Preview: Before the more-serious looking back at the year that was in the world of football for yours truly this year, I will go slightly 'sideways' at some of the interesting, amusing, intriuging stories that caught my eye this year (that is if I can remember them). And had me roaring with laughter. Or just me simply having an 'eh?' moment. Or events which make one think differently of the football personalities whom stole the limelight this year for me. Footballers, coaches saying (and/or doing) the darnest things, and whatever that left yours truly suddenly going all contemplative and whatever there are in between.
Newcastle interim manager Joe Kinnear swearing off in his first press conference (and he has been nicknamed 'JFK' among the fans since with the 'F' stands for...you get the drift) given it came with the press criticising him non-stop since he stepped onto the job when Newcastle was heading nowhere after Kevin Keegan's departure, Kevin Keegan and all that drama and quotable quotes that come along with it, England coach Fabio Capello and the dietary rules he had implemented on the England squad and he has become a psychologist too, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson getting all frightened over a balloon being burst during the match away at Chelsea (it was his assistant Mike Phelan who did it), and he actually turning down an invitation from jazz legend Frank Sinatra after his side lost to Charlton, so much for Harry Redknapp and his loyalty before jumping ship to go to Tottenham Hotspur from Portsmouth (but he has already did his best at Portsmouth by bringing them to the FA Cup final in May, his most biggest triumph so far), the now-former Sunderland manager Roy Keane just simply do not trust TV pundits (to the extent he said that he would not trust some of those to walk his dog), and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger recounting the days he almost signed Cristiano Ronaldo and disappointed that he only managed to 'seduce' Ronaldo's mother.
Outside of English football (it will be more towards the German football front, considering I watch the Bundesliga and support the German national team after the England squad) now. The now-former Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Doll has really lost it in a press conference (this was when speculation over his future reached fever pitch), Bayern Munich general manager Uli Honess attempting to be diplomatic on one matter (this was after former Germany international Lothar Matthaus accepted a coaching job in Israel) then getting all cross with a reporter from his club's in-house TV channel on another (this coming after the match away at Karlsruhe), the sayings from the German national team especially during Euro 2008 (only one thing to say as a female myself from what I found - Men!), Germany team manager Oliver Biehoff saying he much preferred the times when they beat England on penalties (given a reporter from England had told him ahead of the Germany-England friendly that people back in England still remembered the famous 5-1 scoreline during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers where Bierhoff himself was actually on the substitutes' bench then), former England coach Steve McClaren and his Dutch accent (or lack thereof, but he is doing fine and well in Holland now), the sayings from Euro 2008 (what a way to remember the amazing tournament), Hoffenheim general manager Jan Schindelmeiser getting all cheeky at a sporting awards ceremony (by saying that his side do not deserve the unofficial title of 'winter champions' and they dedicate it to Bayern, who is actually just behind them on goal difference), Bayern president Franz Beckbenbauer has an opinion on Franck Ribery's pink boots (click on '12' for what he has to say) and what he has to say to poor coach Juergen Klinsmann after the 5-2 thumping from Werder Bremen during the Oktoberfest weekend, and how Klinsmann replied to Beckbenbauer, Borussia Monchengladbach coach Hans Meyer always ready for a quotable quote (especially on his return to 'Gladbach), the same thing with Borussia Dortmund's Juergen Klopp (on the Rhur derby against Schalke), what did Diego Maradona said when he arrived in Scotland in his first match in charge as Argentina coach (going to a country where he is adored and in regards to the 'feud' which began with Scotland assistant coach and former England international Terry Butcher saying he will not shake Maradona's hand because of what he encountered in that infamous 1986 World Cup quarter-final against Maradona's Argentina...Maradona replying back, 'Who is Terry Butcher?').
Well. Of all the interesting stuff I had remembered and hoping to elaborate some of them later on, let me begin with something unpleasant. My own personal thoughts after the second Group B match between Croatia and Germany. That famous 2-1 scoreline to Croatia. I had read my entry a few times since I last posted it. How I began my entry back then - I swear never since back in primary school when my English teacher was giving the entire class a lecture on pronounciation and asking us why did we learn Phonics back in Primary One and Two, will I be probably witnessing another scenario again. 10 years ago I got a rude awakening of sorts when it comes to pronouncing words. But not since the day after the match had I often thought of looking back at these photos from the German national team's press conference the day after that 2-1 result. Because all the unplesant memories from watching the match just returned for me. But it is looking at the photos in the link I posted which reminded me all over again of the two incidents my former English teacher back in Primary Five used to do - once to the entire class (the lecture), and once on...me (hint, it is below).
