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orkut - home: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm"

Live Football!!!

It has been my wish to see to a live football match. Ofcourse, being in Mumbai it is not possible as we do not have a proper stadium here. But I decided I will have to do with watching National Football League in the rundown Cooperage stadium. I made it to the Air India Vs East Bengal game on 07 Jan 07 and Mahindra Utd Vs Mohan Bagan on 14 Jan 07.

Air India Vs East Bengal

The picture pasted beside shows the nature of the stadium and crowd. As you can see the stands are just wooden planks and they quite far from the playing field. This ground has been more used for marriages than for football. But last year thanks to a High court order, marriages are not permitted at least for now.
The game itself was quite dull. Air India being the home team, the crowd was per dominantly supporting them. The match ended 1 - 0 with Samson Singh scoring the winner at 71 st minute. He had just come on as a substitute. The man of the match was the impressive Air India defender Benoy Kuruvila.

Benoy Kuruvilla (above) gettin Man of the Match.
and (below) the final score board.


Mahindra United Vs Mohan Bagan
Mahindra United are the defending champions and Mohan Bagan are favorites for this year having spend heavily this season. Their strikers Baichung Bhutia and Brazilian Barretto are considered to be the best in the league. It was a very interesting game and the stands were packed. Huge number of Mohan Bagan supporters were present. In fact I was surrounded by Bagan fans.
Bhaichung started well with a score in the seventh minute. But the attack of Mahindra United partnership at the top of Yusif Yakubu (man of the match) and Pomeyie was menacing and plenty of defensive and goalkeeping errors on the part of Bagan helped Mahindra.
In the end it was a very one sided scoreline 4-1 for Mahindra United. In fact it could have been more for the Mumbai team, had Yusif converted the penalty given towards the end of the game.

Goals: 0-1 Baichung Bhutia (17'),
1-1 Andrews Mensah Pomeyie (25'),
2-1 Yakubu Yusif (29'),
3-1 Yakubu Yusif (35') and
4-1 Abhishek Yadav (90'+3')



Final Score Board


Sargam, Mohan Bagan goalie saves a Yusif Yukubu penalty

Yusif Yukubu( Man of the match)

Half time

Well its not exactly half way through the competition but today is day 11 of World Cup and the its just about completing 2 matches each of the group stages. Germany, Ecuador, England, Argentina, Holland, Portugal and Brazil are through to the Round of 16 with one game to spare.
    I could not possibly see all the games due to work commitments and the 12:30 a.m starts are not convenient on a weekday but following are my comments on the games till now.

9th Jun

Germany 4 : 2 Costa Rica.
    A great start to the World cup but the expected upset did not fructify. Plenty of goals and Paulo Wanchope lived upto his expectations. There was controversy before the start to as Jurgen Klinsmann decided to "rest" star player Michael Ballack. But Germany went through comfortably.

Poland 0 : 2 Ecuador
    So the first day upset lived to its expectation as "lowly" Ecuador beat Poland. As this was a midnight start, I missed the game. Ecuador has defeated Brazil and Argentina in qualifiers at home in Quito, but that was atributed to high altitude that city is present in.

10th June

England 1:0 Paraguay
    David Beckham freekick in the 3rd minute, curled into the box and his Paraguayan counterpart Carlos Gammara headed in a Own Goal. It was otherwise quite a boring game as England seemed happy with the lead and Paraguay did not care to attack in the first half. The English blamed the afternoon start and the heat for their lack lustre performance.

Trinidad & Tobago 0 : 0 Sweden
    An exciting game of one team attacking and the other defending with all their might. In the start of the second half, T & T were reduced to 10 men in the start of the second half. But they defended superbly and major credit should go to the West Ham goalie. Shaka Hislop.  In fact, Stern John of T & T had a late chance on a counter attack, which hit the post.

Argentina 2 : 1 Ivory Coast
    The game of the tournament till now. A late night start but a free flowing attacking football by both the teams which keeps one awake all through the night. ARgentina scored early goals but Ivory coast fought back gallantly with Drogba getting a late goal.

11th June

Serbia & Montenegro 0 : 1 Holland
    An early individual goal by Arjen Robben (although the pass by Robin van Persie set him up perfectly), was the only goal of the game. S & M, after the introduction of Koroman, looked menacing. But Holland looked self -  assured.

Mexico 3 : 1 Iran
    A very intersting match up. It was 1:1 till late in second half. Then the Iranian goalkeeper and defender make a silly passing mistake and the deadlock is broken in the 76th minute and then in the 79th, Zinha heads home a beautiful header to finish it off.

Angola 0 :1 Portugal
    The former colonisers should have creamed through their former colony. In the end, it turned out be a close game. A late start and missed it as not much was expected.

12th June

Australia 3 : 1 Japan
    An early kick -off,hence had see only the repeat telecast. Japan were leading till the 84th minute. But Guus Hiddink's brilliant substitution of bringing on Tim Cahill, gave the Aussies a victory. Cahill scored twice and Aloisi scored the last. 3 goals in six minutes!!!

Italy 2 : 0 Ghana
    Early goals by Italy sealed the fate of Ghana. As mentioned in my predictions, it is very difficult to crack the defence of Italy with Cannavaro, Nesta and Zambarotta. Saw the highlights as it was  a weekday early kick off.

USA 0 : 3 Czech Republic
    The World Ranking 5 team were taught a lesson in football by the No. 2 ranked team. I missed the first half but the second half saw a cracker of a goal by the new Arsenal buy, Tomas Rosicsky. But with Milan Baros and Jan Koeller both injured, Czech have a problem going ahead in the tournament.


13th June

Korea 2 : 1 Togo
    Togo were suppossed to rollover and die , but the lead this game at half time. Korea sneaked 2 goals in the second half to keep their chances alive.

France 0 : 0  Switzerland.
     A much fancied game between two teams expected to go through from the group. But it was a boring draw with France not playing as a team. Henry missed quite a few chances and Zizou was nothing like magician he is known to be. One could see arguements between Gallas, Zidane and Thuram on the pitch.

