Bleacher Report - Articles by Anthony

The Manchester Derby and Its New Found Significance

Anthony — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:13:26 -0400

The Manchester derby on September 20th must have the powers that be in the north-west city rubbing their hands expectantly with glee.

With the renaissance at Manchester City well under way, everything is in place to make this game the real stand out fixture of the Premier League season and another feather in Manchester’s cap.

Having competed for second city superiority for over a century the new millennium has seen the city of Manchester’s aspirations change with the emergence of the European Union.

The aim now is to create a regional European capital in the style of Barcelona or Europe’s many other recently regenerated second cities. In the wake of the IRA city centre destruction some 13 years ago the modernization that followed has now become a seemingly never-ending venture.

The BBC and British government recent announcement of the relocation of numerous departments to the city means the re-invigoration of the Manchester derby is the sporting embodiment of the brave new age that Manchester is about enter.

Sheikh Mansour’s money has brought international exposure that people with that very aim couldn’t be anything but excited about. Manchester City now have the opportunity to follow Manchester United’s lead in doing more for the city’s profile than the cranes that seem to be a permanent fixture on its skyline could ever do.

By bringing together the squad currently sending shockwaves through the Premier League they have injected competition into a derby which has long been a game with only pride at stake.

English football has always been devoid of a big game with real meaning. The closest thing being Liverpool v. Manchester United, a fixture without the bite or simultaneous domination that clubs like Barca/Real, Celtic/Rangers or the Milans take for granted.

At some point in history a team to get the blood of northern football fans pumping emerging from London would have quickly solved this problem. Exploitation and suppression of the historically hard-working north could seamlessly have been translated into a grudge match to rival any on the planet but sadly for the Premiership, it was never to be.

Football in England began as an exclusively working class pastime. No London team has the ties to London-centricity, government or royalty in the way that Real Madrid can be identified with the ruling class of Spain. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham like all the London clubs have always been the representation of small working class areas and nothing more.

Despite the size and global importance of London it has always been lacking in focused representation and as a result is still yet to produce a European Cup winning side. Something any football city in Europe must achieve if it wants the world to sit up and listen.

The Manchester derby comes with the foundation and history that all local rivalries do, but what now marks it apart as a real event is what the clubs have come to represent in football’s modern landscape.

Manchester United are one of the, if not the, biggest club in the world. A position that has become more unassailable by self-sufficient means as the years have gone by. The monopoly set up by the now defunct G14 clubs put a stranglehold on trophies so strong it seemed it would never be broken.

Manchester City are one of the new breed of clubs backed by limitless outside investment, unhappy with this cozy arrangement and ready to wreak havoc on Europe’s football hierarchy.

The financial superiority that has kept the biggest clubs big has now been eclipsed in dramatic fashion. Manchester City, like Chelsea before them, have managed to prove that a good percentage of the world’s best players will go wherever the money is.

For those who were under the illusion that players like Robinho, Tevez, or Adebayor were ever in awe of the clubs they were bought from the worrying truth has now been revealed. Manchester City are well on their way to building a team as good as any and like Chelsea before them a place at the top of European football awaits.

The longevity of the Manchester derby's new found significance relies as much on the success of the Manchester City project as it does on whether the mark that Sir Alex Ferguson has left on Manchester United is etched in stone or scratched in sand. What is certain though is that for the next few years at least it’s a game the world will be queuing up to see.

Having already lit the blue touch paper with the transfer of Tevez and a poster campaign that seems to have stirred emotions in Sir Alex that he normally reserves for direct competitors, it’s obvious that the blue half of Manchester are unafraid of raising the stakes.

A Manchester City spokesperson on MOTD was recently asked the question, “Do Manchester City have to become the biggest club in Manchester before they can become the biggest club in the world?” his answer was immediate, “Manchester is the world isn’t it?”

The answer is no.

It just feels that way right now.

Antonio Valencia Providing Hope, at the Very Least

Anthony — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:24:51 -0400

Preseason friendlies have rarely meant much in the past. At the very least, steps towards match fitness and without doubt a chance for clubs to make some easy money. For Manchester United’s supporters, though, this preseason has been a chance for damage assessment.

As quickly as players departed last season, dubious replacements have been found. Michael Owen has already proven as much as a man shooting Asian fish in a barrel can. Antonio Valencia must have been cursing the British Embassy in Ecuador that his debut was to come against a South American super-club rather than a Chinese, well, club.

Manchester United’s Audi Cup semifinal meeting with Boca Juniors in Munich surprisingly enough provided him with the perfect opportunity to show what he can do. Technical ability and physicality go hand in hand at a top Argentinean club just as they do at an English one—perhaps even more so than a German or Italian one.

Valencia slotted into Manchester United's right wing seamlessly. Pounding the touchline like a pumped-up Nani on steroids, he confidently assessed every decision. His debut was not that of a teenage prodigy like Rooney or Ronaldo, more that of a fully-formed, top-level player.

Like Kenny Rogers once said, “You have to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney learned this valuable lesson during their time at Manchester United rather than from a bearded country singer.

Antonio Valencia seems to have already had it hard-wired into his brain somewhere along the line during his varied football education.

Every excursion from the wing presented a dilemma. Pass to safety? Swing in a cross? Run at him? No decision was taken hastily. Each proved to be correct.

Given the opportunity to set Rooney free on goal, Valencia duly obliged. When options dried up, he happily shifted the monkey. When the chance to take on Boca’s defense presented itself, he scored the winner.

The raw goal-scoring potency of Cristiano Ronaldo will perhaps never be replaced on Manchester United’s wings, but what Valencia brings is variety that Ronaldo never could. Whereas Ronaldo was at the sharp end of everything United did, Valencia seems content to be wherever he’s needed.

Defensive stability was happily surrendered while Ronaldo was doing what only he can. Valencia has brought back strength and doggedness. A brick wall for opposing wingbacks and a handful for opposing fullbacks.

An ability to cross is an accepted, essential attribute for a winger. During his days at Manchester United, Ronaldo modestly proclaimed to have changed the “definition” of a winger, and in doing so, changed United. Normal service will very soon be resumed. The responsibility for scoring goals is now firmly back with the strikers.

Valencia is essential to that.

As is Michael Owen. Nothing has really been learned this preseason for United fans, but reassurance has been provided. Not that United are still one of the best teams in Europe or that Tevez and Ronaldo have been adequately replaced. Faith has been restored that they can at least still compete.

Alex Ferguson was predictably less upbeat, stating that it was a dreadful performance but that he was satisfied with Valencia. It’s understandable that he may see it as too soon for back-slapping. Manchester United are more vulnerable than they have been for years; hitting the ground running is a must.

They now stand on the cusp of a season more unpredictable than any since the early 90s.

Perhaps Sir Alex is as uncertain as anyone.

Danny Welbeck: Manchester United's Unknown Quantity

Anthony — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:16:01 -0400

18-year-old Danny Welbeck's ascension into Manchester United's first team squad has come at a break neck speed normally reserved for a very gifted few. After taking the youth and reserve levels by storm he now stands on the verge of a possible breakthrough season following his steady start to first team football.

Sir Alex Ferguson recently informed Fabio Capello that Welbeck will be in his squad for the World Cup in South Africa.

"Danny’s a certainty to make it at the highest level. I’ve told Fabio Capello the boy will be in his World Cup squad next year”

After bold predictions such as this it is certain Sir Alex plans to give him plenty of playing time this season. With Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov in his way Welbeck may be getting a surprise opportunity on Manchester United’s left wing and if he’s successful a chance, like many before him, to solve England’s age old problem position.

The Carling and FA Cup will again be an important training ground but opportunities in the Premier League will provide the real barometer for Welbeck’s top flight credentials.

His touch, pace, vision, bravery and a venomously accurate shot have allowed him to hold his own despite the fact his body is still far from that of a Premiership footballer. Towards the end of last season Ferguson had this to say about him.

"He's going to be a big lad, his height is about 6'1" now but the prediction is he’ll be about 6'3". He's yet to carry conformation in his thighs so he's still quite gangly but he is brave enough to carry that. When he completes his growing he'll really be something. Danny is a terrific down to earth boy and I would have liked to have given him more chances by now, but at this stage of the season all our results are vital”

Yet despite all this potential Welbeck’s progression means more than just another player in Manchester United's armoury. The crowd delirium after Fredrico Macheda's spectacular, perhaps title winning, goal against Aston Villa last season was matched by Welbeck's meaningless goal in a 5-0 win against Stoke for altogether different reasons.

"For someone coming from Manchester, to come on and score in front of the Stretford End is something every young boy would dream of. I’ve thought about it ever since I started playing football and I can't imagine any better feeling”

Welbeck comes from Manchester. Having grown up, like Wes Brown, in Longsight an area famed more for murder and gang culture than footballers, the romance of his rags to riches local boy done good story shouldn’t be lost on anybody.

It's an often overlooked piece of trivia that Sir Alex Ferguson holds the auspicious title of being the last and near certain final manager to win a European trophy without the aid of a single foreign player after his 1983 Cup Winners Cup triumph with Aberdeen.

Talk of his high spending history often overshadows the fact that United’s 1999 treble winning side was also built around a core of local home-grown players. Their value has always been understood by Ferguson.

Welbeck's development offers a lifeline of integrity for those who have seen Manchester United's transition from football club to worldwide brand. Another local hero to add to the remnants of Fergie’s fledglings at a club now known more for the millions it spends rather than the players it produces.

Welbeck joins a long list of local players to be given a chance since the class of '92. All with the exception of Wes Brown have come up wanting. Being the best young player in Manchester or even England no longer holds the weight it once did.

Manchester United's first team and academy now comprise of the best players from around the world. To earn your place in either you have to prove yourself comfortable in their presence. Welbeck so far has done himself proud. Every opportunity has been taken. He played a central part in last year's Carling Cup win and FA cup run. Rarely losing possession and making sure that shots hit the target.

This season we will find out if Welbeck is really a Manchester United player or just another young boy from the Academy destined for lesser things.

Manchester United and Their Unflinching Transfer Policies

Anthony — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:16:30 -0400

Manchester United’s reluctance to enter into the market for the world’s biggest stars could be compared to a new in-mate’s apprehension of entering the shower rooms of an American jail.

Ferguson’s insistence on not letting his yearly holiday in France be interrupted, gave the impression of a man calmly waiting for a storm to pass. Keen not to get drawn into a confrontation, and certain not to be exploited by the false economy created by the nouveau rich of East Manchester and West London.

The hurricane currently attacking World football with more force than any other though, goes by the name of Real Madrid. Spurred on by the dominance of Barcelona, and desperate to recapture the glories of years gone by, they have steadily fitted three years of transfer activity into three weeks.

