Soundtrack of my life: 2010 – Wavin’ Flag (K’Naan)

This song was everywhere during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Why? The ‘Celebration Mix’ version was grabbed by Coke to be their anthem for the tournament. That meant it was in the stadiums, on the telly, on tournament cash-in music mixes, everywhere.

So, being on the ground in South Africa to be part of that excellent football banquet, I can’t not have anything but positive memories of Wavin’ Flag. That, along with Sho Sho Loza, over and above the ‘official’ songs, became my touchstone for that magical month.

Here’s the Wikipedia link.

Soundtrack of my life: 1996 – Three Lions (Baddiel & Skinner and The Lightning Seeds)

This is the best football song ever built.

It was launched to coincide with England’s hosting of Euro ’96 and exploded. A catchy terrace chant married to a solid tune and coupled with some insightful lyrics meant Three Lions became legend. Something that started as a song for the England team was latched onto by everyone (witness the cheeky Germans at the end of the YouTube video below). It captued the mood of the time, both in England and around the football world.

Not only was it the tune of that European summer, it has been remade, relaunced and reused time and time and time again. My brother was lucky enough to be in England during the tournament while I had to view it from afar. This song is the one massive abiding memory of a tournament that should have been the forerunner to the 2018 World Cup (damn you FIFA).

The sentiments of hope, failure, success, defeat are things we can all identify with, whether we’re football fans or not.

Here’s the Wikipedia link.

DB’s World Cup Diary – South Africa 2010 (part 2)

In 2010 I travelled to South Africa for the FIFA World Cup. During my travels I wrote weekly articles for the Matamata Chronicle. I have combined these articles and will present them in two parts – pre-tournament and during-tournament. This wasn’t the first time DB’s World Cup Diary made an appearance. It made it’s debut for Germany 2006.

We hit South Africa and South Africa hits us! 

When Joel (Matamata Chronicle Editor) told me I had about 400 words each week I thought that would be sweet. After my first week in South Africa I think I need more like four million! In trying to keep this as brief as possible, I’ll just focus on some of the highlights.

** It took me the best part of two and a half days to get from Helsinki, to South Africa, then to bed. We arrived in Jo’burg at about 6am on Monday morning and hung out at the airport for a couple of hours (as you do). Rather than going to the hotel we were told we had to go straight to Soccer City to watch the game we had tickets for (Netherlands v Denmark). We got to the ground an hour before the gates opened, but that was cool because we had plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere. The game itself was rubbish but the stadium is amazing.

** Our second day in South Africa was one of history for our country – the game against Slovakia. A three hour drive to Rustenburg, which should have taken an hour and a half, meant we were rushed to get into the ground and only made it a few minutes before kick-off. I was so proud to be listening to the NZ national anthem at a World Cup that I almost sung it (for anyone who knows me that’s a BIG deal!). The game itself was fairly even, with a tight first half before we let in a soft goal. The Slovaks cruised the rest of the match, stupidly not really pushing for a second goal. That approach came back to bite them in the butt in the last 30 seconds when Winston Reid became everyone’s favourite Danish Maori super hero. The crazy burst of emotion was so unexpected as our travelling band of fans really thought the game was gone.

** The New Zealand fans are doing this country proud in South Africa. From the guy bouncing around in a sheep costume in Rustenburg to a dude we know from Tokoroa who figured out the vuvuzela would be far more use as a drinking vessel than a horn we’ve seen many a moment to bring a tear to the eye. I’m sure there will be many more moments to savour.

** For all of you with Sky I’d invite you to watch their World Cup show – called Inside Africa – later this week. The tour group I’m part of played a game of football against a local township team and the Sky cameras were there. We played on a dusty, rock-strewn field up the back of Jo’burg’s Deepsloot township, one of the most depressing looking shanty towns I’ve ever seen. Our motley crew of mainly middle-aged, broken down has beens managed to limit the damage to 2-1, although I’m sure the locals were taking it easy on us. Actually, I’m convinced they did. Their skills were silky and they moved as if they were playing on Wembley. If you manage to catch the show on Sky keep an eye out for Matamata’s finest – Dave Taylor, Eric Van Waveren, Scott Parsonage and yours truly.

** For the gamblers among you I’d suggest you slip a lazy tenner on Argentina to win this thing. We watched them in the flesh as they demolished South Korea at Soccer City. They have some very, very sharp players and a coach, Diego Maradona, who seems to be succeeding despite his chaotic personality. The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for a special Maradona sideline trick. A nice touch.

** We’re off to watch the All Whites play Italy tomorrow in Nelspruit. That means an early start and a four to five hour bus ride. We’ve purchased some white wigs and piano key board ties just to prove that us country boys can let our hair down a little and get into the swing of things. Maybe you will have seen us on the telecast. We’re hoping for another upset but won’t be holding out much hope. The day will be all about enjoying the fact that New Zealand will be playing the world champions at the World Cup. That will be enough.

We do Italy! 

This will always be remembered as the finest week ever for football in New Zealand and one of the best weeks for New Zealand sport. I’ve been able to catch glimpses of the All White fervour that has gripped the nation but have to say I’m so glad I was able to be here in South Africa to experience this first hand. I owe a big thank you to my incredible wife for volunteering to stay at home and look after our two young kids. I think a not inconsiderably sized present or two is probably in order. Maybe a diamond…

The Italy game in Nelspruit was just surreal. The early Shane Smeltz goal was so unexpected that I spent the next twenty minutes in a heightened state of disbelief. Did we really score against the World champs? Hell yes!

