... in the aftermath of the month-long tourney I feel like a glutton who has eaten too much of his favourite food, washed it down with a pint of Guinness and topped it off with a rich chocolate bar ... the World Cup for me is a sumptuous stew of stimulants ...
... foremost of course are the games themselves, but there's also this boyhood pipedream that will never go away ... imagine playing in such a high-profile showcase, dribbling around tackles to score a super-goal or three ... if you've ever laced on a pair of boots you'll not only know what I mean, but you'll also forgive my going from the sublime to the ridiculous by including a photo of this bunch of unlikely lads ...
... the modern game, with its hierarchies, tactical approaches, theatrics, personalities, gamesmanships and economics, gets to preen at regularly scheduled competitions ... paramount is the gran'daddy of 'em all, the FIFA World Cup, which is all that and football too, lest we lose sight of the eleven-a-side, battle-for-the-ball aspect of the spectacle ... and what a spectacle! ...
... the 2010 incarnation, like all the others that preceded it, had its share of talking points ... the recurring beefs about the ball and the referees are nothing new if you are familiar with the beast, nevertheless, the monumental undertaking served up enough sporting entertainment to provide me another landmark against which to calibrate any retrospective of my life, via memories World Cups stretching back to 1970 ... the English have even kept the spectre of the previous one alive, ho hum ...
... but this one was a little bit different ...
... enter the red, gold and green of Africa ... the HD-3D update, forty years since TV's first technicolor Cup coverage ... the sights and sounds were even more global than usual with a prominent afrocentricity building on previous Cameroon, Senegal, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago campaigns ...
... plaudits to FIFA for 'lowing the vuvuzelas ... challenging yes, but we all had so much fun saying the word, didn't we? ... especially the American media who were engaged as ever over the veracity of the very sport itself ... truth is it really doesn't matter what the haters think of the offside rule and diving (FIFA euphemistically calls it "simulation"), scoreless scorelines or the pretty-boy coiffure ... the growth of this sport is inexorable by definition ... if yu 'ave foot, yu can kick ball ...
... notably, and true to the nature of this movement, the U.S.A., and their style of play, is one of the bright beacons on the horizon ... indefatigable heart beats in that team and it is reflective of the national character ...... New Zealand was the only undefeated team on the field ... Switzerland made a lot of friends and hopefully fewer folks will mix up Ghana with Guyana now ... don't fret, Brazil will recover, the football they played in the first half of the quarter-final they lost to The Netherlands strutted the elusive panache they were accused of lacking ... a big-match contribution from Ronaldinho might have flipped that script ... but alas ...
... in the unforgettable department, I nominate the Asamoah Gyan overtime penalty drama in the Ghana/Uruguay affair, and the goal-line officiating gaffe when Germany made the proverbial penny drop in England ... (speaking of goal-line gaffes, remember Robert Green?) ... that Carlos Puyol header is still bulging the net, just like Siphiwe Tshabala's opening strike for Bafana Bafana ... Van Bronkhorst's drive, Maicon's improbable near-post swerver and Forlan's classy volley ... plus, I'll watch Lionel Messi play any chance I get ... seeing is believing ...
... when there are so many individual storylines and the attention of the world is tuned in to one frequency, it's a great time to relay a message ... the powers that be came up trumps with Nelson Mandela and polishing up the Say No To Racism campaign ...
... a positive sentiment in any arena but particularly so in futbol where "there's work to be done - so let's do it little by little", as the Marley lyric goes ... discernably, amid the din I heard Bob singing "Could You Be Loved" at every match ... a so it fi go, considering how intertwined reggae sensibilities are with both football and Africa ... check Stephanie Black's film Africa Unite ...
... Brazil is ground-zero in four years and you can bet Bob Marley will be there to "Lick Samba" ... I'll be watching too, enjoying the global swagga-flex that should be a substitute for war ... though admittedly, it could easily spark conflict as well ...
... yep, in 2014 I'll have one eye on the game's global relevance ... the other eye will be on the lookout for that diminutive World Cup mascot (who is likely to re-appear in the country whose icons he repeatedly belittles with tracing tongue), if only to witness his one kick of a next-generation Jabulani on the biggest of stages ...
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Post Script addendum: - Jamaicans will get "a kick" out of the writing credits for the Spanish pop standard "Y Viva Espana" ... ... seems it was co-written by one Eddie Seago (sic.)
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