Meanwhile in Manchester, after losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlo Tevez, United have made the controversial yet low-key signings of Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen. For the bean counters, a player for player comparison shows up a severe drop in quality. In reality, shirt sales are in far bigger danger than performance on the pitch.

Marquee signings have never been Manchester United’s forte. Beckham and Ronaldo are two of the only true world stars they have ever had. The first was a Manchester United Academy product and the other a £12 million teenager.

Neither was acquired with the status they now have.

The one occasion Manchester United have dipped their toe into Europe’s world star market, the water was cold enough to make you think it might never happen again. Seba Veron, though not the abject failure he is remembered as, never truly lived up to that £30 million price tag.

Shirt sales have never influenced Manchester United’s transfer policy. Market forces, this season at least, are trying to be kept out of the equation. Players are signed on the basis of quality, value for money, the ease of settling into the north of England, and investment potential.

Antonio Valencia, having already acclimatized to life in the Manchester area while playing for Greater Manchester’s Wigan Athletic, has shown the same potential as a low cost big club signing as he has done for Ecuador’s national team.

Chester born Michael Owen is virtually a local. His never diminishing strike rate and Ballon D’or winning credentials leave his injury-prone history the only debatable issue. Alex Ferguson though has never been afraid of a gamble.

Having signed Eric Cantona despite his bit part-status at Leeds, Teddy Sheringham, Henrik Larsson, and Laurent Blanc despite their age, and even a schizophrenic 37 year-old Andy Goram, Ferguson has proven more than once that he is not averse to playing the wildcard.

It’s this varied recruitment policy that has allowed Manchester United to maintain their vice-like grip on English football for the last 18 years.

The links may at times look tenuous, but the Matt Busby way runs through the club as it always has. Scholes, Giggs, Neville, Brown, O’Shea, Fletcher, Welbeck, Evans among others academy products ensure that to this day it still has some part to play.

Big money British signings like Rooney, Ferdinand, and Carrick come with an almost certain success rate on and off the pitch, while frugal foreign buys like Anderson, Nani, Evra, and Vidic can either develop into financial and football assets, or Djemba Djemba style mistakes.

This season is no different. A failure to compete with Real Madrid’s galacticos policy shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody who doesn’t have gills or live in a glass bowl. They will more than likely start the season without squandering the whole £80 million recouped from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The departure of two World class players can never do anything for the short term stability of a team, but the maintenance of a well trodden route to success has always kept continuity at the club. Alex Ferguson has seen it all before and so have Manchester United.

Only a fool would bet against either of them.

Are Manchester City Really Interested in the "Maradona of the Andes"?

Anthony — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:37:26 -0400

As Fiorentina and Peru player Juan Manuel Vargas fought against the river of mediocrity that runs through the current generation of Peru’s footballers in their recent qualifier against Ecuador, it really was hard to remember if a player had ever been so alone in trying to win a football match.

On the 46th minute, Vargas’s solitary confinement in the Peruvian national team was ended by a substitution as Luis Ramirez was replaced by a debutant.

27-year-old Roberto Merino Ramirez is a late starter in International football having made his debut last week at the tail end of Peru’s disastrous qualification campaign.

He started his football education at the tender age of 15 in Barcelona’s youth academy and has since lingered in the lower leagues of Swiss, Greek, Spanish, and now Italian football with Serie B outfit Salernitana.

After making a massive impact with Salernitana in just eight appearances since signing for them in February this year, it now seems that, relatively speaking, Merino has the world at his feet as the dark horse of this season’s transfer window, and new saviour of Peruvian football.

Having shone like a star in Serie B, the next logical step would be either a move to Serie A with his countryman Vargas at Fiorentina, or to live up to his nickname, “Maradona of the Andes”, at Napoli after his goal against Albinoleffe earlier this season caught their attention and sparked comparisons with the little Argentine.

As well as these more predictable offers if Merino’s agent Jose Alberti, is to be believed Manchester City are also willing to take a speculative gamble on Merino.

“He is the kind of player that forces the defending team to pick up at least four bookings per game because he really is fantastic, right now he has received an offer from Manchester City and another one from one of the other clubs that want him. “

“We have been contacted by Fiorentina, and wearing the purple shirt next season would be an honour for Merino. He really is a little Maradona.”

The 5'5" Peruvian is just as tempting a prospect as he is potentially disastrous. Having been born in Chiclayo, Peru but grown up in Spain, he holds a European passport and even represented Spain at the under-19 level, eliminating any of the visa problems a South American can sometimes encounter.

As a direct skillful player, his approach is so easy on the eye, it’s obvious why top clubs are willing to take a risk on him.

Serie B though, is no cast iron indicator of talent. If Premiership or Serie A defences can combat his directness, Merino will be forced to adapt or fail. At 27, it’s debatable whether he even could.

The physicality of the premiership may be just a step too far for Merino, presuming, that is, an offer from Manchester City is really on the table. In these days of transfer window madness, the very mention of a club like Manchester City can easily be used as leverage by any agent looking to add a few zeros on the end of a figure.

What’s certain, though, is if Merino was 10 years younger, his options would be almost limitless. Untapped potential in lower leagues is a rare thing indeed. Were he 17 rather than 27, I’ve no doubt he would be being coveted by every big club in Europe.

Whether fighting for a place in Manchester City’s first 11 next season or lighting up Serie A with Napoli or Fiorentina, it will be very interesting to see if his cavalier style of play can be replicated at a higher level or whether the “new Maradona” tag will remain the poison chalice it always has been.

Merino in action

Why the Champions League Final Is the Most Important Game in Football

Anthony — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:41:11 -0400

Back in the days when England’s footballers spent as much time in the pub as they did on the pitch, when football shorts the world over were tight enough to cut off circulation to the legs and it was quite normal for top-class players to sport facial hair, every four years something remarkable used to happen for football fans.

The World Cup brought with it an escape from terrible pitches and a chance to see the very best the world had to offer. Moments of genius from exciting new players wowed the viewing public. Players sprung into the consciousness of nations overnight.

Within hours they could take on a godlike status and like mythical characters, their reputation seemed to only increase during the four years away from the spotlight between World Cups.

These days even the best players struggle to achieve such a high standing. Every comment is reported, every bad performance or run of bad form is scrutinized.

A reputation can still be made in a World Cup tournament but just as easily it can ripped to pieces in the intervening four years.

The Champions League now provides the true litmus test for world football’s finest. European cup glory may never hold the stature of winning a World Cup, perhaps even in the minds of the players themselves it will never tug the heart strings the same way achieving something for you country can, but in terms of quality it is light years ahead.

Can International football really compete with club football? With limited time to prepare, narrow selection criteria and such large breaks between playing quality opposition can an international team of the same standard of an elite club side even be assembled?

Europe’s big clubs are now almost limitless in their powers. Every squad competing in the Champions Leagues is bursting with football talent harvested from every corner of the globe. Players you might have seen every four years in the past can now be seen week in week out in Europe’s big leagues. This year’s Manchester United-Barcelona final is much more than just an intercity rivalry.

Nationals of Brazil, Argentina, France, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, South Korea, Cameroon, Uruguay, Mali, Belarus, Iceland, The Netherlands will all be in attendance alongside the native British and Spanish players providing an interest around the world that spills well over Europe’s borders.

No dead weight will be taking to the pitch in Rome. Every player will be there by virtue of their talent. International managers may have to play with the cards that the gods of genetics dealt them, but managers at the highest level of European club football have already rigged the pack.

Players who have competed at the highest echelons of club football have been a glaring omission at World Cup finals. Ryan Giggs and George Weah’s absences in recent years stand in stark comparison to the memory of Costa Rica’s Paulo Wanchope or Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight Yorke lining up alongside their football nobody countrymen.

Similarly, the World Cup has produced more and more mismatches as the years have gone by.

Who can forget Scotland’s Colin Hendry hopelessly trying to stop Brazil’s Phenomenon in the opening game of France 98? Or Luca Toni against nearly every defense he’s come up against?

The World Cup can no longer be considered the greatest test. It’s without doubt still the world’s premier sporting spectacle, but the highest quality of football is now played at the highest professional level. It transcends borders and tribal allegiances.

Come May 27, Rome’s Stadio Olimpico will be hosting what should be the highest quality game of football to date. Barcelona and Manchester United‘s teams have been works in progress for years.

Having been brought together from the four corners of the earth, they have been refined and finely tuned everyday on the training ground. The result is two teams whose football ability stands head and shoulder above everyone around them.

This year’s Champions League Final will be more than a normal game. It will be the culmination of over a century of football evolution. As it is every year. May the best team win.

Nolberto Solano and The Copa Libertadores

Anthony — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:28:26 -0400

As the 34-year-old Nolberto Solano walked from the pitch following Peru’s recent 3-0 defeat to Brazil, he must have known that his time had passed.

Having grown up harboring a World Cup dream since watching Peru’s golden age teams of the seventies and eighties as a child, his country's near certain failure to qualify for South Africa 2010 must have cut like a knife.

One of the greatest journeymen of the modern game’s last chance to attend the greatest stage of all was predictably thrown away by a Peruvian side that has been unable to answer any of the questions that their superior footballing neighbors have thrown at them.

Though a footballer of amazing vision, touch and ability, his humble disposition and amiable nature has more often than not left his talent overlooked by football fans and the media alike.

His 17-year career so far has seen him hold a confident grasp on every team he has played in, yet all his efforts and quality have managed to produce is three Peruvian titles and an Intertoto Cup Winners medal.

Before becoming one of the England’s most successful South American players to date with Newcastle, or starring alongside his friend Diego Maradona at Boca Juniors, Nolberto Solano stood on the verge of a dream a million miles from the Eurocentric desires of the Premiership.

He first came up on the world football radar in 1997. In the same year that he came in at No. 2 in the South American player of the year awards, he picked up a Copa Libertadores runners-up medal with Peru’s Sporting Cristal after a 1-0 defeat to Brazil’s Cruzeiro.

This was one of the sparse moments that a Peruvian club has made any mark on the Libertadores.

25 years earlier, Peru’s greatest club, Universitario De Deportes or “La U” as they are affectionately known, produced a similar display by falling to Independiente in the 1972 final.

These close shaves with glory only accentuate the fact that Peru, has as yet, failed to produce a Libertadores winning side.

After leaving the bright lights of the Premiership last year, Solano seemed to be quietly creeping towards retirement, playing for Greek side Larissa.

After a couple of months though, spurred on by his wife’s desire to return to Lima, Solano sparked a Peruvian media frenzy by opting for a return to his home country.

Universitario’s prestige and finances made them the only logical place for the country’s most successful player of recent years, so in January Solano returned to the Primera Division Peruana, after 12 years of football adventures.

The league where it all began beckoned, as did the trophy that got away in his youth—The Copa Libertadores.

