silverware acquisitions through some astute signings? A bit too much to expect, no? Will the present set-up show more maturity? I think the exit of Thierry Henry should ensure that.

Am sure there will be signings before the season kicks off. Will it be the Sagna or Kioski variety? I hope not. Three names that I would like are:

1. David Villa (Striker - Valencia)

2. Morten Gamst Pedersen (Left Midfield - Blackburn)

3. Carlos Tevez (Midfield - West Ham)

Lets see how it goes.

As a farewell gift, Henry provided this photo-op in what turned out to be his last one for Arsenal. Thank you; Good Night and Good Luck, Thierry.

Beware the Beast

An hour and a half from kick-off. Many people arent convinced, but its going to be the Beast's day.

Some insights

A friend of mine recently attended a Shaz and Waz show exclusively set up for high-networth clients in Jersey. Apparently they kept the audience going for couple of hours recounting their experiences with their respective national teams.

Waz was talking about how he did try to bring in modern training methods to the Pakistani team. He realised that the gap between the Aussies, South Africans in this regard was immense. So they got this US-based Pakistani trainer to teach them the art of sliding. At the end of the first briefing session, the US-based Pakistani trainer opened the floor for questions.

After much sheepish grins all around, Inzy lifted his hand and said: But I dont want to slide. That was that. Spare a thought for the guru of modern cricket Bob Woolmer today.

Before the 2003 worldcup, Waz got this 'nother US-based Pakistani motivational speaker to lift the team. After a brief morning training session, the entire team was hauled into a conference room. The motivational speaker was introduced and he promptly dimmed the lights and put put on a video of true champions exhibiting grit and determination. As the video came to a close, Waz got up and switched on the lights. The entire team, in the meantime, had gone to sleep. With Inzy clutching onto 3 cushions.

To a query on why the Indian and Pakistan teams dont have a plan - like the Aussies or SA, Waz said they always had a plan. But the problem was it was forgotten by the next morning. Inzy especially, who had no recollection.

More later.

Why Jose Mourniho is indeed The Special Cunt

Orginally written on 28Jan07, but had no energy to go on about:

I have been enjoying the recent developments in Chelsea. In many ways, I suppose everyones been waiting for this to happen - considering, a Russian oligarch spending millions on tap, a successful coach who doesnt think much beyond himself and team of superstars.

He has done exceedingly well in a situation like that - winning back-to-back premiership titles, with an outstandingly tight team. He is a winner no doubt and he has shown the way with what he did at Porto. Which in many ways was the antithesis of the Chelsea story. A club like Porto needed a personality like that, whilst Chelsea was bound to frustrate him and vice-versa.

Many people that I know (though not fans of the fucker) and from what I read & see, believe he will be missed, if he were to leave at the end of the season. Because of his outspoken nature, the intensity that he brings on the field and the character that he is.

But to me, Jose Mourinho is a:
1. liar: when the story broke out, he said he was in Milan the day he allegedly met Ashley Cole. Thats subsequently been proven wrong, he has been fined and theres not a word out of his mouth since.

2. Incompetent manager, when it comes to structuring the team: all the cock that he has been spouting recently about not being given funds to buy more players. He has spent more than US$ 200mn indiscriminately and am surprised at the fucker even complain about something like that.

Update - 06May7:

Things have changed. He might stay. He is out of the Champions League and hopefully out of the Premiership tonight.

He is undoubtedly the biggest and most special chuth.

Monkey Business of being a football fan

Note: The following post was actually written on 04Dec06 - before the recent winning run

Its tough being a football fan. Especially at these times, when the team is losing more often than it should, the manager looks as if he could hang himself anytime and the team frequently seems completely lost. Any thoughts of winning silverware would be better off being flushed down the toilet.

But voluntering to become a fan of a club is a one-way ticket; which is not a fact that one recognises at the outset. There are no comebacks; one has to get on with it, live with what happens and attempt to remain optimistic. Pretty much like life.

So what does one do in such a scenario? Can one objectively criticise everything thats wrong and hope that all the wrongs would be corrected overnight - i.e. buy more established players, bringing back Viera, flushing some US$ 100mn on a couple of over-the-hill yesterday's stars? I dont think thats realistic, and therefore a waste of time. Nothing can be done but to watch how things develop.

There is no doubt, the club is in crisis. But the positive is that its something that can be controlled.