Brazil 1 : 0 Croatia
    Late night match, so missed it. But apparently it was a very dull game with Ronaldo playing a very sluggish game. The only gae came from Kaka, a strike from just outside the D area. Not a convincing start from the defending champions.


14th June

Tunisia 2 : 2 Saudi Arabia
    Nobody expected this to be a good match. Infact, I did not even care to see the highlights. But considering the 2 teams capabilities, it seems to have been a cracker of a game. Tunisia were leading half time 1:0 and the Saudis fought back to go up 2:1. Then the late equaliser gave both the teams a well deserved point.

Spain 4 : 0 Ukraine
    This was built up to be a tough game between two teams bound to go out of this group to the next round. But with Shevchenko going missing and Ukraine down to ten men due referee error, the Spanish showed what they are capable off. But then this is Spain. They will fizzle out before we know. Their biggest opponent is they themselves. Will this time they prove themrselves wrong?

Germany 1 : 0 Poland
    This was start of the second round of matches in the group stage. I saw the repeat telecast and though it was goaless till the 89th minute, it was exciting.


15th June
   
Ecuador 3 : 0 Costa Rica
    Ecuador are now the surprise second round qualifiers. They have thown out the Poles and now face Germany for their last match to decide who will top the group. Who would have thought of such a scenario. This is football World cup at its best.

England 2 : 0 Trinidad & Tobago
    Till the 84th minute of this game, it was draw. And at that point it looked thats how it will end. Again a Beckham long ball saved the day with Crouch heading it for a goal. Then in the 89th minute Steven Gerrard hit a characteristic goal from outside the penalty area. This game saw the return of Rooney but put in serious doubts England's capabilities to breakdown defences.  For their part, T & T played a very defensive game with no intenetion to attack.  Their best chance was from corner in the first half, which John Terry kicked out just off the goal line.

Sweden 1 : 0 Paraguay
    Could not see the game, but it was a frustrating game with a late goal from Freddie Ljunberg keeping the Swedes alive in the Tournament and the Paraguayans out. If the English beat the Swedes in their last game and T & T defeat Paraguay by a huge margin, then T & T can go through because of goal difference.

16th June

Argentina 6 : 0 Serbia & Montenegro
    The group of death fizzled out. This was a 6:30 p.m start (IST) and hence missed the game.  As the scoreline  suggests, it was one - way traffic. I could only see the highlights, but what skill and team work by Argentina. The second goal constituted 24 passes. The last bit, Riquelme to Saviola who curves the ball to Cambiasso. Cambiasso pushes it ahead to Crespo and runs into the box. Crespo back heels it to Cambiasso who scores, is simply magic.

Holland 2 : 1 Ivory Coast
    Again the opponents of the Ivory Coast go 2 goals up and they fight their way back but fail at the last hurdle. The have to be the most unlucky losers of the first round. They played excellent football but their opposition were just too good.

Mexico 0 : 0 Angola
    Sometimes I am thankful,  did not stay late and watch some games. This had to be one of them. The highlights were boring!!!

17th June

Portugal 2 : 0 Iran
    Deco proved why he is considered to be one of the best attacking midfielder and playmaker in the game. A superb strike of a  moving ball was perfect.

Czech Republic 0 : 2 Ghana

    A 9:00 p.m start I missed because of the stupid cable fellow. The upset I had predicted on a SMS competition came true, with even my Man of the Match prediction (Michael Essien) right! The Czech without their 2 star strikers have a tough task now to qualify.

Italy 0 : 0 USA
    In the end this was a 10 vs 9 men game, with the Uruguaying referee having his say on the game. Though US felt hard done with both their red cards, I felt they were justified. But USA overall had a great game and now the group is wide open.

18th June

Japan 0 : 0 Croatia
    A very dull and slow game which deservedly ended in a draw. Both teams did not know how to score a goal. Srna of Croatia missed a penalty!

Brazil 2: 0  Australia
    If the earlie game had a result, then the start of this game would not have been as it was. Australia just needed a draw so they sat back and let the Brazilians in. It was goaless till half time. Then early in the second half, a brilliant pass by Ronaldinho to Ronaldo who pulled 3 defenders towards him and then passed to Adriano who completed it.  Brazilians looked sluggish and tired. They will have to pick up pace to go through this tournament.

France 1 : 1 Korea
Missed the game, but apart from the surprise result from the Koreans, the game seemsto be have been a dull affair. This has thrown the group open for anybody to go through. France are lucky to face Togo for their last game, so they  might go through, though they do not deserve it. The Korean fans were apparently the star of the show.

19th June

Togo 0 : 2 Switzerland
    As expected, Frei and Barreta gave the Swiss the lead. Togo are the pushovers of the tournament.

Saudi Arabia 0 : 4 Ukraine
    The Spain thrashing hurt the Ukrainese. The way they came back against the Saudis, was magnificient. It was a great team performance and taught the Saudis a thing or two about football.

Spain 3 : 1 Tunisia
    This game proved why football critics are afraid to predict success to Spain. They were trailing till the 71st minute. This shows the mercurial behavior of the Spanish.

Group H Predictions

Teams:
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia

    Saudi Arabia have gone through the whole qualification without losing a single game. The credit goes to their excellent goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid. But the problem with Saudi's is that they do not have -players with the European experience. So they do well in Asian conditions but their past 2 world cup record has been abysmal.
    Spain, the perennial under-achievers, are again expected to do well. They have the complete array of players in all positions. Though the inspirational Raul is injured for the opning game, the spanish have Fernnado Torres and Luis Garcia. With a midfield of Xavi and Xabi Alonso, defence of Carlos Puyol and Salgado and Iker Casillas between the sticks, one has to rate them as favorites to go all the way. But the biggest problem with Spain has been their internal politics. The Catalan versus Madrid divide has played to their troubles.
    Ukraine were on of the first teams to qualify out of Europe. But they are seen as a one man army. It is that great man Andriy Shevchenko, on whom the team depends. Hence when about a month back, Andriy got injured, the media was writing off the team. But Ukraine have chance. They must definitely beat Saudi and Tunisia.
    Tunisia could be a surprise package. They qualified for the Euro'04, though they did not go any further. But here they are in a weak group. Also, most of their players play in Europe makes them all the more potent.