Despite being around the retirement age of a European footballer, Solano looks more than comfortable back in Peruvian football, and has managed to score freely and provide assists in both the league and the Libertadores.

His experience and professionalism could well prove the difference for Universitario this season.

The legs may be creaking slightly, but he continues to exhibit the awareness and clairvoyant vision of a player operating in a much higher state of consciousness to everyone around him.

He has begun this season as he has so many before, hoping to win trophies against the weight of history, as well as the odds. Another Peruvian League winners medal is surely a realistically achievable goal, but the elusive Copa Libertadores provides a much more testing challenge.

Every player has a career defining moment. At present, Solano’s is either his Intertoto Cup win with Newcastle or the honour of being the first Peruvian to ever play in the final of the world’s oldest football competition—the FA cup.

Neither is suitable for a player of his calibre.

So far, Universitario have managed two draws against Mexico’s San Luis, a victory against Argentina’s San Lorenzo, and a rather unconvincing loss to Paraguay’s Libertad.

With two games left to play, they are hanging on to their last 16 qualifying position for dear life.

A win in either of their remaining games against San Lorenzo or Libertad should be enough to ensure progression, and a chance to delay disappointment for a Peruvian veteran who has carried a misplaced feeling of optimism into nearly every competition he has ever participated in.

This season and next is the last chance for Solano to get his hands on some meaningful silverware.

The Copa Libertadores would be a fitting swansong. Whether he does it depends as much on himself as it does his teammates playing above themselves.

Should he and Universitario manage to navigate their way to the last 16, a much sterner test will await them.

Powerhouses such as Boca Juniors, Sao Paulo, Nacional, and Colo-Colo stand between them and the trophy.

Coupled with South American football’s habit of throwing dark horses like last year’s winners LDU Quito into the mix, the task appears almost insurmountable.

For a player like Nolberto Solano though, being the outsider is second nature.

The Luckless Ambition of England's National Football Team

Anthony — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:18:47 -0400

As the England National Team circus rolls into town this weekend the press, perhaps even the world, wait with baited breath to see what new soap opera like cliff hanger conclusions can be drawn from their latest results.

The first game is a warm-up friendly with Slovakia on Saturday and the second an important World Cup qualifier with Ukraine next Wednesday.

Convincing wins in both will surely see expectations of England’s World cup winning hopes go through the roof. Losses or an unconvincing showing in either will see them derided as hopeless under achievers in every corner of the press the world over.

This fluctuating public perception of England’s football team is nothing new. While every victory prompts a new battle cry from the English media every failure puts them firmly in the colossal shadow of those World Cup winners led by Bobby Moore.

Failing to win the last 10 World Cups has provided quite a body of evidence for England’s underachiever tag.

As a statement of pure fact England having failed to win a trophy in 43 years is a damning indictment indeed. Look a little closer though, peel back the overly critical assessments and the truth is far more revealing.

Whisper it quietly for fear of upsetting one of the countless England naysayers but the truth is England are one of the best teams in the world and they pretty much always have been.

Despite the dark days of the seventies, the failures of Euro 2008 or USA 94 England have managed to prove that they are a top ten team in world football a lot more often than not. The “Lucky” tag that the 1966 win seems to have picked up looks very Ironic when compared to the manner in which England have managed to exit subsequent World Cups.

1982’s monumental achievement of leaving the competition undefeated, 1986’s hand of god, Ronaldinho’s suspect moment of “genius” in Japan and the many lottery style penalty shootouts that plug the gaps in between. England’s World Cup hopes have been resting on a knife’s edge for 25 years.

The narrow margin of success and failure has rarely ever been anything but small for England. Lady luck may have cast a fond gaze on England in the 1966 World Cup but ever since then she’s been shamelessly flirting with other nations.

With the players currently within their ranks they should be able to stand toe to toe with anyone. They have a squad with all the ingredients to make a great team. Ferdinand and Terry are two of many English players who have held their own at the very top of European football.

Steven Gerrard is currently, unquestionably to my mind, the world’s best midfielder and Euro 2004 showed us that Wayne Rooney is more than capable of lighting up an international tournament. The quality of England’s players is proven.

Although it may sometimes seem like that white shirt with three lions on is Kryptonite to some of England’s players there is no doubt that they belong on the world’s biggest stage standing side by side with the rest of the elite.

With such an abundance of quality you might almost be forgiven for foolishly thinking England should be the favorites for South Africa 2010. Football though is not that simple. When asked about Manchester United’s Quintuple chances recently Sir Alex Ferguson made a comment that’s as true for England as it is for Manchester United.

“The thing about cup football is you need to be the best but you also need a bit of luck. I think it’s asking too much for all the games to go your way.”

Despite the world class players that the England team has a problem haunts them as it does every other team. There will always been other nations who can call on players with just as much quality and when quality meets quality key moments of luck begin to have bigger part to play.

If the quality of players was enough then surely a nation like the Netherlands would have won a World Cup at some point. If the team that played the best football always lifted the trophy then of course Argentina would be reigning World Champions rather than Italy.

England currently sit at No. 9 in FIFA’s World rankings. To me this is a pretty fair assessment. They aren’t the best International team in the world. They probably never have been but they are one of the better ones and that gives them a chance just as it did in 1966.

A quarter final/ semi-final showing is more than likely on the cards for England and they will prove yet again they are one of the top teams in world football but should lady luck resolve her long running feud with England perhaps we might even see something that no one expects.

Observations of Fulbito and Firearms from the Edge of a South American City

Anthony — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:48:32 -0500

Having recently been invited over for a family member’s wedding in Peru, I took the opportunity to travel the length of a truly amazing and unique country.

Spending half my time visiting the mountain ranges of the Andes and the jungles of Amazon, and the other half relaxing with family enjoying the beach life of the coastal regions, I noticed that one theme that runs through the whole country—and no doubt the continent—is a passionate love of football.

Football was introduced to Peru in the same way it was in most countries. Around the same time that Scotsman Charles Miller arrived in Sao Paulo and lit the match on the eastern side of the continent by starting Brazil’s obsession with football, English sailors arriving in Lima’s Callao did much the same thing on the West.

The majority of my time was spent in a city in the north of Peru called Trujillo. It is regarded there at least as the second city of Peru. It was one of the first cities founded by the Spanish in the Americas and has many ruins left by the ancient civilizations who ruled before them scattered around the city.

One day during my stay I decided that I wanted to see two in particular: The Huacas del Sol and Luna. Two 2000-year-old Pyramids left behind by the Mochica civilisation which are currently being excavated.

Rather than take the predictable coach journey route with the rest of the tourists, two Peruvian relatives I was with suggested, amid much objections from our girlfriends, that we walk.

Having grown up in the city they know the route like the back of their hands. So off we headed leaving our girlfriends behind on our journey into, which was for me, the unknown.

As we walked away from the beautiful colonial Spanish buildings of the city centre we entered the urbanization areas. At first the landscape was pleasant. Modern blocks of flats of concrete and glass surrounding grass squares that give the impression of an affluent middle class area. Walking further the scenery changed again after a few miles.

The further we walked the scruffier the buildings became, the more aggressive the dogs that roam the streets in packs started to look and the regularity of rubbish dumps increased until we arrived in what must firmly be the strong hold of the working, or maybe not working, class.

I began at this point to question whether my companions had been a little naïve in bringing me to this area of the city on foot but like most men my pride wasn’t going to let me mention this and I carried on walking, being sure to keep up the illusion that I didn’t have a care in the world.

It was in one of these areas that we stumbled on a game of what is known in Peru as Fulbito being watched by a crowd with great interest. Fulbito is massive in Peru. It is a game born out of easy pitch maintenance more than anything else. It is not dissimilar to Futsal or what the closest English equivalent would be five-a-side.

The name simply means small football. It’s played on standard issue small concrete courts that very occasionally double as a volleyball or basketball courts. These courts scar the landscape of Peru wherever you are in the country.

No matter how remote the area or small the local population one of these courts will be there as a focal point of the local community.

The game we found was typical of this. Three large concrete steps ran the length of the pitch on either side for seating giving the court the feel of a mini-stadium. Every healthy male in the immediate area must have been there watching and waiting.

Fathers, sons, uncles, nephews and cousins all looking to show their stuff and enjoy the game and social atmosphere that was in the air. About five teams waited their turn on the side as the kids too young to play buzzed around the outskirt looking to get a couple of minutes kicking a ball on the pitch in between games.

Approaching the game we decided to ask if we might play. They welcomed us as friends and were more than happy for us to join a team. When they found out I was English the banter began. For the next couple of hours, I was officially re-christened with the sarcastic nickname of Beckham.

As we sat and waited for our turn I saw the game was fast. No room for bad first touches or poor control. The ball zipped around the court. As the younger players tried to show their skills and penetrate the other teams defense the older players stood firm careful to close any gaps the youthful attackers might exploit with their pace.

The dress code was simple with an array of football shirts on show. Though there was a sprinkling of Barcelona, Boca Juniors, PSV Eindhoven, and Werder Bremen shirts (the later due to Peruvian football player exports) across the court the majority were Peruvian club shirts like Universitario, Sporting Cristal, Alianza Lima, or Peruvian national team shirts.

European football is a sideline curiosity in Peru. Of course everybody wants to see the best players in the world play and the brief highlights you might pick up on television are greeted with great interest but little or no emotion. Club affiliations to Europe just don’t exist.

The emotional attachment is to the national team and clubs from Peru competing in their own Primera Division Peruana and the Copa Libertadores.

I watched the frustration at the latest of 25 years of disappointments for Peruvian international football as Peru’s U-20 side came in last in their group in the South American Youth Championships and saw the passion and emotion that accompanied the Copa Libertadores getting underway.

It was refreshing for me to be in a country that first and foremost has an interest and passion for its own endeavours.

Having spent time in Asia in the past I can tell you the contrast in massive. Whilst you may never be far from somewhere screening European football in Asia, in Peru the Premiership, La Liga, Champions League etc. are nowhere to be seen.

People just don’t seem to have time for football games they don’t have an emotional investment in. Why should they? Especially when they can be outside playing it?

When our turn to play arrived I was little nervous but knew how I was going to play it. Playing terrible and embarrassing myself was not something I was keen to do but neither was playing a blinder and embarrassing anyone else. So I took my time to settle into the pace of the game and tried to keep it to one touch passes.

With the midday South American sun beating down it was probably the sensible thing to do. Playing in that climate seems to sap your energy at twice the rate it does back in England.

After playing two twenty minute games I was dripping with sweat and ready to call it a day. I had scored a couple of goals and thoroughly enjoyed the quick skillful high scoring games. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and headed on our way with the shouts of “ciao Beckham” still ringing out as we left sight.

Next stop was our original destination of the Huacas but we still had a little way to go. Through the sugar cane fields across the River Moche and beyond a small desert like area past the river and we would be there. Things though didn’t go quite to plan.

