The Empire Strikes Back

Barclays Premier League. This name is easily recognized by football fans worldwide: the best football league in the World. English club football is back on the top after 20 years of ups and downs. During the late 1980's and 90's decades English football failed to win significant titles in the international scene, being Manchester United the only exception in 1999, when they defeated Bayern Munich, in a game considered to be one of the greatest comebacks in football history. This is a story of death and rebirth.

Brussels, Belgium, May 29th, 1985. Having won 4 European Cups (UEFA Champions League) in the past 7 years, Liverpool F.C. came to the final to defend their title, this time against Italian club Juventus. The venue was Heysel Stadium, Belgium's old national stadium. Liverpool officials were seriously concerned for the game's security conditions and asked UEFA to change the venue for a more appropriate one, but the European football governing body didn't listen. The result: 39 dead and more than 600 injured. Liverpool Hooligans and Juventus Fans were just meters away from each other, separated only by a chain link fence. Just before kickoff, Liverpool fans went over the fence against Juventus supporters and literally crushed tenths of them against the side wall. The Heysel Disaster became one of the darkest episodes in football history. Both Liverpool and English Clubs were banned indefinitely from any European competition, including European Cup, UEFA Cup, and European Cup Winner's Cup. The ban was lifted five years later for all the teams, and six years for Liverpool.

During European absence, hooligans became stronger, stadiums were unsafe, and violence was penetrating deep inside English football. With declining attendances and TV revenues, First Division clubs had nothing in order to succeed at European level. The situation hit rock bottom in 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed against the stands' fences at Hillsborough during an FA Cup Semifinal game. After the tragedy, drastic measures were taken to overcome the situation. Standing terraces in stadiums were replaced by all-seater stands and fences were to be removed, CCTV systems were installed inside the stadiums, and hooligans were forbidden access to the games. All this proved to be effective as violence started to decrease and English Football reorganized in the early 1990's.

The creation of the Premier League in 1992 brought millions of pounds to the top tier teams for TV revenues and increasing attendances. As violence was eradicated, families and real fans went back to the stadiums. The return to European stages was not immediately successful; it was not until 1999 that an English team climbed back to the top spot, with Manchester United winning the Champions League. From there on, English teams have established among the most powerful in Europe. They have only missed Champions League semifinals twice in the last eleven seasons; in the last three seasons three of the four semifinalists have been English, and at least one English team has played the final for five seasons in a row. The "Big Four" (Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool) are currently among the top six clubs in Europe according to UEFA coefficients, the other two being Milan and Barcelona, and every top class player would like to play in the English Premier League. Many may argue English football is all about power and speed, and no real skill, but results prove them wrong; the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, as well as UEFA coefficient system, place English Premier League as the best league in the world, beating Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga.

One more trophy can be added to English trophy shelves next week, when Champions League defending champions, Manchester United, leaded by Sir Alex Ferguson and FIFA World Player Cristiano Ronaldo, face Spaniard rivals F.C. Barcelona. Spain vs. England, Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, technical skill vs. speed and power, football fans await kickoff anxiously to see who will be the new champion.

South Africa Without South Africa

With 392 days before Kick-off, the greatest sporting event around the globe is still not materialized. Aside from infrastructure and logistic issues, the local national team is in its worst moment of the last years. If the host nation had to play the qualifying round for the orbital meeting, this would be the first FIFA World Cup that would certainly not have the host team competing. Many could have asked themselves if USA or Japan and Korea would've qualified for their own tournaments should they have had to compete in qualifiers. No one will ever be able to answer that.

This time it's different. Due to a mere political decision to get votes from all Confederations for their election, FIFA managers had the bright idea of establishing an automatic continent rotation for the World Cup organization. Nice idea, actually very IDEAL. At first glance, this decision should be applauded since it's giving the opportunity of receiving this magnificent event to every continent. However, it is an open secret that everything inside FIFA is solved with influences, gifts, and doubtful behaviors. There is no real altruism or equality factor to make decisions inside football's governing body. Has the world forgotten the incident with the Oceania Football Confederation representative in the 2006 host country election, which Germany ended up winning to South Africa? His controversial abstention to vote due to outside pressures gave the Cup to Germany. After this shameless election, it was a matter of redemption giving the next cup to South Africa. Only African countries submitted a bid, for FIFA had established the rotation policy after 2006 election, and South Africa was granted the tournaments organization.

