Surprise, Surprise

So, the third and final stage of group matches in the 2010 Jabulani infused FIFA World Cup comes to an end with surprising results. Teams like South Korea, Uruguay, Ghana, USA, Paraguay that have qualified for the knockout stage are teams that, in my novice opinion, considered not much of a threat for bigger teams. Two former world champions and finalists the last time, Italy and France have disastrously been booted out of the world cup and that too with drama! And it was a decent scoring second & third round with at least some goals to watch. Overall, after matches like Argentina-Greece, Portugal-North Korea, Slovakia-Italy, it’s been a good turn around for a slow starting world cup.

Have teams like France and Italy seen an early exit because their players have more loyalty or seriousness towards their clubs than their countries. I doubt it. France literally shot themselves in the foot by washing their dirty linen in public. As if the off-field coach-players-support staff spat wasn’t bad enough, their on-field performance was de-motivated, dejected and depressing! Surely they’ll have a lot to answer back home.

I feel more sympathy for the Italian setup because while watching their final game versus the Slovaks I really felt that the Italians did make a desperate attempt to overcome their opposing force. Both scored goals were fantastic and a third disallowed as an offside, on their lucky day, could have seen them through to the last sixteen. But maybe that’s how Karma strikes, considering the basis on which they went through to the quarter- finals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup after beating Australia on flimsy grounds for a penalty. Let’s hope they can regroup and come back stronger as a unit.

Which brings me to the talk of countries like Japan, South-Korea, Ghana, Paraguay, Chile, Ghana and the United States. Did they wonderfully make it through to the round of 16 because they take world cup football more passionately than the bigger, already established teams? I think so. The players from these countries usually play in domestic leagues being deprived of international recognition and not many from these countries have gone on to play in the more lucrative Spanish and English leagues. It’s the thirst for national pride, for recognition, for achievement which I think makes them go the extra mile on an international stage. And all of this without the burden of expectations!

This tournament has gotten fresh! Let’s hope the end result is also worth the wait!

The Super Summer Begins...

The heat is up and on. The world cup is underway and 32 teams have their sight on the World Cup trophy. As exciting as the prospect of this drooling world cup might have sounded in the past months the start of the world cup has been somewhat of a whimper. Why? Well, it’s been a low scoring affair (barring the Germany-Australia clash), the quality of football in terms of skill and flamboyance has been a bit lacklustre, and there have been too many draw results.

Teams like USA, North Korea and Switzerland, which were considered to be a bit inferior coming into the world cup have shown their metal against class oppositions. Biggies like England, Italy and Spain have massively failed to impress. However, I would hate to get ahead of myself as only the first round of matches have been played so far and who knows, the players and teams might just gel together and find their rhythm. Add to that the constant pestering of players and officials with issues such as the Vuvuzela and the Jabulani match ball have taken the focus away from the main attraction. The game itself. So lets wait and watch. Former world cups have never failed to impress and this one might turn around too!

But the FIFA world cup now is not the only thing on my mind these days. The Canadian Grand Prix just got over and it’s a Mclaren one-two again! If somebody had told me before the Turkish Grand Prix that such would be the scenario, I would have dismissed the idea. But the brilliant work of the Mclaren engineers combined with the aggressive driving of Hamilton and the smart driving of Button is proving to be a match winner. Not to mention that both these drivers are now at the top of the championship table.

One can expect the Red-Bull team to come back with a bang in Valencia, but something tells me that their unwanted collision mishap in Turkey is still playing somewhere around team Red-Bulls minds. But that’s just me. Far worse things have happened in F1 and teams have looked ahead to the future. The one thing that Red-Bull cannot ignore though is the fact that Mclaren have discovered the secret potion of winning in this season and Redbull have to pull up their socks.

Works wonderfully well though for a F1 lover like me who would love to see the championship go down to the wire!

Making it count!

Raging Bull !!!!

Six races, six pole positions...And that's just the start of the season. Red Bull racing are rampaging out there with their win at the Monaco Grand Prix. If only they had converted most of their pole positions into race wins I would have considered most teams unable to match their power and pace this season. In Mark Webber and more importantly Sebastian Vettal, Red Bull have found the perfect combination which could give them the drivers and constructors championships.

