It's really a thankless job after all. And if it gets serious, the consequences...can be unthinkable. Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died the day after his side lost to debutants Ireland. It's curretnly the round of Super Eights in the Cricket World Cup (which Pakistan eventually never advanced), but whoever or what caused Woolmer's death will continue to overshadow the event.
I can talk about case studies where coaches were almost on the brink of death, or really died after a match. In the wake of Woolmer's death, the TODAY weekend edition last week wrote of times when EPL club coaches, club football coaches on the local front, a coach who witnessed the national side qualifying for a tournament - were either almost at death's door, faced the taunts of the fans, or actually died on the job. Stunned, horrified, surprised. Those were among my reactions. I never knew scary or near-scary events happened in the sport I always talk about. But then again, the fans expect to see results. The coach have to deliver.
It will be until June (and my CAT exams is being on that month) before we can say 'Here we go again.' But the Euro 2008 qualification rounds and international friendlies up till now, it's practically a roller-coaster ride. The good, the bad, the ugly and the unexpected had happened. Players were in the news for all sorts of reasons, from the good to the not-so-good. It's the national coaches I want to highlight later on. Spain, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany.
Call me weird now. But in the car on the way home from classes last night, I was staring out from my seat in my father's car and on the car radio, Gold 90FM was playing Sarah McLachlan's Angel. That song is meant to be melancholic. But as I was staring out of the car window last night, flashes of national coaches which I listed in the previous paragraph came on. It just did as the song was playing. Frank Sinatra's My Way is probably more appropriate. Football coaches and their tactics, something not all can understand.
The moment Spain had their shock defeat against Northern Ireland in the group qualifying rounds, the gloves are off for national Luis Aragones. He is under pressure. While he takes a slight breather after his side won over England in a friendly, somehow recently (before the eventual wins over Denmark and Iceland), everything does not seemed to go his way. He had hit out at the press.
Italy are World Cup champions. Then Marcelo Lippi stepped down and Roberto Donadoni came in. And Donadoni also faced pressure until ahead of the qualifiers against surprise package Scotland. Italy had been unlucky, but it's not really their fault. Months of not playing is already bad enough. All the crisis surrounding Italian football. They did won over the Scots and the players backed him.
If I want to be daring enough, Scotland is somehow like EPL club Reading. Surprising everyone with their performances. Scotland is moving up fast in the FIFA rankings. Who will have thought? Alex McLeish took over recently and he's reeling at the chances. But it's Italy who stopped in their tracks.
Ireland never made the trip to Germany for the World Cup last year. They never qualified. So the Euro 2008 qualifiers is something they have to fight for. But when being in the same qualifying group like Czech Republic, Wales, Germany and the like, it's not going to be a walk in the park. Steve Staunton has to deliver. His first qualifying match is up against Germany, and he lost. Subsequently, he's being under the pressure. A mixed bag of performances, and Ireland almost lost to minnows San Marino. He's saved, for now (after winning against Slovakia).
Ah. England. Now the voice is clear - Steve McClaren, out! It's not only the press saying it, the fans too. His 'honeymoon' was over after just being in charge for a while. England might had won against Andorra 3-0 recently, but it's not enough. Only two from each qualifying group can advance, and England is not there at the moment. On paper, it should had been an okay ride. But it's not really in reality, for now. Who's to blame?
It was a summer fairytale for Germany on home ground last year during the World Cup. Despite all that inital blasing and slamming from the German media and the public, coach Juergen Klinsmann managed to rally his mainly-youthful side and went all the way to being third. But even when almost the entire nation asked him to stay (including his initial harshest critics), he left after it ended and the spotlight is on the assistant whom he said that was more than just his assistant. Enter the man whom Klinsmann had first met at a coaching school in 2000 - Joachim Loew. The one who has the coaching experience that his friend doesn't, the one who was always behind-the-scenes. When he first took over, the two things he had set out to do - continue where Klinsmann had left off, and making the national team the best in Europe. Making Germany qualifying the Euro 2008 was his priority.
From the moment Loew was in charge, the national side had been on a roll. And how about that 13 goals they scored when they first met San Marino? A record! But before we said goodbye to 2006 in football, Germany's defensive lapses showed up. They drew with Cyprus: 1-1. It temporarily ended Loew's winning streak as the new national coach. And when 2007 began, Germany is back to business. Until that friendly match again Denmark (1-0 to the Danes). An almost entire second-string of players after the win in Prague (the qualifiers) and the fans are not happy. It was an experiment, or he said something like that. I am not crying my eyes out, though I initally know the gamble may not really work after all.
But at the rate Germany is going, they can win already. And Franz Beckbauer (the 'Kaiser') had even said that (this was before the friendly against Dnemark) Germany is the best in Europe. But we have to wait until June to find out if it is still true. Imagine me in the midst of my exams, all the action had returned. Argh!
Until I have something more to add, bye for now.
