Respect must be earned!

Over the last month whilst I have been in South Africa for the FIFA World Cup, there is one thing that just doesn’t sit well me whatsoever, a sort of constant headache that will not go away no matter how many naps or panadol you take.

If there was common theme that stood out for me amongst all of the coverage here, it is that African football is some sort of football force destined for greatness simply rewarded for hosting the greatest sporting event on the planet. Constant remarks about how the African nations were a force to be reckoned with were made without any justification and smelt of arrogance.

There is a medical condition called “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” and it is the best way I can find to describe the self perception that Africa has of its stance in the world football arena. Quoting from a Wikipedia entry, “A narcissist is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige”. Now I ask you, what has African football achieved to deserve so much respect??

Granted that at youth levels African football has showcased itself with excellent results but this is not a youth tournament last time I checked. Constantly I heard the local coverage explain how teams like Ivory Coast, Ghana and even Bafana Bafana would show the world their true footballing prowess.

I will be the first one to admit, as a fan you must always have belief in your team and that no matter who the opponent your team can win.That applies to all sports and that’s what makes us so passionate in the first place. The absence of such belief is what differentiates you between being a regular spectator and a football crazy.

That being said, you must also be humble and respect your opponents and their respective achievements, something which I am sorry to say was lacking here. One moment that stood out for me personally was the match between Uruguay vs Bafana Bafana as this had massive coverage and as expected spurred great local interest. From the moment I woke up on match day, the so-called experts stated that South Africa were CLEAR favourites as they were the hosts and that Uruguay had not achieved anything hence they did not pose a threat. To take it even further, suggestions were made in the media that South Africa should rest its star players so as to rest for their last group match against France.

As it turned out they fielded a full strength team and lost 3-0. So how is it that they came to this conclusion that they were far superior??

I have my own thoughts on this and I am sorry to say that it boils down to plain ignorance and disrespect. South Africa have only ever actually qualified for 2 previous World Cups, this being in France 1998 and South Korea\Japan 2002 respectively and would have most likely not featured in this World Cup had it not been the host nation. One thing is to have self-belief but when you make it perfectly clear that you think you are so much better than your opponents and in turn disrespect them then you will always find it hard for anyone to respect you in return.

As the old saying goes “Respect must be earned” and that has never been more true here in South Africa. I love people showing passion and belief in their teams but I just hope that they have learned that they are still football minnows and once they start producing on the field then they can talk themselves up. Until then they are just making up the numbers.

7th Match – La Celeste 2 – Ze Germans 3

WHAT A MATCH! even though the result didnt go our way this was a very enjoyable match to watch. In the true spirit of 3rd place playoff matches, it was end to end football for the full 90 minutes. The game was exciting right up until the last kick of the game when Forlan hit the woodwork of a free kick, SO CLOSE!

I guess this is the time where I look back on our time at the World Cup and try to summarise our experience, not a easy feat let me tell you. Others have published their thoughts on this and have claimed that this World Cup in South Africa was the BEST EVER! From a results perspective I would have to certainly agree as La Celeste’s achievements have been nothing short of outstanding! With respects to transport to and from the matches and my overall World Cup experience though I would say that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. Les Murray hailed the transport as excellent and commended Sepp Blatter and South Africa on a great world cup. Les, I too would have that opinion if I was permanently based in Cape Town and was given access to private transfer to and from the matches. I would have loved you to have been with me when we were witness to transport chaos after the La Celeste vs Yo Queiro Taco Bell match, no doubt that your opinion would be a polar opposite of your current one.

Back to the match and La Celeste incorporated a very aggressive formation and El Maestro made a few experimental changes which worked well despite the result. Caceres and Fucille both started at Left and Right Fullback positions respectively whilst “El Mono” was shifted forward into the right midfield position.

The Good: I walked away from this match extremely impressed with the way we played, we gave it our all and were in a great position to take away the 3rd place medals however it was not to be. We had a lot of players missing but we still put on a great show of attacking futbol, VERY PROUD!

The Bad: If I had to pick anything to complain about it would have to be about “El Maestro” and his stubbornness in not making a tactical change soon enough. Granted he did swap Gargano for “El Ruso” however in my opinion that was more for the simple fact that “El Ruso” had a yellow card and was absolutely knackered after all of the massive work he has put in at this World Cup. I would have maybe liked to have seen “Nacho” come on with say 20 minutes left as he may have given our forwards some more quality ball.

Nightly Notable: As has been commonplace in this section \i once again must mention “Cacha” and “El Ruso” as they worked their backsides off all game as has been seen from them all tournament.

Man Of The Match: Officially I believe it was awarded to Muller however once again I feel that this was truly won by Forlan and not only for his spectacular volley goal but just for his overall efforts in the match. One must ponder the outcome if his free kick right at the end of the match had gone in,would have been interesting that’s for sure.

Massive congratulations also to Diego Forlan for winning the Balon de Oro, yet another amazing achievement for La Celeste. He was simply AWESOME for La Celeste and here’s hoping he continues his great form!