As we walked down the dirt path that divided the sugar cane fields I was thinking about not only the great games we had just enjoyed but the community spirit that surrounded it. This was football doing its greatest work I though, at the centre of a community providing great healthy social entertainment for everybody and what’s more it was free.

As we walked a little further my thoughts of a football utopia were disturbed. Two men with faces covered by bandanas and pistols firmly trained on us emerged from the rows of sugar cane in front of us.

After shouting some colourful phrases in Spanish they ordered us to get on our knees. One by one we were thoroughly searched and relieved of our money while a gun was held to our heads.

Suprisingly I wasn’t as scared as I would have expected myself to be in a situation like that, but the thought of a film I had seen the year before about a kidnapping in Venezuela did race through my head. I tried to speak as little as possible in the hope that if they hadn’t already noticed I was a foreigner they wouldn’t and did exactly as they said.

After a few minutes the ordeal was over and they had vanished into the sugar cane fields as fast as they had appeared. Gone were my thoughts of community spirit as the only thing now left on my mind was where I could get a taxi from and get the hell out of that neighbourhood.

In the poorest parts of the poorest countries football is most certainly loved and played with more passion than anywhere else I have encountered but this incident reminded me that just like the rest of the world it is just a brief distraction from the more pressing issues of life.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Arthur Wharton and the Black Man's Overachievement in Football

Anthony — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:13:20 -0500

The 2003/2004 Premiership season saw a team emerge in English football that was without doubt one of the greatest in its history. The Arsenal team that came to be known as the “Invincibles” were exactly that, going the whole season unbeaten. The talent of Lehmann, Pires, Ljungberg and Bergkamp was complemented by the talent of Henry, Viera, Gilberto, Cole, Campbell, Toure and Lauren.

Seven of the eleven players were indeed black and formed the backbone of this team that seemed to bring a new level of skill, fitness, strength and speed to the Premiership. Everytime I saw them walk out of the tunnel no matter who they were playing they just seemed to dwarf the opposing team. It sometimes felt like the game was over before it even started.

They were at times completely unplayable and probably the neutral’s all-time favourite English club team. Who’d have thought that just twenty years before John Barnes was having Bananas thrown at him whilst playing for Liverpool.

The start of this rise to glory for black players in English football is generally believed to have started with Ron Atkinson and the “Three Degrees” Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunnigham and Brendan Batson at West Bromich Albion in the 1978/1979 season but in truth there were brave black men playing football in England a long time before this.

The first black professional footballer was Arthur Wharton way back in the 1880’s. He was an interesting character to say the least. He came to England from Accra on the gold coast (now Ghana) to train as a Methodist missionary in 1882. He was of mixed ancestry his mother descended from Scottish settlers and the Ghanaian royal family and his father was a missionary from Grenada in the West Indies.

Coming from a privileged back ground like this meant that the presumptuous image people gave him in England puzzled him. He was held in the regard of some sort of working class hero despite having grown up in much wealthier surroundings than most of the people watching him play.

Before he started his football career he was an athlete, cricketer and a cyclist. He won the amateur athletic association’s annual 100 yard sprint in 1886 setting a first ever world record of 10 seconds making him the world’s first world champion sprinter.

The very next year he came back and successfully defended his title as the world’s fastest man. The following year he turned professional and won the September handicap at Queen’s ground in Sheffield. He even set a record for cycling between Preston and Blackburn in 1887.

He then turned his attention to playing cricket for various local Yorkshire and Lancashire teams, which he continued well into his forties, before finally using his sprinting ability to become a goalkeeper in the English leagues. He first played for Darlington but was soon spotted by Preston North End where he played for two years and got to an FA cup semi-final.

After turning professional with Rotherham United in 1889 he moved to Sheffield United in 1894 but only on the condition he could take over the tenancy of a local pub. Apparently, he was quite a drinker. Being a goalkeeper in the 1890’s, it sounds like you needed to be.

His pace was priceless between the sticks in those days as the goalkeeper was allowed to handle anywhere in his own half which of course meant that he could also be challenged anywhere in his own half, amazingly, whether he had the ball or not and sometimes quite violently. This meant that anybody willing to play in goal back then was either crazy or stupid.

Wharton was most probably crazy as the Sheffield Telegraph reported on the 12th of January 1892.

"In a match between Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday at Olive Grove I saw Wharton jump, take hold of the cross bar, catch the ball between his legs and cause three onrushing forwards…to fall into the net. I have never seen a similar save since and I have been watching football for over fifty years."

After short spells at Stalybridge United, Ashton and Stockport County he retired from football but continued participating in amateur athletics and cricket whilst working as a labourer in Edlington South Yorkshire. He was member of the Home guard forces during the First World War but apart from that little is known as his life after sport.

What is known is that before his death as a penniless down and out in 1930 he had descended into alcoholism and rather unsurprisingly had constantly been a victim of racism throughout his time in England. Wharton was not the type of man to take it lying down though and constantly fought back whenever challenged. He was described as “a proud man but not to the point of arrogance.”

His grave remained unmarked for 67 years before campaigners for “football unites racism divides” donated a headstone in recognition of his contribution to the game in 1997.

It’s amazing to think what has happened in football and sport in general since Arthur Wharton was laid to rest in that unmarked grave. It’s even more amazing to think about the climate in which he must have lived his life in England. Outside of the very small communities of port cities like Liverpool or Bristol there were no black communities in England at that time.

Seeing someone like Wharton in a place like Stockport or Stalybridge in those days would probably be similar to seeing an alien in the present day but Wharton never backed down to racism and never let it drive him out, effectively paving the way for the today’s countless black players.

Though it’s taken over 100 years to get to where we are today. It’s safe to say that colour is not something that really registers when watching football these days. When I was younger it was always a popular football quiz question to name every black player to have turned out for Manchester United. At the time you could count them on both hands. These days I wouldn’t know where to start.

It’s a similar story in most teams and most leagues around the world. I draw no negatives from this. If a player is good enough then he deserves his place in the game. Colour is irrelevant. What is interesting though is that black men seem to have far exceeded the hopes of equality from the past and gone on to excel in the modern game.

England’s last 22-man National team squad consisted of 10 black or mixed race players. Let’s not forget that this is a county which is 90 percent white and 2.7 percent black. In France their last 22-man squad consisted of 12 black players. Although France do not keep lists of racial demographics it can pretty much be assumed to have a black population of less than 10 percent. Now that is overachievement by anyone’s standards.

Not all teams are so open to racially diverse teams though I’m afraid. Zenit St Petersburg currently have a policy of not pursuing black players as it’s believed that the fans would simply never accept them. Coach Dick Advocaat’s words on the matter though only reinforce the view that black players are a highly sort after commodity.

”The only players that can make Zenit better are dark-skinned. But for us it would be impossible. I would be happy to sign anyone but the fans just don’t like black players”

It’s no secret that black athletes have been dominating many sports for a good 50 years or so. Arthur Wharton’s all-round athletic ability is testament to that. You only have to look over a list of heavyweight boxing champions over the past century to know where the term “great white hope” came from.

There hasn’t been a white sprinting champion for 25 years now and the last time there was it was due to a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. Basketball and all manner of other sports and events tell a similar story.

The media has spoken for years about the inevitability of an African nation one day winning the World Cup. The fact they never seem to speak about Asia or Australia with the same optimism speaks volumes about what leads them to making this prediction.

To many people’s eyes it’s obvious that in certain physical aspects black athletes have a natural advantage. The truth though is that “black” is too wide a term. Whilst some people who originate from West Africa for example have a tendency to excel at sprinting, a lot of East Africans seem to have a natural talent for long distance running. The terms “black” and “white” encompass many different groups all with varying physical attributes.

It is a subject often avoided by the press, and understandably so. Drawing parallels between racial genetics and overachievement in sport leaves the door open for groups with a more sinister agenda to draw parallels between racial genetics and underachievement in other fields. Something I feel is easily explained by social factors, which leads me to another important influence.

While it’s great to see an intelligent black man like Barack Obama become one of the most powerful men in the world I can’t help thinking that without the privileged middle class upbringing and access to a top class Harvard education that he enjoyed it just wouldn’t have been possible.

Football on the other hand is available to rich and poor alike and has no class bias. All you need to get started on the road to the dream of being a professional footballer is a ball and a bit of space. Children from poor communities in Africa ,South America, Asia, Europe and every other corner of the world all strive for a chance to attain a better life through football and the people with narrower options perhaps simply have a greater desire and hunger to succeed.

As a lot of Black communities are in the less affluent end of society perhaps this helps explain the disproportionate representation of black footballers in national teams such as England, France and The Netherlands.

Something that goes someway to pouring cold water on this whole theory though is the list of today’s current top players. Although players like Ronaldinho, Henry and the original Ronaldo have in the past been amongst the world’s best players the general consensus these days would be that Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo make up the top three and none of them are black by any stretch of the imagination. In this lies the beauty of football.

Unlike a lot of other sports, football does not rely on one specific skill to become an effective player. Someone like David Beckham uses his talent for striking a ball, Ruud Van Nistlerooy relies on his goal poaching ability, Theo Walcott relies on his pace, Lionel Messi relies on his dribbling ability and so on and so on. Talent on a football pitch comes in all shapes and sizes.

Whilst I do believe that black players have and will continue to overachieve in world football, I think that the variety of skills and qualities that being a footballer can involve means that they will never dominate in the way they have done in other sports and events.

After the two racially diverse teams of France and Brazil met in the 1998 World Cup Final you’d have been forgiven for thinking that this was the way the future of football was destined to be. Euro 2008 made me think again.

As Marco Senna made his way to winning the tournament with Spain it was interesting to notice that he failed to come up against another black player in the quarters, semis or final.

Whilst this really proves nothing it does show a subject like this is far from clear cut.

This question of natural physical superiority does bring one thought to mind though. When a black player comes along who can combine the vision of Riquelme, the desire of Keane, the accuracy of Beckham, the skill of Messi with the natural genetic athleticism of Usain Bolt or Michael Johnson he would be a truly unstoppable force in world football.

The Brooding Menace of Manchester City's Transfer Window Ambitions

Anthony — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:46:49 -0500

When the Abu Dhabi Group took over Manchester City and bought Robinho at the beginning of the season it seemed that English football had gone crazy. Manchester United and Chelsea fans all around the world screamed from the rooftops about how money doesn’t buy success.

All the while, Alex Ferguson secured the services of yet another £30m player in Dimitar Berbatov, and Chelsea added the services of Deco and Scolari to a multi-million pound squad that missed out on domestic and European success by the skin of its teeth.

The irony of it all was a sight to behold.

Money alone doesn’t buy success, that much is true, but without it these days you haven’t got a hope in hell. Which is why I believe acquiring the other components for success are really the easiest part of Manchester City’s plan for world domination.

