FIFA World Cup Diary, The Finals: As the World Cup unfolds to it's final stage, iSporter Hirok Banerjee pens a piece in his own style. Read here to know what he has to say.
A nation which is slowly but surely stamping its authority on every form of sport. A few years back Spain was the number one team in hockey. In the last five years, they have notched up wins in European Cup. Their clubs are one of the most feared and respected in world football. They have a champion in Rafael Nadal - just when you thought that it would be impossible for someone to beat Roger Federer.
And now a world cup final. The first ever for a nation which boasts of a rich sporting culture and a vibrant way of life. The brilliance of the Spaniards are not attributable to the genius of any single player. This is an example of what teams are capable of achieving when they function as the parts of one single whole.
Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Fernando Torres, Carlos Puyol, David Villa, Xavi Alonso are on the threshold of international fame and national immortality. For a very long while Spain were great under-achievers. From the time of Fernando Hierro, the Spaniards would fight. And lose. Not this time. What they lacked in all of the previous editions of the Cup, they have aplenty this time. They have players who can take the centrestage on their day and keep supplying the ammunition for Villa and Torres to score. Is it time for Spain to establish that they are done with being in the fringes and now will be taken with seriousness in football? For the sake of football,we hope so.
Of all the footballing nations of Europe, the Dutch by far play with most flair and freedom. Much like their country where sanctity of individual liberty is paramount and sacred. Their team of the 70s comprising of some of the greatest ever in football reached two consecutive finals only to be thwarted by two formidable players of that era - Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Kempes. In 1978, they were unlucky to be denied by the woodwork in the stoppage time. In 1990 again, Holland had all the firepower in the trio of Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard. Yet, the Germans stopped them again.
This is their third final. Would they be third time lucky? We will know in twelve hours time. But without doubt, since 1986, this is the first final where the two teams who have reached the final have played the best football consistently throughout the Cup. In that sense, its a well-deserved battle.
One, that will be fought hard in the midfield, one that will be as much a test of the mind as it would be of the ability to trap, pass and kill, one that promises to be, if nothing, exciting and one that definitely assures glory for eleven out of the twenty-two who will try to enshrine their name on the most coveted trophy of the world.
And now a world cup final. The first ever for a nation which boasts of a rich sporting culture and a vibrant way of life. The brilliance of the Spaniards are not attributable to the genius of any single player. This is an example of what teams are capable of achieving when they function as the parts of one single whole.
Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Fernando Torres, Carlos Puyol, David Villa, Xavi Alonso are on the threshold of international fame and national immortality. For a very long while Spain were great under-achievers. From the time of Fernando Hierro, the Spaniards would fight. And lose. Not this time. What they lacked in all of the previous editions of the Cup, they have aplenty this time. They have players who can take the centrestage on their day and keep supplying the ammunition for Villa and Torres to score. Is it time for Spain to establish that they are done with being in the fringes and now will be taken with seriousness in football? For the sake of football,we hope so.
Of all the footballing nations of Europe, the Dutch by far play with most flair and freedom. Much like their country where sanctity of individual liberty is paramount and sacred. Their team of the 70s comprising of some of the greatest ever in football reached two consecutive finals only to be thwarted by two formidable players of that era - Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Kempes. In 1978, they were unlucky to be denied by the woodwork in the stoppage time. In 1990 again, Holland had all the firepower in the trio of Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard. Yet, the Germans stopped them again.
This is their third final. Would they be third time lucky? We will know in twelve hours time. But without doubt, since 1986, this is the first final where the two teams who have reached the final have played the best football consistently throughout the Cup. In that sense, its a well-deserved battle.
One, that will be fought hard in the midfield, one that will be as much a test of the mind as it would be of the ability to trap, pass and kill, one that promises to be, if nothing, exciting and one that definitely assures glory for eleven out of the twenty-two who will try to enshrine their name on the most coveted trophy of the world.
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