The problems as I see are:

a) The captain and manager's recent blow-up
While Thiery Henry wants us to believe it was about his fitness, I think it was more a heated argument about the direction the club is taking. Buy big names in January, was Henry's view on their recent troubles.

But thats essentially questioning the intelligence of the manager - as in, buying young and not-so established names has been the route adopted by the manager the last couple of years and which he ferociously defends each time hes given an opportunity. Its a fact that Arsenal has limited funds; but I dont think even if he did have the money, he would adopt any other route.

Its not only Henry who has difficulty fully supporting (and to understand the rationale) the method adopted by Wenger. Its completely unchartered territory when a manager of a 'big' club puts out a team of raw, talented bunch of youngsters. The manager himself has recently questioned the maturity of the team in recent weeks - how the fuck can he expect them to demonstrate maturity, when they are so inexperienced. Maturity to deal with a situation day-in-day-out only comes with time. So it is a bit surprising, and rather stupid, that the manager doesn't see it clearly enough. Or isnt honest enough, if he does see it.

(Am not getting to whether the captain is indeed the best person to be the captain of this team)

Which brings me to the next point:

b) Lack of balance in the team
With experience, comes the maturity & mentality to hang in every game no matter what the situation of the game is; and obviously a higher salary structure. One needs the balance if you are seriously targeting silverware.

c) Lack of expectation setting
This is where the team is suffering - everyone from the fans to the players to the manager expects the team to have a go at the Premiership title this year - when its obvious that its fucking unrealistic.

The manager has to be realistic and put out an earnings outlook: i.e. we will not challenge for the premiership, we will not win the champions league. We have a realistic chance of getting Champions league position in d league and possibly a good shot at the F A Cup. But obviously, this would be not be forthcoming on account of sponsorships, 30k additional seats to fill and pissing off the handful of established stars in the team.

Therefore, I dont see this season to transpire in a way any different from the last one. If we manage to win the FA Cup and get into the Champions League final, then that would be a coup of sorts. If the side does manage to hold the No. 3 position from today until the end of the season, I would think we would have a fair chance at the premiership next year. But this year, we should think long-term!

The City of Choke

Its easy to write about Bombay. There is the underworld romancing Bollywood at Worli Naka for everyone to see. There are so many people, so many immigrants, so little space and rampant poverty - aspiration vs hunger. Oh yes, there is sleaze everywhere you look - from the paanwallas child dealing weed, to your boss on the dealing room back from a line. Or your neighbour frequenting Bombay Central often.

Its quite obvious then that there will be a Mira Nair, David Gregory Roberts, Vikram Chandra and hordes of others out to exploit the contradictions. Some are well made/written, some are boring.

Despite the relief of getting out of the City of Choke, I have been trying to get through more Bombay related books. For some unknown reason. And just finally got through the Maximum City by Suketu Mehta - a non-fictional piece on why Bombay is Bombay.

A seemingly well-researched piece on everything thats wrong with the city. Why its a fucked place to live in - i.e. the pollution, the crowd, the inhumane living conditions, lack of privacy, the unreal world available for sexual exploration, killing and renunciation.

It also provides an insight as to how the rescue plan being planned for Bombay in the 70s was hijacked by a bunch of real-estate terrorists. He tries to explain the impact of the draconian Rent Act and how its changed the entire future of real estate development in the city.

Talks in great detail of the undying love between the Underworld and Bollywood. He describes the sycophancy that exists at every level of these two great Bombay institutions. Frankly its no different from the organised corporate world.

He also describes in great detail of his love for a bar dancer named Mona Lisa. Of how he held her hands when he meets her father, of how she yearns to speak to him every day. It is quite brave of the author to talk exactly how he felt about her and how close he had become to her. But I feel there is more to it, as one comes to the close of his chapter on her.

He meets couple of killers employed by the underworld and understands what drives these fellows. He stops meeting them after he senses he is going to be bumped himself. Its quite a real recount (or atleast, it appears to be so) and one feels very close to the experience. He even speaks to Chota Shakeel, which boosts his ego further.

