World Cup 2010 Blog: “The Amauri Saga Climaxes With A Silent Thud” plus 3 more |  |
- The Amauri Saga Climaxes With A Silent Thud
- World Cup Legends: Just Fontaine.
- Zinedine Zidane Shows His Futsal Skills in France ‘98 vs Algeria ‘82/’86
- 100 Days Until World Cup 2010 Kickoff
| The Amauri Saga Climaxes With A Silent Thud Posted: 03 Mar 2010 02:10 AM PST
This didn’t impress Dunga, who refused to call up the giant Drogba-wig impersonator to the shock of many (though he was eventually called for a friendly but pulled out injured), which sent alarms blaring all over Italia because the Azzurri are still desperately searching under every rock in the peninsula for that first striker. And after years – quite literally years – it’ll all culminate today when Amauri finally gets his Italian passport. Yet after all the hullabaloo, no one cares anymore. This is not how you justify a €22m transfer tag. It is how you infuriate your own fans, though. Combine this with Lippi’s words, and you have to think The Great Amauri Saga was nothing more than a farce:
Marcello reiterated the “every player is under observation” bit two days ago. So 18 months after the country was in a mini-furor over Amauri’s possible inclusion, he will get his passport and no one will care to look twice. Well, perhaps Dunga, shadowed in the sliest of smirks.
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| World Cup Legends: Just Fontaine. Posted: 02 Mar 2010 11:00 PM PST
When the words “1958 World Cup” pop into conversation, the minds of most typically latch onto one name: Pelé. It was his coming out party and he deserves every bit of praise he receives, leading Brazil to its first title as a 17 year old burgeoning legend. Yet lurking in the not-so-distant background is a man whose tournament was no less impressive, and still stands today as the single most statistically bountiful World Cup in history: France’s Just Fontaine. Words can hardly tell the story told by FIFA’s list of all-time World Cup goalscorers: 1. Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 One tournament, third most prolific ever. Ronaldo & Pele achieved their totals in four tournaments, while Gerd Muller did so in two (scoring ten in 1966). Only Sandor Kocsis can claim to approach Just’s shooting star status with 11 in his lone World Cup, of 1954. Fontaine also did so in six games, scoring in each one, becoming only one of three players to earn that trophy (Alcides Ghiggia scored 4 in 4 in 1950 & Jairzinho 7 in 6 in 1970). And even more, he’s one of only four players to score two World Cup hat tricks, along with Kocsis, Muller & Gabriel Batistuta. The man is simply a statistician’s dream – even more so when you consider his France totals read 30 goals in 21 games. Simply an astounding goal scorer, one whose career was sadly cut short by injury in 1960. The tournament itself was a brilliant one for France, having placed no higher than sixth previously – in 1938, when they hosted – they managed to make the semifinals through the partnership of Fontaine and Raymond Kopa, where they met up with a Brazil side towing a young player who was then a mere talent. Les Bleus were doomed by Pele, but in retrospect, it’s hardly the end of the world losing to the arrival of the game’s greatest ever player. Fontaine even scored in the game – keeping his goal-scoring streak alive at 3, 2, 1, 2, 1 – but it was Pele’s hat trick which took the headlines, and ultimately the game. That loss set up Just’s greatest game, and one of the greatest individual games in World Cup history: the third-placed playoff against defending champions West Germany. By the time the game was over, Fontaine had scored four goals and cemented himself as the most prolific single-tournament scorer in the competition’s young history, not to mention a genuine World Cup legend. Fifty years later, no one has come close to touching his record and there’s no reason to think anyone will come close, even with the extra game, in the next fifty years.
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| Zinedine Zidane Shows His Futsal Skills in France ‘98 vs Algeria ‘82/’86 Posted: 02 Mar 2010 12:40 PM PST
Born in France to Algerian parents, Zidane is unmistakably proud of his dual identity. So yesterday Zizou and other members of France’s 1998 World Cup winning team played a game of futsal in Algeria vs a combination of the 1982 and 1986 Algerian World Cup teams. The idea seems to have been to promote good will and friendship between the two nations. A worthy cause of course. But I know you (like me) are probably more interested in seeing Zidane in action on the futsal court. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of video below. According to le Parisien, the France ‘98 team representatives were as follows: Zinedine Zidane, Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps, Lilian Thuram, Christian Karembeu, Vincent Candela, Bernard Diomede, Lionel Charbonnier, Pierre Laigle, Bernard Lama, Olivier Dacourt and Sabri Lamouchi. They were coached, as they were in 1998, by Aime Jacquet. Here’s a Zidane-centric video I pilfered from 101 Great Goals. Clearly Zizou’s still got the skills, even though he no longer needs them to pay the bills: Here’s a longer highlight reel, from a more Algerian perspective. Go to the 1:00 mark to see that Didier Deschamps will still elbow you in the mouth if you go past him, even in a game designed to promote goodwill: Final score was France 8-2 Algeria, which is actually a credit to the Algerians when you consider the age difference.
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| 100 Days Until World Cup 2010 Kickoff Posted: 02 Mar 2010 09:12 AM PST
There were celebrations in South Africa today to mark the 100 day countdown to World Cup 2010. OK, yes, 100 is just an arbitrary number. There’s no real reason to celebrate 100 days to World Cup kickoff anymore than there is to celebrate 102 days to World Cup kickoff. I suppose 100 is just a nice round number. But somehow this feels good. I think maybe because 100 days is short enough to make the tournament feel close. Soon 100 will be 50, then 10, then just one, and then… kickoff. Is anyone else suddenly a bit excited?
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Eighteen months ago, Amauri was perhaps the most hotly debated international in the land – solely because he wasn’t an international at all. After a big money & big talent move north to Juventus, Amauri got off to a blistering start in Torino. 
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