The Italian reply was predictable, given the way they played at this tournament – cheating, diving, er, buggers. Their goal, the refereeing and our desperate, yet increasingly world class defending, meant the emotions were all over the place for the final hour of the match. I’m sure the details have been well reported back home so I won’t go in to that. For me the best part of the day was the aftermath. There were thousands of kiwis in the crowd and we were all wandering around afterwards barely able to believe what had happened.

Hugging and high-fiving strangers, our small group made its way to the far side of the stadium with all the other fans just to soak it all up. We didn’t get back to our bus, which was parked nearby, until two hours after the final whistle. And apparently I made it on to the TV a couple of times too. I got emails from India, the USA and Australia, as well as home saying me and my piano tie had our fifteen seconds of fame.

A few days later we were in Polokwane for the Paraguay game with a chance of qualifying for the next round. Who would ever have thought that would be the case? There will be another time to discuss the game and the way we played. For me this game was, once again, all about the fans. I don’t think I’ve ever been photographed as much in my life. It’s amazing what can happen when you put on a white wig and carry an All Whites scarf.

Now all I want to do is get home, but here are some other thoughts before I do. Most of the stadiums here are amazing. Soccer City has to be one of the top ten football venues in the world. Truly awesome. The grounds at Nelspruit and Polokwane are both supreme mid-sized football venues. Auckland would do worse that getting the blue-prints from either of these venues and building a copy on the water front. The only let-down was Loftus Versfeld here in Pretoria. What a crumbling, decrepit, old hulk that is.

I also have to make mention of the diving from some of the teams. It’s the biggest blight on the game and FIFA needs to sort this out once and for all because the players and coaches won’t. I think I commented on this after the 2006 World Cup as well. One of the best things I’ve seen is a video montage of a sniper in full camo gear getting ready for and then taking a shot. The movie cuts to an Italian footballer going down as if he’s been drilled through the heart, with not a defender in sight. Sums it up really.

Back home 

This is my final South African World Cup article, so I thought I’d leave you with a few of my non-All Whites impressions and memories from a truly unique couple of weeks away.

I’m glad I left my stab vest and body armour at home because, despite all the warnings, they weren’t needed. The atmosphere on the streets and around the stadiums was as friendly and inviting as anywhere I’ve been in the world. I don’t know if that was natural or put on for the World Cup but it doesn’t matter. Sure, there was a security presence just about everywhere you went, but it was low key and generally unobtrusive. South Africa was a comfortable place to be.

Being based in one place for fourteen nights did become a bit of a chore. It would have been nice to move around a little and I regret not making the effort to head down to Cape Town or Durban for at least a couple of nights. To my mind the Pretoria/Johannesburg area would be a tough part of the world in which to live. Despite being winter, with some very cold nights, the whole landscape was dry, dusty and desolate. Not quite the same as home. It left me with the impression that I’d need to be harder than I am to survive there.

One morning we spent some time touring around Soweto. Despite its poor reputation, only a fraction of its residents actually live in corrugated iron shacks. We were taken through some suburbs loaded with attractive middle class houses and millionaires mansions. Just goes to show that things aren’t always what they seem. The highlight was a stop at the Hector Peiterson museum, which is dedicated to the memory of the school boy whose death became symbolic of the struggle against apartheid.

As far as the World Cup is concerned, the games have been pretty much what you’d expect to see from modern tournament football. During the group stage teams more often than not limited their creativity and accentuated their pragmatism in an effort to get through. There were a few shocks, with teams like France and Italy heading home early, then the real excitement and drama began in the knock-out stages. Some of the round of 16 and quarterfinal matches have been superb. Let’s hope we see more of the same in the final few matches.

By the way, I hope you didn’t bet the house on the Argies following my clearly not-so-learned tip in an earlier article. They were dismantled by the Germans in the quarter-finals. I’m not going to have another go at predicting a winner, even with only four teams left. This is football, you know, and anything can happen. And those vuvuzelas are less annoying live than on TV. The atmosphere wouldn’t have been the same without them.

So the countdown is now on for Brazil 2014. That seems such a long way off right now but I guarantee the time will fly by, so you won’t have to wait too long for your next edition of DB’s World Cup Diary.

DB’s World Cup Diary – South Africa 2010 (part 1)

In 2010 I travelled to South Africa for the FIFA World Cup. During my travels I wrote weekly articles for the Matamata Chronicle. I have combined these articles and will present them in two parts – pre-tournament and during-tournament. Part 2 is posted here. This wasn’t the first time DB’s World Cup Diary made an appearance. It made it’s debut for Germany 2006.

This is one of the things South Africa was best known for before June 2010.

DB’s World Cup Diary returns 

Four years after debuting in Germany DB’s World Cup Diary is back. Germany 2006 was great fun but, for me, lacking a little something. That little something, having a team to support, ain’t gonna be a problem in South Africa. In case you hadn’t heard New Zealand, the All Whites, will be at the biggest festival in world sport and this time (whisper it quietly) we may just have a chance of achieving something quite positive.

Okay, booze-fuelled optimism aside (it was late on a Saturday night when I wrote this), I think anything close to a result will be an achievement for New Zealand. We have a decent team now, but this is the World Cup and I’m not sure how many kiwis actually know how big this thing is. And how small New Zealand really is. So I’ll be happy if we can score a few goals and maybe nick a point against Slovakia or Paraguay. Anything else will be the stuff All Whites fans dreams are made of.

I’ve been lucky enough to secure tickets for eight games in South Africa. For a long time there it was ridiculously easy to get tickets so I basically made a pig of myself. It seems people were wary about travelling to South Africa – I can’t imagine why. Along with the three NZ games, I’ll be watching some of the biggest names in football. Holland, Argentina, Italy, Germany, Spain and (possibly) England is not a bad line-up!