Theres quite a few pages reserved for Vidhu Vinod Chopra to explain how Bollywood works. There is a hilarious incident of teary-eyed Anu Malik talking to VVC with a radish in his mouth. But after the book was released, VVC took umbrage at what Mehta had written about him - his insecurities, his punjabi bravado, cockiness and sheer buffoonery. VVC said he would slap him the next time he meets Mehta and also that the author's wife has left him on the streets. Quite frankly, from his writing Mr. Mehta does come across as unscrupolous as some of the people he describes.

The writing is simple and direct, which I enjoyed. There is no preteniousness as employed by some of his peers. Maximum City is a book largely of facts mixed with the opinions of the author. However, the times he does make an opinon on what he thinks, I have come to believe that he is full of contradiction himself. Its not his fault, but Bombay does that to you as one comes to terms with the city. Its difficult to come up with a consistent view on the face of only inconsistencies.

Like the reviews on the backcover of the book says, its a good piece of investigating writing and will serve as a source for various statistics / history when it comes to the city of Bombay.

Theres very little on what he expects of Bombay to become though. Which is what interests me - will Bombay cope with whats happening. Will the good win over the evil? Will Bombay survive the next 20 years of growing population & related chaos? Will the Bombay spirit be broken by failures in governance or by terrorists? Will the dust ever settle (literally) in Bombay? Is there a chance that naxalism raise its head in a city of increasing wealth gap? Will the drive between Town and Bandra reach 5 hours?

Nobody really gives a shit about the other in Bombay. Every one has to move on, or he will be crushed by his neighbour. A bomb goes off killing 100 people and the next day all offices are functioning. Some complain at this indifference, at this lack of fear - while the others exhalt this Bombay spirit. I am not those that complain. I dont fucking care. Its extremely naieve & simplistic to believe that there could be a Bombay spirit. Its not possible; there is no other way that Bombay knows to live. They have no choice, but to move on. No one fucking cares you know.

The way that I see it, the population will continue to grow at a rapid pace (considering the rapid economic growth in the country) and the streets will choke and the crows will die. People will begin to die from body friction, sparking of spontaneous internal combustion in rapid succession. And you can imagine what would happen if that were to occur in a slum - which covers almost 30% of the city?

I fear that the naxalite movement will spring ; all the essential ingredients are there. As the supply of jobs/space loses out to the demand eventually, there will be a growing population of losers. Who will revolt and therefore the naxalite movement will begin and grow rapidly.

The Sena might come into power again (post-Bala Saheb & post-repeated Congress fuckups) and make Pune the pre-capital of the state. This will be the new strategy for the Sena under the young Bala Saheb. A radical one. They will move all government offices and one of the largest modern-day exodus of people will be underway.

Real estate prices in Bombay will therefore drop. People will go missing from their homes - because of the large debts - and they would be found lying flat on the tarmac below their apartments.

Dust will continue to shower the city and all technical equipment will eventually crumble rendering the city & nasal cavities dead.

One day, a rumour will float that there is an earthquake on. People would come on to the streets in panic, the roads jammed, tempers rise and just when everyone realises its just a rumour - the earthquake actually strikes. Half the city will go down into the cracks that open, never to emerge.

It takes a long while for the city to recover from this disaster. No one has the energy anymore to do anything. The Bala Saheb junior is smiling smugly from Pune. But the foreign investors cant afford to leave this Capital of Widening Income Gap lie like this. One of the largest recovery efforts funded by a World Consortium of China, US, Japan, Australia and Russia will commence in rebuilding the city. In exchange for space and people. The Bombay spirit will be back and the city infinitely more liveable. The dust would have settled and the Queens Necklace would once again glitter in all its glory.

Obviously all of the above is an exagerrated version of the future. But I wouldnt be surprised if it does go this way.

End of the road

Close to a week after the World Cup ended in bizzare circumstances, we have seen more about the controversial departure of Zinedine Zidane from the world of football and the Italian FA scam enquiry, than the World Champions themselves. deservedly so.

As far as the final was concerned, the Year of the Dog curse stayed and the Italians hung on to win on penalties. I believe there is a lot of luck associated with penalty shoot-outs; but it works both ways; what goes around, comes around and all that shit; and the Italians for once came out as winners. Though I feared their overall team strength, it was heartening to see that the French really had the upper hand for the majority of the game - much against expectations. But strangely, in the space of a few minutes, Viera, Henry, Ribery and Zidane were all out of the game - arguably, the best players for the french. It did have an impact as a few of them would have definitely been one of the penalty takers. However, this is speculative shit.

