The most successful No. 9

When Gonzalo Higuain scored the winner in Argentina’s World Cup quarterfinal against Belgium, it brought back many memories. It was a brilliant instinctive finish by a classic No. 9.

Sadly, these No. 9s are a dying breed. The impetus on modern day footballers is to be multi-skilled. Just like how a full-back must overlap and a midfielder should track back and provide defensive cover, a No. 9 is no longer just a goal-poacher.

As former England striker Alan Shearer said in a recent discussion on BBC: “If there is a number nine like me in the team, then he is now the guy being asked to create space for the number 10, to hold the ball up for him and bring him into play in the opposition half, and to give him the chances to score.”

Standing tall in these times is Miroslav Klose, a member of the World Cup winning German team and a veteran of four World Cups and more importantly the man who has just overtaken the Brazilian great Ronaldo’s tally of 15 World Cup goals. His achievement was lost in the din of the 7-1 demolition of Brazil by Germany. Most of the focus was on Brazilian ineptitude, some on German dominance and close to none on Klose. Once the dust settled, the feat stood out.

In an age of club allegiances trumping national ones, where the younger generation associates a player more readily with a club than the country, Klose is rare. He announces himself to the world once every four years. Not many bother what he does in between.

His 16-year club career has yielded just two Bundesliga titles, a German Cup and a Coppa Italia. But for Germany, he is the all-time top-scorer (71 goals), most capped player behind Lothar Matthaus, one of three to score at four World Cups along with Pele and West Germany’s Uwe Seeler, and the only one to score at least four goals in three World Cups: 2002 (5 goals), 2006 (5), 2010 (4) .

Stardom too did not touch Klose early. After moving to Germany from Communist Poland, equipped with all of two words in German, he was initially in the Hamburg reserve team and then spent five nondescript years with Kaiserslautern.

He did go on to play for Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich later, but he wasn’t — and still isn’t — even the best player in his own team. To be fair, he comes nowhere close to either the present greats in Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar or the past ones in Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Zinedine Zidane. He isn’t quick and rarely beats men. It can be argued that his only bit of flair is the front-flip celebration which follows each goal.

Yet his worth in Germany is measured in gold. He is perennially at the right place at the right time. The national side has never lost when the 36-year-old has been on the score sheet. The 16 World Cup goals — none of which have come from outside the penalty area, a sign not of his inadequacy, but of his positional superiority — have directly contributed in Germany reaching a record-breaking four consecutive World Cup semi-finals.

“It is something really great for (Miroslav) Klose,” said Germany manager Joachim Loew of the goal-scoring record. “It wasn’t just a sensational performance. It’s much more than that. At his age he’s still playing at an extremely high level and is a big factor with the team.”

Klose first shot to prominence in the early 2000s when the No.9s were still sought after. It was also a time when the German team was touted the worst ever. Now, after more than a decade, false No. 9s rule the roost and the current team is said to be Germany’s best ever. Klose is a bridge between these two eras.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/tss3730/stories/20140726506704600.htm

For a change, a happy Sisyphus!

What in a tennis player’s life can come closest to resembling the plight of the Greek king Sisyphus? According to mythology, the king was condemned to eternal, hard, frustrating and ultimately unrewarding labour. He rolled a boulder up the hill, only to have it rolling back down every single time.

In the last two years, a part of Novak Djokovic’s time has mimicked Sisyphus’. The equivalent of rolling the boulder up was making five finals and two semifinals in eight Grand Slams outside the Australian Open. The equivalent of having it rolling back down was losing each one of them.

Nobel laureate Albert Camus in a 1940-essay titled ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ wrote that Sisyphus’ endless toil is not always fruitless. “If the descent is sometimes performed in sorrow, it can also take place in joy. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” But try telling that to a tennis player and you are unlikely not to be frowned at.