My schedule in South Africa follows:

• June 14 arrive in the morning, then watch DENMARK V THE NETHERLANDS at 1.30pm. Then crash!
• June 15 NEW ZEALAND V SLOVAKIA
• June 16 Sun City tour
• June 17 ARGENTINA V KOREA
• June 18-19 Free (for now…)
• June 20 NEW ZEALAND V ITALY
• June 21-22 Free (for now…)
• June 23 GHANA V GERMANY
• June 24 NEW ZEALAND V PARAGUAY
• June 25 CHILE V SPAIN
• June 26 ROUND OF 16 GAME (possibly England v Germany or Australia)
• June 27 Rest
• June 28 Fly home
• July 1 to June 2014 Find a way to pay this trip off before heading to Brazil for the next World Cup

There is actually a group of five of us travelling from Matamata. We’re part of a tour group being led by former All White captain, Danny Hay. Two of us headed away on June 8 as we’re travelling to Finland first (work beckons). At this stage I expect to be sitting in a pub in Helsinki for the opening couple of games.

We meet up with the rest of the group in Hong Kong on Sunday before heading off to Jo’burg. Our hotel is in Pretoria and we are literally on the doorstep of Loftus Versfeld Stadium, a legendary rugby stadium, which has been hijacked by the round ball for a month. A good location for a great couple of weeks I reckon.

On the road again

Finland is famous for its ice hockey players and motor sport legends. For its lakes and its trees. So naturally Finland’s capital, Helsinki, is where I kicked my football world cup off…

Four years ago I missed the opening game because I was on a bus travelling between Naples and Rome. I didn’t make any such mistake this time. The Sports Academy, a pub in central Helsinki, was our chosen venue. It came with the highest of recommendations (from a local taxi driver, no less) so we scouted it out a couple of days before the big kick-off. It passed the beer and food test so we were set.

My work colleagues and I squeezed ourselves in with half of Helsinki. An illustration of how global this thing is can be shown by our group, containing two Kiwis, two Americans, an Indian, a Spaniard and a Brazilian, sitting down in Finland to watch a game of football that was being played in South Africa. It’s not every day you find yourself in such a situation.

The game itself was not really the best you’ll ever see, but it was more about the occasion. The hosts managed a point, and could have won it near the end, which is good for the tournament. It’ll keep the locals buzzing. The opening day’s second game, between France and Uruguay was described by the BBC as a ‘turgid affair’, so I’m kind of glad I missed most of it. The choice to go and grab some dinner at a local Greek restaurant was a good one.

I’m writing this in my hotel room on the morning of what is looming as one hell of a long day. By the time I next rest in a proper bed I will have flown from Helsinki to Hong Kong (where we meet up with our tour group) then on to Johannesburg and then watched my first live South African World Cup match (Netherlands versus Denmark). I’d be tempted to say I’m getting too old for this stuff, but I think I’ll just have to harden up and force myself to manage!

The Dutch match is being played at the magnificent looking Soccer City Stadium in Soweto, which is where the opening game was played. The stadium looks like one of the modern wonders of the world and from this distance it seems like South Africa is going off, so I can’t wait to get there and be part of the atmosphere.

By the time you read this New Zealand will have played our first World Cup match in 28 years. The fixture in Rustenburg against Slovakia presents itself as our best chance of getting a result in South Africa but it will be tough. The All Whites have raised expectations thanks to their pre-tournament friendly results so who knows what we can achieve? The Slovakians will probably be as nervous as us so if we get a couple of breaks we may just pull off an upset. Fingers crossed.

While I’m on the other side of the world, my thoughts are still very much with the Swifts back in Matamata. The team picked up an important point in Auckland this weekend from their 0-0 draw with Western Springs. It’s the first time we haven’t lost in Auckland this season and, with two home games remaining in the first stage of the season, we’ve set ourselves up with a bloody good chance of making the top six.

Part 2 follows…

Lyon – yeah!

Lyon is one of my favourite cities. It’s French. It’s fabulous. And it’s fresh.

I’ve been to Lyon a couple of times – once as part of a work trip and once as part of a football trip – and both times I was more than a little impressed (which, admittedly, is not terribly difficult to do, but anyway…).

Lyon is only two hours south of Paris by TGV and it also has a compact, modern international airport, so there’s no excuse for not getting there. The main features of the central city area are the two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône, which meet just to the south of the CBD, and the great view to be had from the Fourvière hill that overlooks everything.

The best place to stay is right in the heart of the action. The Presqu’île, literally ‘peninsula’, extends from the foot of the Croix Rousse hill to the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône rivers. The centre of that is around the districts of Les Cordeliers and Bellecour and that’s where you want to be. The area is loaded with hotels, restaurants, shops, easy access to transport, and other things to do. The Lyon Metro is brilliant, being clean, modern, and simple to use and will get you to just about anywhere you need to go, while trams, funiculars and feet will also do the job.

I’ve stayed at a couple of hotels in Lyon and would recommend both. The Citadines Presqu’île Lyon is more apartment than hotel and is in a great location in the middle of the peninsula between the two rivers. From there you can get to anywhere you want by foot and is a great base to explore the little cobbled side streets and main city squares.

A little further north is the Grand Hotel De La Paix, which is cheaper and more of a traditional style hotel. The tiny breakfast room is in the basement, while the rooms are a decent size and the location, once again, pretty good. Judging by the photos available on the web, it’s been modernized since my visit, which you’d expect given that was nearly ten years ago. They make me want to go back to check it out again.