So, as the Thierry Henry of the Arsenal colours did not make an appearance in the finals, I am closer to setting my expectations as far as he is concerned. 50% of me thinks highly of the guy, because of the style and his goal scoring exploits in Arsenal colours. The other 50% does not, because of his ego and the related reluctance to play with the rest of the team and his insistence to play his own type of game, irrespective of the situation. I attribute it to his ego, because I get the feeling that he thinks (and also wants everyone else to think) that he is an All-Time Great already (the title is usually reserved for the top mid-fielders the World has seen - i.e. Pele, Maradona and Zidane). And therefore, he has every right to play the way he wishes to. Its another thing that it works in Arsenal because the team is genuinely built around him. Thats why the truth is: much as Arsenal needs Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry needs Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.

It pissed me off to see Ribery, Malouda do all the hardwork of working across the layered Italian defence, bringing the ball closer to the box, but finding no one there. Mr. Henry was lurking somewhere much behind, waiting for the ball to come to him. What is the point of having a 4-5-1 formation, when your forward refrains from being positionally available for his mid-fielders. I felt similarly in the Champions League final: when in the second half, an impressive Ljundberg and Fabregas combined to take the ball forward through the left and break through to find no fucking Henry to put the ball in - that cost us the trophy. To me, it appears that Henry is obsessed with himself, which is a good thing for a sportsman, but not so good for the team if it does not gel with what the other 10 players are upto. A la Sunil Gavaskar.

As you can see, I am struggling to understand this fellow and more so what I think of him. My previous post shows the hope that I carry everytime that there is an important match coming up. However, after this tournament, I have finally set my expectations in place. He is a good, stylish player, but I would not expect him to inspire a team on his own to a great victory (in a final).

On the contrary, I am quite prepared to think that the world has seen one of the greatest to finish his career in Real style last Sunday. He deserves the red card all right, Mr. ZZ. However, talks of the red card in his final match, that too a WC Final, will taint his career is all balls. It is disappointing, that as a footballer, he could succumb to such provocation. Am certain that every amateur sportsman would have learnt that such drivel is part of life and that such provocation will be used to intimidate opponents. The Guardian has a hilarious piece on the mother of all insults.

But the look on his face as he brought down the Italian took me back to the ZZ interview that I had read a couple of years ago in The Observer (incidentally, one of the all-time best interviews I have ever read). As a kid, he could never complete a game because he used to be red-carded due to a short fuse and violent instincts. The look that he had on his face, is one of the most violent ones I have ever seen on a football pitch. He was smart to have used his head to bring down Materazzi rather than his hands. I think he would have broken his face & snapped his neck in that event and would have been arrested for murder. And imagine this: being led off the pitch in handcuffs. So, in retrospect, alls well that ends well.

I feel that his reaction was a tribute to his honesty and his lack of respect of how the world saw him / how he wanted to see him (critics, media, footballing legends, fans, history - it all) and I totally respect that. He returned to what he was when he started playing in the streets of Marseille. A perfect ending, in my mind.

In his most recent interview explaining his actions, the following comment stood out: "We always talk about the reaction, and inevitably it must be punished. But if there is no provocation, there is no reaction. First of all you have to say there is provocation, and the guilty one is the one who does the provoking. The response is to always punish the reaction, but if I react, something has happened." This has uncanny resemblance to what another french man had to say after the Old Trafford fracas 3 years back (a rare picture of the two gentlemen together).

On hindsight, I enjoyed the World Cup. good games, good sides And inspiring performances. an educating experience.

The Year of the Dog

Its half time, one each to France and Italy.

Earlier, I was at the neighbourhood food court for dinner. Was joined by a couple of old chinese men. Asked me what I thought about the final. France. They seemed concerned. "You put money?". Yes. Seemed distraught.

"This is the year of the Dog". And every 12 years before and after. "Only Brazil or Italy have won in the year of the Dog". Quick calculations later, and I realised that it was true. 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958 and 1934. 3 for Brazil and 2 for Italy. Given the chinese are extremely superstitious, am sure thats where every China man in this world has put their money - Italy.

Not only does the French have to beat history, the extremely efficient Italians but also about 1.5bn Chinese people praying together. That sure is a tough one to beat.