An so we come to the end of our whirlwind World Cup adventures, so many great memories and results to take home with us plus all of the other great experiences we had from all of the roundtrips to the wildlife encounters. As I sit here at the University of Johannesburg (in the ladies dorm of all places, another great experience) I have mixed emotions, part of me cant wait to get home and the other half wishing we could start all over again just to relive the amazing moments we have had. It is said that life’s experiences mould you over time and the end product is what you see in the mirror, I feel that having had the chance to see La Celeste flourish at this FIFA World Cup (my first) has changed me FOREVER!

For this, I say thank you to La Celeste for allowing me to have experienced this AMAZING journey, I am so proud of you all and here’s to more success in the years to come. Bring on the Copa America 2011!!!

VAMOS URUGUAY CARAJO, SOS LOS MAS GRANDE!!!!

6th Match – La Celeste 2 – Hup Hup 3

Well, another delayed blog entry however this time I am not writing about a victory as has been common practice for me at this tournament. We have finally settled back in Johannesburg were we will be for the remainder of our 3 days in South Africa before heading back home.

To be honest, I was extremely nervous heading into this game as I wasn’t sure which La Celeste team would turn up and also how the pressure of playing a semi final would impact their performance. Let me tell you that I walked away once again impressed by a team that had once again given its all. Hup Hup’s first goal was a cracker and I have to pay respect to that, its one of those shots that he could shoot ten times and the one that goes in is the one we all were spectators to. That added to my nerves however Forlan responded in the best fashion possible with his own superb strike which I celebrated like a madman. If you had told me whilst I was planning this trip that I would have been celebrating a Celeste screamer in the FIFA World Cup Semi Final then I dare say I would have taken you too seriously. But its because of that fact that this was all the more special!

Hup Hup’s 2nd goal has been discussed in length and since I have had so much time to view and read everyone’s opinion I have come to my own and I firmly believe it was offside. That being said it is what it is and as always we must move on as there is no sense on dwelling on it. There is however that constant reminder of just how close La Celeste was to making a FIFA World Cup Finals appearance in 2010. Yes, we were defeated by Hup Hup, but I can honestly say that they may have been better on the scoreboard bnut we more than held our own and even at times dominated them and for that I am extremely content.

 

The Good: Obviously not the result however as mentioned I was majorly proud of La Celestes performance, we put in a great representation of what Garra Charrua is and I honestly believe that had their been another 10 minutes to go after we scored our 2nd goal that we could have taken the game into extra time or even had won it outright!

The Bad: Feeling defeat for the first time at the FIFA World Cup was tough but considering it was in the semi final my immediate disappointment was natural however looking back on it it could have been worse.

Nightly Notable: Arrevalo Rios and “Russo” Perez worked their backsides off all game as has been the benchmark I have come to expect from them in this tournament, references to them being like “Pacman” could not be more accurate. I was also massively impressed with Caceres who played his first game for Le Celeste in this tournament and if there was any concerns that the pressure of his first match being a semi final they were quickly dismissed as he showed that he is a class defender with great attacking abilities, great signs for the future!

Man Of The Match: Officially awarded to Schnieder however I was once again left impressed with Forlan given that he scored a crucial goal that tipped the whole match into an even balance. He has been a true warrior for La Celeste and in this match he was called upon not only for his goal scoring heroics however also for his leadership as he took over the captaincy role.

So the dream ends (slightly) where it all began, in Cape Town. What an amazing world cup though considering it was my first ever in attendance and I will go home immensly proud of la Celestes achievements. We were blessed with great goals and also able to celebrate goal in every stadium we played in which not to many fans here can boast.

Tonight we are heading out to watch the 3rd\4th Place playoff match between La Celeste & the team with the best dressed coach EVER! This will also be the first time ever that I will watch a match in 3D, yet another first for me and a nice cherry on top of this AMAZING TRIP!!!

Just finished reading some posts stating that Paul the Octopus has picked Ze Germans to be victorious tonight, so in order to kindly reply here is our chant to you Paul….

AH ESTE PULPO LE TENEMOS QU GANAR!!!

AH ESTE PULPO LE TENEMOS QU GANAR!!!!

AH ESTE PULPO LE TENEMOS QU GANAR!!!!

VAMOS URUGUAY NO MAS!!!!

5th Match – La Celeste 1 (4) – Africa 1 (2)

WARNING – LONG BLOG ENTRY AHEAD, PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

Sydney to Melbourne = 881kms
Melbourne to Johannesburg = 10,344kms
Johannesburg to Cape Town = 1,398kms
Cape Town to Pretoria = 1,459kms
Pretoria to Johannesburg = 63kms
Johannesburg to Pretoria = 63kms
Pretoria to Rustenburg = 113kms
Rustenburg to Pretoria = 113kms
Pretoria to Rustenburg = 113kms
Rustenburg to Pretoria = 113kms
Pretoria to Nelspruit = 3,22kms
Nelspruit to Port Elizabeth = 1,415kms
Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg = 1,068kms
Johannesburg to Cape Town = 1,398kms
Cape Town to Johannesburg = 1,398kms
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED = 20,261kms

URUGUAY PROGRESSING TO THE FIFA WORLD CUP SEMI FINALS……..