You can step straight outside and immediately have several dining options, while the little square next to the hotel is a great spot to sit down with a coffee or beer and check out the local talent. Speaking of talent spotting, a decent pair of sunglasses is required kit for any Lyon visit. They’ll help safeguard your dignity, if you know what I mean…

Anyway. Time to focus, lest Jean read this.

You can go anywhere in Lyon and get a more than decent meal. Restaurants, cafes and bars catering for all different tastes and moods are littered throughout the city. Lyon is, after all, the gastronomic capital of France (the world?). As a Kiwi, one place to hunt out is Le Maori Café, if for no other reason than its name. Unfortunately, on the day we went for a look it was closed so I’m not sure if it’s any good. I’m not at all a foodie so there’s not too much to add, other than you won’t go hungry in this fantastic city. Oh, and don’t order Steak Americain if you don’t know what it is…

One of the first things I did, and my abiding memory of Lyon, was to cross the Saone and trudge up Fourvière hill. You can follow the road, which winds its way up to the top, or use the steps in Parc Des Hauteurs to take a more direct route. Only later did we find the funicular that will also get you to the top.

I took the road the first time and, not really knowing anything about the city, this ended up being a great decision. Near the top you come across the ruins of the Roman Theatre and the museum that documents Lyon’s Roman history. I’m fascinated by ancient Rome and this is one of the best places to go, apart from actual Rome, to check this sort of stuff out.

Only metres from the theatre is the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, an imposing monolith to religion. It’s an impressive building, but even more impressive is the view you discover as you make your way around it. On a clear day, as it was both times I was up the hill, you can see forever. Ancient (to me) Lyon is spread out before you and in the distance sits the Alps. You don’t actually realise how close they are until you see them for yourself. Cities like Geneva and Turin are actually closer than Marseille or Paris.

Being up so high gives you such a great opportunity to get a good feel for the lay of the land. You can see how close to each other the Saône and Rhône actually are. The centuries old buildings, from churches and public buildings, to regular, everyday shops and housing, really are as jammed together as you imagine from walking by them.

The Tour Métallique de Fourvière, basically a mini-Eiffel Tour, is one of Lyon’s most easily recognizable landmarks and sits on the top of Fourvière hill. It is Lyon’s highest point but not nearly as sexy as the version in Paris. It’s only used as a television tower now and is not accessible to the public.

For sports fans the Stade Gerland, where we watched several games of football during the 2003 Confederations Cup, is a nice compact stadium, with architectural features that make it quite different to some of the modern click and build efforts. It’s close to a Metro station and so easy to get in and out of. Jean wasn’t overly impressed by the toilets there, which were of the squat and squirt variety. When you’ve got to go you’ve got to go, but they didn’t make it easy.

I’d like to visit Mâcon, which is 65km north of Lyon, as a tourist one day. I spent four nights there for work back in 2002 but only had one evening to check the town out. We went to a couple of decent pubs, but the memories of them are a bit fuzzy… A restaurant in Saint-Laurent-sur-Saône, across the river from Mâcon (same Saône that eventually joins the Rhône at  Lyon), was where I scoffed my first Crème Brûlée. The first of many.

I haven’t been to Lyon for a while and would head back in a heartbeat. I will one day. Without question it is one of my favourite places.

* Unfortunately my photos from my visits to Lyon are on an old computer that has long since blown up. I have my memories only…but also the web (thankfully), which I’ve had to make do with for the images included in this post.

On Edge

Image from stuff.co.nz

Declan Edge in particular, and the Waikato FC board in general, have copped a lot of grief from many football fans over the last few months. It hasn’t been nice. Most of it hasn’t even been reasoned. And, I think, most of it is miles wide of the mark.Let me explain.The ASB Premiership should, to my mind, have two primary purposes. It should be a development league and it should be a way to bring money into the game via the FIFA Club World Cup. Of course, there will be some other things you can point to, but those are the big two.

So, with that in mind, one of the main goals is to ensure a New Zealand team wins the O-League every year and plays in the FIFA Club World Cup to bring home the dosh. The best resourced clubs have, by and large, been doing that.

Will or, more to the point, should Waikato ever be in a position to make it to the global stage? Highly unlikely, as results over the life of this league have proven.

Is that a bad thing? For the handful of people involved with the team, well, probably. But from a bigger picture point of view no, probably not at all.

We have to ensure our best resourced couple of teams have the best possible chance of winning the O-League. At least we have the depth in this country to ensure they are genuine club-type teams as opposed to the pseudo national ‘club’ teams we’ve seen from some of the island nations over the years. But if we spread the talent more evenly across all eight ASB Premiership teams then our chances are much diminished.

The other main goal of the ASB Premiership, then, should be as a development league for our best young players. If you take away the allegations that Declan is using Waikato as an extension of his personal academy (I’m not in a position to know whether this is true or not, so I’ll stay well away from that…) then the theory and, mostly, the practice behind what he’s doing is incredibly sound.

The theory is that he’s bringing some of the best young players in the Waikato together, training them twice a day and providing a league for them to play in where they’re put under pressure and their current skill set is fully tested and their weaknesses exposed. From a development point of view that’s about as good as it gets.

If, as is hoped, some of these players go on to play at a higher level then it will be job well done, sir.

Some of you may well ask: “What is the point of playing if you’re not in it to win it?” Well, I think these kids are going out there every weekend to try to win. Of course they are. But to win regularly they’ll have to learn to play a consistently well, and at a level higher than what they can currently maintain. And that’s part of the development process.

I hope this post doesn’t come across as me trashing the ASB Premiership. That is certainly not my intention. As a player it would have been a dream to have been good enough to play at that level. This league is vital for football in this country.