On that Sunday, after losing to Djokovic over five agonising sets, Roger Federer, arguably the greatest of all tennis champions, did indeed say, “It’s just nice being in a Wimbledon final. Win or lose, it’s special.” But a solitary tear that trickled down his cheek at the presentation ceremony, brushed aside in a jiffy, but not before a camera caught it, gave everything away. Tennis, as a game, might have moved to different racquets, surfaces and scoring systems, but the importance of Grand Slams is still set in stone.

So, the final match at the 128th Championships had all sorts of stakes and their significance hard to miss. Novak Djokovic was once credited with possessing almost supernatural powers of resolve and recovery. This had helped him become World No. 1 and best two all-time greats in Federer and Rafael Nadal. In the last two years, he had lost a part of that self assurance. A victory here would help banish these demons.

For Federer it was a chance to roll back the years. It was one of those rare occasions in the recent past when the odds on him winning were good, even prior to the tournament’s start. Djokovic had indeed been in three of the last four Wimbledon finals, yet he had never been entirely comfortable with his sliding style and grass still favoured Federer, the seven-time champion.

The match was not necessarily a classic but made for great watching. Mainly because in addition to bringing to the fore all that the two champions had once possessed, but forgotten to summon over a period, it showed the hitherto underrated parts of their games.

It was no surprise that Federer rained down 29 aces. But what he did when those weren’t aces was something fresh. When he won his first Wimbledon in 2003, he served and volleyed 50 per cent of the time. In more than a decade since then, it had never crossed 20 per cent until that Sunday. This was the new dimension that he hoped Stefan Edberg would bring to his game. He made 67 forays to the net and won 44 of those, including the pick-up down by his feet on a second serve when down a break point late in the fifth set.

Down 5-2 in the fourth set and staring at defeat, he won five games in a row and in the process saved a championship point too. His defence, never talked about much, was impeccable as this stat proves: in rallies longer than 9 strokes, Federer won 18. Djokovic won 18 too.

This no doubt galvanised the audience. Not for nothing is Federer the ‘People’s Champion’ and the partisan crowd chanted ‘Roger, Roger’. It seemed like a soap opera with Djokovic’s backstory adding the necessary spice. The prospect of a Grand Slam winner almost 33 was indeed attractive, for there is no better sight than seeing an ageing champion struggle and come out on top.

Boris Becker, the legendary German, was brought to help Djokovic soak up such pressure and play the bigger moments better. But when the Serb failed to serve out the match in the fourth set, all his troubles seemed amplified. Could Djokovic, like Nadal in 2008, overcome a match-point saving comeback and win his second title?

That he did was his crowning glory. “I could have easily lost my concentration in the fifth and just handed him the win,” Djokovic said. “But I didn’t, and that’s why this win has a special importance to me mentally. Because I managed to not just win against my opponent, but win against myself. This has been the best-quality Grand Slam final that I’ve ever been a part of.”

Through the match, Djokovic’s double-hander was solid, successfully attacking Federer’s one-hander. Coupled with arguably the best return in today’s game, this is the 27-year-old’s money shot. But his serving on the day was even more stunning. It took Federer close to three and a half sets to land a break. Djokovic even won 26 of his 35 approaches to the net.

“I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t breaking Novak’s serve,” Federer said. “Or actually creating opportunities. It’s one thing not to break, but it was really not creating enough opportunities to put Novak under pressure. He was doing a good job on his serve.”

It’s interesting how in an age of outright domination by the ‘Big Four’ and when certain championships have proved to be personal fiefdoms, the game still offers something new. Djokovic and Federer had met 33 times before yet had contested only one major final.

They knew each other’s games, as they confessed on the eve of the final, yet, the two could hardly have predicted the ebb and the flow.

That was then the story of this year’s Wimbledon: of people rediscovering their aura and creating something new.

Of the women’s champion Petra Kvitova showing the sort of ruthlessness not many thought she possessed; of youngsters like Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic holding their own against established stars; of a new crop emerging in women’s tennis — Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard — and making a mockery of the hardships of a clay-grass transition; of attacking tennis being back in vogue and serve-and-volley more than a just a surprise element.