Predictions: Spain followed by Ukraine.

Group G Predictions

Teams:
France
Korea
Switzerland
Togo

    It is highly unlikely that any of the teams from this group will go all the way. I feel passing the second round stage will  be difficult. France, based on the quality of their players, can do anything. Also media here in India fed by the English Premier League, feel Theiry Henry to be an undoubted star of the cup. But Henry has a record going missing the big games and Championships. With Trezeguet, Zidane, Viera, Riberry, Gallas and Makelele, they have a good set of stars in the field. But they have Jean Alain Boumsong as a defender and Fabian Barthez as the goalkeeper. Their coach, Domenech, seems to be a nut. He looks at stars and planets to select his squad. Who in their right mind would drop Giuly of Barcelona from the 23 man squad.
    Korea, by the virtue of being in a weak group, have chance of qualifying for the second round. With Sung Ji Park, their most famous import to ManU and a successful coach in Dick Advocaat, the Korean can beat any team from their group.
    Switzerland are a young side. Their team revolves around their striker Alexander Frei. They had a 1-1 draw against Italy days before the World cup in a warm up game. But as explained in the Group E Precitions, Italy had bad set of warm up games. Switzerland might get out of the group, by defeating Korea, but won't go any ahead.
    Togo are an absolutely unknown entity. Their only player I have heard of is Adbeyor who plays for Arsenal. Their coach has walked out of the team after the start of the cup because of some dispute. They will find it difficult to get a single point.

Predictions: France followed by Korea.

Group F Predictions

Teams:
Australia
Brazil
Croatia
Japan

Australia, nicknamed “Socceroos”, have qualified by beating the fifth place Uruguay in penalities. They have a good team but the in a team consisting of
Brazil and Croatia, they might find progressing difficult. They have good midfielders with Marco Bresciano, Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell but the
striker role will have to be between Kewell and Viduka. Mark Viduka is an
experienced warhorse, but his age and sluggishness will hamper the Aussies.
They are unlucky to be in a tough group.

What can one say about the Brazilian team. They can put 2 teams in the competition and both would reach the final. The only weakness one can think off is an ageing defence with Cafu and Roberto Carlos and a goalkeeper (Dida) who has not been consistent for his club AC Milan in the last season. But with an attack force of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano, Juninho, Robinho and Julio
Baptista, they are unstoppable. But that is in theory. Thankfully football in
not played on paper and reputations can be destroyed within minutes of a game.

Croatia are the force they were with Suker in the 98 World cup (they won the third place in that tournament), but still have the passion and the skill to be at
the highest level. With Dado Prso as the striker and Niko Kranjcar in the
midfield, they have lot of creative options. But will they survive this tough
group will depend on the character of the team on the match day.

Japan will be exciting with their quick and athletic game. With the Brazilian great Zico as coach, one can expect a some tactical game with lot of skill. But like Australia, they are in a tough group and they will not be able to match their
performance last time at home.

Predictions: Brazil followed by Croatia

Group E Predictions

Teams:
Czech Republic
Italy
Ghana
USA

Czech Republic are according to me the best team on this group. Though Italy are considered to be the favorites of this group, I feel the Azzuris with their off – field trouble and their lack off goals in the warm up games will fall behind the Czech. The Czech are ranked no.2 in the FIFA world rankings and were semi finalists in the Euro ’04, have a very talented side. With Cech in the goal and Rosicky, Nedved and Poborsky in the midfield with Baros and Koeller as the strike force, they have all round capabilities. Their defence is a bit brittle as per evidence seen in their qualifying game against Holland, which saw even Cech make mistakes. Their players are mercurial in nature best typified by Milan Baros. Milan had a great Euro ’04 (he was the top scorer of the competition), but he had an abysmal season following that with Liverpool.
Italy will always be favorites for the cup, but the with match fixing scandals in the Serie A and Juventus likely to be relegated for their involvement, their troubles off the field are more than on the field. In the warm up games, they had a tough time finding goals against weak opposition. Defensively, they are the best with only England having as good a line up as the Azzuri. Infact, despite Zambrotta’s injury, they still look very strong with Nesta and Cannavaro in defence and Buffon in the goal. If Totti is match fit and Luca Toni and Gillardino can combine well, then they can go a long way. They have the aging Vieri and Alexander del Piero as back up in the midfield.
Ghana, another surprise from Africa, are will known for their Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien. But apart from that are unknown elements and could cause an upset with their aggressive style of football. Captain Stephen Appiah and defender Sammy Kuffour are other big names who could on their day be very dangerous.
USA, ranked no. 4 in the rankings, have surprised the world with their rankings. They have a good setup and a decent team. But they still call the game “Soccer”!!!!
Predictions: Czech Republic followed by Ghana (I know it will be Italy, but nothing wrong in being a romantic).

Group D Predictions

Teams:
Angola
Iran
Mexico
Portugal
    This is a very week group with only Portugal as the team that have  a realistic chance of going all the way. Angola, the surprise team from the African group, who nudged out the strong Nigerians, play their first game against Portugal today. This is a battle between a 400 year colony and coloniser. But apart from the emotion associated with the history, the result should be a clinical finish by the all powerful stars of Portugal.
    Iran have Ali Daei, their 37 year captain who is their inspiration but will he be able to match the pace and have the stamina to last the mordern world cup. Ali Karimi, their phenomenol midfielder, plays for Bayern Munich, must be familiar with the conditions. Lot pf Iranian player play for the German Budesliga. So if they can bring their experience and their passion for the game to the fore, they can proceed out of the group. For Iran, football is a means of bigger things than just the game. It is a political statement, a thing which they do against the wishes of their Islamic rulers. The biggest talking point of Iran is whether their controversial President, Ahmedijad be there in Germany to see his country play.
    Mexico are a strong youthful team with a great history behind them. El Tri, as they are called, could be surprise package of this world cup. A team that has been under achievers in the world cup, have a good team. With Marquez and Salcido in defence and Borgetti of Bolton Wanderers and Guillermo Franco of Villarreal as strikers, they have the setup for pulling of results. I was particlularly impressed by Guillermo Franco in the Champions League semi-final between Villarreal and Arsenal, where hough he did not score any goal, he was creating plenty of oppurtunities.
 What can one say about Portugal, they with Holland and Spain are the some the best teams not to win. The squad is filled with talent, skill and experience. They have a great defensive lineup with plenty of Chelsea stars such as Carvalho, Ferreira, Tiago and Nuno Valente from Everton. The midfield of Deco, Maniche, Hugo Viana and Luis Figo have flair and experience. Then they have Cristiano Ronaldo and Pauleta as their goalscorers. On their day, they can beat anybody. They also have the great Brazilian coach Luis Felipe Scolari.

