Wednesday 24 April 2013

The Day YOU and I were born.

Birthday. Simple.

This day has a different meaning to every person. It's the day you grow older, of course that's just numerically and we celebrate it hoping to experience this day again and again in our life! 

For most people, it's a day which they spend with their family and friends. For few it's about secretly hoping for a surprise party or being nervous about someone forgetting to wish them, for some it is just their day and nothing else matters, it's the day they have been waiting for an entire year. It's like a festival of some sorts for some! 

For me, well, it's just a day I realise how fast the earlier year went by. My friends and family are more enthusiastic about my birthday than me. 
It's a crime to sleep before midnight of course! 

I don't really wait for everyone to wish me, that gives me a chance to exploit them the next day if they don't!
It's a day for me when it becomes monotonous saying "thanks", the tone changes after a while.
It's a day when many acquaintances call me after an year and never show-up for another year.
It's the day I prefer family over everyone else. 

I write this on my birthday, for the first time - far away from home, family and friends. It's definitely different altogether, not bad, just different!

So far it's been an hell of an expensive day coz of incoming roaming charges. Lost most of my balance  (It was a lot by the way). Haha. 

I'm amongst many strangers here. Only some are aware of the significance of this day for me. It doesn't feel like a birthday at work. The occasional wishes via calls and messages are reminding me that it is, indeed! 

A celebration is not feasible here. Gifts and celebrations, they all await me home! I don't miss it. The delay ups the craving though.  

I'm not the happiest today, but content! 


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Friday 19 April 2013

Women and Football - The uncanny combination.

                                         *PUN INTENDED*

Before I continue writing any further I want to clarify that I’m writing this piece for women who don’t enjoy this sport, there are exceptions of course! Believe me when I say this – some women actually know what “Offside” means!

These are few reasons why majority women dislike football. So here I go,

No drama:

What’s the point in kicking a ball into a net? Better watch a daily soap with all the predictable suspense and unnecessary emotions – that’s what an anti- football woman would think! They will definitely enjoy on-field fights and fouls, especially if it involves Busquets or Suarez – if you know what I mean!

Too many doubts:

You generally learn a new sport just by watching it regularly – that’s something women wouldn’t do. What is offside? Why isn't Brazil playing the Euro Cup? Why extra 3 minutes after the 90? Why did the game stop? Why is he showing him a red card? Is it valentine’s day? Apart from the last question, all others are definitely true! And you have to answer them then and there or change the channel!

Scoring a goal is way too easy:

You must have heard this before, “Your team won by 5 goals? Only 5? In the entire 90 minutes! Looks like it isn’t that great team after all.” They think scoring a goal is like hitting a six in a cricket match.

Umpire:

Ah well, this is an old one. How many times did you have to tell your sister/girlfriend/wife/female friend that the guy running around apart from the players is not the umpire but for-god’s-sake's – a referee! Ladies, there is no third umpire in football too.

Just a game:

Lose a match in the stoppage time and hell breaks out for us. Not for women, they’ll probably tell you it’s just a game, why the fuss after losing a game. But they’ll be emotional when the lead character of their favorite daily soap is going through on-screen trouble. Or there is a new Mihir!

Impatience in understanding:

Ever tried explaining the offside rule to a woman? If yes, I understand what you must have gone through. I can feel your pain. If no, avoid the question – I warn you. Coz anyway if they don’t understand it in the first instance, they declare that football is a complicated sport they will never understand.

“I’m not into sports”

That’s the answer I got when I made a survey with 5 samples i.e. females when I asked them why you don’t like football. The corresponding answers to why you are not into sports were not the most impressive:

“I need company to watch it or I’ll get bored”

“How do you know the timings of the matches?”

”I only watch sports that I used to play. I played stop and party, pakda-pakdi etc”

“Sports will clash with my all-important serials, I can’t afford that”

"I don't really get football"  

To all the women who love football, watch it without complaining and know what offside means, we salute you! 



This is just my personal opinion for a few people I know. Not every reader can relate with this in totality but I'm sure at least in bits and pieces!

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Michael Ballack : Ciao Capitano!


Michael ballack - at the age of seven years started training for football - who knew he would become one of the most successful captains for his country one day. He debuted for the German National Team at the age of 22 and was instantly a crucial part of the German side in a couple of years which starred greats like Oliver Kahn and Oliver Bierhoff. Alongside Dieter Hamann and Bernd Schneider, Ballack was one of the key players in Germany's astonishing run to the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final.

“His goal tally was sensational. He has developed enormously. He not only scored the crucial goals but has also learned to shoulder responsibility."

- Rudi Voller told Michael-ballack.com, on Ballack being voted The German Footballer of the year 2002.

Following the Euro 2004 debacle – Germany succumbing to an exit in the group stage itself, the then coach Jurgen Klinsmann appointed Michael Ballack as the new Deutsch Captain. As a captain, Ballack proved influential on field and dominated the midfield play scoring goals freely and consistently. He led the country with great distinction when they hosted the World Cup in 2006 and finished third. 

“He is very important for our team always and he did a lot of special things in this tournament. He was our leader and he represented the team and Germany superbly." 

- Joachim Loew told the Metro, on Ballack after losing the Euro 2008 Final to Spain.

Ballack is still unforgotten for the missile like free kick against Austria which put the Germans through the group stage in Euro 2008! Adding to the heartbreak of losing in the World Cup 2002 Final was losing Euro 2008 Final.

Ballack would however love to forget the happenings before and after the World Cup 2010. Firstly, being ruled out of the tournament with an injury and subsequently losing his captaincy permanently to the temporary captain Philip Lahm – one’s pain, another’s gain! Also, he missed out on a landmark 100 caps for the national team and was then informed by coach Joachim Loew that he wasn’t going to feature in the team’s future plans.
To set the sun on his career, he was offered to reach his 99th cap and then play a final match for his country in a friendly by the DFB, which Ballack declined claiming “It felt like charity” Even after announcing his retirement last year in October, he was denied a farewell game. 

In his tenure, he won a number of personal accolades, however he was always denied a chance at glory with the national team. After having served his country for over a decade, couldn’t he have had a better end to his international career? Was it fair to exile him from the squad just so to assemble a new younger squad? Didn’t he deserve to be given the free will to give up his captaincy or be asked respectfully to step down? Was this disrespect? Or just severe mis-timing and bad luck? 

It’s arguable. 

However, what isn't arguable is the fact that had Ballack been in Loew's plans, we might not have seen the rise of Khedira or Kroos or perhaps the German counter-attacking pace altogether. It was the DFB and the coach who chose the harsh means to deprive Ballack from a respectable end to his career.

Ballack recently announced that he would be hosting a farewell match on June 5th in Leipzig and has resolved his dispute with Loew by inviting him. 

“I want to say goodbye in an honourable way to colleagues and fans and to thank those people who developed me, supported me and challenged me in my career.”

- Ballack told the Daily Mail, on his decision for hosting a farewell match for himself.



This article that I've written has also been published on the following sites! Do read any of them, they vary a little due to the website's editing. Please click on the following links.

Football-talkMichael Ballack: Ciao Capitano!

Football Family Faith: farewell-to-michael-ballack/


Bread and butter footballMichael Ballack: Ciao Capitano!

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