Category Archives: La Liga
Messi is a Father!
The current world footballer of the year and Barcelona’s leading light, Lionel Messi has become a proud father. The baby boy was delivered yesterday at a hospital in Barcelona.
Messi and girlfriend, Anthonella Rocuzzo named the infant Thiago Messi. I’m sure that the baby’s namesake and Messi’s teammate, Thiago Alcantra would be very proud of sharing that name with the little angel.
I heartily congratulate Messi and his family on the arrival of the baby. Indeed, there’s nothing like being a World Class father!
A Joy to Watch!
That Lionel Messi is the best player of his generation is no longer in doubt. If there’s still any argument about this, it should have been laid to rest with his three consecutive triumphs as FIFA best player of the year. That alone is a feat unmatched by any of the past great talents that graced the game. And this become more glaring when considers that the past two decades produced the electrifying Luis Nasario De’ Lima (a player some referred to as the Phenomenon), majestic Zinedine Zidane, sometimes unplayable Ronaldinho and unbelievably brilliant Ricardo Kaka.
Other greats include the pair of Brazillian geniuses Rivaldo and Romario. Who can forget the mercurial Lusi Figo who for me remains the best winger to have ever played the game?
Here We Go Again.
The new European season is gradually picking up with the commencement of the two remaining ‘super leagues’ in Spain and Italy. In England, the EPL is already four games gone and not a few dramas had occurred already. What with the incredible start up of the Manchester sides-four games won in a row with some outstanding results along the way? Wayne Rooney, Kun Aguero, Ashley Young and Edwin Dzeko have all light up the green platforms with some incredible goals. Within the quartet, 21 goals have been plundered already in a measly four games.
Real Madrid and Barcelona kicked off where they stopped last season with six and five goals scored respectively in their opening games. While the Catalans floundered in their next game by throwing away a two-goal lead, Los Blancos showed grit and determination to extinguish the flames of Getafe at the Bernabue. In Spain, at least, I’m very hopeful of seeing a new team crowned champions come May 2012.
In recent years, Italy’s been so-so as far as European football is concerned until the ‘special one’ Jose Mourinho moved to Inter Milan who he led to their first European Cup in 45 years after winning the league for the second time in a row. The reason was not far fetched from the Calciopoli scandal that consumed Juventus, AC Milan and a couple other teams.
The stains are yet to wash away as many still see the Italian football set as heavily corrupt and influenced. Prior to this however, AC Milan and Juventus held sway both in the league and in Europe. With the Milan team getting old under the watch of Carlo Ancellotti, nothing seems to be going well for the country in European competition until the Portuguese tactician took over at their rivals.
Germany on the other hand had been carrying out some kind of ‘reforms’ (that word is very popular among politicians now and some determined youths) in their football. Teams across the strata of the leagues in the country are debarred from borrowing, paying wages beyond set limits and generally running beyond budgeted figures. They are encouraged to look inwards for the core of their team. Homegrown talents are increasing daily in the country. The result?
Bundesliga sides are perhaps the most financially stable European football clubs. Running a tight ship literarily, virtually all the teams have very strong home support with stadiums packed in every match day. As a matter of fact, the Bundesliga is now the most attended league in Europe and the world. And one of the ways to determine the strength of a league is to look at the quality of the players on display. While the German league may not command the star power La Liga and the EPL, I dare to be corrected that the organization and future prospects far exceeds that of the leading duo.
Last season, it was a breathtaking Dortmund that took the ‘plate’ from perennial title winners, Bayern Munich. And I saw a team with an unbelievable attacking play. From one end of the pitch to the other, Borussia Dortmund played the game the way it should. Attacking with pace, finesse and conviction, they simply blew away oppositions. Now that they are in the CL, I can’t wait to see how far they will go in the premier competition.
French, Portuguese, Belgian and Dutch leagues make up the other half of the eight that determines the sweetness of the European game. This time around however and with what I saw of FC Porto and Benfica in the opening matches of the CL; the Portuguese league may be moving two steps closer to the elites.
The attraction of the game is the discovery of new talents. Last season, for me, it was ‘Chicharito’ and Jack Wiltshere. This season, I intend to take a closer look at Mario Goetze, Eden Hazzard and Thiago Alcantra. Who knows? Any of these undoubted talents may not shine after all leaving the stage for some other unsung players somewhere to catch our attention and steal our hearts all over again!