Predictions: Protugal Followe by Iran (I have to support the Asian team over distant Mexico).

Group C Predictions

Teams:
Argentina
Holland
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro

The group fof death, we have one in all world cups, but this one is extraordinary. All four teams deserve to be in the next round.
    Argentina are , after Brazil, favorites to win the competition. With Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez, Hernan Crespo, Lionel Messi, Ayala, Sorin and Gabriel Heinze, they have the talent and the experience in good measure. But  they have to face Ivory Coast in their first game, who were one of he four qualifiers from Africa. All four are debutants.
Ivory coast were finalists in  the January African Nations cup, losing to the host Egypt on penalities. So if the Argentines do not start  on the right note, they might falter like last world cup in the group stages. Last time around they were grouped with arch rivals England. With Messi just recovered from injury and Heinze not having played a game for all most the whole season for ManU, it could get tricky.
    Till last week I had picked Holland to win he cup, because of their strong team, good coach in Marco van Basten and their familiarity with the conditions in Germany. But with injuries against in the friendly against Australia, doubts have been raised on the bench strength. Van Basten has dropped Roy Makaay from Bayern Munich , a prolific scorer, from the 23 man squad. Also the experienced midfielders, Edgar Davids (Totenham Hotspurs) and Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan) were not included. If the Dutch falter, media will crucify van Basten. Atleast for that sake they should make it. I feel if they get out of their group, the momentum will take them all the way.
    Ivory coast have Kolo Toure and Eboue in defence and Didier Drogba as the striker and Didier Zokaro in Midfield. They can cauase an upset are expected to be the Senegal of previous WC who reached the semi - final. But "Elephants" will find it difficult as they are expected to do well and their bench strength and defence are weak.
    Serbia & Montenegro, from the earstwhile Yugoslavia, have plenty of exciting talent and have show good form defeating Austri 6-0 in  warm game. But the group they are in too tough and they might find Argentina and Holland a bit too much.

Predictions:Argentina followed by Holland. But expecting an upset.
   

Group B Predictions

Teams:
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden

This group is about a straight fight between England and Sweden for the first place in the group. The second place team of this group is likely to face Germany in the second round.
    Debutants Trinidad and Tobago are likely to be contenders for the worst team of the competition. Paraguay have the South American pedigree of good attacking football with a fiar share of flair players. But injury to the experienced forward, Jose Cardozo and their lack of depth will hurt them in the competition. Also, compared to Sweden and England, the German conditions will be alien to their players. Their key player will be Roque Santa Cruz, an exciting forward playing for Bayern Munich and their captain Carlos Gamarra in defence.
    Between England and Sweden, the overall feeling in the media is that England will succeed and I concur with them. England, even without Rooney, have a good structure to their team and form. They have one fo the best defensive line up and depth among all the teams. They can go a goal up and afford to defend the rest of the game, though as a strategy it might be fatal.  The feeling from the media reports is that Rooney might be fit but Steven Gerrard might be doubtful for the first game against Paraguay. But that should not be an issue as Stevie G is a big match player and should be required only by June 20, when they face Sweden.
    Sweden are an ageing side capable of beating any team on their day, but consistency might be a problem. Their hopes are tied around the form of 24 year old Juventus stiker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. If he is able to get his rhythm in a game, then the whole Swedish side can build around him and change the complexion of any game. Sweden have the likes of Hendrik Larsson (who will retire after this competition) and 28 year old Arsenal midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg (who has a nagging injury he is playing with) but as mentioned earlier, they will have to push to the extreme their bodies and spirit.

Predictions: England win all three games, followed by Sweden.

Group A Predictions

Everybody is into it so why should I not indulge myself in giving predictions of the group stages of the World cup.

Group A:

Costa Rica
Ecuador
Germany
Poland

This group from the looks of it a very easy group to decide. Based on talent and experience, Poland and Germany have to go through.
Costa Rica with World ranking 26 had a good qualification round through the CONCACAF division. Costa Rica could be the surprise element from this group. Especially, considering the fact that Germany are under tremendous home pressure and have had many internal problems. There are still rumors of their key player Michael Ballack causing doubt among the media. Costa Rica face Germany in the opening game on June 9th. Could this be the repeat of the upset that occurred on 8^th June 1990 in Italy? That day was the opening game between defending champions Argentina and Cameroon, when the Lions with Roger Milla became a hero.

Germany have Michael Ballack and Bastien Schweinsteiger in their midfield to provide service to the forwards which consists of Klose and Podolski. Their problem is defence, which is very weak with a Jens Lehmann at Goal. Lehmann who had an excellent season with Arsenal in their CL run upto the final has been chosen over the veteran legend Olivier Kahn. Lehmann is a bit of a mystery. He can be spectacular and then make some very stupid errors.

Prediction: Germany followed by Costa Rica.

