Or, what if we bring ourself back into reality and looks at this logically. The first game of the season and Liverpool have an absolute shocker. Does this mean that, with 37 games of the season to go plus matches in the Carling Cup, Fa Cup and Champions League, their season is over? Of course it doesn’t. It means they had a bad day at the office.

While Alonso’s precense was missed it is in no way a confirmation that they will fail. Before Liverpool were described as a one man team with Steven Gerrard the only one that could get 3 points. Is it now asserted that it was really Alonso who was this one man? Absolutely not.

Liverpool still have a good squad and with Aquilani still posed to make his debut the allegations that Liverpool will falter this season are premature at best. There is still much room for improvement; another striker and centre-back must be priorities for Benitez, but if they can find some form a fluidity then the team they have at the moment will go far.

One game does not define a season.

Not only was it a sublime finish it also sealed the European Championship for Holland.

“Football is simple. But the hardest thing is to play football in a simple way.”

- Johan Cruyff

There it is, the key to footballs popularity uttered by one of the greats himself – simplicity. This is what makes football so great. This is why millions follow it week in and week out regardless of job commitments or personal circumstance; to many it is indeed more than a game.

Simple, really? What of tactics, formations and strategies. A glimpse at Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s notebook or Helano Herrera’s drawing board would seem to prove this assertion otherwise; how can football be so simple when it is so complex? Let’s not just confine this complication to strategy but let us bring in the theory of rules and stature too. It is nigh on impossible in this day and age to fully understand every rule and regulation in the game as so many are open to interpretation. Similarly the concept of transfers have become increasingly convoluted and problematic. There was a time when a transfer was simply one club paying another a lump sum for a player; now we have 3^rd parties, Bosmans, installments, image rights, media rights… where does it all end?

So, you might ask, football is simple? In its fundamental, unaltered and pure form – yes , it is. And this is why millions love it.

Anyone can understand the concept of football. Two teams, 11 players on each, a ball, 2 goals; play! This is what football is. Lets divulge further and its simplicity can be magnified by the fact that football can be played by anyone. It is not necessarily essential that the above requirements have to be met, not in an unofficial stance anyway. You can play with your friends; 5 a side, 4 a side, 6 a side etc… you can kick a ball against a wall, you can kick a bottle around the playground – this is all based on the concept of what football is; all these variations are almost, in a sense, a replication of the platonic form of football that is idealized and pure in a distant world, a world in which we can never truly understand but rather we imitate it to a lesser or less accurate degree.

The experience of football in its pure form and football as it has evolved have become blurred and hazy to the point where we cannot pin point when it transcended into the complex, intricate and obscure monster we now know it to be. For Merleau-Ponty this would be the ultimate sport in which to suggest the fundamental experience of existence.

But yet, football is still simple in the minds of many. It is this simplicity, this minimalistic concept that reaches out, grabs us and never lets us go; the emotion, passion and adrenaline rush all accompany the simplicity of the sport – for all these emotions stem from a very basic aim, to put the ball in the net. Modernists can complicate the beautiful game as much as they like but, ultimately its straightforwardness and ability to hypnotize so many under its spell, will continue to prevail.

For this was the moment that Ronaldo became the highest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup by notching up his 15th goal. An extraordinary achievement from an extraordinary player. His surpassing of Gerd Müller’s record has cemented O Fenômeno’s place in World Cup history; as if his performance in the 2002 World Cup was not enough.

Ronaldo is currently plying this trade with Corinthians and to some effect. Overcoming 3 career threatening knee injuries, personal and psychological problems and the occasional scandal is testament to the man himself.

Against Ghana he achieved a feat that one feels will stand for some time yet.

When we think about all the tragedies of football our thoughts at instantly thrown back to the Munich Air Disaster, Heysel, Hillsborough to mention just a few but rarely this one catastrophe that so rocked, not just Turin but the whole it Italy, is mentioned.

Il Grande Torino dominated Italian football in the 1940’s as they accomplished no less than 23 separate records in this decade – not to

Il Grande Torino

mention the 5 Serie A league titles and a Coppa Italia as well. However, sadly, they are perhaps most remembered for the events of the 4^th of May 1949.

On their way home from a match in Lisbon the Torino team were in jubilant mood; they led and had already won Serie A with four games remaining. The low cloud, poor visibility and approaching thunderstorm did little to dampen their spirits as another year of success seemed inevitable. With visibility at only 40m the plane descended, seemingly to land in Turin, but instead disastrously crashed into a church on top of Superga Hill.

31 were killed – 18 players, among them.

For football fans who are maybe not educated on Serie A or football history in general it is hard to explain this exceptional Torino side. They simply were the best. Valentino Mazzola, Romeo Menti, Guglielmo Gabetto, to name just 3

An artist's interpretation of the crash in La Domenica del Corriere.

were simple divine. Further to their football skills and dominance on the pitch they absorbed and became immersed in Turin life, indulging in its little peculiarities and customs.

In 1947 in an international friendly against Hungary, the Azzuri side consisted of no less than 10 Torino players.