It is not, however, the aspirational league for our best players. Nor should it be. It is an amateur league, and, like any league it will contain players who find their level within its confines. That’s not a bad thing. For our best talent, however, it is one more step on the path to playing for the All Whites and making a living from football.

And, visionary or not, it’s clear Declan has a complete understanding of this. And, potential conflicts of interest aside, is acting accordingly. More power.

DB’s World Cup Diary – Germany 2006

In 2006 I travelled to Germany for the FIFA World Cup. During my travels I wrote weekly articles for the Matamata Chronicle. Here is the complete series (which I chose to present as one long post because I know how annoying it is to have to click links more than you need to). I continued this process for South Africa 2010 and I’ll post that series here too, just not right now.

PART 1 (published June 6)

Football is a funny game. That’s probably the most famous cliche in a sport full of famous cliches.

For me that applies double. Just a day after I left New Zealand for Germany, and my first FIFA World Cup, Matamata Swifts, the club I have had so much involvement with over so many years, played our biggest match in years. On Queen’s Birthday Monday – yesterday – the Swifts played Tauranga City United in the 2nd round of the Chatham Cup, a competition which is New Zealand’s version of the English FA Cup.

The game is a true David versus Goliath contest. In 2002, Tauranga made it to the Chatham Cup final, while the 2nd round is the furthest Matamata has ever progressed. Deadlines, the bane of writers the world over, mean I can’t share the result with you today as this article was written two days before the match. But spare a small thought for me as I will have nervously watched the clock as kick-off nears and then waited for the text message that will let me know the result. I’ll be somewhere between Hong Kong and London when the game is being played, my body clock already well and truly screwed up and playing tricks with my sleep-deprived head. So hopefully the short message I receive will help relieve the agony that is long-haul international travel.

Rather courageously or perhaps foolishly – you decide – I have promised the Chronicle team that I’ll supply a weekly report from the centre of the footballing universe aka the FIFA World Cup in Germany. This is, possibly, my misguided attempt to bring a slice of the world’s greatest sporting extravaganza to New Zealand’s rugby heartland. I reckon it’s worth a shot!

Part of this process involves the obligatory photo, which you’ll probably find somewhere on this page (not available on the website. Damn shame…). I know, I know, I’ve got a good face for radio, so hopefully my words over the next few weeks will paint a better picture for you. I will try to share the excitement, passion and plain good fun that only an event of this magnitude can bring. Think the rugby world cup multiplied by ten and you will have some idea of just how big this whole thing will be.

Swifts scarf – token stadium shot

We, (my wife Jean and I), have been planning this trip for ages. We are lucky enough to have secured tickets to three matches, which is bloody good going when you take into account how hard they are to come by. On June 20 we will be in Hannover to watch Poland play Costa Rica. This match will serve as a nice little warm up for the big one in Hamburg two days later. Italy versus the Czech Republic, potentially the most crucial game in what promises to be the tightest group of the whole tournament. As a warm down we will be in Cologne on June 26 to watch one of the round of 16 games.

Keep your eyes open for a Matamata Swifts scarf at these games. We’ll do our best to get on TV. By the time you read this, Matamata will have played Tauranga and New Zealand will have played Brazil (!). I’ll be in Frankfurt feeling, looking, and probably smelling, like a zombie. Not a pretty thought but I’m sure it’s something I’ll manage to deal with considering what lies ahead over the next five weeks.

PART 2 (published June 13)

The madness has begun. After four years of waiting the world’s largest ever sporting event has finally kicked off.

And guess what? I didn’t get to see the opening match. I was on a bus somewhere between Naples and Rome when it was played. I guess Jean must have organised this part of our holiday. Thankfully we did manage to see the goals on CNN when we finally made it to the hotel. A 4-2 victory to the host nation and some spectacular goals hopefully is a sign of things to come.

The Germans were ready.

For us this week has been all about getting to Europe and enjoying the summer. We spent a night at an airport hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, before flying to the crazy country of Italy. Our hotel shuttle driver in Frankfurt was fed up with all the World Cup hype. It’s everywhere. I think he just wanted the tournament to get underway. He wasn’t too confident about his country’s chances of winning, but he did say he’d like to see a Germany versus Portugal final. Now that would be a contrast in styles if ever you saw one.

Italy is crazy in a good way. It’s our first time here and it would be safe to say the prevailing thought, at least with us, has been, ‘What World Cup?’ Such has been the quality of our holiday so far. Fantastic weather, great scenery and some of the best food you’re ever likely to eat. But you don’t want to hear about that.

As there hasn’t been too much football yet, I thought I’d take a bit of a punt and make a few suggestions about where you should place you hard earned cash for this World Cup (assuming you are betting people). After completing a highly unscientific process that included much guessing and speculation, my early pick is for a Brazil versus Holland final. My mate Pete Vossen will be pleased to hear that!

The Brazilians have to be favourites because they have the best footballers in the world. They are the All Blacks of world football except they don’t choke on the big occasions. The Dutch have an exciting young side coached by the legendary Marco Van Basten. Because of this and the fact they are so close to home they are my dark horses. Other teams to look out for are Argentina, England, Germany and Italy.

After having spent some time in Italy I have a secret little hope they will do well. We had lunch in Sorrento, near Naples, on Thursday, which consisted mainly of pizza and beer. The beer, Peroni, had a picture of the 1982 World Cup winning Italian side on the label and that brought some big memories flooding back. 1982 was my first World Cup, naturally enough, because that year was the one and only time New Zealand was involved. It was also the last time the Azzuri won and they did it in the sort of style you would only expect from the Italians. I still remember Marco Tardelli’s length of the pitch run after scoring a goal in the final against West Germany. Was that really 24 years ago?