As this year’s season began though, the buzz of Manchester City’s new found wealth seemed to wear off as it became painfully obvious that they were just the same old unpredictable Manchester City.

I personally didn’t expect anything less.

Robinho is an amazing player, he has proven that already, but Diego Maradona he isn’t. Dragging Manchester City to the Premiership title on his own in the manner of Maradona at Napoli just isn’t going to happen I’m afraid.

So as the January transfer window looms the brooding menace of Manchester City’s ambitions casts a dark cloud over the Premiership once again. The stories of City’s possible transfer targets are starting to hot up.

Terry, Buffon, Kaka, Ronaldo, Fabregas, and Torres have all been mentioned. It’s been reported that Mark Hughes has been instructed to draw up a list of the world’s top players in every position and that these players will be the transfer targets in January.

The problem with all this though is that, although I do see Manchester City having a good chance of crashing the "Big Four" party eventually, there just seems to be a little bit of naive optimism in drawing up a list like this.

The Abu Dhabi group’s aspirations are reminiscent of the American who tried to buy the magnificent Tower Bridge in London and ended up taking home the rather less impressive London Bridge. Some things simply aren’t for sale.

Robinho was very much a one-off in that respect. His utter horror at being used as bait to lure Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu during the transfer tug-of-war between Manchester United and Real Madrid saw him well and truly throw his toys out of the pram and offer his services to the highest bidder seemingly regardless of the short-term career prospects.

While Robinho’s arrival can only increase the allure that Manchester City has to the world's best players, you have to wonder how many of them would gamble their immediate future the way Robinho has.

Not many in my opinion.

The world’s best players obviously want as much money as possible—who doesn’t?—but just as important as that is the platform to acquire a place in the list of all time greats. Which is something that Manchester City, despite all their money, can’t currently provide.

So unlike Chelsea, who had the lure of top-level football at the beginning of their take-over a stumbling block has arisen for City’s management and owners. Which will come first, the chicken or the egg?

Will top quality players bring top-level football to Eastlands? Or will top-level football bring top-quality players? To say the January transfer window is going to be interesting would be a massive understatement. There is no doubt that Manchester City will recruit players, but whom?

Of all the transfer targets the most interesting is Gianluigi Buffon. Defence must be a priority for City, having leaked so many goals recently, and who better to bring in than somebody widely regarded as the world’s best goalkeeper.

With Juventus having recently proven they can manage without him and also looking to finance their new 40,000-seater stadium, he could be a realistic target.

Kaka is one I can’t see though. Players like him, Torres, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Messi, and Terry are the players I see as simply not for sale. Clubs cling to these players for dear life their success on the pitch relies on them.

The money they make for the club in merchandising along with the exposure they bring, dwarfs any transfer fee that we normally see in football.

My opinion though is just that, an opinion. The reality is that the power of money in football will be tested to its limit in January.

The slightest chink in a club’s armor will be exploited to the fullest and with the world’s finances in total disarray there could be a few more chinks than anybody has yet realized.

Should they manage to bring in players of equal quality to Robinho, Richards, Elano, and Petrov who can relegate some of their current first team talent to squad players, then they will be well on their way to creating a squad that can challenge for a place in the Champions league.

The more realistic, and probably wiser, option though is to target the next generation of worldclass players. There are countless ambitious players around world waiting for an ambitious club like Manchester City and every year a new generation emerges.

In addition to the young stars of the future world football is full of players capable of being the next big thing now. Sergio Aguero, Klaus-Jan Huntelaar, and Roque Santa-Cruz are just three of the many quality players that the world’s richest clubs didn’t have room for in the summer.

So whether Manchester City can attract top players from big clubs in the January transfer market, or if they have to wait a little bit longer to assemble a team of worldclass players that the world hasn’t yet heard of, it’s just matter of time before they are competing for trophies.

Having the money to be able to rip it up and start again means that Manchester City simply can’t fail.

It’s less a case of can they win trophies, and more a case of when. If the short history of the Premiership tells us anything, it’s that money does buy trophies.

The Fall and Imminent Rise of Manchester City Football Club

The Death Of England's Top Flight Player-Managers

Anthony — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:47:24 -0500

One of my earliest football memories is of my obsession with completing Panini sticker albums. It was so long ago now I don’t remember much of it but three things stick out in my mind: Mark Hughes being the PFA young player of the year (Jesus it was a long time ago!), Alan Brazil being in Manchester United’s squad, and more relevant to this article, Kenny Dalglish and Peter Reid being player-managers of Manchester City and Liverpool.

I can remember looking at them both in awe and thinking that they must be something special if they could play and manage. Looking back now though Peter Reid and Kenny Dalglish were opposite ends of the scale when you look at their managerial achievements.

Peter Reid was one of a long list of managers who achieved mediocrity at Manchester City. Though he managed to finish above Manchester United on two occasions (enough for the fans) winning trophies with them was beyond him and after three years he got the chop. Kenny Dalglish, on the other hand, did pretty well at the tail end of Liverpool’s dominance of English football.

Dalglish came to the position in the typical style of an English player-manager. When Liverpool Manager Joe Fagan decided on retirement Liverpool’s board looked in house for a replacement, something that is rarely done today, and found Kenny Dalglish.

During his time as manager he won three First Division trophies and two FA cups. The European ban given to English clubs in the wake of the Heysel disaster, unfortunately for him, prevented him from cementing his name next to European cup winners Fagan and Shankly but he is still a legend at Liverpool. The classic example of a player rising to the challenge of responsibility forced on his shoulders.

Towards the end of his first season as player-manager at Liverpool Dalglish scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea to take them two points clear of arch-rivals Everton and lead Liverpool to being First Division champions on the last day of the season.

What a feeling that must have been for him. There are very few, if any, people to have experienced winning a trophy as player, goal scorer, Captain and Manager all at the same time. He must have felt like King Kong on top of the Empire state building!

It's unimaginable something like that happening today but the eighties hadn’t seen of the last of the player-managers. During the nineties Chelsea showed that the formula was just as effective as it had always been.

Player-manager Ruud Gullit brought Chelsea’s first trophy for 26 years in the form of the FA cup and his player-manager replacement Gianluca Vialli brought them European success with the Cup winners’ cup and the European super cup. Trophies that were arguably greater achievements than anything achieved at the club since.

The player-manager has been present in the English football forever it seems but in the past decade they have become a thing of the past at the highest level. The last time a player-manager raised his head at the top of English football was in the 2004 with a team from outside the top flight, where the idea of having a player-manager is still sometimes a desirable option.

When Millwall met Manchester United in the 2004 FA cup final. Dennis Wise was at the helm as player-manager in the twilight of his career and after an admirable giant killing cup run was ready for one last crack at the FA cup final. Unfortunately for him Wise met a 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo who was just as eager, if not more so, to get his hands on the trophy.

Ronaldo dazzled that day, playing with a freedom only teenagers do, pirouetting through players and generally trying his best to humiliate the Millwall team. Wise though was having none of it and having neither the team or legs to retaliate in any constructive way gave him a lesson in English football with some tackles that bordered on GBH.

That game gave a clue to why for the foreseeable future England’s top flight player-managers are a thing of the past. Keeping in shape for top level football today is a bigger job than it has ever been. Trying to combine that with managing clubs that have evolved into something closer to Global corporations than football teams is just too much to ask of anyone.

So for now the only option for top class players coming to the end of their careers who are looking to manage but seize every last opportunity to play is to drop down the leagues and try their luck outside the top flight.

Paul Ince did it with Swindon and Macclesfield and has now earned his chance to manage a Premiership club at Blackburn, Gary Mcallister had a go at Coventry, Viv Anderson at Barnsley, and Bryan Robson got his start at Middlesbrough.

Chairmen and owners are reluctant to hand the reins of a team worth millions of pounds to young inexperienced managers and in turn players are unable to dedicate themselves to both professions as they become more and more demanding.

I recently heard Roy Keane asked if he would have liked to have been on the pitch during the recent North-east Newcastle-Sunderland derby to which he replied, "No I’ve played in my big games. I just enjoyed watching it.”

As well as the lower leagues it seems other countries are not afraid to give a chance to player-managers. Last year the challenge was taken up by one of the greatest players the game has seen when the legendary Romario became player-manager of Brazilian team Vasco da Gama.

Unfortunately though it was all over before it could even begin Romario objected to Club president Eurico Miranda’s interference in team selection and was promptly sacked just six months into the job bringing to end something that could have been truly magical.

Amid all this nostalgia for England’s player-manager’s one shining ray of hope still shines though. As a last resort against an unprecedented loss of players Gareth Southgate has made an effort to keep himself registered as a player for Middlesbrough.

The prospects of a 38-year-old Gareth Southgate gracing the playing fields of England ever again are slim to say the least but without sounding too sadistic I would love for a mild case of food poisoning to sweep across the Middlesbrough squad and pave the way for England’s last ever top flight player-manager to make his last appearance.

Something as romantic as this surely deserves a proper goodbye.

Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez : The One Club Man That Angered Hitler

Anthony — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:09:37 -0400

In today's present football climate a lot is made of one club players and the value of loyalty. A story I heard a few month ago though made me realise that the loyalty of a modern day muti-millionaire top flight player can sometimes easily pale in significance to a forgotten hero of the past. Allow me to elaborate.

Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez was born in Hualcara in the province of Cañete, Peru on the 20th May 1913. He was the seventh of Dona Raymunda Meyzan and Don Tomas Fernandez Cisneros's eight children. He attended Esuela Fiscal Primary school where he learned to play football and was soon picked up by a local club called Huracán de Hualcará where he immediately stood out from the crowd.

At the age of 16 his parents sent him to Lima to continue his studies. His father thought he could have a better future in the capital, so he sent Lolo to live with his brother Arturo Fernandez who was the goalkeeper for the now defunct Ciclista Lima. When Arturo transferred to, what is in the present day, Peru’s premier team Universitario de Deportes, he brought Lolo along to play a bit of football in training and introduced him to the club’s President, Dr. Placido Galindo.

After the President had watched him play, he immediately took Lolo on and put him straight into the reserves as a striker. His wages were 120 soles a month (about 30 US dollars), which was just enough to pay for his studies and to live. In March 1930, he made his debut, coming on at half-time. Although he took a couple of games to adapt, by the end of 1930 he had scored a bucketload of goals and was hailed as a massive success.

On Nov. 29, 1931, he played his first game for the Universitario first team against Club Deportivo Magallanes from Chile. Lolo was the game's only scorer with a header to win the game, 1-0. That season he was the Peruvian Division's top scorer, but it wasn't enough to win the league and the team finished second. The following year, they were runners-up again and Lolo again was the top scorer.

