Football Mauling & it's effect

FIFA World Cup 2006 finally concluded with some unsavory drama through the finals between Italy and France. I had a feeling that France would pip through, but it did not work out that way.

It was an interesting match which kept everyone at the edge of their seats till the last penalty was taken. But it was a disgrace for ZiZu and the French to have ended the way they did. I am not talking about the fashion in which they lost the match, but the way for the fact they were the better team on field and loosing a match in penalties was not uncommon in Football-ing history. But Zidane's header saw Marco Materazzi, the Italian Defender on the ground within milli-seconds and thankfully he was alive after that incident.

It was a disgrace for the game, a disgrace for a nation. It was unfortunate to see the end of a wonderful player called "Zinedine Zidane" via a red card and that too at a World Cup final. Though sledging could have been the reason for such an act, it is quite common in most of the team-sports and such a kind of retaliation cannot be pardoned.

After all the watching that I had done this World Cup, I feel that though it is good that everybody talks about this great sport and have their own inspirations, it had lots of venues for negativity. I remember imitating great legends when I was a kid; be it tennis, football or cricket. And so would most of the kids be it yesterday, today or tomorrow !

Wouldn’t the kids around the world be inspired to do the following after watching the games? - Dive on every opportunity and give a different perspective to the referee, rather than tackling through the defense? Adhere to tough challenges and retaliate with vengeance to challenges? Have no respect for ethics, sportiveness and have only one aim – that is to win the game, no matter what.

At the end of it, everyone is a kid at heart. We have seen players inconsolably cry after defeats. We have seen players resort to hitting opponents and opponent team’s management staff after a loss. I persoanlly feel that there needs to be a drive by FIFA to bring on some nicities to football. It should start at ground level across the world and a there must be a constant promotion of the same in media for people to get inspired with the whole concept.

Was it more of a negative learning that the games had to offer this time around? I guess the answer is YES, and it is high time the governing body starts acting on it.

[Updated] How good was the 2006 World Cup?

The lost wallet and the gained knowledge

It was one of those evenings yesterday - a highly dramatic one, which made emotions run on a roller coaster.

After getting back home and lazily stretching myself, I was preparing to get to play some tennis. My wife did not want to stay home alone and therefore hinted to accompany me. For reasons unknown, I allowed her to carry my purse rather than me carrying it in the bag. I even remember warning her that she should be careful because of the short pocket in the track that she wore.

Soon we were flying on the highway. Remember the highway to hell, yeah, the same road. After we had hit and bumped off the pot holes consistently, it struck my wife to check her pocket for the existence of the purse. Would it be there? No! She screamed and in turn my wheels screamed and halted.

We made around three to four rounds of searching with a panic look on our faces and enquired many. My wife was too tensed and I could feel the extra heat in my head even though it was a cool evening. My brother and sis-in law also joined us soon to the spot to help us find the wallet. It was a futile effort.

We then raced back home and began the ordeal of de-activating the key to all the e-Money that were available on the wallet through the debit and credit cards. It was learning for all of us! I had neither the credit card numbers nor their respective customer care numbers. What a shame!

It was the moment to learn what needs to be and what should not be kept in a wallet. I was carrying too many cards which I rarely used. I was carrying original licenses and signed bank cheques. I was not carrying my visiting card or my contact number. So that reduced the chances of me regaining my purse even if it went to a genuine person.

But I realized that the only connectivity was the Club’s id that I had in my wallet. So, I called them and told them about the happening. Though I had the least hope of regaining my purse, I requested them to have my purse in case someone dropped in and handed over the same to the club.

To our surprise, we got a call from the club within minutes. Somebody had called them and we were so ecstatic. My brother wanted everyone to stay calm until we got it on hand. It was so nice of this person to have claimed the purse on the road and to have linked to us. We thanked them a lot and came home. I found that one of my loved possessions was alone missing. It was this Thumb Drive and was influenced not to bother about it much.

It was a great relief for all of us. Lessons learnt!! Here are the Dos and Dont's that I would suggest to everyone to avoid pain even after loosing their wallet...

5. Do not carry too much of cash. Have a small home bank, where you withdraw and retain the money. Keep retrieving from that and spend. It also helps you to be “intelligently” aware of your expenses!
4. Once you carry any debit or credit card in your wallet, do note down the card numbers, the banks customer service number and all other details associated with it in a place other than your purse. Phone is a viable option to retain such data, but again it could become a source of information leakage.
3. Do not CARRY original government issued documents, unless there is a need. Have a duplicate.
2. Do not CARRY too many credit or debit cards. Avoid carrying them if you use them rarely.
1. Do have your name, address and contact number in the wallet.

French Fries For Brazil

Brazilians were offered the French Fries! And it seems no one saw it coming.

It was a surprise for all the fans who thought Brazilians would make it to the finals and not for me. It was a late night match and therefore many hit the bed with the hope of Brazilians crushing the French. It was I who informed my neighbors the next morning about the result and not many believed me and asked me not to joke, as they knew that I did not like the Brazilian’s performance at this World Cup and that I was among the only few who backed Ghana in the pre-quarters.

As I had commented earlier, Brazilians were too complacent in the games and this time around did not have a chance at the opponent’s goal till the last few minutes. It was a well planned defense of the French which irritated the forward line of the world champions as they were never allowed to have a good shot at the goal. In contrast Zizu (Zinedine Zidane) and co played a very well planned game with intermittent bursts at the opponent’s goal post. Zidane was instrumental in almost all the attacks that the french made.

I have always loved the two most charismatic players of this era - Henry and Ronaldinho. Both of them had not performed up to their expectations in this tournament. But this time around, Henry rose to his credentials with the deft touch which resulted in the goal. It was clever of him to come from behind the defense line and surge ahead with his foot in the air to drive past home the winner.

Not many liked the French Fry offering though...