I'm glad the World Cup is over. I literally had a fever from watching the early morning matches and not getting enough sleep. I'd be fine till about 10am or so when my brain wanted to partially shut down but the position of the Sun in the sky and the clock on my computer screen advised it otherwise. The lack of rest would hit me again after lunch. The stomach busied with processing food would signal to the brain that it was perhaps time for a food coma. I love the Spanish have afternoon siestas. Alas we have to continue to slog at out desks or at least pretend. The afternoon onslaught of the Z monster is worse. The mind would easily wander, seeking all stimuli for staying conscious but at the same time, failing to grasp pertinent realities like a stapler can't be used for taking notes and that I was able to tie my shoelaces in the morning. It was madness and I was foolhardy that I could repeat feats of staying awake like a 20-something.
I am also glad that Germany won. They played well against formidable opponents and eventually won with a marvellous Gotze chest-down and volley into the back of the Argentine net. It was going to be an even affair and it came down to mistakes and opportunities. Higuain is probably regrets the most, for not making full use of the defensive error early in the match. That would likely have settled affairs and the South Americans would have been champs again after 28 years. But nein. Personally I felt the older German batch - Lahm, Klose, Podolski, Schwiensteiger - deserved a world class prize for their years of dedication to their squad. Now they can celebrate and know they are truly worth their salt. The young players are brilliant too and now the whole planet knows that Germany is a football force to be reckoned with for at least a decade more.
The WC also presented great surprises in the underdogs that made it past the group stages. Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia all made great impressions. Too bad for Netherlands but boy can Arjen Robben run and run!
The 2018 rounds will be played in Russia and depending on whether the matches are played in Vladivostok or Moscow, I'll be skipping work in the afternoons or staying up just a little past midnight, all bearable circumstances. Now to the BPL and Liverpool winning this time.
I was born in 1974 when West Germany won the World Cup. The Netherlands
were second. Poland were third having edged out Brazil. East Germany also
played in that finals and beat their democratic western brethren 1-0 in the
group stage.
My first real foray into a World Cup was entrepreneurial. My family drank Ovalitine for breakfast and during the 1982 World Cup, Ovaltine put
in World Cup teams photos as collectible stickers in their tins of chocolatey
goodness. I wasn't that keen on football so I was selling the stickers off to
the boys in school for 10 cents a piece. My friends were ecstatic - a sticker
picture of their favourite team was a treasure. I made a good few dollars back
then. I remember the blue shirted Azzuri line up and the green clad Honduran team.
Tegucigalpa is the capital of Honduras, I learned.
On TV, all we had was the Bundesliga back then. I think were
English league matches but I only remember the German ones. I wasn't that keen on
the game and we wished the cartoons were on instead. I remember Solid Gold, the
show with pop music and dancers.
We played football mostly after school. I wasn't good. I had
these thick glasses on and once a ball hit my face, I'd be useful as a chewing
gum solving an algebra problem. So I played in defence mostly. I wasn't
half bad there I reckon. But mostly the glasses got in the way.
In university, we played midnight football on the volleyball
courts next to Hall Six. We played mostly for laughs. Dim lighting, silly antics,
the odd dislocated shoulder - we had fun. Half the games ended up with supper
somewhere. Then we tried doing our homework after, hopelessly. In Uni, I also
decided that I would support Liverpool. This happened as a result of some
recognition of the club in my childhood and also because Man U supporters were
being thoroughly arrogant pricks. They were justified to some degree but their arrogance
needed some tempering. Fan is short for fanatic and sometimes we let our
passions get to our heads. I forgive them and wish them every loss in the next
BPL season.
In the last World Cup and European Cup, I saw an exciting
German squad play football like they weren’t German. They were young, bold and
courageous. Kosler, Mueller, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Ozil are names that now
synonymous with the rejuvenated national team. I remember the 4-2 win against
Costa Rica in their 2006 World Cup campaign. I was thinking then it was sooner
or later that if they kept this kind of play up, glory was just a matter of
time.
This morning I woke at 405am to watch Brazil and Germany
decide their fates in the 2014 World Cup. Yesterday, knowing Neymar was out
with a back injury, I predicted Brazil would succumb. Who would have guessed their
back line would atrociously let in 7 goals by the end of 90 minutes? I was
already jumping for joy when Mueller netted goal number 1 and hoped for some
exciting football from the Brazilians. It never came till the start of the
second half when Neuer was finally tested. He pulled off some great saves to
prevent any hope creeping into the Brazilian squad. The icing on the cake/nails
on the coffin was/were delivered two more. Oscar netted a literally last minute
consolation. Too little way too late. I think Neuer was pissed at having let in
one goal though, a man of exacting standards I guess. Brazil can weep, and move on.
