The Real Charm of Portuguese Football is Going, Bid Him Adeus

Farewell Figo, you have created moments of joy many times in that maroon jersey and also when you formed a vital part of that fantastic Real Madrid side. The days when Figo ran the defences in the Spanish Liga with effortless grace, once when he kept the ball in the air for a long time, gliding it past the defenders in the path to goal, then when he used to score from stunners and free-kicks, also he went on providing numerous inch-perfect crosses to Raul and Morientes, and when he linked up with the genius of Zidane to create the most wonderful moves of the game, those are all reminiscences of a great footballer, who knew the art of playing the game.

In this World Cup, in the opening match against Angola he showed glimpses of the vintage Figo, with an explosive burst, getting past defenders, and laid the ball for Pauleta to score. In Germany, he was asked to lead the younger lot, which he did with honour. It is a truth; Figo hasn’t played like a superstar. Perhaps it was the time away, perhaps it was a sense of his own transience, or perhaps it was fostering instinct he didn't know he possessed. Whatever the case, Figo has played not for him, but for the team. The team, in turn, had responded to the inspiration. In particular, the impressive young talent of Cristiano Ronaldo has blossomed under the tutelage of his mentor. It was an impressive sight the two men, so much separated in their age, interchanging positions with ease and running at the opposition defenders to create havoc. But in the end, Figo was too old, Portugal was too young, and was less-talented when it comes to scoring. There were some bad memories too, when Figo lost his temper and head-butted Van Bommel in that infamous match against the Dutch, and finally when he headed above the crossbar after a fumble by Barthez to take away all Portuguese hopes.

Figo made his senior debut for Sporting Lisbon in 1989. He caught the eye of people all around the world when he helped Portugal's Under-16 side win the world championship that year. By 1991-92 season he had become a Sporting regular. His career took off after his 1995 transfer to Barcelona. Under the guidance of Johann Cruyff he blossomed into one of the best players in the world. Figo was Portugal's standout performer at Euro 2000. But then he left Barcelona, and joined their eternal rivals, Real Madrid. That move earned him the bile of Camp Nou faithful. He was voted European Footballer of Year in 2000, and the following year earned the highest accolade when he was elected FIFA's World Player of the Year. But the 2002 World Cup was a dud. Then the disappointment at Euro 2004, when Portugal lost in the final to Greece, coupled with a heavy schedule with Real Madrid, contributed to his decision to retire from international soccer. His spell at Real lasted through the club's glory years until 2005 when David Beckham's move to the right-flank left him surplus to requirements and he was set free to sign for Inter Milan. Answering the country’s call, he returned a year ago to help Portugal's qualifying campaign. Now after leading the side to the World Cup semi-final, it is almost certain that his glorious 15 year-long career with the national team has come to an end. Coming to Germany, he was driven by the thought of one great final honour to crown his glittering career. That remained as a dream, but Figo’s place in the history of Portuguese football is up amongst the all-time greats, alongside 1960s soccer icon Eusebio.

What makes Figo so elegant? It is the bequest of composure, which is linked of course to poise, and allows him to give the apparently graceful inkling of having more time than everyone else. More time to think, more time to create, more time to take apart the opponent, more time to dictate the model of the game. Watching Figo in his prime, you think: Why is everyone else scurrying around to so little effect when it’s really this easy? That elegance makes him one of the most loved and admired footballers of the present generation. Figo may not have won the World Cup, but he was one among the chosen elite who had his expertise in bringing out the beauty of the game.

Good Bye Ghana, Adiós España

The wild beauty of African football has ended in this World Cup, so has the fluent passing and fair playing Spanish Tango. No more dancing steps from the twinkling Black Stars near the corner flags after scoring the goal. Also the traditional style of Red fury that has reigned in club football for so long has bowed out.

The whole of Africa was behind Ghana when they met giants Brazil. But as early as in the fifth minute, they suffered their first heartbreak. It felt as if Ghana were defending high, a bit too high for Kaka to slip a ball to Ronaldo. The big man made one of his trademark stopovers, got past Kingson and scored with ease to make him the all time top scorer with 15 World Cup goals. Bomber’s old record broken in his own land, and now the critics will at least hesitate a little before calling Ronaldo overweight. After the goal Ghana unleashed a lot of attacks and tried to say aloud that they were not ready to surrender. A lot of shots went wide; the shooters seemed to get a bit overexcited when they get in front of the goal. In the 42^nd minute, lady luck smiled with Brazil when a Ghana corner was met solidly by Mensah’s head, but it went on to hit Dida on the boot to spin away to safety. At the closing stages of the half, again Ghanaians found themselves unlucky. This time the linesman failed to spot the offside as Cafu with a low cross from the right turned provider and Adriano side footed home from short distance. Ghana showed their fighting spirit in the second half too, but their rout was completed in the 84^th minute when Ze Roberto scored by beating the offside trap. Maybe there is some part the officials played in the second goal, but Brazilians deserved to win, even though it is hard to say Ghana deserved to lose. But Ghana had to lay the blame on their own heads as they were dreadful shooting from any sort of range and for setting up the offside trap without care for a team like Brazil. Thus their fairytale ends in front of the defending champions and this World Cup has lost its last African representative.

The tag of underachievement that Spain wore was believed to be forgotten this time out, but they took it out against their old rivals France. Misfortune was always the prime culprit to the Spanish, whenever they are eliminated in a big tournament. This time it was an experienced group of players, who masterfully engineered their path into the quarter finals, against some ‘boys’ who forgot to act like ‘men’, when it mattered most. After cautious play from both sides at the start, it was Spain who struck first in the 27^th minute through a penalty. Pablo was hacked down from behind by Thuram, though a shade unlucky, it was the right call by the referee. Young David Villa stepped up to take it, took a strong penalty, where Barthez guessed right but the penalty was inch-perfect. Les Bleus then increased their tempo and reaped their reward four minutes before the break. When the whole of Spanish defence were labouring to get Henry offside, and was giving all their attention to the Arsenal forward, an old gunner Vieira threaded a low pass to Ribéry who sped away from the red shirts, performed a salsa around Casillas and rolled the ball into the net beyond the last-ditch lunges of a few defenders. The wonder boy from Marseille showed why some pundits hail him as the heir of the great Zidane. In the second half too, the ball spent much of its time in the middle. Spain had one or two attempts, but none of them were good enough to win such a tense affair. Six minutes from time, Henry got in a tangle as Puyol tried to cut him off from reaching a diagonal pass across the field. Yellow card was flashed but it was a cruel joke. The Barcelona defender gave Henry a nudge on the chest with his elbow, but the gunner collapsed holding his face. It was nauseating to watch that kind of a crap from a class player. Zidane sent his free kick into the box, Alonso got his head to it but it fell to Vieira at the back post. His header went to hit Ramos and squeaked into the goal to give the lead to France. In the injury time Zidane sealed the victory with his goal to prove that there is still life in his legs for another battle. It was a night where Spain just did not look good enough to win. France had the better chances, looked more likely to score and though one may feel a bit in a strop in the way France scored their second goal, it has to be said the better team on the night won in the end. In his best possible manner, an old Spanish supporter sitting beside me echoed his emotions, “Nice effort Spain, but come back when you’ve grown up a bit!”

Samba rhythm was heard aloud once again. Experience outplayed immaturity and veterans outwitted the youth. Brazil grew strong with their star striker breaking the record and Ghana fought hard, but it was not enough. Like the sun rising in the east, Spain bowed out of a major tournament early. They just cannot crack into the final rounds; it is much a problem of lacking the winning mentality.