Yearly Archives: 2010
Football in contrasts
Barca were on form and did well on Saturday to beat Villareal-in my view the third best team in La Liga at present, and not just in points. Real Madrid seemed to have lost their spark on Sunday playing scrappily against the near demotion but brave and resilient Sporting, and didn’t deserve their belated winning goal. Guardiola showed his usual respect towards his players, his fans, and the opponent while former FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta ,watched the game at the Nou Camp, like any other ordinary member- that is …
The must watch football match
So Spain’s football authorities-with the agreement of the respective clubs-have switched the date of the next ‘Classico’ between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou at this end of this month from the weekend to the Monday. To have held it on the Saturday or the Sunday would have coincided with the staging of the highly emotive Catalan regional elections, thus guaranteeing the event being turned into a potential political battleground. Politics and history is of course partly responsible for making this one of the high points of …
Street fighting man
So thousands of students have taken to the streets of London and some people have proved more anarchic than others, occupying political party buildings, and clashing with the police. I celebrate the fact that finally the educated youth of this country have rediscovered their sense of engagement with politics after years of apathy only temporarily interrupted by the first major demo against the Iraq war. And for those holding up their hands in horror? Who can possibly be surprised that street fighting man , with the potential to turn as …
Ossie Ardiles & Maradona
Word reaches me that Ossie plans not to attend my forthcoming talk at London’s Canning House on “The myth of Maradona (see news)”out of loyalty to his old friend”. Diego, as it is public knowledge, did not take kindly to the publication of my biography Hand of God, because it exposed his descent into drugs and other demons. The book could not have been written without the cooperation of several of Maradona’s friends who recognised that I was attempting to move beyond the normal confines of sports journalism to get at …
To protest or not to protest
Some newspapers are full of coverage today about the BBC strike, identifying those media personalities who had not, or had crossed the picket line. Hats off to most of the Today team , some of the Ten o’oclock news presenters, and key figures of the Newsnight cast for refusing to go on air. Shame on those who didn’t and tried instead to keep us entertained, and their pay cheques coming in. As I tuned in and out of my car radio, it was at times difficult to make out who …
Diego turns 50
That Maradona was among the first Argentine celebrities to grieve publicly over Nestor Kirchner ‘s dead body is not surprising. As I relate in the updated edition of my biography of Maradona , Hand of God , the player not only shared an anti-US ‘Bolivarian revolution’ platform with Kirchner (and with Chaves), but also counted on the former Argentine president’s political support for his controversial appointment as national football coach in the run-up to last year’s World Cup in 2010. I was told that Julio Grondona, the president of the …
Nestor Kirchner rest in peace
So Farewell Nestor Kirchner. Chaves of Venezuela talked of you in terms that made you out to be a 21st version of San Martin, or, even Bolivar. One of your men in the Argentine parliament gave you a similar eulogy suggesting that the whole country should mourn the passing of one of its great political figures. I ‘ve never thought it fair to pass damning judgement on those who have died as it’s hard for them to hit back but I’d like to say just this. Some stocks rose in …
At the Camp Nou
It’s always a joy being back at the Camp Nou to see a live match and Saturday’s Barca vs Valencia was the kind of event that makes it worthwhile. There were close to 90,000 in the stadium which is quite a turn-out for this early stage in the season but then it was an important match. Barca has been floundering a little of late while los ches , as the Valencia players are called, have had an unbeaten run of games, displaying a mixture of attacking football, creative midfield, …
Thought for Today: Belonging
I’m introducing a new occasional item to this website. A thought which I hope may resonate with some of my readers as it resonates with me. This is a short verse from a wonderful book called ‘Eternal Echoes’ by the Irish philosopher writer John O’Donohue. This meditative tome is dedicated ‘for the ones who inhabit lives where belonging is torn and longing is numbered.’ I arise today Blessed be all things wings of breath, delight of eyes, wonder of whisper, intimacy of touch, eternity of soul, urgency of thought, miracle …
On Greene’s trail
My book of the month is Tim Butcher’s Chasing the Devil published by Chatto & Windus. Subtitled, The Search for Africa’s Spirit, this is about a continent I rarely touched as a foreign correspondent, still less as an author. However Graham Greene, who inspired Butcher’s journey across Sierra Leone and Liberia, has formed part of my life since, as a young boy, I was introduced to him for the first time by my father at the Garrick Club. My father was one of Greene’s early editors, and a life-long friend. In WW2 …