Red Bull particularly look impressive because none of the other top marked teams such as Ferrari, Mclaren or Mercedes GP hardly came within touching distance in Monaco. Only Fernando Alonso's Ferrari impressed in the practice sessions but that didn't help much once he crashed it. Now with the focus shifting to European tracks, lets see how the teams and drivers perform on their home soils.

Over to my native Force India now and what a season its been for them! From struggling for track position three years ago to being regular point collectors, Vijay Mallya's team are perfection when it comes to the mid-ranking slot. Whats good to see is that Force India have stuck with Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Luizzi and in them they have experienced drivers who are providing them with the right kind of feedback that a growing team needs. Not that its something to boast about, but Red-Bull, which everyone is gushing about now, had been in a similar position in their previous years and look how they are doing!!!

But whats upsetting is the fact that the back-marker teams have yet to make an impression. Not one driver from Virgin, HRT or Lotus has managed to have a good race and fears that these teams are just traffic at the back of the grid are coming true. Lets hope that doesn't stay the same and these teams get those much needed mid-season upgrades. But till that time, we can enjoy Red-Bulls march towards the pole and chequered flag again and again!



On a roll....

The Real Kickoff!!!

So club football around the world comes to a finish with no major surprises around the corner. What a pity. I really thought that the La Liga would have an exciting weekend but it turned pretty drab with Barcelona clinching their second successive title without wasting much breath! I’m just curious whether Real Madrid would still be as appealing to their expensive buyers considering their poor start, good middle and a bad end. Word already is that Chelsea are looking upto Carlos Ancelloti to use his excellent rapport with Kaka to land him in England.

Not that I would expect much of an opposition to this move considering Chelsea’s double this season and the obvious fact that their players are older than some trees in England. However I reckon that since the season end not many people are worried about issues plaguing the domestic leagues. That’s because the big daddy of football the FIFA world cup is around the corner. With the commercialization and the money involved in local leagues in Europe, word was that the World cup was a mere formality for players. However, it has been proven time and again that the biggest world spectacle gives every player the adrenaline and energy to prove himself at the highest level.

A major cause of worry again, as in before most world cups, is that of injuries. Spain has the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Torres healing themselves and Germany have just found out that their inspirational captain Michael Ballack might have to sit this world cup out (although I doubt whether that would make a difference!) What makes it worse though for Ballack is the fact that he got injured in the very last match of Chelsea’s season.

Spain, Netherlands, England and Argentina are the teams that could have a phenomenal world cup. Out of the lot Argentina was the only team which had considerable tension in qualifying, but with most of their star players back in full force I think they would be on a roll. But it’s too early to say anything and every time someone’s predicted the world cup they’ve had to hide their faces in shame. So all i’m gonna do is sit back on the couch and enjoy my share of Joga Bonito when it kicks off in a months time!!!

Look at her shine!!!

As the five green lights illuminate!

It is go for the 2010 Formula one season! And it has been that way for four races now. In a long time perhaps this is the season that has the most number of competent drivers in a formula one season! If we take a stock of the current pile, then we have 4 world champions i.e Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and the legendary Michael Schumacher battling it out in this season. Champions notwithstanding, there are also the equally capable Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica.

This season was already too tough to call for me before it began. It’s the same way 4 races down the season. With the point’s structure being revamped, it’s a crowded top at the driver’s championship with Button leading, Rosberg at second and Hamilton and Alonso tied at fourth!

The surprise of the season for many people (read media and pundits) has been Team McLaren’s Jenson Button, winning two of the four races already. It’s not surprising at all actually, considering he is the defending world champion, has been in the sport for nearly a decade and has massive experience when it comes to strategy and timing. It was widely and, in some circles, is still believed that Jenson would play second fiddle to his brash and aggressive team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Wonder what they might be thinking now? Yes, Button might be a late bloomer, but no one can take any of his victories away from him. He’s a strong contender to watch out for in this season along with the highly unlucky Sebastian Vettel.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel could be asking every god why his luck is running the way it is. In lieu of his qualifying sessions he could have well been out-of-reach for most drivers already. But the three pole positions in four races did not convert into race victories and who knows, maybe that might come and sting him later in the season. But gear box and engine failures are beyond any drivers control and Vettel being the driver that he is surely has stronger performances to come. Team Red Bull have a very capable car this season and if technical failures can be put aside, we can see that car winning most of the races this season.

