Football: Play as a Play

If you’re a good actor, you are a successful husband, boyfriend, employee, interviewee and footballer too. Yeah! Don’t get bedazzled for that’s what has been a major deciding factor for triumphs in the recent WC. All the desperate soccer ke naukar in India who could brook the ESPN’s pre-match show Duniya Goal Hai know this – Dive In, remember?!

How shamelessly but instantly the one who actually committed foul play acts as if one has been trampled over or elbowed by one’s own prey! The act is a display of the marvellous acting talent footballers cherish and develop during their training sessions, thanks to the coaches who want to make it big by hook or by crook. The geniuses of soccer usually keep themselves at bay from the acting stunts referenced above albeit they do boast of the even more prized ability to overpower their counter mates with their dodging and tackling techniques. Please don’t complain for Klose is an exception, a substantial one though.

I personally don’t like paying heed to the pre-match predictions albeit I’m an ardent Fardeen fan. You don’t know Fardeen, the one and only ravishing rat that was ready to walk over perilous precipice to predict the outcome of a match (reference: Duniya Goal Hai)?! One thing no prediction could predict was the flop Ronaldinshow. Ronaldinho, in the earlier WCs, was a player par excellence who couldn’t get much attention in the star studded Brazilian team. This time, he paid the price of being the brightest star. He was constantly monitored by four-five players in every match to make sure he didn’t take control of the ball for long. Still the genius could execute brilliant passes but the malfunction of the Carlos Machine and an eclipsed Ronaldo kept the Brazilian game to standards much lower than expected.

This WC was an extravagant show of rudeness and roughness and speed, mobility and defence were the winning formulas; needless to mention the crucial role of penalties. For a moment, forget about the legitimacy of the game and enjoy the acting of players as if you’re in a theatre. I bet you will spontaneously hoot – The show must go on!