We've just had a long weekend here in New Zealand. The sun was finally out - I think summer may actually be on its way.
So, what did I do during this last holiday weekend before Christmas...? Well, I spent most of it in front of the TV watching football and playing with my new toy (...keep it clean!).
Our household finally entered this century last week when we hooked up MySky HD and boy, does the football look so much better now. It was a timely TV intervention too, with so much round balling to be viewed.
Before we get into that I must confess I even had a look at some rugby, mainly because I was still getting used to (and being blown away by) the picture clarity. This only served to confirm my belief that rugby players, in general, are fat, ugly and more hairy than pretty much any other type of sportsman. It's clear - rugby should be watched with your eyes closed.
Anyway, back to more important things. The football. We had the Premier League, the A-League and under-17 World Cup on offer this weekend.
In the Premier League Chelsea was the only big team to win. Man U slipped up at Anfield, keeping Rafa Benitez in a job for a few more weeks. Actually, that's probably part of Alex Ferguson's long-term plan - keep Benitez employed, which will ensure the scousers continue as also rans. Arsenal drew (at West Ham), Man City drew (at home to Fulham) and Spurs lost to Stoke.
Speaking of the Spurs game, it just goes to show you can actually kill a side and get nothing for it. This is far from the first time we've seen that in football (or from Spurs...) and was a classic example of what I call the joyous frustration of the beautiful game. Spurs had all the shots, all the possession, hit the woodwork and yet lost. It's the way it goes sometimes when the only thing that matters is whether or not you put the ball in the net.
On Sunday afternoon I settled in to watch the Phoenix in the A-League and, once again, I saw a side that had all the shots, all the possession and hit the woodwork. Thankfully this time that side (the Phoenix) won 6-0. Not only was it a drubbing but it was against a Gold Coast side that would have gone top with a victory.
These two games were a classic illustration of why football is the biggest thing on the planet. Like life, you don't always get what you deserve. You can work hard, perform well and be better than your opponents, and still not win. Just like in life. What's that old saying?: "Life's not fair"? No, not always. And neither is football.
Monday morning saw the NZ under-17 side open their World Cup campaign in Nigeria with a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica. In conditions favouring their more technically proficient opponents (hot and humid) the kiwis scored first, only to commit a defensive howler to let Costa Rica get the equaliser. Hamilton Wanderers' Michael Built (remember him diving all over the Matamata Domain a few weeks ago?) scored for NZ. This means the kiwis are still very much alive in the tournament with games against Turkey and Burkina Faso still to come.
Normally our sides are out of it after the first game of tournaments like this. It looks like we've actually got some decent players too. I heard someone mention this is the first wave of Wynton Rufer's WYNERS kids coming through. If so, nice work Mr Oceania Player of the Century.
A final mention goes to some Matamata players who were at the NZ Under-19 Youth Championships in Napier over the weekend. Andrew Clothier was a guest player for the Tauranga City Utd side that lost in the quarter finals. Apparently he so impressed some of the Tauranga fans that the suggested he play at Links Ave next season. That was, of course, without out realising he will likely be playing at Links Ave next season - for Matamata.
Ex-players Dima Slack and Gareth Clark, were in the Cambridge side that lost 1-0 in the Satellite Tournament final to Dunedin Technical. Dan Frischknecht was also in Napier, although his Hamilton Wanderers side didn't appear to do so well.
Whew. I'll be glad to get back to work tomorrow after all that. Actually, I lie. I'd much sooner watch football all day every day. Maybe that would even motivate me to get off my fat lazy backside and actually play again.
Whaddya reckon?
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The whole world in our hands
We are four weeks away from what could well be one of the greatest days in New Zealand sport.
On Saturday November 14 the All Whites have a very real chance of qualifying for the World Cup. The proper World Cup. A win at home against Bahrain will do the job and the odds on that happening are, I would suggest, quite favourable.
It won't be easy. In football - in sport - it never is. But hard work, supreme organisation, a little skill and the sort of luck we had in Manama last Sunday morning could see us though.
This is big. Really, really big. And yet I can help feeling the country's sports fans won't fully be behind the team. Not yet. Football fans will be, of course, but many others will be secretly hoping for failure.
Already I've read and heard people - kiwis - saying it would probably be good if we didn't make it because we're likely to get smashed in South Africa. Well I'm sorry, but that line of thinking is about as clever as the logic used to present Barack Obama with this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
We have to want to win, to try to win, to be so desperate to win in everything we do. If we get to the World Cup the whole country has to ensure our team has the very best opportunity to perform at its best. And if we fail, then we fight and claw to qualify for Brazil in 2014, and the chance to do it again.
We don't just slump our shoulders and shuffle away to the bland, grey safety of our isolated little hole at the bottom of the world. That would be true failure.
The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, at least by most measures. It dwarfs the rugby version by a few million light years. Just being there would bring our small country the kind of profile money could never buy.