So my bet is on Germany to lift the Jules Rimet trophy. I
also secretly want Netherlands to win. Ever since I saw this Marco Van Basten
goal. Stunning.
And orange is a nice colour. All warm and Vitamin C.
Three Israeli teenage were found dead after going missing for some days. Their bodies were found in a ditch in a West Bank town, Haihul. They had apparently hitch hiked along a major road nearby and never showed up at home. There was a call made to the police where a voice was heard saying "We've been kidnapped" and another voice after saying "Keep your head down". The call was dismissed as a hoax and now proven to be real.
The tragedy has gripped Israel. The sons slained, tears will be shed, cries will be heard but more importantly, there will be an eye for an eye.
Today I read on the BBC, a Palestinian boy was killed in an apparent act of revenge. Tit for tat, the payment of an eye.
Mothers and sisters are crying on both sides, nothing as great a misery as a son or brother lost so heinously. Men and boys are angry on both sides, the glowing embers of emotion now raging bonfires stoked by revenge, religious fervour and honour for one's people. Another episode in the long suffering saga that is the intifada versus the might of the Israeli military.
The rest of the world watching it unfold. State leaders are condemning both atrocities and urging restraint. Israel isn't good with restraint. After all the nation was borne of brute force and many guns pointed at a defenceless few. The Palestinians are a sad people. Landless, stateless and hope-less. Pushed out, they seek a way in, allowing themselves the ignominy of blatant oversight and control so that they can eke out a fair life. A day by day existence.
I saw a documentary some time ago about the kids in Gaza who saw their families perish in ongoing conflict. They were as young as six. Their eyes were vacant, the faces joyless. It was like they knew their future was bleak, non-existent even. What more asking to be happy - they were living hand to mouth with little to call their own. The only permanent things were fear and rubble. Rubble rubble everywhere. Rock as hard as their hearts. It was heartbreaking watching this. The interviewer even asked a university undergrad what he would do after leaving school. The man replied he'd become a suicide bomber, because he felt that was the only way to make a difference.
Last week, I caught an Australian TV programme (Four Corners) about life in the West Bank. The Israeli military deployed all around West Bank apparently arrests boys and teenagers for throwing stones, brings them in for questioning, checks up on them in the middle of the night, subjects them to military trials without a defence lawyer, and puts them behind bars. The video showed a 5 year old kid crying when soldiers tried to arrest him. He did get brought in and was released the same day later. Watch documentary here http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/02/10/3939266.htm
Arab kids walking to school get attacked with tear gas if a pebble is hurled at a soldier. A disproportionate response seemingly aimed at instilling fear and keeping an undesirable people in line. Some kids get attacked by Jewish settlers who want to drive them out, apparently with Israeli soldiers standing by and doing nothing. An Israeli man who volunteered to guide these kids on the way to school said it was sad that the Jewish people were subjecting others to the same way they were treated by the Nazis.
Added later - there's an astonishing number going around. Number of kids killed on both sides since the start of the second Intifada (Sep 2000). 129 Israeli deaths versus 1523 Palestinian deaths. The problem with this stat is the media is making it out to be 1 Palestinian kid killed every 3 days. That's not quite right and it severely skews perceptions. Graph below from http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stat/children.html shows the reality.
Sigh. It feels like the world has given up on the Palestinian people. They're stuck in their 'assigned land', literally split by another country. Life is hard and no one is sure they'll have a positive future. Their Arab neighbours don't want them. The world isn't sure if they're friend or foe. One terrorist act makes them all terrorists. I don't know why I feel this way about this. It just makes me sad that they have no where to go and feel like they belong, no chance to develop as a country. I wonder if they could give up and leave, would they? Why doesn't a big country with lots of space just help them out and take them in? Australia? Malaysia? Kazakhstan? No one cares it seems. Happiness is defined by where you're born, and changing your circumstances is near impossible. That's what is going to be written about us in the history books. A failure of humanity that repeats itself time after time. It's just bloody depressing.
Added later - I'm not pro-Palestinian, not pro-Israeli. I am pro-life and pro-give people a chance for happiness.