Friendly Fire

It had to happen. A major injury in a friendly or warm-uo game to ruin the chances of some team. The term "friendly" in football is a misquote. There is no end reward for the players in these games apart from much needed match practice. So there are no two footed tackles  with the intent to dislocate the ankle of the opponents or no elbow on the face in these games. Also players generally don't give their 100%  for the fear injury. But when they are fighting for places in a highly talented side, there is the danger of over doing oneself. Also in the heat of the moment of the game mistempered tackles and fouls do occur regularly.
    That exactly is what  seemed to have happened in the last warm -up game between Holland and Australia. The Dutch have injured three of their key first team players, namely, Philip Cocu, Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van
Bronckhorst. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with Tim Cahill scoring the rebound of  a Mark Viduka penalty hit the crossbar. Sneijder injury is said to be more serious than other two. I am favoring Holland  to go all the way in this World cup as they are not under too much pressure unlike the hosts, Brazil or Argentina. They have a very very tough group, with any of the 4 capable of beating the other. So this injury has come at a really bad time for the Dutch. Next  week this time Holland will be playing their first game against Serbia and Montenegro. The major worry should be with injury for van Bronckhorst, as per my  knowledge,  Dutch have very good backup players in the midfield  but are a bit short on defence. Van Bronckhorst is a class act as proven by him for FC Barcelona. In Cocu, they will lose an experienced player. He is 35 year old plying his trade for PSV Eindhoven and instrumental in the domination of the club in the Dutch league and their great run in the 2004-05 Champions league season. Wesley Sneijder is a 22 year old dynamic meidfielder from Ajax who is seen as one for the future of Holland.
    Hope they recover soon and are ready to weave their magic next week. But this brings to question the use of these warm up games so close to the real competition. It is a very difficult decision to make for the team administrators and coaches. On one hand they need to see how players from diverse clubs gel together as a team. The pace, co-ordination and attitude of all the players of the team must be in sync with what is expected by the coach. But like mentioned earlier, the fight for the place in the first team might push the players to take unwarranted risks and cause problems for the team as a whole.

23 man Squad

I have been trying to collate the data of the 23 man squad all the teams were supposed to announce by 15th May. But the wonderful Football365 site has made my job easy by giving at the following link.

Reserved friends.

The hot thing in newspapers right now is the protest by Medical students and an organisation called youth for equality all over India against the HRD minister Arjun Singh's proposal against 50 % reservations for minorities in all Educational institutions across the board. In this context, I got a wonderful SMS joke today, which goes like this;
Why does Arjun Singh have sex only three days a week?
Ans: Because for the rest three days his wife is reserved for OBC's and on Sunday's for SC/ST.

I know it is a crude joke and bit vulgar considering that Arjun Singh such an old man and his sex life must be almost non-existent, we presume. But the point is well made. So I aptly started forwarding the sms'es to my friends. Of course, I was being sensitive enough not forward to any of the girls (I did not want any feminist backlash), then I also thought should I not forward this message to any of friends who belong to the Reserved category. That's when I realised, I really do not know the caste or category of my friends. So just messaged most off them who would like this joke. That highlights the point, that we don't in normal life discriminate among the caste. Caste based discrimination is very prominent in uneducated and Rural India. Religion based discrimination is very prevalent among all classes in this country but not caste based. This discrimination has been created by the politicians, first by Mandal commission and then now with Arjun Singh's last ditch effort for glory.
Lot of commentators in the media seem to write, how shallow these anti-reservationists are and how they do not care for the greater good of the country. What this commentators do not get, is that we have had reservations for the last 15 years. Who has benefited from it.... only private colleges which are owned by politicians. I did my Engineering from college which had rotten or non-existent infrastructure. This college is owned by now Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh. That time, he was a rebel leader, fighting against Sharad Pawar. But now in power, he has put all his black money on the college, built a illegal building for them in Versova (a posh locality in Mumbai). Do you think he could have swindled so much if he did not sell those vacant OBC and SC/ST seats to candidates who would have got in some the top colleges if it were'nt for reservation. The same goes with most other private colleges in Maharashtra, which are owned and benefited by crooked politicians.
If these politicians had their way, there will be wide spread discrimination in our country. Before every job interview, interviewers would like to know if the candidate actually deserved the IIT degree or was just "being born a the right place at the right time". The Reservationists claim that the above syndrome is exactly that they are trying to combat. But the truth is contrary.

Bouncebackability!!!

A term used by the Crystal Palace Manager Iain Dowie in the year 2005, when his team came back from behind against Arsenal. The word describes the ability of teams to comeback from behind in a game. We have all seen games where sportsmen do the incredulous. We have witnessed the Davids beat the Goliaths and players coming back from the dead. But you don't expect that to happen with the same team and the same set of players again and again.

But that's exactly what has happened at The FA Cup Finals in Cardiff yesterday. Liverpool beat West Ham in penalty shoot out.There is nothing surprising on the final result, Liverpool were the favorites to win, they were 2 goals down after first 30 minutes. They pulled back a goal before close of first half and equalized early in the second half. But then West Ham's Paul Konchesky scored with a curling shot from the left which went over the Pool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Then Steven Gerrard did what he has made a habit off. In the 89th minute, he scored a volley shot from the edge of the box which shot like a bullet in the goal.

With extra time and penalty due, I think everyone knew Liverpool would do it. May 25th 2005, Istanbul will haunt all teams facing Liverpool. If they can come for 3 goals down against AC Milan which, composed the likes of Shevchenko, Kaka, Stam, Maldini, Crespo, Cafu and Gattuso, and win in the penalty with a goalkeeper of the likes of Jerzy Dudek, then anything is possible. Earlier in that same Champions League season, they had to win against Olympiakos in the Round robin stage, and Steven Gerrard scored a scorcher in the second half extra time. Not that Liverpool have great individual players, but there belief in the team, that they can comeback from any adverse situation.

For me personally, the word bouncebackability has become a mantra for kicking myself out of a lull. Liverpool has become a symbol of the same. So whenever one is down and feel depressed, tell yourself if a team like Liverpool can do it so many times, you definitely can!

End of season.... Beginning of the Dreams.

This week all European First division league football has completed . The season will finish over
this week in all the key European nations. This is the time of the year when football fans start
getting all lazy and sluggish and basically bored as they have nothing to look forward to over
the weekends. No Super Sunday or late night middle of the week Champions League to get the couch potatoes to the edge of their... couches. But every 4 years the Mother of all sporting events make its appearance. This year the grand event is starting on June 09 and will run upto July 09.