BLOODY PRICELESS!!!!!

We have travelled all over South Africa twice over, pulled all nighters driving, slept in a 4 door Renault, driven through snow, rain, fog and oranges, dodged car hijackers on the freeway, been attacked by monkeys, encountered trucks driving 3-wide on a 1 lane each way freeway and driven through some of the less attractive and scary places South Africa has to offer. But even after all this, I sit here without any doubts in my mind that this month @ the FIFA World Cup has been a lifelong dream come true, and then some. I got to share this dream with my Dad and my great friend Gustavo (aka Sienzuf) but also some new friends made along the way in Javier (aka Manteca) and Alvaro (aka Ninja) which has been the cherry on top. I will never forget this trip, it means so much to me already and I know that it will be something that I will continuously look back on in my future years and simply smile 😀

After a gruelling sleepless night driving from the picturesque Port Elizabeth to the belly of the beast Johannesburg, it was easy for me to forget what we were heading there for in the first place. Arriving the morning of the game and having a few hours sleep I awoke to the loud knocks on the door but as well to the realization that one of the most important games of La Celeste’s futbol history was only a few hours away from kick off, and I would be in attendance.

Now after all this what would have been ideal was a straight forward 90 minute victory but against all my expectations, this was anything but straight forward. What’s was to play out instead was 120+ minutes on the most gruelling emotional rollercoaster I have ever been on in my sporting viewing life.

“Garra Charrua”, a term I have quoted in previous blog posts, is a war cry of sorts. It is used in situations in which Uruguayans display bravery in the face of overwhelming odds and adversity. The expression “Garra Charrua” is used to refer to victory in the face of certain defeat. On this night I saw with my own eyes what “Garra Charrua” really is because as we came eyelashes to eyelashes with certain defeat and with the whole world against us, La Celeste reigned triumphant!!

The Good: Once again the result which is obvious as we enter the semi finals of the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 40 years and we will make our 5th appearance which is a major achievement for a country of only 3.3 million people. For me the most important thing that La Celeste can take away from this game is that, with the whole world against them, they triumphed and beat the whole of Africa IN AFRICA! Not a feat that is easy to achieve and one that silenced Africa and all the doubters out there.

The Bad: THE INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS!!!! Lugano, Lodiero are both injured and may not take any further part in the tournament. Suarez received a red card which was totally deserved and will miss out next match as will Fucille as he received his 2nd yellow card in as many matches. Also have to mention how bad we played in the first half, tactically poor and our execution was non-existent although this in turn makes the result even more impressive.

Nightly Notable: Arrevalo Rios and “Russo” Perez worked their backsides off all game and as the game moved into extra-time they were still going as strong as they were in the first few minutes. They were in everything and really showed true Garra Charrua.

Man Of The Match: Officially awarded to Forlan and after his 2nd cracking goal of the tournament and the fact that the latter kept us alive makes me agree with the decision. FIFA Has also nominated Forlan for the award of Tournament MVP. Special mention has to go to Muslera, our young keeper, who pulled of 2 great saves under pressure in the penalty shootout, BIEN AHI WACHO!!!!!

Now I know you are asking yourself “Hey, he hasn’t seen the elephant in the room?” and hence I am going to address the Suarez handball incident for you all, relax! From what I have read from all the experts and general football community there seems to be a real divide between those who think he cheated and those that think he didnt. To say he cheated implies that he did the crime but didnt do any time for it however as we all know, he got caught and boy was he punished. Suarez received an immediate red card and as a result automatically suspended for one-match however the silver bullet of his sentence was Ghana being awarded a penalty in the the 122nd minute of the match, merely seconds before the match was heading into penalties. Now its pretty easy to say that if Gyan scores the penalty, we wouldn’t even be discussing this and I would still be drunk but instead heavily depressed and counting the days to go home. Its this fact that people need to understand, Gyan and Ghana were handed the match on a silver platter by Suarez’s actions and by the referee’s respective punishment, the fact that he hit the woodwork is something that happens in football and cannot be blamed on anyone but Gyan himself.

Safe to say he was punished as required and within the guideline of the rules. However many have drawn comparisons to the “Hand of Frog” incident that has now made Thierry Henry infamous but what these people don’t realise is that the difference between the two is that Suarez WAS FOUND GUILTY AND PUNISHED ACCORDINGLY whereas Henry received a few bad headlines and a pat of the back from FIFA and rewarded with being part of the FIFA 2010 World Cup Official Advertising Campaign.

Now time to move on and Holland now awaits. Admittedly, I have still been celebrating La Celeste reaching the semi finals as well as enjoying the other fantastic matches being played so I have not really thought to much about it however we leave for Cape Town tomorrow morning so I will have 16 hours to go over the challenge that lies ahead. After having watched this match though, I can safely and confidently say…………ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!!!

VAMOS URUGUAY NO MAS, SOMOS LOS MAS GRANDE!!!!!