For Federer it was a return to the confidence levels he is comfortable with and for Djokovic a rediscovery of his counter-punching abilities and the reclaiming of the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings. For the Championships it was yet another chapter in its glorious history and with it opening the window for a brighter season ahead.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20140719503400500.htm

The curse of the champions

When Spain lost its opening two games in Brazil — the first defending champion to do so — it was the third time in four World Cups that the champions’ curse had struck. After France in 2002 and Italy in 2010, Spain became the third holder to be eliminated in the group stages.

It was a six-year period which saw it win every major international trophy of repute, except the Confederations Cup, before it all unravelled at the Maracana.

When France first experienced such ignominy, it was treated as a flash in the pan. Not since Brazil in 1966 had any reigning champion crashed out that early.

But with Italy and Spain repeating the deed in succession, it was interesting to see if any parallels could be drawn.

Coaches’ reluctance

One thing that stands out across the three cases is the coaches’ reluctance to change a winning formula and choosing to retain an ageing squad.

In the October 2013 issue of ‘Harvard Business Review’, one of the football’s greatest team-builders, former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had this to say as part of a blueprint for success:

“Dare to rebuild your team. We [at Manchester United] identified three levels of players: 30 and older, 23 to 30, and the younger ones. The idea was that the younger players were developing and would meet the standards the older ones had set. I believe that the cycle of a successful team lasts maybe four years and then some change is needed. So we tried to visualise the team three or four years ahead and make decisions accordingly.”

But none of the three managers in question here, Roger Lemerre (France’s assistant coach in 1998 and manager in 2002), Marcello Lippi (Italy manager in 2006 and 2010) and Vicente del Bosque (Spain manager in 2010 and 2014), seem to have done this.

Age factor

The French side that won the 1998 World Cup was no doubt splendid. But 14 of those who featured in 1998 went to Japan-South Korea too, with nine of them being above 30 including the entire backline of Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram and Frank Leboeuf.

Italy made a similar mistake after the Azzurri won the World Cup in 2006. There were nine players over 30 and most of them sure starters including Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro del Piero and Mauro Camoranesi.

Spain had 16 players in common, with the core of the team comprising Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Xabi Alonso all aged over 30.

Consistency in team selection contributes hugely to a successful team. It reduces the uncertainty and provides the assurance that players will be given time. It helped the French and Spanish teams win the European title in 2000 and 2012 respectively. But the balance between loyalty and ruthlessness is a tough one to strike. As Ferguson said, “the hardest thing is to let go of a player who has been a great guy — but all the evidence is on the field.”

For example, the Spanish style was coming under increasing pressure by high-pressing, direct, counter-attacking tactics employed by teams like Chile.

But del Bosque chose not to go with a plan ‘B’ and duly paid the price. Also, from 2008 until now, the Spanish team has played every summer, except 2011, with the same group of players playing for both club and country, week-in and week-out.

Missing the talisman

Another reason for the teams’ debacle was the absence/decline of the side’s talisman. France, in 2002, missed Zinedine Zidane due to injury for the first two matches against Senegal and Uruguay.

Likewise, Italy too missed Andrea Pirlo against Paraguay and New Zealand. The opposition might have been light-weight, but the men who could have made the difference weren’t there.

That the two came back to script their respective team’s revivals in the 2006 World Cup and 2012 Euros will in itself prove their vitality. As for Spain, the decline of Xavi at Barcelona has indeed had an effect at the national level, with the ‘tiki-taka’ style that he best epitomises being synonymous at both Barcelona and Spain.

Indeed, no team becomes bad overnight. But the ones here were out-paced and out-thought over a period of time. It was best summed up by Alonso when he said, “We have not been able to stay hungry. The joy and success quota was covered, exhausted. Football-wise we have made many mistakes.”

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/fifa-2014/the-curse-of-champions-continues-to-haunt-the-world-cup/article6171309.ece