We have another week in Italy before arriving in Munich next Friday. I can’t wait!

PART 3 (published June 20)

Munich, Germany – football heaven. Well, it’s probably about as close as I’m ever going to get!

Jean and I arrived back in Germany today (Friday) after eleven days in Italy and it would be fair to say we found a country that has gone absolutely mad for football. We’ve only been in Munich for a few hours but we’ve seen the World Cup plastered everywhere. You kind of get the feeling the Germans are going to make sure this tournament is a success.

We are in Munich for the Australia versus Brazil game, which is being played on Sunday. We don’t have tickets so we’ll probably watch the match, along with 69,998 others, on one of the jumbo screens at Munich’s Olympic Park. I’m sure the atmosphere will be almost as good.

We’ve already run into one Australian guy who paid 150 Euros for a ticket to their game against Japan. He’s going to try to pick up something similar on the street tomorrow. Somehow I don’t fancy his chances.

We watched a game of football near this.

Amongst all our Italian monument visiting and culture sampling during the last week we have managed to catch at least one game a day. We experienced the England versus Paraguay game in a small bar only a block away from the Colosseum in Rome. A small quiet bar. There were only three other customers, plus the owner, there. Not conducive to producing a great atmosphere, but it was a good afternoon nonetheless.

We were in Florence for two nights earlier in the week that coincided with the tournament debuts of a couple of the big guns, Italy and Brazil. I watched both games on the big screen in the hotel bar with an Italian-American guy from Brooklyn who was part of our tour group. He was as unimpressed as I was with both teams. Although both won they were far from convincing.

Italy were nervous against a solid, but unthreatening, Ghana. They should have more than the two goals they managed, but you always had the feeling the game wasn’t safe until they got their second. Brazil just looked flat (and, in Ronaldo’s case, fat). Maybe they peaked when they beat the All Whites 4-0. Or perhaps, more realistically, they just did what needed to be done.

We did our best to find an authentic local bar to watch the Italian game but couldn’t find anything. Granted, it was a Monday evening, but I thought Matamata was the only place in the world that closed up early in the week. Maybe we just looked in the wrong places.

The tournament really kicks off for us this week. We’re going to games in Hannover, on Tuesday, and Hamburg, on Thursday. The game in Hamburg will be some occasion because it is between Italy and the Czech Republic and should decide who wins their group. So I’ll have plenty of stuff to talk about next week.

Also, the beer here in Germany is cheaper – and better – than in Italy. That, as much as anything, leads me to believe the next couple of weeks are going to be a lot of fun.

Mmmm. Beer.

 

PART 4 (published June 27)

After more than two weeks on the road we finally got to see some live football. It was worth the wait, mainly for the atmosphere and the chance to visit a couple of truly breath-taking stadiums.

Last weekend we spent in Munich and were blown away by the friendliness of the city. Ten days in Italy had left us slightly on edge so it was great to be able to really relax. All weekend the main square, the Marienplatz, was full of Aussie and Brazil fans, along with people from many other nations. On Sunday we took a trip out to the stadium for an hour or so before making it back into town in time to watch the game.

On the way to the game.

The area around the ground was choked with people, with more than a few still looking for match tickets. It was a fun, unthreatening environment, with no trouble in sight.

The Germans have made a deliberate choice to allow fans from all countries to mix and, so far, this has paid off spectacularly. The police do, of course, have a large and visible presence, but they always seem to be in the background, secure in the knowledge that they know that you know they are there.

After Munich we caught the train up to Hannover in the northern part of the country. Hannover is a unique city. Clean, modern and vibrant, while still containing enough historic points of interest to keep any tourist busy, it also has some of the weirdest looking people you are ever likely to come across. It wasn’t just one or two, they were everywhere. I felt right at home.

We were in Hannover to watch Poland play Costa Rica. It wasn’t a remarkable match, won 2-1 by the Poles, but that didn’t matter. We had arrived at the World Cup and were finally a part of it. There must have been more than 30,000 Polish fans in the 43,000 seat stadium and they made a lot of noise. Every one of them had a football scarf and it looked like a red and white wave circling the ground when they started swinging them ’round their heads. Our single black and white Matamata Swifts scarf looked a little out of place.

Two days later we could be found in Hamburg for what was probably the single biggest game of the group phase. Neither Italy nor the Czech Republic, two of the best teams in the world, had secured passage through to the second round and they both needed to win. I felt a little guilty walking into the stadium past hundreds of ticketless fans from both countries and did wonder (for maybe a few seconds) how much money we could have made if we had sold our tickets. A conservative estimate would have been something in the region of 250 Euros (NZ$500) a piece.

Italia, Italia!

Of course, we held on to our tickets and experienced one of the best football occasions you’re ever likely to experience. The game itself was almost an afterthought, though. While the quality of the football was better than the Poland game, it was the stuff that happened off the pitch that grabbed the attention. The banks of fans in red or blue, all chanting, singing and desperate for their team to win, created the type environment you just don’t get for any other sport.

As a neutral, it became quite obvious that Italy would win, particularly after they took an early lead. It was fun, however, to watch the range of emotions their fans, many of who were seated near us, went through before the final whistle. Anger, hope, despair and, finally, elation. I think it’s called passion. Sporting events just aren’t like this back home.

Italy won 2-0 and that meant the Czechs, currently ranked number two in the world, were out. African nation, Ghana, will join the Azzuri in the next round instead.

We were made to feel a little inadequate during this game. Seated in a section of the ground with a handful of other Kiwis we got chatting with a guy from Wellington and he told us he and his mate had managed to secure tickets to eleven games at this World Cup. Eleven games!! Our three match allocation pales in comparison.