Theirry Henry and his Italian baggage

Thierry Henry has lived a couple of lives. Probably more than just a couple. As a youngster, growing up in a middle class neighbourhood of Paris, he used to be an aspiring footballer like most kids were. Before the Champions League finals, they interviewed his friends from the area. They were saying that he was never guaranteed a starting place in the more competitive games. Henry never showed any indication that he would be the player that he is today for Arsenal.

Then he rose through the junior ranks, as any junior anywhere would. Spotted by Wenger for no apparent reason, he was brought to Monaco. After a few years, Wenger moved on to pursue his personal agenda. Henry was then picked by Juventus, as he was showing promise. Besides, everyone wanted French footballers at that point - that was the beginning of the golden generation for French footballers. So he was brought into the "toughest" leagues to partner the likes of Zidane, Thuram, Del Pierro - it was the break that TH was waiting for - a big club, big team mates. However, it never was easy for TH at Turin. He was a joke apparently. The Italians still laugh at him as they would recollect the ball going through his legs often. His morale was going nowhere. His friends at home, probably were smirking as well.

Fate intervened, as Wenger took charge of Arsenal and bought him over to London as a Striker. Even as he departed Italy, there was a lot of ridicule thrown his way by the Italians. The King Size EGO that we have come to associate with Henry today, was hurt.

In the following years at Highbury, there emerged an Henry that none could recognise. His friends in the interview described it as a "miracle". Unlocked by the vision of Wenger and everything else (the AW style, his team mates, his english girl friend, the highbury pitch, fans) , TH has become truly a star footballer - and a stylish one to boot.

He had his opportunities in recent years to get back at the people who ridiculed him the most - the Italians. Played his role in the 5-1 decimation of Inter Milan in 2003 and more recently knocked Juventus out in the Champions League. And ofcourse, the hatrick against Roma in Rome in 2002. But there could never be a better opportunity than tomorrow to pay it back in full.

The Italians will start as favourites - but this man could help in completing the dream run that the French have had so far. Will that Henry from Arsenal emerge? I hope he does. I think he will.

FINALly

Who would have thought of this final at the end of the first couple of group games. Italy - boring; too defensive; will fail against a younger, attacking side; problems at home. France - way too old; no team unity; manager who has no vision; infighting; poor team morale; cant score goals; will fail against a younger, attacking side; remember 2002? etc. But thats the way the World Cup works.

Predicted this final at the time of the QF, but got the semi-final opponents of the finalists wrong. Italy-Germany game was amongst the best of the tournament. Full-on attacking game and just showed the strength of the Italians in terms of midfield & defense. Clearly, they would start the finals as the favourites. And am sure the UBS analyst must be praying that they win. On the contrary, the France-Portugal game was a compromise. Glad that none of the 6 important french players picked another yellow.

Whilst, the Italians will start as favourites, in line with my view on Day 'T-1', I am putting my money on the French, considering that they have come this distance. Do they have it in them to manage one more game of full-on intensity, is the question. Patrick Viera and Claude Makalele will need a big game to stop the marauding Italians. Zidane will lift the cup. Atleast, I hope.

Hope remains

The English got knocked out and Richard Williams of the Guardian captured it right.

".. A successful apprenticeship in the upper reaches of English football wraps such an effective comfort blanket around a young player that he is seldom exposed to the harsh realities of the outside world, and never confronts those moments in which failure really does mean disaster. When they are called to summon reserves of resilience at moments of extreme pressure, they discover those reserves either do not exist or have been depleted by the demands of domestic football..."

I do think that the English league is emerging as one of the toughest leagues in the World. But the performance of what seemed an 'Incredible 11' in this tournament, clearly indicates that its more due to the foreign coaching and the Henrys, Xabi Alonsos, Cescs, the Israeli Boy, Heinzes, Makeleles, Petr Cechs, Crespos around. Lampard, Gerrard and Beckham seemed half their usual self. While they ground to yet another win at each stage, what was apparent was there seemed very little fluidity - possibly, symptomatic of the English way of life. It can also be attributed to the long season, clueless coach etc - but those are just excuses. The English are not benefitting it from the quality league that it has. They need the outsiders to keep it going - but thats another discussion all together.

But as always, there are exceptions. None more than this man. Probably because, save for his t-shirt, there is very little English in him. His performance for England, has many people (incl me) admitting to our complete lack of understanding of what he is actually capable of. Mr. Williams has an explanation for this also.