The 1933-1934 season saw Lolo again lead the division in scoring, but this time his team was victorious in landing the Primera Division Peruana trophy for only the second time in its history.

As you can imagine, a player who was top scorer three seasons in a row soon started to attract the interest of other clubs and offers flooded in. Colo-Colo of Chile’s President Arturo Crenovic offered Lolo a blank check for his services and told him to choose a number. Lolo, however, let him know how he felt, explaining that he couldn’t play in any shirt except the cream coloured one of Universitario no matter how much money was offered.

In 1936 Lolo had already been playing for the national team for five years and was selected to represent Peru at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The Berlin Olympics will forever be remembered for Hitler’s desire to prove the superiority of the Aryan race and Jesse Owen’s domination of the competition, but there were plenty of other smaller controversies going on and Lolo was at the center of one of them.

In the first round, Peru faced-off with Finland. Peru won easily 7-2 and Lolo scored four goals. Next up, was Hitler’s homeland team Austria. Peru trailed 2-0 at half, but managed to pull two back before the 90 minutes were up and took the game into extra time. At this point, things got a little crazy. Peru managed to score two more goals in the last three minutes of extra time with Lolo scoring a minute before the end of time.

The following is an excerpt from Time magazine explaining the events that followed:

In Lima President Oscar Benavides of Peru last week addressed an angry crowd. He said : "I have just received cables from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Mexico solidifying the Peruvian attitude against this crafty Berlin decision." The crowd, which had already torn down an Olympic flag, surged on to listen to more speeches in the Plaza San Martin. Later it proceeded to the German Consulate to throw stones at the windows until police arrived in trucks. At Callao, Lima's seaport, workmen on the docks refused to load two German vessels.

The "crafty Berlin decision" concerned a soccer game. Last fortnight Peru's Olympic team won a hard match against Austria, 4 goals to 2. After the game, Austria protested that Peruvian players had manhandled them and that spectators, one brandishing a revolver, had swarmed down onto the field. FIFA ordered the game replayed behind closed doors, so Peru's whole Olympic team of 50 promptly withdrew from the Games in protest; the game was awarded to Austria by default. Micheal Dasso of the Peruvian Olympic Committee Said: "We've no faith in European athletics. We have come here and found a bunch of merchants."

Although this excerpt doesn’t state it .It was Hitler who put pressure on the International Olympic Committee to have the match replayed. As Germany had already been knocked out of the competition, perhaps he saw Austria as his last chance to restore a bit of pride.

Lolo left the competition undefeated with the highest ratio of goals per game, but without a medal to show for it. He had though played a small part in World History.

Lolo returned to Peru and continued playing for his beloved Universitario. He was top scorer in the 1937-38 season and won the league for a second time in the 1938-39 campaign.

Then came his greatest hour.

In the summer of 1939 Lolo joined his teammates from the Peruvian national team for the Campeonato Sudamericano de Selecciones which was the fore-runner to the modern day Copa America. That year’s competition was held in Peru and although Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia withdrew from the competition Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay were in attendance.

Uruguay was arguably the best team in the world at the time. Uruguay had won gold in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics and won the first World Cup in 1930, but had not participated in international events since then due to arguments with European nations over where competitions should be played.

In the first game, Peru beat Ecuador, 5-2, and Lolo notched a hat-trick. They then beat Chile, 3-1, as Lolo scored two goals. Next they dispatched Paraguay with an easy 3-0 win and Lolo scored another two.

The last game was the biggest challenge. Uruguay was a great team in 1939, but with a bit of hard work and the home crowd helping, Peru managed to beat them, 2-1. Although, Lolo didn’t score in this game he contributed greatly and Peru became the new champions of South America for the first of only two times in their history. Lolo was also the competition’s top scorer with seven goals.

Lolo’s club form continued to go from strength to strength in the following years. In his first game back after recovering from extensive cartilage problems on Dec. 24, 1944, he took to the field against Argentinean Giants Racing Club (another team he had refused to sign for) and scored a hat trick to the amazement of anyone aware of his injury.

He again won the league in 1941, 1945, 1946 and 1949, taking his league winning haul to six and was top scorer in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1945. His career scoring ratio was an unbelievable 0.97 goals per game, so it’s little wonder clubs had such determination to sign him. He was an almost guaranteed match winner.

Lolo played his last game for Universitario on the Aug. 20, 1953 at the age of 40 in the Lima derby, a game known in Peru as the Superclasico Peruana. In true Lolo style he scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win to the rapturous applause of the fans who had been watching him play for 23 years.

At the end of the game he took off his famous no. 9 shirt and gave it to the player who would replace him on the team Manuel Arce. Never has a player had so much to live up to.

Lolo’s story is not widely known outside Peru. In fact it’s nearly impossible to find anything about him on the internet written in English, but what he doesn’t get in recognition around the world is more than made up for in the hero-worship he gets in Peru. His refusal to transfer to clubs like Atletico Banfield and Racing Club in Argentina, as well as others in Ecuador and Chile puts the loyalty of one club players of the modern game into perspective.

Lolo never played at the highest club level and he was never rich, but the loyalty he showed to the fans and the cream shirt of Universitario has never been forgotten. He has become a symbol of the club.

Until they recently built a new stadium, Universitario played in the Estadio Teodoro Lolo Fernandez built as a tribute to him. Outside their new stadium is a statue of him you can see below. Murals of his face are painted on walls in Lima and banners bearing his name are still waved by the fans in the stadium. He is a club legend of the highest caliber.

On Sept. 17 ,1996, Lolo died in the Clinica maison de Sante at the age of 83. He was buried in the Cementerio Parque del Recuerdo in the Lima district of Lurin. All of Peru mourned but no-one more so than the supporters of Universitario where he will never be forgotten.

To read an article on Peru's other football legend Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas known as the destroyer of 78 click here

Do Manchester United care about the FIFA World Club Cup?

Anthony — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:49:03 -0400

On the 18December, Manchester United will walk out onto the pitch at the International Stadium in Yokahama, Japan for their first game of the FIFA World Club Cup. But will they really care if they win or lose? Should we?

While researching this I have come to the conclusion that in the past the answer to that question would have been a resounding no. The competition has had so many formats and names it’s hard to take it seriously.

The first trophy to give clubs the chance to claim being the best in the world was the Intercontinental cup later re-named the Toyota Cup. The format was a two-legged game home and away between the winners of the European Cup and the Copa Libertadores.

If the teams drew those two games a third game would be played in the country the second game took place. This obviously gave a massive advantage to whoever got the home draw for the second game and only added to the feeling the whole thing was a bit of a farce.

The first game was in 1960 between Real Madrid and Uruguayan team Penarol. Real won 5-1 in Madrid and drew 0-0 in Montevideo. Looking over the results of the competition over the following years something immediately becomes clear. Teams in Spain, Portugal and Italy take playing their South American cousins a lot more serious than the teams from Northern Europe.

Ajax declined to play in 1971 and 1973, Bayern Munich couldn’t be bothered in 1974 and 1975, Liverpool declined in 1977 and 1978 as did Nottingham Forest in 1979. During that time not one team from Spain, Italy or Portugal declined. Perhaps this is down to the fact that they started importing players from South America a lot earlier and so had already opened social and business links.

In 1980 the format changed to a one-off annual game in Tokyo which was played every year until 2004. As nice as this might look on a team’s CV this cup has been treated, by Northern European teams at least, as an exhibition match. Manchester United were the only English team to win it in 1999 and it went by pretty much ignored by the press and fans alike.

The Intercontinental Cup was a joint venture by the UEFA and CONMEBAL football associations and was never FIFA regulated or associated. So in the year 2000 FIFA decided to start the new millennium with something a bit different. The first FIFA World Club Cup was held in Brazil in January of that year. Rather unsurprisingly the competition was contested in the final by two Brazilian teams Vasco Da Gama and eventual winners Corinthians.

Real Madrid and Manchester United were Europe’s representatives and both had a torrid time on the pitch but it was United who suffered more off it.

In 1999 the FA were preparing a bid to host the 2006 World Cup .As the oldest football association In the world never seems too worried about embarrassing themselves by being FIFA’s lapdog they decided to put pressure on Manchester United to withdraw from the oldest and most prestigious national cup competition in the world, the FA cup, in the hope of helping their bid. As you can imagine the uproar in England was massive.

The English public saw Manchester United’s withdrawal as de-valuing the trophy.

Sir Alex Ferguson was as indifferent to the competition as the English public. Risking injuring players who are trying to win the Premier League for a cup that frankly the fans didn’t care about for England’s World Cup bid must have been a hard pill to swallow for the Scottish manager.

I think the Daily Mirror put it best:

"Manchester United play South Melbourne - who number a petrol pump attendant, tax advisor and hospital worker among their players. The result is irrelevant as neither team can make the final of this absurd tournament anyway. Nobody will turn up to watch it, nobody will tune in to see it and nobody cares what happens. Unbelievably this is what Manchester United wrecked the FA Cup for."

This initial competition was a disaster. So much so that the competition didn’t resurface again until 2005 after the Intercontinental cup was finally laid to rest.

And so we arrive at the present day. The format for this year’s competition is as crazy as ever. The opponents being Ldu Quito the Libertadores champions, whoever the J-League entry is ( the host league winner gets an entry ),Pachuca the CONCACOF champions, Waitakere United the Oceania Champions league winner, the African Champions League winner and the Asian Champions League winner.

So that’s pretty much the world covered, but are theses teams the best in the world?

To put it bluntly no they’re not. For this competition to be taken seriously and eventually overturn the UEFA Champions league in importance, which I should imagine FIFA’s goal is, they need to include some real heavyweights.

At the moment there are seven teams. The competition would be a lot better if there were sixteen: four from Europe, four from South America, two from CONCACAF, two from Africa, two from Oceania, and two from Asia.

The competition would also benefit from having a proper last 16, quarter finals, semi finals and final. At the moment UEFA Champions and Libertadores Champions get a pass straight to the semis which makes a bit of an irrelevance of everything that went before.

So all in all the FIFA World Club Cup is still a bit of a nonsense but it’s getting better and it’s obvious FIFA are pushing harder and harder for this to become a competition of real substance.

Last year AC Milan, the team with the most international club trophies, took this competition very seriously eventually returned to Italy with the trophy after beating BOCA Juniors 4-2 in the final.

So as absurd as the format for this competition is will Sir Alex be taking it serious?

I think the answer is an emphatic yes. He has already been making wise cracks about Liverpool being unable to claim an international trophy despite five opportunities.

This competition is the future. Sir Matt Busby was seen as crazy when he took his team into the early European cup competitions. He saw the future as did Real Madrid who grabbed five in row before the rest of Europe even woke up!