I almost swear the lecture my English teacher used to give 10 years ago has returned in the form of when Germany coach Joachim Loew was speaking to the press. I don't think I had never seen him as stern as he was ever since he took over the coaching hotseat. He promised a different side against the co-hosts. Imagine a football coach is telling you this - 'You mark my words!'. I got that funny feeling it's like my former English teacher (who is a she even) saying like that in my face. Except for in my case, it was after I read a passage from the textbook (I was assigned to read it aloud), my English teacher was asking me why I read as if I am chopping vegetables.
It may be harsh to think of it now but imagine, I was only 11 then (I didn't cry after that, if you want to know). I almost got a rude shock. At the end of it, the chopping vegetables analogy made me realised there's also a technique even when it comes to reading articles aloud. Back to what I was trying to say (what you get when a football press conference reminded you of days gone by). So far in Euro 2008, there has been quotes which stood out and one especially stood out was the day after Germany's 2-1 loss to Croatia and when speaking about their next opponents Austria, Germany coach Joachim Loew has this to say - "I know as the group stands the Austrians will run for their lives," Loew told reporters. "They have a one-off chance to make themselves immortal in the public eye." My original source - here. I swear I almost stood up when I read that.
If I have to give out an award for my quote of the year in regards to what Loew had said this year, it has to be that. Of all the things he had said this year which I had managed to read, that just stands out. Very haunting, especially the 'immortal' part. But anyhow, I am still trying to work my way out on what did he really mean when being asked what he brings to the palm. I only discovered that last week on the interesting sayings this year from the German sporting angle. Guess what was his answer - coconuts. Since then, I had a mental image of the Mannschaft coach with both his palms holding...coconuts. Then this which I came across the day before. *in a triumphant tone* That is it, coming from a hot and humid and wet Singapore (I used to like to joke to myself that I come a tropical country despite Singapore is no Maldives) which does not have the four seasons, my mind was actually saying after I read the coconuts part...with me doing an imaginary wave to the Mannschaft coach - 'Hey! Come over here!'. Then my mind was starting to think - 'Oh dear, he really needs a holiday'. No wonder when asked about what he would like to see privately (the question was asked when reviewing the year that was in the German national team from his angle), he replied 'time'. The Christmas holidays last week was the best time for him, then. Something totally outside of football.
Because despite football is what makes people like me talking about it just about whenever she has the time on here, there is actually also life outside of it. You can really get 'sucked' into it, being in a bubble. Had I not watched the TV news, I would be really in the dark that the world is in a bad financial situation (it would had been a shock, considering I had slowly built up the reputation in the family of someone who does follow current affairs and my mother will always tell that to our relatives that I always follow the news). Anyhow, so while I was stuffing myself silly on Christmas Eve (which I regretted later on) with my family and me going all contemplative on Christmas Day and eating log cakes and having grape juice (I do not mean fruit juice in this case, given I still cannot handle champagne and wine even if I had reached adulthood...argh!) on Sunday after my father finally uncorked the bottle (I reminded him about the bottle lying near the living room TV set since a few days before Christmas)... I had read in another interview (forgot where now) on how the Germany coach will celebrate Christmas. But I know wine was mentioned. Coupled in with what his England counterpart Fabio Capello (I mean, the two were photographed together ahead of the Germany-England friendly last month) was saying what he will get himself for Christmas ("A painting, like always. In the letter I write to Santa Claus I put down three contemporary artists: Cy Twombly, an American, Georg Baselitz, a German, and the Englishman Peter Doig. The problem is that they don't do sales."), that was how the opening line my Christmas entry on my own reflections of my two footballing worlds (given I watch both English and German football and the respective national team are also the ones I support) came about - The paint collector and the wine lover....then what I was saying later on - While I had never thought that I will ever reveal in the open on what the two coaches like outside of their work, I will never have thought that I will have one more post on my final word on the two national teams I support. It is becoming a well-known fact in the English press that Capello does collects paintings (it is said that it began during his playing days at Juventus).