"...Before Hargreaves was born, his parents left Britain to make a new life for their family in Canada. They succeeded, and in so doing may have laid the mental foundation for his son's career. Owen Hargreaves arrived in Munich as a 16-year-old and began a long struggle to establish himself among the superstars in the first team at Bayern, in a country where he knew no one and had to learn the language from scratch. When times were difficult, when he was dropped or suffered injuries, his parents' example of ambition and self-sufficiency can have done him no harm..."

The weekend belonged to the Marseille Dancer and this team. Who collectively squashed and killed the Opportunist fan! Ha.. what joy.

the draw is set now..

spectacular quarter-final draw. for the connossieur i.e. opportunistic football fans would term france being there an 'upset'. but isnt that the beauty of the World Cup - its the opportunist vs the connossieur

Anyway, here goes:

1. Germany vs Argentina: Evenly matched I would think. Am indifferent. Ma money on ARG
2. Italy vs Ukraine: Italy
3. England vs Portugal: Tough game - England
4. Brazil vs France: France it is

France will take out the English in the semis and Italians will surprise the Argentinians, with yet another scratchy last-minute goal. Further bad news from Italy will then be the excuse for the azzuris to lose the finals to the suprise winners of FIFA World Cup 2006 - Les Bleus.

Another update

The second round has begun. Not major upsets yet but some exciting matchups ahead. In the first round, my score reads 26 out of a possible 32. Which clearly means the odds were a bit too much. However there are some exciting games ahead - ghana v brasil, france v spain and the quarters game between germany and argentina. I am glad that the french got through and I am still willing to still plug for them to be the eventual winners. England looks too disorganised.

Quote of the day & Update

From the Guardian ya: "It depends on who the woman is. A little bit is OK" - Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez adopts a quality not quantity attitude to pre-match slap'n'tickle.

Ok a quick update, from my second round of punts: lets see, with 6 groups completing their first round, out of a possible 24 bets, I got 20 right. The surprise one being Australia getting past Croatia.

Ok more laters.

.. bets looking extremely dodgy

10 days into the World Cup, and there haven't been too many unprecedented results so far. With the last league match left for each group, there could be a surprise or two awaiting us. My picks have performed quite dodgily - actually turning out to be the likely upsets of the first round!! But as any punter would tell you, one has to review views based on market reality and get on with it.

(Like to clarify that my bets are based on the risk-reward metric; before anyone questions my intelligence)

First, a look at my picks at the beginning of the tournament:

1) Group G

France: poor team morale, age, internal strife & poor choice of 1st team is holding back this team. And after a couple of draws, they could well be packed up yet again in the first round. I suppose I took a Nick Leeson type punt on the team, hoping that things could not possibly get worse. As Mr. Leeson learnt, apparently it can.

View: France (No. 2) would squeeze through with a win against Togo. The Swiss would bow out despite a win against the Togans, as they would lose/held to a draw against the Koreans (No. 1). As you can see, I am not cutting losses on this one yet.

2) Group E

Czechs: Got blasted by an extremely impressive Ghana side. Very likely to exit in the 1st round stage, as they would be unable to beat the Italians because of the numerous injured forwards and ageing mid-field.

View: Ghana (No. 1) will take care of the Americans and finish first against all odds. They would join the Italians (No. 2) . A definite upset. Am cutting loss in this case, in the wake of the impressive African performance.


Now, lets go through the other countries in alphabetical order.

3) Group A

Ecuador and Germany already through to the 2nd round. Who will top the group? Think it would be a draw between Ecuador (No. 1) & Germany (No. 2) and Ecuador topping the group on better goal difference. Another upset of sorts.

4) Group B

On current form, would go with a draw between England (No. 1) and Sweden (No. 2). If one of them had to win, I would think it will be England. If Sweden loses and T&T win agst the Paraguans, Sweden will go through on a better goal record.

5) Group C

The Group of Death has turned out to be straight forward, at least when one looks at the results. Think the Argentenians (No. 1) should finish the league stage comfortably as 1, followed by the Dutch (No. 2) i.e. ARG will beat the Dutch in their final game. ARG: a good bet for a title win - cohesive, young and attacking with defense looking tight, so far atleast.

6) Group D

No matter what transpires between Angolans and the Iranians, Portugal (No. 1) & Mexico (No. 2) should go through. One of the more boring groups in the league phase.