The benefits to football in this country would also be huge. It would be the kick up the arse this country needs to really start embracing the game. How so? Because your average kiwi sports fan would finally see how massive and all encompassing football really is. Enlightenment it would most certainly be (and not before time).
It is not an endearing fact that we are one of the few countries who don't have football as our main game. It's ignorant, immature and stifling. Typically kiwi, you might be tempted to say. Well, typically 'us' in the past tense, for sure. Hopefully not words to describe our country and our people as we finally start to grow up.
Embrace growth. Embrace change. Embrace football. It's simple really, if we value the health of our nation.
Hopefully one small result in November will be the catalyst for real and long lasting change. Not just for football in this last outpost of the world game, but also for the true enlightenment of our nation's sports fans.
Hallelujah!!
On Saturday November 14 the All Whites have a very real chance of qualifying for the World Cup. The proper World Cup. A win at home against Bahrain will do the job and the odds on that happening are, I would suggest, quite favourable.
It won't be easy. In football - in sport - it never is. But hard work, supreme organisation, a little skill and the sort of luck we had in Manama last Sunday morning could see us though.
This is big. Really, really big. And yet I can help feeling the country's sports fans won't fully be behind the team. Not yet. Football fans will be, of course, but many others will be secretly hoping for failure.
Already I've read and heard people - kiwis - saying it would probably be good if we didn't make it because we're likely to get smashed in South Africa. Well I'm sorry, but that line of thinking is about as clever as the logic used to present Barack Obama with this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
We have to want to win, to try to win, to be so desperate to win in everything we do. If we get to the World Cup the whole country has to ensure our team has the very best opportunity to perform at its best. And if we fail, then we fight and claw to qualify for Brazil in 2014, and the chance to do it again.
We don't just slump our shoulders and shuffle away to the bland, grey safety of our isolated little hole at the bottom of the world. That would be true failure.
The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, at least by most measures. It dwarfs the rugby version by a few million light years. Just being there would bring our small country the kind of profile money could never buy.
The benefits to football in this country would also be huge. It would be the kick up the arse this country needs to really start embracing the game. How so? Because your average kiwi sports fan would finally see how massive and all encompassing football really is. Enlightenment it would most certainly be (and not before time).
It is not an endearing fact that we are one of the few countries who don't have football as our main game. It's ignorant, immature and stifling. Typically kiwi, you might be tempted to say. Well, typically 'us' in the past tense, for sure. Hopefully not words to describe our country and our people as we finally start to grow up.
Embrace growth. Embrace change. Embrace football. It's simple really, if we value the health of our nation.
Hopefully one small result in November will be the catalyst for real and long lasting change. Not just for football in this last outpost of the world game, but also for the true enlightenment of our nation's sports fans.
Hallelujah!!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Has the All Star lost its shine?
It seems the Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation can't be arsed putting anything on their website about the annual All Star Game.
Interesting...and a little frustrating.
I know it was a fairly low key sort of a match, and many of the best players were missing, but it did have six goals and a penalty shoot-out. And some of the football was played to a decent standard.
Sorry to bag you Peter, but this isn't really good enough. Football is a 12 month of the year deal nowadays and it shouldn't take the best part of a week to get a basic report up (if it ever appears). I do despair, sometimes, at the level of PR nouse involved in our game.
I might be harsh in saying this, but it seems to be up to the clubs to do all the work to generate a profile for the game in our region, and yet it is the clubs that basically fund football in our region (we pay for refs, we pay excessive fines and, hell, we pay to keep the Fed and NZ Football afloat).
The money thing is a touchy area to venture into. It's starting to get really annoying, though. The football business model here appears to be built on clubs run by volunteers being cash cows to fund eveything else. Am I wrong? I hope to be proven so.
On a positive note, there is footage available of the All Star shoot-out. Okay, the South side (my side) lost, but how often do you actually get to see real digital video (or any other type of video) of our local football. Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/user/Swiftlyone
Interesting...and a little frustrating.
I know it was a fairly low key sort of a match, and many of the best players were missing, but it did have six goals and a penalty shoot-out. And some of the football was played to a decent standard.
Sorry to bag you Peter, but this isn't really good enough. Football is a 12 month of the year deal nowadays and it shouldn't take the best part of a week to get a basic report up (if it ever appears). I do despair, sometimes, at the level of PR nouse involved in our game.
I might be harsh in saying this, but it seems to be up to the clubs to do all the work to generate a profile for the game in our region, and yet it is the clubs that basically fund football in our region (we pay for refs, we pay excessive fines and, hell, we pay to keep the Fed and NZ Football afloat).
The money thing is a touchy area to venture into. It's starting to get really annoying, though. The football business model here appears to be built on clubs run by volunteers being cash cows to fund eveything else. Am I wrong? I hope to be proven so.
On a positive note, there is footage available of the All Star shoot-out. Okay, the South side (my side) lost, but how often do you actually get to see real digital video (or any other type of video) of our local football. Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/user/Swiftlyone
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