Sir Alex knows the competition is flawed, he knows it isn’t the same level of challenge as the European cup (it’s two games!), but I think he also knows it’s the future, it will evolve, become more respected and a win that Europe will see as meaningless this year might be a star on a kit in fifty years that’s priceless and perhaps his greatest legacy!

The Fall and Imminent Rise of Manchester City Football Club

Anthony — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:30:03 -0400

Being a lifelong Manchester United fan and former inhabitant of South Manchester I’ve been watching the developments at Manchester City with great interest over the past week but am still, like a lot of City fans, undecided about whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Is the decimation of a club’s identity worth the promise of success?

Growing up in Manchester the two big clubs are prevalent in everyday life from an early age. If you haven’t had the choice of your allegiance made for you at birth by your family or by the area you reside in then by the time you start school you will be forced to choose your colour.

At the catholic school I attended there were two ways to divide the playground for football every lunch-time. Either the classic international game Irish kids vs. English kids or the more commonplace club game United vs. City. So pretty much everyone has made a decision at a young age and carries it with them for the rest of their life.

As Manchester City have not won a trophy worth mentioning in my lifetime the fans of the club learn at a young age they will never be able to win an argument over who is the better team by talking about football so instead their main bone of contention with United has always been the public image of the club.

Although they know it isn’t the whole story they like to present the image of Manchester United being a soulless business only supported by opportunist glory hunters.

Ever since the tragedy in Munich and the glory days of Best, Law and Charlton the success Manchester United have had has brought them a large fan base around the world. The United museum is regularly packed with foreign tourists taking pictures of the trophies.

Anybody who has ever taken a ferry from Ireland to Liverpool or Holyhead on a weekend will know about the volume of Irish fans who loyally make the journey over the water for every home game.

As well as United’s foreign support their other main criticism is the fact that technically Manchester United’s stadium, Old Trafford, isn’t even in Manchester.

Manchester is a city at the centre of the wider metropolitan area of Greater Manchester which is made up of ten boroughs Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan along with the cities of Salford and Manchester.

Old Trafford is in the Greater Manchester Borough of Trafford so technically they have as much right to carry the name Manchester as Wigan or Bolton. Which is why City fans have been known to refer to United as “Stretford rangers” or “Trafford United”.

In truth both stadiums are equal distance from the center of the city, about one or two miles, but this doesn’t hold any weight with City fans which is why you might see the away support at Old Trafford on derby day with a giant banner that bears the words “Mancunian section”.

Manchester City’s fans believe their team to be Manchester’s true team. The people’s team. “This is our city” stickers can be seen in the back windows of supporter’s cars and I’ve always had a sneaky suspicion that the very name of their stadium “the City of Manchester stadium” is a thinly veiled dig.

Despite what I might think of them Manchester City’s fans have real loyalty and a die-hard devotion. They are the skin and bone support that every club has once the glory hunting blubber has wasted away after decades of being deprived of trophies of any merit.

Sadly for some fans, though many have welcomed it, the club has changed beyond recognition in recent years and is set to change even more.

My first recollection of a change in the club, though a small one, was back in 1997 when they changed the club badge. The original badge was apparently impossible to trademark as it was too similar to the Manchester coat of arms.

Although the new badge retains the ship which also appears on Manchester United’s badge (a reference to the Manchester ship canal which made Manchester the third biggest port in the world, despite being 40 miles inland, and Manchester heritage as the world’s first industrial city) and has three stripes that signify the three rivers of Manchester it seemed to me massively out of place for a team in the north of England.

The eagle holding the crest struck me as a cheap looking Lazio rip off. Maybe that was the point. A reference to another city’s underachieving second team. And then there are the three stars. The joke at the time was that each one represented every ten times they’d been relegated. The truth though was even more embarrassing: they are purely aesthetic which seems ridiculous to me.

People may think I’m being petty but for a club with such support and identity it appeared that they were trading both away by re-branding the club as something it clearly wasn’t. Something that would continue six years later.

The 2002/2003 would prove to be a very sad year for Manchester City fans after it was decided the club would move from their stadium ‘Maine road’ and move to a more modern stadium that was being built for the Commonwealth games.

Maine road was a classic North of England football ground in the style of Anfield or Goodison. A rickety old place caged in by two-up-two-down terraced streets.

A close friend of mine grew up in Rusholme among the streets that surrounded Maine road and along with the other local kids we spent many match days and concert nights taking advantage of the stadium’s ancient design and somewhat lacking security by sneaking in at every opportunity. I pride myself on never giving the club a penny of my money for hours of entertainment.

His father, like many City fans, has such a hatred of United he refused to let me in his house when I was thirteen years old until I went home and took off my United shirt. He is a typical hardcore Manchester City fan in his forties - the type of person who for better or worse is getting left behind by today’s ultra commercial game.

Like a lot supporters who grew up in close proximity to grounds in the seventies and eighties he is a former football hooligan full of stories that didn’t necessarily revolve around what happened on the pitch. His favourite story was about him and a friend painting Matt Busby’s statue in front of Old Trafford with blue emulsion in the middle of the night (I never have found out if it was true).

On May 11th, 2003, City played their last game at Maine road against Southampton. In typical Manchester City style, on a sad and emotional day, they lost but the atmosphere was great. Many city fans were distraught at the thought of moving from Maine road.

The "City of Manchester stadium" or "Eastlands" (Middle-Eastlands as it’s been recently re-christened by City’s fans ) is on the east of the city whereas Maine road was situated in the south.

I’ve never been in Eastlands but will always remember the sadness of my friend’s father when he told me about the first game he attended there. For somebody who had been going to watch them all his life Eastlands was a cold and sterile place.

The area of the city it is in was a slum before the 2002 commonwealth games but in the manner of all cities hosting international events the truth of the city was hidden from the eyes of the world.

Manchester city council began issuing compulsory acquisition orders in east Manchester as soon as the stadium had planning permission and it has left the stadium sat in the middle of what looks like a soulless wasteland reflecting the atmosphere inside.

Generations of season ticket holders were separated. People who had known each other for decades only because of their proximity in the stadium were never to see each other again. Groups that sang songs together were separated leaving the stadium with all the atmosphere of a library.

In the first season crowd noises were actually played into the stadium to try to create the illusion of an atmosphere. I’ve been told it’s improved gradually in recent years but still can’t be compared to Maine Road so in short moving the club killed the only thing that Manchester City ever had going for it. The support. Like a lot of City fans my friend’s father didn’t renew his season ticket the following year.

With all this in mind it had been my opinion for the last few years that without the prospect of any success Manchester City had sold their soul and re-branded the club, losing the atmosphere of the stadium and identity of their support, for pretty much nothing. An opinion bearing recent events in mind that now looks pretty short-sighted.

Upon hearing the news of ADUG takeover last week my response was immediately defensive. Having a psyche so preconditioned to having nothing positive to say about Manchester City my initial thoughts were that you can’t buy success, Robinho’s a mercenary, Mark Hughes isn’t up to it. When let’s face it United have bought success to a certain extent, Ronaldo’s definitely a mercenary and there is nothing to say Mark Hughes isn’t up to the job.

After much thinking I’ve come to the conclusion that the prospect of City’s new found wealth is very exciting for the city of Manchester and Manchester United.

If Manchester City can become a force in European football it doesn’t mean that United won’t be. Seeing two of the world’s biggest clubs in my city would fill me with pride and would bring an added dimension to derby games perhaps bringing them closer to the realms of the Milan derby and the old firm derby.

For a football club that has never really been able to translate massive support into success I think this investment has come at just the right time.

The Manchester City of old died with Maine road. What will rise from the ashes of what was a traditional English club remains to be seen but they now play with a badge that will look more at home in European competition and play in a modern stadium which would not be out of place as a Champions League venue.

The gold rush is on for Manchester City. With the arrival of Robinho and whoever else they buy in January the club and supporters might be about to get a taste of the symptoms of success they have been criticizing Manchester United for over the last fifty years.

A good proportion of the next generation of football fans could be supporting City in the same way they’ve swayed towards Chelsea in recent years. Companies might be buying up the boxes, tickets and laying on hospitality at Eastlands in the same numbers they have been at Old Trafford. Their atmosphere could suffer further and local identity they are so proud of could well be diminished further.

It has saddened me and many of the fans to see the club change so drastically but if the new owners can bring with them the type of success that the club looks like it is now set up for then maybe city’s current support will one day stand side by side with the bandwagon jumpers that will inevitably come and think it was all worthwhile.

Click here for an article written in response to this article by City fan Tom J which puts this one to shame.

Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas and the Exclusive Nature of True Legendary Status

Anthony — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:26:09 -0400

Teofilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga is, for me, possibly the most underrated footballer of all time. His skill, pace, and power were matched only by his ability to exceed any expectations placed upon him.

He was born on March 8, 1949, near Puente Piedra in Peru, and is held in the same reverence there as Pele is in Brazil, Maradona in Argentina, and Zidane in France. Known in Peru as "Nene," or baby, for his baby-faced appearance, he started his career at Alianza Lima at the age of 16, making his debut in 1966.

During his first stint at Alianza he scored 116 goals in 175 games, was the Peruvian championship top scorer in 1966 and 1970, Libertadores' top scorer, and South American Footballer of the Year in 1972. But despite these impressive accomplishments, like most South American footballers his name was made at the World Cup.

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was without a doubt among the most memorable World Cups to date. England were actually a good team, coming off the back of their win in 1966.Gerd Muller's West Germany were warming up for their win in 1974, and the Brazil team of 1970 is widely regarded as the greatest team of all time.

Not the easiest place for a raw young talent from Peru to make a name for himself, you would have been forgiven for thinking. Well, Nene made it look easy. Scoring four goals in the first round—once against Bulgaria, twice against Morocco, and once against West Germany—he helped Peru earn a quarterfinal meeting with Pele's Brazil.

Peru lost 4-2 to the might of Pele, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto, Tostao, and Gerson, with Nene scoring a goal and displaying his talent for all the world to see. It was a true World Cup classic game—two all-out attacking teams playing the game the way it was intended.

After the success of the 1970 World Cup, Nene returned to Peru a hero. He had picked up the FIFA World Cup Young Player Award, Bronze boot award (he finished behind Jairzinho and Muller—not bad considering he played two less games), made the World Cup All-star team, and far exceeded the expectations of a humble football nation.

In 1973, Nene's club and national team form earned him a move to Basel in Switzerland. Although he scored seven goals in 14 games, Nene was unable to settle in Europe.

The language and culture made for a massive change for a young man who had never lived abroad before, so in 1974 he opted to sign for Porto. The Portuguese climate and culture were much more agreeable and, following Peru's failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, he was able to settle down to concentrate on his club career.

More personal success followed at Porto, with 65 goals in 108 games, but trophies still evaded him.The teams Nene played with generally couldn't match his talent, that was until the 1975 Copa America. A team effort from Peru saw them overcome their South American neighbours to become the first Copa America champions.