Speaking of Capello, I will start with what I was saying in the first paragraph with this - 'England coach Fabio Capello and the dietary rules he had implemented on the England squad'. It goes back to the insightful interview he gave to the FIFA Magazine last month. Back then in a report of what he had said that really got the English press to sit up (apart from his Olympic football ambitions given he was denied of the chance in his playing days) - "I have, for example, impressed upon them the advantages of a Mediterranean diet over ketchup and chips." Fish & chips...that is like, the unofficial English national dish. Whether the Mediterranean diet has played a part in England's footballing fortunes under the Italian, I may never know. But he had said on La Gazzetta dello Sport - "I have removed ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise from the table, in place of fresh sauces from the Mediterranean diet. The players appreciate this." Well, if I have to give out the quote of the year on what is my most favourite from Capello, tough choice. It mainly came from the time he met the English press reviewing on the year that was in the England squad and what he has to say about being compared to England's 1966 World Cup-winning coach Sir Alf Ramsey. But the winner has to go to...this - "The spirit of the squad. This is most important. Without the spirit and confidence it is impossible to win. Sometimes you can win one game because one player scores a goal but without spirit it is impossible. But we need good players to win. Good pyschologist, bad players - impossible to win." It is the pyschologist part which caught my attention.
Honourable mention goes to what he was saying on Saturday which I reported on the following day on the Ramsey comparison - "Someone spoke to me about this big manager but we have to wait. He's up here - I'm still down here. It is a very long way to arrive at the level of Sir Alf Ramsey - it is difficult and very, very long." And another honourable mention, also in the same report on if England really succeeded under him given it has been a long time since the 1966 World Cup triumph - "I hope you will speak about me. But not after 40 years! I hope you speak about me as a really important manager - but for the sake of English football not after 40 years." 40 years later, Fabio Capello will have been up there already. But then it has been said that he did admired Sir Alf Ramsey during his own playing days. In fact, in Capello's biggest achievement of his career (no, not those trophies he won as a coach, it is that he used to score against the English at the Wembley in the 70s in a friendly match), Ramsey was still the England coach then.
Father versus daughter. Portugal versus Germany. Germany won. The daughter won this time. When it looked like she was frustrated and worried and tense, everything fell into place on the night (or early morning here) in Basel when...the coach is not allowed in the dugout. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise, maybe it's...
That was actually how I end the thought of reviewing the first Euro 2008 quarter-final match. At that time, my father was going for Portugal and my case...it was obvious. Because, this was how I began the entry - Yessss. The feeling of beating my father in football prediction is so great (because I rarely won anything against him). My only gripe after the Portugal-Germany match (the first quarter-final of Euro 2008) is that I should have betted real money with him. The best I can do after the final whistle (and by the way, Germany marches on to the semi-finals with Portugal heading home), sticking my tongue out at my father in the living room where we were both watching the match. I could had picked on a few incidents to talk about on the match, but I want to talk about something which was being said after the match (I remembered it was being picked up by The Straits Times then, though I do not think they got the entire quote). You will know why I said this earlier on - 'I had read in another interview (forgot where now) on how the Germany coach will celebrate Christmas. But I know wine was mentioned.'.
I swear I almost roared with laughter in terms of what the UEFA website has collected in terms of interesting quotes from the footballers and the coaches themselves during the tournament (the link is below), especially this - I lost a bottle of wine in a bet with [assistant coach] Hans-Dieter Flick today. I said we wouldn't score from open play. Oh, two bottles of wine ... (Germany coach Joachim Löw drinks in the success over Portugal). From a Germany to a Manchester United supporter mode and what my mind was saying immediately - Paging Sir Alex Ferguson! The Manchester United gaffer always like a bottle of wine and share it with his counterpart on matchdays, even on Champions League matches!
Anyhow to the original quote itself. I only remembered Flick revealed after the match that he had wagered a bet that the national team will score from a set-piece and ended up there are two which happened during the quarter-final match against Portugal itself when the head coach was banned from the dugout (so he has to watch from the executive box as a result). Now the mystery is solved...
