Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Batista breeze replaces Maradona whirlwind
Argentina have not suddenly become world champions after beating Spain 4-1 nor have the Spanish lost the sheen of their World Cup victory.
For Argentine fans, though, the performance more than the result gives them hope for a fresh start, possibly with Sergio Batista at the helm right through to Brazil 2014.
So forgotten was Diego Maradona on that sunny late Tuesday afternoon in Buenos Aires that there were no chants of “Maradoooooo, Maradoooooo”.
Whenever things went wrong with the national team, that was the chant that rang out at the Monumental. Until they went wrong with Maradona himself in charge.
A poor match could have brought back the ghost of the 4-0 thrashing of Maradona’s World Cup team by Germany.
A good match revived the belief in Argentines that they are not, and never were, that far from this Spain team in playing style.
Menotti unhappy with Maradona’s priorities
Even Diego Maradona’s harshest critics, including Cesar Luis Menotti, recognised that they saw an improvement in Argentina’s defence in last week’s 1-0 win over Germany and some sort of shape to the team.
But Menotti, the coach who steered Argentina to their first World Cup title in 1978, does not like what he sees with Maradona at the helm for this year’s finals in South Africa.
“Your obligation is not to be world champion, your obligation is to know what the game plan is,” Menotti told the radio broadcaster La Red this week in a veiled message to Maradona.
Menotti’s comments follow Maradona’s remarks in Munich that he wants Argentina to stop looking back at their 1978 and 1986 World Cup victories and have new heroes to admire.
Maradona is certainly not short of talented players at the top of their form.
“There are good players, there’s no doubt about that, they’re capable of winning a match for you … Luckily we have (Lionel) Messi and he is more and more a team player, at least that’s how he looks with Barcelona.
“(But) we Argentines are expecting him to win a match for us and the match is won by the team and not a player.”
Replaying games because of a single incident is obviously unworkable in the real world.
What is needed in football is more widespread use of technology during matches themselves, as in rugby and tennis.
Arsene knows
What would a great goal be worth on the art market?
Having seen replays of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s remarkable backheel goal for Inter Milan on Saturday, I reckon it’s one of those rare moments when football reaches the realm of art.
I realise you risk sounding like a wally by comparing something frivolous like football to such a serious business. (more…)
Of course you can compare football to art! If art is something that is beautiful or exciting to look at, which involves exceptional skill and even inspiration, then Ibra’s goal certainly counts.
I guess where a great goal differs from art is that the latter has usually been constructed with great care and attention over some time. Ibra’s strike was glorious because it involved a split-second reaction — it was conceived and executed in the blink of an eye.
And then the other thing about art, especially modern art, is that it is often art simply by virtue of the fact that someone says it is (see the Campbell soup cans). Or because the person who did it is accepted as an artist. Well, I think Ibra would have a lot of supporters on that front…