PART 5 (published July 4)

I’m in a hotel room in Amsterdam and it’s a Friday night. I should really be out having a look at some of the weird and wonderful things this crazy city has to offer, but I’m sitting here typing the latest instalment of what has hopefully become a compelling serial. I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I’m making.

In my defence, it’s late and we have an early flight tomorrow.

Actually, I’m watching the second half of the Italy v Ukraine quarter final, a game the Italians are running away with. This is a surprise, in a way, because the Italians have not looked good so far in this tournament. I mean, it took a pretty rough penalty in the 5th minute of injury time to get them past the Aussies. Maybe they have decided to come good at the right time.

We saw the first quarter final, between Germany and Argentina, in a bar earlier today. Argentina looked the better team but the Germans managed to level the game at 1-1 late on and take the game to penalties, and everyone knows what happens when the Germans are in a penalty shoot-out. Their passage to the semi-finals will be good for the tournament because it will keep the fun, euphoric, celebratory atmosphere going for a few more days.

Germany is certainly the place to be at the moment. We were in Cologne last weekend and found out just how much this whole thing means to the people. The streets were dead while they played Sweden in their first knock-out game, but filled up immediately after their victory. There were happy Germans all over the place. Car horns blaring, flags waving and broad smiles everywhere. I could just imagine how the place will go off if they actually manage to win the whole thing.

Great stadium. Not so great game.

Cologne was the venue of the final World Cup game we had tickets for. Another fantastic stadium, but we had the misfortune of sitting down to watch two hours of goal-less football as Switzerland and the Ukraine played out the single worst match of this competition. The football really was tedious. Boring. It was almost as bad as watching a game of rugby.

The saving grace was that the penalty shoot-out took place in the goal directly below our seats. So we, at least, got some good photos.

We also had it brought home to us just how global the World Cup is. We had two guys from Vietnam sitting in front of us, a handful of Caymen Islanders to our right, a couple of Kiwis to our left and a bunch of Irish blokes behind us. Not to mention all the Swiss, Ukranians, Germans, French, English and countless other nationalities all around. I’ve been asked to keep this brief this week so I’ll wrap things up here. I promise to let you know more in my final instalment next week.

PART 6 (published July 11)

By the time you read this you’ll know who has won the World Cup. I’m hoping for an Italian victory, but I have a sneaking suspicion the match will have ended 0-0 with the French victorious on penalties. So far, however, my predictions for this tournament have been regularly lacking in accuracy. Remember, in an earlier article I stated the final would probably be between Brazil and the Netherlands. Not long after that I emailed a mate and told him that Italy would not win this tournament. So, what do I know.

I’m writing this on Sunday morning having just watched Germany beat Portugal 3-1 in the 3rd place play-off thanks to some stunning goals. This was the right result and reward for all they, along with the German people, have given this tournament. Our perfectly organised trip home allowed us to arrive back in the country on Friday, just in time to rest up for the final two matches and having watched the French mercifully beat the Portuguese in the second semi-final. Portugal, despite having a host of talented players in their squad, would not have made too many friends. Their theatrics, annoying at first, then plain boring, turned many people against them. It was satisfying to see that style of play prove to be unfruitful.

If I have one regret from our trip it is that I didn’t have a team to genuinely support. I got jealous watching the Aussies, Brazilians, Poles, Italians and others go through all the emotions involved with having a stake in team competing in such an event. I desperately wish that sometime during my lifetime New Zealand manage to make it to the World Cup so that I get to have those feelings too. Moreover, it is something that, as a proud kiwi, I hope New Zealand and New Zealanders also get to experience. You can only hope. [Little did we know then what was to happen only four years later.] 

Here are a few of my highlights and lowlights from the last month.

Highlights:

Even the horses got into it.

1. Germany. The whole country has been in party mode for a month. Millions of fans from Europe and around the world combined to make this a true tournament for the people. I don’t think the average kiwi would appreciate just how impressive the atmosphere was, both inside and, especially, outside the stadiums. In short, Germany went off.

2. The stadiums. Eden Park and Jade Stadium have nothing on the twelve impressive venues used for this World Cup. Stunning locations, unique architecture and genuine, unmanufactured atmosphere. Light years ahead of what we have for big sporting events in this country. Awe inspiring.

Lowlights:

1. The diving. Oh how I wish this blight on the game would be wiped out. Players should take more responsibility, but the best way to stop it would be for FIFA to review each match on video after it’s finished and award retrospective yellow cards. Teams would soon change their tactics if they know they don’t just have a single referee to con.

2. Coming home. I’ve only been back in the country a couple of days and I’ve already read a couple of newspaper articles that make me despair. The writers have picked up on a couple of themes (the diving and the defensive nature of some of the knock-out games) in an attempt to justify why they think football is crap and rugby rules. It’s not and it doesn’t and I just wish that one day our sporting media would get this chip off their collective shoulders.

And so we look forward to South Africa in 2010. The Africans have a lot to live up to, but I am sure they’ll give it their best shot. I’m already making plans to be there!

Great work

I stumbled across this short movie (http://www.greatworkmovie.com/) a while back.

Before I go on I suggest, respectfully, that you have a look. Go on, it’ll only take a few minutes…

Okay, welcome back.

Now, you may or may not be into this type of thing. Some people are highly self-motivated and will just shrug their shoulders and say, “So bloody what?” For other people it could be just what you need to get going.

Personally, I thought it was pretty cool. And it got me thinking about doing Great Work in football. Specifically in my club, for my club and regionally. God knows the game in New Zealand could still use a lot of great work at all levels.