Football World cup is an event of dreams for the whole world. So this is a time for the dreams to begin. The people of all the 32 countries qualified for the event will feel they have chance. On
paper, Brazil can win the World Cup with their B Team! But thankfully football is more
unpredictable than this. The best example has been the Euro 2004 winner Greece who could not even qualify for the World cup. Liverpool one the UEFA Champions League last season by the most freakiest fashion. So the world can dream on. Perhaps Ivory Coast will get out the group of death and go all the way!!!
By May 15th all the countries have to submit their 23 squad members. So the first round of
controversies will begin from there and will try to track them down. So henceforth, I will be using this blog to provide my views on this big event. The timing of the matches might be a little problematic here in India as 21:00 German time would mean the match will start at around 1:00 a.m and run upto 3:30 next day morning. But there are plenty of 17:00 starts also, and I am not going any of the crucial matches. Guess will have to make rain excuse to get late office.

Who wants to be a Bowler?

Bowling, must be the most thankless job in the Indian sub - continent right now. Around 3000 runs have been scored just 2 tests between India and Pakistan in Pakistan. Supposed to be one of the most exciting series in the world. The media compared it to the Ashes serise of 05. But it has turned out to be a damp squib.
The curators are being blamed for the whole thing. But it looks unlikely that the curators could
be blamed for such a good batting wicket. The buck has to stop at the PCB who are responsible for the whole event. They obviously under pressure to ensure that Pakistan do not lose. So they made wickets which were batsmen friendly. It is not an easy task to make them, especially in winter when due to cold and foggy conditions there is bound to be some "life" in the pitches.
The good points as far as India are concerned from these 2 matches were that they fought back
against a huge score in both the matches. Very rarely do see teams score such huge targets under pressure away from home. To do that twice shows the calibre of the Indian Batting, particular of their captain Rahul Dravid. Equally impressive is the innings played by Younis Khan. He is real captain material and can be called the Dravid of Pakistan. His consistency is amazing so to is his technique of play.
The media has been full praise for the new bowlers from both the sides, namely RP Singh and Mohd. Asif. But these were performances in the pitches that had no sting. Their real tests will be bowling in even balanced pitches.

End of an Era or beginning of a struggle.

The announcement of Rahul Dravid as captain of Indian cricket team for the home ODI series against Sri Lanka and South Africa has excited everybody from the media to the roadside cricket enthusiast. The general feeling is that Ganguly's term as captaincy has ended for ever. This perception is partly made by media and partly by the cricket lovers who loathe him. Obituaries about his captaincy have appeared in newspaper about how it was a great era for Indian cricket and how Ganguly is destined not to play cricket for the country any more.

But the Indian selectors have sidelined Ganguly only for the first 2 games that also because of his injury. There is every likelihood that he will be selected later albeit as a batsman and not captain. My own feeling is that Ganguly is a shrewd person who will maneuver the selectors first to choose him as a batsman and later as a captain. Then tug of war will begin between what coach Greg Chappel wants and what Ganguly can achieve.

The politics apart the selection of the 15 for the first 2 games are exciting and controversial. Some good performers such as Laxman and Zaheer Khan have been dropped and in place new talent such as RP Singh, JP Yadav, Sree Santh and Venugopal Rao have been inducted. Venugopal Rao deserved his place just on the merit of his performance in the Challenger Series. But Laxman also performed exceedingly well in that series as well as in the ODI's in Zimbabwe. Sachin Tendulkar on the other hand coming out of an injury has shown very poor form in the Challenger series. But the question is does any selector in India have the guts to drop Sachin when he is ready to play. Even the so called professional Greg Chappel has defended his inclusion in an interview saying he is a mater batsman and with time and better competition he will raise his game. The inclusion of Sree Santh is a pleasant surprise. For 2 reasons; 1. He was relatively unknown before the Challenger series and, 2. He has been chosen over Zaheer Khan and L. Balaji.
The selectors for a change have been bold to make these selections and the fans should be patient with the newcomers. But then the Indian cricket fan is a very demanding customer. They expect miracles from day one. And many a youngster has shown in the past and have faded away due to pressure and/or politics. Sanjay Bangar, Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia, SS Das are just few of the names that are slowly fading away from public memory.

Squad
Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, JP Yadav, MS Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, S Sreesanth, RP Singh.

10K but not for my portfolio!!!

The BSE Sensex hit 10 K this week. On 6th Feb 2006 to be exact. Though it closed lower but it actually closed above it on 7th. There is whole lot of euphoria in the media. All newspapers have it as their headlines and some have compared it with the fact that Sachin Tendulkar scored his 39thODI hundred in Pakistan on the same day (as expected we lost the match despite of scoring 329 due to D/L method). It is seen as a sign of the growing optimism and exuberence of the Indian economy.
But my portfolio still shows a loss. Analysts point out that if ones stocks are still at loss at this point, then it means that they have bought the scrip at unusually high rates. Then why do I still holding on to these stocks? Everytime I look at my portfolio, I feel they are undervalued. The concept of "cutting ones losses" has'nt still dawned on me. Is it my eternal optimism about the stocks I have bought or is the emotional attachement with them? Either of the reasons are not good.
But stock analysis is no child's play. People spend hours together analysing company's and their value before investing. For me, it more like a game and the thrill associated with it. My objective now is to get more disciplined in my approach to the stock market.

Can Pakis be trusted ever!!

Any natural disaster in South Asia is bound to create more damage and lose of live than any other region in the world because of the sheer density of habitation. So it is no real surprise that the latest earth quake to hit J&K and PoK has cost the lives of a so many people.
The region being a treacherous one has not helped and over and above that the problem of militancy in J&K will be hampering relief efforts. Just a couple a days after the earth quake, militants struck Hindu families in J&K. The Indian army which itself lost a good number of its soldiers must have lowered its guard and the oppourtunists among the militants used it to their advantage.
This brings me to the point that I have used in the title. How do we trust over neighbours who want to hurt us even when there has been such huge disaster in both sides of the border. I am all in favour of India helping out Pakistan in this hour of disaster and need. But we also be warned not expect anything in return for them.