Coming to my home country’s Force India now (face gleaming!). Force India has impressed me massively. Almost every team which makes an entry into formula one claims that they are going to make a gradual improvement in terms of performance. A lot of them go bankrupt. And a lot of them stay at the back of the grid. However, Force India in their third year have easily become a middle ranked team. They have at least one car going into Q3 every time, have finished in the points (Excluding the Chinese Grand Prix) this season and who knows, maybe a podium is on its way as well. It’s a job well done for Vijay Mallya, Tec director Mark Smith and drivers Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi

But with 15 races still to go this season is open for most teams to claim as their own. With the exclusion of pit stop refuelling, tyre strategies and weather will play a crucial part in the races to come. Whoever puts the best brains forward, might speed off with glory!

May the force be with us!!!

April Jitters.....

So it’s April and a host of sporting activity comes, almost, to a close. The IPL, BPL are at their fag ends and it's anybody’s guess who'll run away with glory. Formula 1 though has just started and I'm eagerly sitting in anticipation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (drool).

But before that even comes close we have to deal with whose going to take away glory in European football. I must confess that when it comes to the "beautiful game", I like most in my age group, have been smitten only with European(read mostly English) football. Call it marketing or good football it just works for me. I do once in a while glance at our own domestic I-League...but hey...it's got a lot of catching up to do!!!

Coming back to football the 2009-10 English Premier league is now almost at an end!!! Every team has only 3 or 4 matches to go and the title race is wide open. To be honest it's been a while since I have actually supported a team in the premier league. When the season began I desperately hoped and prayed that Manchester United should get some worthy competition. Their successive wins for the past few years have been well deserved but quite predictable for someone like me. With the departure of Christiano Ronaldo, I thought that the void would be un-fillable(if that’s a word), but the genius of Sir Alex has once again been the 12th man for Man United.

Far more surprising this year has been the fact that fourth place in the standings is up for grabs for almost 5 different teams! Tottenham Hotspurs, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool and to an extent Everton were all tipped as contenders for that vital fourth place. After much sweat and toil it seems that the Spurs and Man City are the ones who will finally fight the last bout. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I have come to appreciate Manchester city a tad bit (Courtesy Carlos Tevez). The poor team had been labelled as pretenders from the very beginning of the season and have been punching and kicking from a corner to get the attention that they now truly deserve. On top of that I really think that Mancini and Tevez really deserve a European platform to unleash their fury in totality. But before that can happen, they have to climb the mountain that stands in front of them in the form of Arsenal and the Spurs themselves.

Tottenham Hotspurs, who by the way are on a roll thanks to their steamrolling of Arsenal and Chelsea (shmucks) , have their own mountain to climb in the form of Manchester United. The devils have been terribly out of form and should the spurs continue their rampaging ways, there is little to stop them from creating a gap between them and Man City. It’s a wait and watch till the Spurs v/s City matchup in two weeks!!!

A point to raise here is that it’s good to finally see teams other than the top four fight for the final champions league spot. Last year Aston Villa came close to fourth before bottling it up and this year too it’s an open race. Hope the trend continues and fans like me will surely have a better season to look forward to.

And as for the title contenders....Well I wouldn’t dare predict anything...Although it’s an open match between Man United and Chelsea, I would give the latter a better chance. Wayne Rooney’s prolific form has been not-so-prolific off late and Berbatov sleeping on the pitch is not helping matters either. Heavy dependence on Nani and Valencia is United only route. Chelsea have the capability to come back like wounded tigers and with weaker oppositions like Stoke, Wigan and Liverpool they surely will.

So that’s that about the English Premier League. The rest of Europe? Like always the La Liga is left between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Bundesliga is being dominated by Bayern Munchen and Serie A finally got a rude shock with Roma actually threating to take top spot from Inter. ( I know very brief but thats the jist of it...trust me!!!).

So till more action packed football next week...its ciao from me!!!



Mera cup hai...nahi mera cup hai!!!