The quote can be found here. I first posted that on whatever had happened after the Euro 2008 tournament was over. I am still laughing like crazy over that quote from the Germany coach six months on. Anyhow, whenever I reviewed back the tournament from the angle of a supporter of the German national team, I had themes to each match the Mannschaft played - 'Germany 1-0 Poland, or getting the business done', 'Croatia 2-1 Germany, or where Jogi (the Mannschaft coach nickname) lost the plot', 'Germany 1-0 Austria, or 'What an absolute screamer!'', 'Portugal 2-3 Germany, or Schweini's redemption (given Bastian Schweinsteiger was sent off in the Croatia match and he put on a good performance against the Portugese)', 'Germany 3-2 Turkey, or stuffing the turkey at the last minute', 'the final, or where a goal just makes all the difference'. My own alternative look-back on the tournament. But ahead of the Germany-Turkey match, there is also a mini theme in one of the Germany's press conferences (courtesy from, me). Someone sending a love sonnet to Turkey ahead of the match. Though I had always knew that Germany coach Joachim Loew had two coaching stints in Turkey (this is during one of the two stints and is it only me, he looked a schoolboy then?), it was only after I had read his personal experiences ahead of the Turkey match...I realised how much it left a lasting impression on him. Suddenly the year that was in the German national team did not looked so bad after all.
So, no Jose Mourinho in the Premier League (the former Chelsea manager, or the 'Special One', will be back in England in February with his current side Inter Milan when they face Manchester United in the last 16 of the Champions League). But there is Joe Kinnear, or JFK as he is known now. He officially announced his arrival as the Newcastle interim manager in October by...swearing in an amazing 52 times in five minutes. Considering in the wake of the turmoil Newcastle found themselves in after popular manager Kevin Keegan left the football club, Kinnear was the only brave person to take up the job. With the press's criticisms from left, right and centre in regards to his appointment...the Irishman (Kinnear's last managerial job was at four years ago, but actually in between...he did worked at Arsenal) felt that he had to set the record straight. And in 'style', too.
Speaking of Newcastle, one can always guarantee a quotable quote from Kevin Keegan. And this takes the cake when he returned back for a second stint - "The only way we get to Europe is by ferry!" I will always personally remember that from 'King Kev' himself this year. That quote was also picked up by The Straits Times's sports section today on its own selection of the sporting quotes of the year. I think back then Keegan was trying to refer to Newcastle's chances of playing European football. BBC Sport sees it as - ' Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan realised it wouldn't be plain sailing when he took over.'.
It was in August when Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that his wife ruled the roost in the house. Looking back, if not for Lady Cathy (how the press had taken to call Fergie's wife) who would hear nothing of her husband saying he wants to retire from football management...this year would not have been a good year for Manchester United after all. Aha, when it is the wife calling the shots in the house! In the first paragraph, I had posted to the link where Sir Alex got frightened over a balloon being burst. So now we know what is actually really bothering him, and it is not all that Cristiano Ronaldo transfer rumours. Psst, I am like Sir Alex...when someone suddenly bursts a balloon, I will get a fright. And speaking of balloons...
...despite Sven-Goran Eriksson is still currently the Mexico coach, I will not forget the time when he was still the Manchester City manager, City did well under him at one time. But it was a case of the balloons which ended City's FA Cup run earlier this year when they were away at Sheffield United in the fourth-round tie that got my attention. Balloons lying around and goalkeeper Joe Hart had to try to keep them away from the pitch. In the end, City got knocked out and since then, the press in England called the incident as 'Balloon-gate'. Before the football club's new-found riches which came on the final day of the summer transfer window, that was one interesting moment from the blue half of Manchester.