While an entire post could be dedicated to Il Grande Torino team, and there shall be one, I want the tragedy of this event to resonate; not be overshadowed as we reminisce about the greatness of the team.

Torino never really recovered from the Superga Disaster, however their memory lives on in the hearts and minds of all Italian football fans for they were more than just another team – they were Il Grande Torino.

Check it out: http://www.goalpost.tv/2009/07/23/latest-news/notts-county%e2%80%99s-coup.htm

From this Roberto Carlos (of União São João, Palmeiras, Inter, Real Madrid and now Fenerbahçe) carved his name as a masterful free kick taker. Unfortunately he was not as consistent in this regard as many of his contemporaries but this cannot diminish the quality of this unbelievable goal.

What about Joan Gamper? Formally Hans Kamper before he decided to become more ‘Catalonian.’ He might not have been the greatest ever player  but he has a attribute that will eclipse anything

achieved by anyone who has ever worn the red and blue strips; he founded the club. A small newspaper advertisement has become perhaps the most famous announcement in the clubs football history, for it was from these humble beginnings that the mighty Barcelona was born. When you think of the club now with its rich history, both on the field and off it, it is humbling to see how such a great entity came about. While Barcelona are forever tied to Catalonia especially after the Franco years – “Més que un club” – it was infact a Swiss Businessman who founded the almost all-engulfing phenomenon that is Barcelona.

Sports Notices
Our friend and companion Hans Kamper… former Swiss [football] champion, being keen on organising some football games in the city asks anyone who feels enthusiastic enough about the sport to present themselves at the offices of this newspaper any Tuesday or Friday evening between the hours of 9 and 11 pm.

Joan Gamper would go on to be in the Barcelona team that won their first trophy in the form of the Copa Macaya in 1901 and spent 25 years as the Clubs President.  It is sad fact that his life ended so depressingly – suicide – but this we should not dwell on for the Swiss businessman founded something that has become renouned for being Catalonian. Indeed Gamper himself was expelled from Spain by the Primo de Rivera dictatorship after being accused of promoting Catalonian Nationalism. For someone who changed his name to blend in with his adopted homeland this act just confirmed Gamper’s credentials.

So next time you watch Barcelona lifting another major trophy, and I doubt we will have to wait long, think back to how it all began; 8 lines in a newspaper. 8 lines that changed football forever.

In 1981 there was a goal right at the death that was of such significance, not just in football terms, that should be on every top 10 list of goals scored in the closing stages of games. Step forward Jesús María Zamora and Real Sociedad.

With Sociedad going into the game against Real Sporting de Gijón needing only a draw to clinch the La Liga title expectations were high. Torrential rain was drenching everything and everyone inside the El Molinón in April 1981 and the dismal weather was soon a mirror into the souls of everyone connected with Real Sociedad as with seconds remaning they were losing. The grim outlook was not just limited to the weather forecast it was evident on every players and supporters face. Déjà vu was setting in as Sociedad had lost the previous years title (1980) on the final day to Real Madrid. Indeed Los Blancos were already getting into party mood as they were 3-1 up away to Real Valladolid.

In a moment, a flash of brilliance, a unexpected illumination appeared from

Jesús María Zamora

the downpour that ensured Déjà vu was indeed, not happening.  Bixio Gorriz’s miss hit fell straight to Zamora and, in his own words, he “just clouted it”. In the space of literally 12 seconds Real Sociedad went from dismay to bliss; but this title win had a more far reaching consequence. As part of the Basque country, Real Sociedad like Bilbao and Barcelona in Catalonia suffered at the hands of Franco. Their regionalism was obviously loathed by a man bent on centralising Spain to Madrid. Franco’s rule from 1936 up untl his death in 1975 the league had been dominated by Real Madrid with Atheltico and Barcelona and occasionally Valencia winning the odd title. Bilbao achieved the feat in 1943 and 1956 however up until Sociedads win in 1981 the establishment generally prevailed.

What was so important about this victory was not just that it took the title back to the Basque Region but that it signaled a shift, if only temporary, in Spanish football as Real Sociedad went on to win the title again the following year and Bilbao the 2 years after that. A region so persecuted under Franco were now celebrating a victory over the team that came to represent Franco and the centralised Spanish state – Real Madrid.

It was a last minute goal a lo grande.

Between 1982-85 he was Serie A top scorer despite playing effectively from midfield and cemented his place in footballing history by being voted European Footballer of the Year for 3 consecutive seasons (1983-85). A free kick and passing specialist he is widely regarded as perhaps the best set piece taker in history and few would disagree that he is, if not the best, certainly one of the best.

Michel Platini

Internationally he played a French team that captured the 1984 European Championship and it is perhaps on this stage in this tournamant that he is remembered by most to be at the peak of his career. Captain, 9 goals, two perfect hat-tricks and a goal in the final made sure that Platini would be remembered among the games greats. As a report from The Times explains from an international against Italy in 1982:

Platini…was in complete control of the midfield…scored once and saw another shot hit the crossbar

“In complete control of the midfield” would become the norm for his illustrious career. Whatever our views are on Platini we should perhaps sometimes focus entirely on this playing career and appreciate the immense and rare talent that he was.

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