The media has started romantaticising the earthquake that has shattered large parts of Pakistan and Northern India, talking about how nature does not know any boundaries and blah blah...
What they easily forget that it i natural for humans (who are also creation of nature) to draw boundaries whereever they live. But any amount of jingoism is not going alter the ground realities between the two countries. Once the dust settles and the snow melts on the mountain slopes of the Himalayas, the militants will be back.

20 years after the Carnage

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the frightful week for Sikhs in India. On 31'st Oct 1984, the then PM of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi was shot dead by 2 of her body guards. They belonged to the Sikh community and later mentioned that they did this act as a revenge for Operation Blue Star initiated by Mrs. Gandhi.
After this incident started what could be termed as Ethnic Cleansing. Congress workers raided all Sikh dominated areas in Delhi and burned, looted , raped and slaughtered the Sikhs. They marked houses where Sikhs stayed. This was done as the Govt of India gave them from the voters list. Over 4000 Sikhs were killed in the pogrom and the Central Govt. under Rajiv Gandhi, released the figure as 400 odd. Gurdwaras were also not spared as many homeless sought refuge there. This is Secularism Congress style.

I remember as kid being told to be beware of Sardarjis as they may be terrorist. Later on in life I have had interaction men and women from the Sikh community. They generally are pleasant, friendly and dedicated bunch of folks with no ill for anyone. This is the mind set that the Congressis wanted to create about Sikhs. So much so that they tarnished the image of Maneka Gandhi ( Indira Gandhi's estranged daughter - in -law) as she was from a Punjabi family.

Parliament disruption

When I started of blogging there was quite a bit of enthusiasm which waned off either due to lack of time or just pure laziness. My objective of this site was to present my view on the happening of Indian politics and other public events. This would satisfy my ego and also in some small measure make me think (which is a rarity in itself.... so basically it is ego booster!!!).
Most things happening in politics are outright disgusting to the highly ridiculous. The Parliament session of the budget went off without any debate on the Budget!!!! What's the point of having parliament if no debate is to happen. There have been various suggestions, arguements and excuses given in the media. There is a simple solution. Till all the business in agenda is not completed, Parliament session should not be dismissed and no overtime for this.

Size is disadvantageous in Real Politik

So the spoils of the cabinet have been shared by the UPA. Apparently the DMK are pretty upset with the election and have decided not to join office. If I do that in my office,they want miss me and replace the post in a weeks time and I will receive a pink slip. But this is not the case for the DMK, they are the much needed ally for the congress. So eventually, Mr. Singh will have to bow down to their demands. That's how co-alition politics work, the smaller party get a bigger deal than the larger ones!!! Nature tells us otherwise, but hey.. who said politics is naturtal or logical. The phrase used for all of this is "real - politik", a phrase used regularly by the ex-deputy prime minister, Mr. L.K.Advani. He made real -politik into an art form, making stange bed-fellows like Jayalalitha or even Karunanidhi (both of them don't come close to BJP ideology, but both have allied). Real Politik does not accept ideology, history, policy, beliefs or common sense as necessary arguement points. It just asks one question i.e. "Today, do I need him/her or do they need me?". If it is the former, you ally, else leave. That is the logic based on which BJP unceremonioulsy let the DMK and gang leave the NDA. Unfortunately for them, the voters were in no mood to accept Jaya Amma. So DMK has become a very powerful group who is needed by everybody today. So Mr.Manmohan Singh will have to bow down.

On the other, the communists with 60 seats cannot draw such bargain. Simply beacuse the congress knows they won't ally with the BJP. They don't understand real politik.They are stuck with terms such as ideology and principle. This is very important to note as this makes the government stable.

Mob Vigilantes of Thane

Heard a news today from a friend that a bus driver in Thane was beaten to death for he accidently hit a 3 year old girl. According to newssites, the driver ws beaten and 2 gus have been arrested for the same. I have noticed over a period , people have become vigilates in the wrong reasons, especially in case of road accidents. Violence is very common in case of accidents and I have myself witnessed the stronger person or the one who can get a crowd, beats the other one up. Generally, the auto rickshaw drivers, who are notorious for horrible driving, get their oyals up and beat the other party, who in most cases are innocent. Like in the above case, apparently the girl came under the rear tyre of the bus, indicating that the driver could not be at fault.

One tries to understand where this violence comes from in country where accidents are so common. The primary causes could be frustration (with the law, which can be very cumbersome in case of accident reporting) and mob psychology. The general feeling that in a group one can get away with this kind of crime.

After the bloodshed....

The morning was perhaps the most gloomy morning for quite sometime in Mumbai. It was very cloudy and has been intermittently raining. Almost filmy, after the bloodshed of yesterday, there was rains today. Like had mentioned earlier in my blog, stock markets have a very paranoid and unpredictable mind. For no particular reason there was a meltdown yesterday. Of course the commies did not help. Must admit, the CPI(M) have a great website, in terms and information and propaganda. On the other, hand BJP site is slick but not good on content ( I guess the sites are a mirror of the party!). I was expecting the markets to fall, though not as dramatic as yesterday, today too. The reason was plain, nothing has changed overnight for FII's and hedge funds to hold now. But no!!! Again wrong. The market rebounded today......
The lesson is simple for a small investor....DO NOT INVEST ON EVENTS, ONLY ON STOCKS. Always invest long term.

If one thought stock markets and weather in Mumbai have gone crazy.... just look at our politicians. The BJP has again started their "foreign origin" issue. I guess they are being just sore losers! A wonderful article in Times of India about the foreign origin issue.The CPM,DMK and SP will not join the government but support from outside.... that basically means they want the credit but not the responsibilities of governance.
But the cake goes to Ram Vilas Paswan . He was minister in the UF govt., then the NDA govt. and now in the Congress govt. Is there any side he has not been there?