Do we really do great work in football, or do we all have ready made, built in excuses not to? Do we do just enough and, if something we could or should or wanted to do just happens to slip by the wayside then, “Bleeh, too bad. I’m just a volunteer. I’m not paid. I do this for the love of the game. I don’t have to do it. Blah-de-blah-de-one-excuse-after-another-blah.”

But is cutting corners, doing the bare minimum, setting low standards and failing to meet them really good enough? Do you really love the game if you sell it or yourself so short?

Okay, we don’t all have unlimited free time. But we can all do great work with the time we do have available. If we really want to.

If you’re a player you can commit to an extra night’s training a week (even when it’s so cold and miserable).

If you’re a coach you can work a little longer with your strikers this week so they have a better chance of potting the crucial chance when it arrives on Saturday.

If you’re an administrator you can make contact with a local business this week and ask if they’d like to sponsor your club.

If you’re a referee you can talk with a player or coach after the game on Saturday and ask them how they think you performed.

If you’re a fan you can bring along a couple of mates to your club’s match this weekend.

Small things. But together they can all lead to doing great work for the great game in this great little country of ours.

And then imagine if you applied this philosophy to everything you do? Wouldn’t that be Great?

Here’s the movie one more time http://www.greatworkmovie.com/. Just in case you missed it earlier.

Greatness isn’t born

In his book The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle explains how greatness isn’t born, it’s grown. He describes the three key elements that work together to form myelin, a microscopic neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movements and thoughts. The three things: Deep Practice (specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice. 10,000 hours of deep practice leads to world class skills), Ignition (not just motivation but a higher level of commitment – passion – that accelerates development) and Master Coaching (the world’s most effective teachers do things differently, and better, than the rest).

Coyle shows that it’s not just money or location or any of the usually cited things that determine whether someone is world class. It’s a good read and I recommend any aspiring coach get hold of a copy, read it properly and apply the lessons immediately. Another excellent work on the same topic is Bounce, by Matthew Syed. It’s also worth reading from cover to cover.

A study on this New Zealand’s so-called elite athletes would be fascinating. I’d suggest our rugby players, netballers, leaguies et al, wouldn’t need to come anywhere near the approach explained in The Talent Code because the measure of what is world class in those sports would be far less than what it takes to be world class in sports like cycling, basketball, football or tennis. Why? Because the global depth of talent in rugby, netball and league is negligible, so you don’t even need to be all that good of a sportsperson (defined using a global scale) to be considered a great in any of those sports.

I’m not for a second suggesting the people representing our country at these sports don’t work hard. I’m sure they do and I’m sure they’ve put in the hard yards. It’s just that those hard yards wouldn’t stack up if these sportspeople wanted to emulate what athletes like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have achieved. We’re talking two completely different concepts of excellence here. Our rabidly improving group of cyclists, on the other hand, will know exactly what’s required to be the best.

Anyway, bringing this right back to something that’s close to my heart: how do we improve the quality of talent coming through the footballing ranks in New Zealand? It won’t be easy, of course, but I believe it all starts with our levels of expectation. Every young player, parent, club coach and fan must expect more and contribute more. I know we can’t just flick a switch and make that happen, and I know we’re infected by the ‘just enough is good enough’ outlook I explained above, but we have to try. And if we fail then we try in another way. And again, and again, and again.

My personal interest in this is the rapid growth of my two sons (man, they grow up quick!). As a parent it’s my duty to set standards and expectations, show them the way and support them 100% in what they choose to do. Naturally, they’ll both choose to be footballers, so I’m going to have to ensure they have the best opportunity of reaching that goal. And I’d prefer they aim to be like Xavi or Messi rather than some journeyman international sportsman like many who represent our country.

I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Development dollars should be spread around

Here’s a little discussion piece for those of you interested in the NRFL here in New Zealand.

The cost of entering the Northern Region Football League is made up of several components. Apart from actual entry fees, promotional fees and the like, clubs must pay referee’s fees upfront, along with a referees development fee.

All told, it’s a not inconsiderable sum of money.

As the President of one of the smallest clubs in the league, and someone who, effectively, is charged with finding this money I have a slight issue with this approach. In a nutshell, I’d ask, if clubs (and, by extension, the players) are expected to pay for the cost of referees then why are referees not expected to pay for the costs of the players?

Sound a little crazy? Possibly. But, please, hear me out.

Football at NRFL level and below is an amateur sport. Well, it’s supposed to be, so let’s just assume, for argument’s sake, it actually is. Players play, essentially, because they love the game. They play for enjoyment. Why do referees referee? Every ref I’ve asked will tell me it’s definitely not for the money. They’ve told me it’s because they love the game. It’s because they enjoy it.

Players need referees to play.  Equally, referees need players to referee. Both groups need each other if they’re going do what they want to do. And everyone’s in it for basically the same reasons.

But the financial model doesn’t reflect this. Clubs must contribute to the travel costs associated with getting players to games. Clubs must also contribute towrads the travel costs associated with getting referees to games. Clubs must contribute towards their own player and coach development costs. And they must also contribute to referee’s development costs.

It’s a conundrum. It perplexes me more and more as the dollars due each year go up and up.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m actually happy  to pay for services provided by referees, even though clubs don’t appear to have any input into affecting the quality of the services provided (that’s another post for another day). As long as this is a requirement of league entry then, quite frankly, I don’t have a choice.

But I do question the reasoning behind the logic that suggest, in an amateur environment, one group of stakeholders should fund the other group, but not vice versa. (And to the, “It’s always been that way” tribe, I’d ask, “Why should it always be that way?”)

To me the best solution would be to leave each group to fund their own activities. Is that being too cheeky? What do you think?