In 2007, stadiums and infrastructure construction was way behind the deadlines, and Sepp Blatter – president of FIFA – even talked about backup hosts for the tournament. Finally, South Africa got up to date and now billions of fans are on the countdown.

After this “brief” parenthesis, why South Africa without South Africa? The team had to play the World Cup Qualifiers because they are also the qualifiers for the 2010 African Cup of Nations to be played early next year. Meaning this that the Cup of Nations is a great test for African teams that will play the World Cup. What nobody thought was that South Africa would not qualify for the Cup of Nations, or even more, would finish last among the runner-ups of 12 groups, with only 1 valid point after 6 matches; not qualifying even for the third qualifying round where 20 teams compete for 5 spots in the final round of next year’s show. (They beat Equatorial Guinea twice, but points against fourth teams in groups of four were not valid because there were two groups of three teams each. Even counting this points they wouldn’t have qualified). Today, South Africa is 77th in FIFA Ranking, and 18th in Africa, very far from what we saw when they qualified to France 98 and Japan/Korea 2002.

Having said this, South Africa is now out of the African Cup of Nations and technically would be out of the FIFA World Cup, their World Cup, if it wasn’t because they have the right to play as hosts. Without the host team, the tournament would be an economic failure, even though thousands of people would still travel, South Africa is not as close to Europe or America (read America as the continent, not United States), or even Asia, to attract as many people as a tournament in Europe or even South America would.













No matter what, FIFA World Cup will continue to be the greatest massive event in the world. It will continue to take literally billions and billions of people in front of their TV’s during one month to watch 22 men play the most beautiful game that exists. And this will be another opportunity to show that the savage Apartheid days are over, and that what has happened in South Africa in the last 15 years has, by far, surpassed this great man's expectations. Let football rule, and kick away violence and war. Let the world repeat this historic moment when a black president who had spent 27 years in jail, gave the Rugby World Cup to Francois Pienaar, symbol of white South African racist minority, but also symbol of South African reunification.

Fifteen years without Ayrton

Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost…Ayrton. There's no need for last name. Each sport has its legends. To recall only a few, Pelé and Maradona in football, Ruth and DiMaggio in baseball, Nicklaus and Woods in golf, Sampras and Navratilova in tennis, you name the sport.

Ayrton Senna was more than an idol, at the same speed that he lived and drove, he died. His determination, his ambition, his competitive spirit, his arrogance on track, took him to be, for many, the greatest driver automotive history has ever witnessed. A whole country found hope in him, a complete nation followed him lap after lap. Many F1 fans can remember those years in which fierce rivalry between Prost and Ayrton were everyday news. Many remember the epic battles between the two during the 1988, 89 and 90 seasons as McLaren teammates. The final score: 2-1. The Paulista won 1988 and 1990 driver's championships, not before leaving enough controversy for generations of fans to come, while the Gallic won in 89 . Memorable Japanese GP's in 1989 and 1990 described their style and daring. Two polemic incidents with his french rival marked these two seasons and this rivalry story. A third world championship came in 1991, clearly beating Prost throughout the season, and closely beating british Nigel Mansell.

At 34, in 1994, he finally joined Williams Renault, after failing to join in 1993 because Alain Prost, who drove for Williams, had a clause in his contract to avoid having Senna as teammate. The season was supposed to have a happy ending, having Ayrton crowned as Champion on November 13, 1994, in the best car of the season. But his life's stopwatch stopped on May 1st, 1994 at 2:17 PM San Marino local time. Only God knows why his car went straight to hit infamous Tamburello turn's concrete wall at over 200km/h. His life blacked out in a tenth of a second, the same tenth that had probably granted him so many victories in the previous years.

His funeral was massive. Motorsports world mourned his departure, a whole Brazilian nation paid tribute to their hero. Never before had a sport other than football in Brazil aroused such feelings, never before had a single figure inspired nationalism and pride as Ayrton did.

Fifteen years later, the world can say that as 1994 saw death pass by Formula One, it also left the birth of, for many others, the greatest driver of all times: Michael Schumacher and his first Driver's Championship. No matter what happens, how sport changes, how many years pass, Ayrton will never need a last name to be remembered. He'll continue to take the checkered flag from eternity.