7) Group F

I see the Croats (No. 2) pulling off this one against the Aussies, in a last gasp qualification. And ofcourse the Brazilians (No. 1).

8) Group H

Spain (No. 1), another fav based upon performance in their first match - should top this Group with 3 wins. Another, brilliant recovery will see the Ukranians (No. 2) scrambling through to the next round.


Winner of World Cup: Going through quickly with the rest of my World Cup calculator, it emerges that England will be the next World Cup winner.


Ahem! Looks like this too will be revised at the next review, which will be held prior to the beginning of Round 2 i.e. 23Jun06.

In this round, I have made 32 predictions (choice of teams & positions), lets see how many will be spot on. Please let me know if anyone is prepared to give me 10-1 odds that atleast 50% of the predictions would be 'right'.

where am I putting my money?

Its Day T-1 before the BIG cup begins, and I have been wondering, as most people, who is going to lift the cup.

My money on Day T-1 is on France. The choice is not driven by emotion but more so by by the high odds, resulting from the internal strife that the team is suffering from at the moment, injuries, ridiculous omissions, poor form in the pre-qualifiers etc. Pretty much the situation Brazil were in 2002.

The press seem to go on about how the key players are jaded - which is true for most other big teams, but conveniently forgotten. I look at the team and think it is as good as any other around. Admit that they can't be considered as favourites - but thats why I think they will win the tournament.

And there are the Czechs - watch out for these aging boys as well.

Within Day T+7, I shall put out a note on the likely future for each of the big teams in the tournament.

PS: Like my Boss told me, "And, please not Brazil".

Kannagi is back.. and the Jap connection

Our Dravidian hero, Karunanidhi is back in power and trying to fuck Amma, or atleast her ideological policies. in other words, the Statue of Kannagi is in the process of being reinstated on Marina. It was removed as Amma's vasthu consultant advised her that it was that evil statue that was consistently preventing her to get away with corruption, like the way her Dravidian brother used to. Neednt say what MuKa's consultant told him.

Empirical evidence also suggests that there will be less rain going forward. That, we can wait and see.

While searching for a picture of the Statue of Kannagi, came across yet another Tamil-Jap connection. Kannagi used to be the name of those maiden servants of Gods & Goddess in Japan in ancient periods. These days 'Kannagi' is amply used in modern day Jap pulp fiction, comics etc. Like the following for instance. Now, it seems to make sense why Amma feels threatened oredi.

The Dutch Master

It was just a matter of time before this mans name appeared out here - Dennis Bergkamp.

My first sighting of the Dutch Master was in a game for Holland, around 1990 - dont recollect against whom the game was being played. In the penalty box, a young Bergkamp traps the ball that comes sailing in, turns around and slams the ball in. He runs back celebrating with a clenched fist - with a look of quiet confidence which I didnt quite understand at that point.

Was familiar with the name however, as 'Sportstar' did mention his name as one of the men to watch in the 1990 world cup. There were reports that he would succeed the great Dutchh trio from AC Milan eventually - Guillt, Van Basten and Rijkaard.

At that time, my football viewing was restricted only to the World Cups, given the limited coverage on TV of the various international leagues. Further, I was not fortunate to come across anyone who could explain the beautiful game that football was. I was a sucker for cricket (like most of us were) and was quite happy with that. Also explains why I dint have a clear favourite team - in terms of a club or a country at that time.

Brazil seemed to be the outright favourite for most people I knew - because of their incredible style and their success in World Cups. For me however, I continued to watch World / Euro Cup without the passion of a football fan i.e. not dreaming or spending sleepless nights worrying bout a team's performance the next day.

Then came the World Cup in France*. 1998. Was a quarter-final game between Holland and Argentina. Was surrounded in the TV room of a hostel in Lucknow, by hordes of opportunistic Argentinean, Brazilian and French fans. In the humid environs of the room, my eye caught its first "moment" of the beautiful game.

It was a humid day in Marseilles, France as well. The match was tied and in the 89th minute a long ball was sent sailing by De Boer to the other end of the pitch. There was Bergkamp waiting on the right hand corner of the pitch. With couple of Argentinean defenders rushing in on him, there was little time to do anything much - for most footballers, that is. In what seemed too casual for an international game - let alone a World Cup QF match - Bergkamp traps the ball with his right leg stretched out with ease, side steps the Argentinean hulk, and slams the ball at an acute angle. Over the Goal Keeper and into the goal. Minimal fuss and maximum skill.

