LET’S call it the tale of three players — Arjen Robben, Lionel Messi and Neymar da Santos Jr. Robben is 30, reasonably old by football standards, and Neymar is eight years his junior. Robben is explosive, combining unrestrained energy and incredible speed to break through defence and scoring sublime set pieces.
Neymar’s brilliance on the field is legendary — he is stylish and his skill impeccable — he is the hungrier and more spirited young Pele.
Argentina’s Messi at 27 is one of football’s most decorated stars and he is still the lord of the field with his superb skill.
At the first stage both Neymar and Messi are top scorers with four goals. Least we forget they are from Barcelona FC.
Robben will seal his place as one of the world’s greatest if the Netherlands makes it to the finals. Neymar’s career has just begun. For Messi, it is to vindicate his supremacy.
“Ageing” stars — Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo and Iker Cassillas — are now packing their bags for early exit; the show is now to be played by Neymar and a bunch of young, talented players like France’s Paul Pogba, Greece’s Kostas Manolas, Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa, Algeria’s Sofiane Feghouli, Belgium’s Eden Hazard, Uruguay’s Jose Maria Gimenez and Germany’s Thomas Mueller and the unstoppable Robben and Messi.
The future of Brazilian football hinges on Neymar, literally. His countrymen have second thoughts about hosting the World Cup. But if Brazil wins, perhaps its people would ignore those billions spent on stadiums and other infrastructure that could otherwise be channelled to improve the livelihood of the Brazilian poor. Neymar must win for Brazil to save his country from turmoil. And perhaps the present government.
Which is ironic. A month before the games, a poll conducted showed that half the population did not support Brazil hosting the World Cup. For the number one football nation that had produced some of the world’s greatest footballers, that is shocking to say the least. Brazil’s 38th president, Dilma Vana Rousseff, has a daunting task post-World Cup — to manage the economy battered by inflation, consumer debts and depleting
resources.
But for now the show must go on. After all, this is the World Cup, the biggest sports show on Earth — always controversial and exciting.
Thirty two countries descended on Brazil, one will emerge the champion. This time it is played on Latin American soil; no European team has ever won the cup there. But who knows, Germany might change all that, or Robben’s team. Such are the stakes in a World Cup. It is not about pride, it is also about survival of the best. Nothing really matters for one month — the rest can wait.
You can’t fault Malaysians for being bleary-eyed watching the games at wee hours of the morning. There is a picture of a bride and bridegroom on the dais, in a Malay bersanding ceremony, the bride was horrified seeing the bridegroom falling asleep while sitting. The image circulating on the Net was perhaps photoshopped, but it reflects the one-month obsession of many Malaysians.
After all, we are not there, as FAM had promised us, and perhaps we won’t be there many more World Cups from now. We are contented by watching the Bosnians coming from a war-torn country, the tenacity of the Iranians and the grit of Japanese and Korean players on the field. Remember this, 50 per cent of those countries competing in Brazil have 50 per cent less sunlight than us.
There have been many disappointments so far. The fact that the former champions, the Spanish, lost spectacularly to the Dutch was a shocker. And to watch Iker Casillas, supposedly the best goalkeeper in the world today making mistakes that even my kampung player, Mat Lip, would have avoided is sad.
And of course, Portugal’s Ronaldo does not shine. And England as usual is a letdown. I wonder if the English bosses realised that while England have the best and the most popular league in the world, young English players have very little room to showcase their talents.
And Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, whose middle name is Trouble, is jeopardising the prospect of his teammates going further with his kindergarten ethics — biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder.
Suarez apparently is a perennial biter, having being banned twice before for the conduct, not to mention the racist remarks that landed him in trouble at Liverpool. This time Fifa slapped him with a 9-game ban and a 4-month suspension.
Strange things what great players can do on the field. But that’s football. Welcome to the world of drama, suspense, intrigue and lunacy of the World Cup!