Life in TITA.
So the exercise of govcernment formation has started. The usual suspects of Harkishan Singh Surjeet, V.P Singh, Amar Singh, Ambika Soni etc. are back on TV giving sound bites and saying absolutely nothing important. But our Media has no alternative as the real decision makers are in closed rooms, conspiring for the new government. The above mentioned souls rarely contest elections and that too only the safe Rajya Sabha ones. The most irritating according to me is "commie" Surjeet and the Soni lady. Commie Surjeet comes out of hibernation every 5 years (less than that if he succeeds in forming "his chosen" government) and wrecks havoc to our polity and peace. Ambika Soni must be the undisputed leader of non-sense speaking. These are the people who make it a TITA (Terrible Is The Alternative). Terms like supporting the government from outside are being used. Apparently, very few parties want to be in the government but want to support it from outside.

For an newcomer to Indian Politics, this might sound like these parties are indulging in a noble cause of not being power hungry and letting Congress rule in peace. But that is far from the truth. "Supporting from outside" means basically all the power of government (as no bill can pass in Parliament without their support) without the responsibilities of actual governance. This is what "Commie" Surjeet is good at, he has made it into an art form. He has distroyed the careers of Deva gowda and Gujral with this formula and now Mrs. Gandhi might be next. The difference this time around is, congress nows this guy and they will be careful with him.
The stocks market plunged yesterday, causing huge losses for yours truely and many a small investor. The FII's seems to have caught cold feet thinking that Disinvestment and reforms are out. Something I can't understand is how can new government not reform.The forces that will force reforms (in reverse order) are ;
i) Fiscal deficit,
ii)WTO and rest of the globalisation crap.
iii) Industrial lobbies (CII, FICCI, NASSCOM),and
iv) TITA (of course, really, does anybody have any other idea ).

Lastly, a glowing tribute has to be paid to the Election Commission of India for the humungous task which the exercised with very few glitches. Though I myself could not register to vote despite having tried to register myself 4 times, I cannot imagine the difficulty of the task the commission has execised. The commission has provided some trivia and lots of data on their site. Hats off to one of the best conducted election in World history.

The Indomitable Indian
They said the glitz and gloss of the media, the carpet bombing, the opinion/exit polls will influence him/her. NO CHANCE. The true Indian voter says "SHOW ME RESULTS".
Most of the people elected are new comers. Except in some places in North India, caste has not worked either, for Jaya Amma in Tamil Nadu was supposed to have played the Thevar card very well but came out with a naught.

The only people who were fooled by the media bewildery was the urban middle class like yours truly. If one had asked me even today morning about the outcome, I would have said NDA 260+. But they have not even got 200!!!

So we are going to have a Italian born PM it seems.... nothing wrong there... Except she will have the buffoons from Left and Yadavs for company.

CEO of AP down... but not out.
Post-mortems will start soon about why the man known to be the best CM in India mr. Chandra babu Naidu has been thrown out of the electorate. So here is my share of thoughts on the same topic. Heard a comment a few weeks back one of the TV chat shows, that when AP farmers were commiting suicide due to drought, Mr. Naidu was trying to get F1 to Hyderabad. Well for most of the educated well off people and F1 fans (including yours truely), this was great news and farmers suicides were alien news. But the problem is the ppl who vote are farmers and not s/w engineers and F1 enthusiats (who account to less than 0.1% of all India population).
Secondly, in India electorates (especially in south-India) go for change. They have high expectations and their politcians are not even close to mark. Anti - incumbency is huge is South-India , so Mr. NAidu must consider himself lucky (or was he so good) that he managed to stay in power for 9 years. His neighbours in TN, Kerala and Karnataka have'nt been so lucky.
So Mr. Naidu can take heart from this and expect to be back in power for 5 years.

The stock market is in a crisis mode. Just viewed my portfolio to find that I have lost 3000 bucks in a single day!!! Ofcourse this is a notional loss and we will recover. Why?? well nothing has changed u see. I am firm beleiver the central government cannot do much harm to the private companies. So stock markets are panicking without any reason.

So now even Blair has appologised for his troops misdeeds. As if that will help!!! The difference between what Sadaam did to his people and what US/UK troops are doing is ... in the former case it was Iraqis harming Iraqis... now it is some white foreigner harming them.
The last thing US and UK now want is true democracy in Iraq, as no democratically elected government can support them after what they have done.

UNUSUAL RAINS and TITA

So it rained and my first experience with my new bike in. It was pouring and visibilty was low, but that did not stop people from zipping and sciding. Had my first accident too... hit the side of a cab, it was kind of my mistake (oops...).
Like had earlier mentioned in this blog, unseasonal rains in India this time around, and the popuilar media is not concerned. I did not see any mention of it in newspapers today. I guess it is election season and far too many wierd things are happening there for ppl to notice that the rains are a month early!
So it is too close to call in Indian election this time around. My gut feel is NDA will come to power comfortably. Every body said that b4 the election started because of that wonderfully lady TINA. For those not used to democratic processes, TINA is There Is No Alternative.It is like having autocrats in democracies. Now here a new wonderful term used by NDA'ites... TITA (Terrible Is The Alternative).
Must confess.. that is true. If it is not Atal Bihari then who? I am not against Mrs. Gandhi coming to power because of her foreign origin ..as I feel she is as much a citizen of India as Aishwariya Rai !!!It is just that she has never held any professional or administrative post ever in her life. Being head of a Congress party does not qualify as no body opposes or disagrees with her there. I am not going to venture to talk about the Yadav's becoming PM (no offence to the community per se). So that has what over democracy has come too... vibrant certainly......... but TITA!!!!!

It's Raining in Mumbai!!!

I take my new Motorbike for the first time to office on a weekday, and it rains in Mumbai!!!. Just heard it is raining in May....that must be a first.
It has been raining in all parts of India especailly the northern parts. These are unseasonal rains, which are becoming normal year over year. A couple of years back it rained till November though officially it stops in Mumbai by september middle.
Is this because of global warming and othe climate changing phenomenons !!!
It could just be that things are shifting in the overall universe. Climatic conditions are something that can never be accurately studied. Climate ahs been changing for billions of years and over knowledge of this planet is very limited. How can we assume and make predictions with such huge difference. This is the reason why the science of Astronomy is so much confused with astrology.

Hey... I am blogging.
Never owned a diary or any tabs of things done till now.....
But after seeing all the interesting things ppl do ... thought will share the same. So here goes my contribution to the world of blogging.