Holland wins.

That moment, I realise, was very critical for the future of football - for me. It was my moment of falling in love with the beautiful game. It was a personal moment as well - because in that room of some 100 people, not one really caught on to that moment of sheer class and elegance. People, opportunistic that they are, were talking of only Baggio, Beckham, Ronaldo and more recently, Zinedine Zidane.

Though I wasnt convinced of Holland as a team, was disappointed when they went out to the Brazilians in a penalty shoot out in the semis. Disappointed that I couldnt see any more of Dennis Bergkamp.

Circa 2000. With the TV coverage of the EPL being splendid, sat down to watch a few games on a drug-induced, lazy Sunday. The match was in Highbury, London and the team that was playing was Arsenal. And from my understanding until that point, the Gunners were considered a boring team. The famous back 4 etc. But the team I was watching bore no resemblance to that primitive understanding of mine. Here was a team, packed with genuine athletes with the sole intent of scoring goals - and beautiful ones at that.

Spearheading the attack, was none other than the Dutch Master, Bergkamp himself. Of course there were other exceptional players out there - Henry, Viera, Wiltord, Pires, Lungnberg, Tony Adams, Ashley Cole, Ray Parlour, Martin Keown amongst others. And managed by a tall, thin Frenchman, Arsene Wenger. Here was a finally a team, that I wanted to belong to.

At that point, I felt miserable not catching the run of this team beginning with when Wenger took over the reins of the club in 1996. In other words, missing out on this beautiful vein of football that Arsenal played. In the most unlikely of events, Wenger was picked from the remote leagues of Japan to become the first foreign coach of an English premiership team. Bergkamp was his first signing, amongst a lot others that were to follow, that would revolutionise the way football was played - in England at least. And finally in 2006, in Europe as well. Anyways, this note is about Bergkamp, and not about the vision of Arsene Wenger.

In the past 6 years, that I have been an Arsenal fan, nothing excites me more than watching the Dutch Master - evolving from an outright striker to a master play maker. Over a period of time, Bergkamp left the bulk of the goal scoring to some of his younger and accomplished colleagues. While he focussed on threading passes and using his enhanced vision & intelligence to set up some of the greatest goals one has ever seen. On hindsight, Bergkamp was clearly the pioneer of "beautiful football" that one has begun to associate with Arsenal over the last 10 years.

The current season for the Gunners has been one of many disappointments and recently of sheer exuberance. With fair share of controversies thrown in - Patrick Viera being sold, Ashley Cole sulking after the brief Chelsea love affair which went horribly wrong and Thiery Henry contemplating his future with this under-20 side.

It also happens to be Bergkamps last season before he excuses himself from the football pitch. Also happens to be the last year of football being played on the great Highbury pitch.

Which brings me to the weekend’s match at Highbury. As has been the practice this entire season, the day was dedicated to an Arsenal stalwart by the fans. It happened to be the 'Dennis Bergkamp' day. It was pleasing to see scores of Arsenal fans dressed in the Dutch Orange (complete with hair dos etc) to support the master - a sight that one seldom sees in a club match. And am sure each one of them were hoping (just as I was) he would get a few minutes.

The game appeared sealed with Helbs inspirational goal before the interval and forced Wenger to pull out Henry with about 30 minutes to go. After another 10 minutes, Wenger brought in Pires and Bergkamp in a double substitution. The entire Highbury stadium rendered an applause, that I have not seen too often in any sport. It just seemed for that minute, all the Gunners - on the field and off it - had taken time off to bask in that environment. And it just took that minute, for West Brom to equalise.

There was confusion quite obviously. It was not the way it was meant to be. Honestly, I wanted to put all my money on Arsenal winning at that point. But I dint expect the way it happened.

Bergkamp and Pires combining, again in a moment of sheer class, to take the lead. What appeared to be yet another complex maneuver, was suddenly made to look less complex and easy.

And then the moment that I have waited all this season: a forceful run by Pires (?) down the right, to pass the ball to the Dutch Master. Only for Bergkamp to slot it past the goal keeper for Arsenals 3rd goal for the evening. Everyone at the stadium and watching the game, took yet another minute to celebrate the genius of the Dutch Master.