Nene scored a goal in the group stage and another in the semifinal win against Brazil. But it was his overall performance and inspiration to his team that caught the eye, and this was enough to earn him the Copa America Best Player Award.

Nene returned to Peru in the 1977-1978 season for a second stint with his beloved Alianza Lima and scored 42 goals in 56 appearances. His European and international experience had shaped him into an amazing player. It's easy to forget when looking at his goal scoring stats that he was a midfielder!

The 1978 World Cup arrived with Nene in his prime. He was 29 years old with the weight of a nation on his shoulders. Peru were drawn with Scotland, Iran, and the Netherlands.

Peru ran out 3-1 winners in the first game against Scotland, with Nene scoring two amazing goals—one of which can been seen on any greatest World Cup Goals TV programme. It was an outside of the foot free-kick, that has only since been rivaled by Roberto Carlos' 1998 effort.

Peru's second game saw them face eventual finalists the Netherlands. Although the absence of Cruyff was notable, the rest of the great 1974 team remained, along with other Dutch stars of the early '70s all ready for one last crack at the big time.

A boring game saw a 0-0 draw, but showed that Cubillas' ageing team could still stand toe-to-toe with the best.Peru's final group game saw them qualify as winners of the group, with a 4-1 win over Iran. In the game, Cubillas joined the select group of only 48 people to date to ever score a World Cup hat trick.

The second round saw Peru crash and burn, as they were spectacularly beaten 3-0 by Brazil and the 1-0 by Poland. Additionally, Peru's 6-0 defeat to Mario Kempes' Argentina has always been shrouded with suspicion.

Peru went in at half time down 2-0 with the game and tournament essentially over. Argentina, however, had to win by four clear goals to guarantee qualification ahead of Brazil. Brazilians maintain to this day that Peru threw the game, pointing to the fact that Peru's goalkeeper Ramon Quiroga was born in Argentina.

Despite the eventual short comings of Nene's Peru team, they returned again to a proud nation, and Nene's reputation in world football continued to grow. He won the 1978 World Cup silver boot, and scored 10 goals in two World Cups—something that had never been achieved before (and has only recently been matched by Miroslav Klose in 2006 for Germany). He had also yet again made the World Cup All-star team.

In 1979 Nene followed the leads of many of the great players of the time like Pele, Cruyff, Best, and Beckenbauer by joining the NASL—America's rapidly rising "soccer" league.

Nene signed for George Best's Fort Lauderdale Strikers, where he spent five seasons, scoring 65 goals in 141 games and notably scoring three goals in seven minutes against the L.A. Aztecs in 1981. At this point Nene's best days were behind him. Ageing legs and a poor team saw him and Peru exit the 1982 World Cup in Spain without winning any of their three games.

Nene came out of retirement in 1987 for his third stint at the club he loved, Alianza Lima. On Dec. 8 Alianza Lima's entire team had been wiped out in an air disaster near Calloa, Peru, echoing the Munich air disaster.

Nene scored three goals in 13 matches, not a bad tally for an old man. But the comeback was really only to give hope to the fans and respect to the fallen players of the team he loved.

Nene ended his playing days with the Miami Sharks in the 1988-1989 season, scoring nine goals in 19 appearances. He eventually settled in Florida, where he lives to this day teaching football to the children at his academy with his sons (both former professional players).

To me, the people of Peru, and the many people who played with and against him during his career, Nene was a legendary player. Pele named him in his FIFA 100 Greatest Players of All Time, and he has made countless other lists.

But can he be really counted among the best of the best?

The list of truly top world class players of history is a very exclusive club and most people argue to be truly in contention you have to win the World Cup—and win it with style. This, to my mind, leaves a very small number of players who truly qualify. Pele, Maradona, Zidane, maybe Ronaldo, and Romario.

The quality of these players could only be doubted by an idiot, but I believe their place in history depends as much on their unbelievable talent as it does on the teams they played with—and the countries they were born in.

If Zidane had chosen to play for Algeria instead of France, would he be as much of a legend? No, but I don't believe he would have been any less of a player. If Maradona had been born in Mexico, the chances are he wouldn't be regarded as the best player in history anywhere but Naples. If George Best was eligible to play for Brazil, could he have made the list? I think so.

So consider this the next time you think about the greatest players of all time. Of course, think of Pele, Maradona, and Zidane. But also spare a thought for George Best, Zico, George Weah, Alfredo Di Stefano, Teofilo Cubillas, and all the others who were among the greatest players of all time but never got the chance to shine in an all conquering World Cup team.

Luiz Felipe Scolari: Please Don't Respect Sir Alex Ferguson or Manchester United

Anthony — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:52:20 -0400

Back in 2005 I went to watch Manchester United play Chelsea at Old Trafford. Chelsea had won the league the year before and were looking like doing it again. They were 40 games unbeaten and had raised the Premier League bar.

I also actually enjoyed watching them play. Damien Duff and Arjen Robben were two left footed wingers on the same team, it was unorthodox but very effective and a joy to watch. Anyway, with all this in mind I wasn't too certain of seeing United get a result.

The atmosphere in the stadium that day was amazing. Deafening boos everytime Chelsea were in possession and "sit down Mourinho" rang out everytime the Chelsea manager got a bit animated. The Old Trafford crowd,despite the critiscism they often come in for,really can be the twelfth man in the big games.

Darren Fletcher scored a lucky goal in the first half and United spent pretty much the rest of the game clinging on but it didn't matter. The win was an act of defiance: it set United out as Chelsea's closest rivals.

Amid all the celebration and happiness of that day there is one thing that has always stuck in my mind. As Mourinho walked along the touchline in front of me towards the tunnel he turned and applauded all four sides of the home crowd.

He also spoke in a post match interview about the influence of the crowd on the game that day. A very humble gesture indeed from the "Special One".

Now for me this caused a big problem because I could never really hate Jose as much as I wanted to. The mutual respect he and Sir Alex share, his charisma in press conferences, and who can forget his fingers on lips gesture to Liverpool supporters (as well as his lack of respect for the Merseysiders in general), stopped him from being the hate figure I truly desired for United's closest current rivals.

Big Phil Scolari I'm hoping though will be a different story altogether.

This is a man who tells referees he'll "see them outside after the game." A man who during a Euro 2008 qualifier with Portugal gave a Serbian player a left hook! Most importantly, a man who seems to have upset Sir Alex already.

Sir Alex has been quoted as saying that Scolari was the only international manager with a player at United that he didn't speak to (two years since they last spoke!).

Carlos Quieroz, who we can pretty much presume reflects Sir Alex's thoughts, said, "Scolari behaves like one of those people who you lend your car to when it has a full tank of gas and they use it all week, crash it and then leave it on a side street with no gas and aren't even polite enough to tell you where they left it."

Scolari has also played a part in the whole Ronaldo-to-Madrid affair. Ronaldo is quoted as saying that Scolari advised him to go to Madrid. Scolari has since denied this, and although Ronaldo has managed to add the trophy for the most untrustworthy person in football to his collection this summer, I see no reason why he would lie about this.

This among other things is probably what caused Sir Alex to start rattling Big Phil's cage earlier this week.

His first shot across Chelsea's bow this season went like this: "Mourinho won the title two years in a row and beat us in the FA Cup final so there is no-one who can improve on his record really.

"It's hard to see where there is going to be a big improvement on a team that's really experienced. 'Plateau' is maybe not the word to describe the team, but how can they accelerate beyond what they've done up to now?"

I've been waiting for this clash of the titans since Scolari was announced as Chelsea's new manager. Britain's greatest manager vs a Brazilian World Cup winner; so, imagine my disappointment when I read Scolari's reply "I will not answer this question. This question is not for me."

I really hope Scolari is saving the mind games for the business end of the season. My feeling is Sir Alex and Scolari have a mutual lack of respect for each other and I hope to god I'm right.

If they start sharing bottles of wine and patting each other on the back I might even start missing Arsene Wenger.

Why Sir Alex Won't Let Cristiano Ronaldo Leave Manchester United

Anthony — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:59:24 -0400

After weeks of tedious speculation, the debate rages on. Will he go? Will he stay?

New articles spring up everyday giving quotes from unnamed sources. One thing is certain in all this though, Ronaldo wants to go. Who can blame him? He isn't English, he isn't even Northern European.

He is Portuguese, a flashy Portuguese man, in fact.

The climate and lack of glitz and glamour in Manchester have probably never appealed to him though the latter has probably helped his development immensely.

No, Ronaldo wants to go to Madrid. This is a club that is currently not the best, nor richest, nor most supported club in the world. However Madrid is the most successful club in european football and the benchmark for all the top european clubs, which, for me, is precisely why he won't be going anywhere.

After all the millions of words written on this subject, I believe one major thing has been overlooked. This situation is a first for Sir Alex.

Many great players have left Sir Alex and Manchester United, but never under their own steam and never because they thought they were moving on to greener pastures.

Ince, Beckham, and Van Nistelrooy among others left in their prime, but only because they were shown the door. Players such as Cantona, Keane, and Shmeichel left to wind down their careers or retire all together.

There has never been a problem replacing great players at Old Trafford, but this is something new namely because no one told Ronaldo he could leave. The global game has made a boy from Madeira Manchester United's star player.

A place they probably dream of playing under a hot sun in the Bernabeu, not grey clouds at Old Trafford.

So, to get to the point, the question for me isn't, "will he go?" or, "won't he go?" it's how Sir Alex will react to a situation he has never had to deal with before. Anybody who knows a little bit about Sir Alex, and has an eye for the big picture, can answer that for themselves.

Selling Ronaldo would set a precedent for a situation that, in the modern game, will no doubt only happen time and time again. I believe Sir Alex and the Glazers will see this as a fight for Manchester United's place in world football.

To sell the world's best player would make them the world biggest shop window for all of Europe's super clubs. It would send the message that players stay at Manchester United unless they reach a certain level of greatness, on and off the pitch (let's not forget that whatever Ronaldo's transfer fee would be it will be dwarfed by the profits made from merchandising over the course of his contract).

What happens if Ronaldo goes this summer and Tevez plays even better next year? Does that mean he goes to AC Milan?

My personal opinion is that Ronaldo will be kept for one or two more seasons and then be sold on Manchester United's terms. I also believe Ronaldo (or his agent) think this is a strong possibility, which is probably what's stopping him from burning his bridges altogether.

I wouldn't expect much trouble from Ronaldo either, a player with his ego is never going to under-perform and he has as much to lose from sitting on the bench all season as Manchester United.

Even the hottest property in football can cool pretty quickly (look at Ronaldinho) and that won't bode well for any future move to Madrid. I think Sir Alex would see selling Ronaldo as good as admitting Manchester United are second best. Can there really be any one out there that thinks he would do that?