"I feel like superman, I could fly home." That was what Tottenham Hotspur's David Bentley said after the 4-4 draw away at Arsenal in the dramatic north London derby (which even made me screamed back then in jubilation after watching how the guys from Sky Sports reacted when commentating the match...I saw the video once on YouTube - 'That is why I love the EPL!'). Bentley, a former Arsenal player, it was his stunning volley which got the ball rolling in the dramatic match...and it has gone down as probably one of the best north London derby classics of all time by footballing writers and pundits alike in England. Considering that match was Harry Redknapp's first derby match in charge after he oversaw the win at home to Bolton and Tottenham were on a real bad run of results under predecessor Juande Ramos. *in a serious mode* That match, actually made me believe in football all over again. It restored my faith in football. As a very frustrated Germany supporter at that time when all the public spats between captain Michael Ballack and his national team coach Joachim Loew were still rumbling on and how the German footballing community reacted, at the back of my mind, I actually wanted to give up on football altogether. I was actually at my lowest point of being a football fan. Until the 4-4 scoreline between the two north London rivals came about (that match occured in the same month when the heat of the public spat reached its climax). *in tears* So, thank you...the dramatic north London derby. It actually made me love the sport again.
I know my emphasis on club football had been what is going on in the Premier League so far. But that does not mean I had forgotten about Bundesliga football. I had mentioned some of the interesting sayings which caught my eye at the half-way mark of the season in the second paragraph. In the leading up to the Bayern Munich-Hoffenheim match (the 'game of games', as dubbed in the German press), there were verbal spats from both sides. But two comments from Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick take the cake for me. In response to what the Bayern bosses (no, coach Juergen Klinsmann not included...considering even back in the days when he was the Germany coach, he had already admired the work Hoffenheim is doing) were aiming at his club, he replied that (paraphrasing from Guardian's Bundesliga correspondent Raphael Honigstein on one of the Guardian Football Weekly podcasts) 'if you want snazzy statements, you go to Munich; if you want to see snazzy football, you come to Hoffenheim' and the 'we want their scalp' comment. The 'we want their scalp' comment actually does not come from Honigstein's translation of what Rangnick ahead of the big match in Munich. But that was a very strong statement to the Bavarian giants which had been ruling German football for more than three decades that Hoffenheim are ready to put up a fight (not in the literal sense!) at the Allianz Arena.
At least Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (who actually at Bayern's Annual General Meeting, taking sly digs at the year Hoffenheim was founded...TSG 1899 Hoffenheim is actually the full name) managed to eat humble pie after his side beat Hoffenheim 2-1 at almost the last minute when both sides eventually met. He praising how they played their football and that his side (Bayern) cannot take them lightly as challengers for the league title. Ooo, a new German club football rivalry is born.
It is definitely an interesting and a wacky year in football. I had wanted to give out an 'honours roll' of my favourite interesting, wacky footballing photos from both the English and German footballing scenes (considering I watch both the Premier League and the Bundesliga) with one from each side, but I will just leave behind some of my favourites of the year. And why the pick.
Now, if looks could kill like this (but then isn't England coach Fabio Capello has a reputation of being strict?). The England boss certainly living up to his reputation of being animated on the touchline during the the 2010 World Cup qualifier away at Croatia. How can any long-suffering England supporters forgot that match in Zagreb was the turning point in the footballing fortunes under Capello with something like this aptly captioned - Banish the memory: a year after losing a ticket to play in the finals of Euro 2008 Capello led England to a 4-1 victory back in Croatia. A memorable night for Theo Walcott who scored a hat trick Well, in terms of two of my favourite photos of the England regime under Capello (both courtesy of Getty Images, so ignore the watermarks)...so much the stern reputation of the Italian because he does let out a smile (that was prior to the Croatia-England match) and this ahead of the England-Kazakhstan match (also another 2010 World Cup qualifier). Inquiring minds want to know what was he looking at.
My personal favourite photos from the German national team this year (or rather, from the coach himself)...it does include Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup qualifiers especially when they were playing Russia at home and what happened ahead of the meeting against their old rival England in an international friendly match. Both of my favourites from the Poland match (me starting with Euro 2008) came from this page (one has to scroll down for what I was describing) where the Germany coach Joachim Loew is pictured drinking something off a bottle (maybe it is me, but there is something about that photo which just reminds me of school) and the other at the bottom of the page, being pictured at the start of the match (I just paraphrase what the caption says). The ghosts of my past (when I used to have a Science teacher back in Secondary One who once wore pink to class and me being the impressionable 13-year-old then...got swooned at once and me not rolling my eyes whenever I see guys wear pink since) really returned when the Mannschaft coach wore pink to face the media (this was the day after the final group match against Austria and I gasped and actually uttered my teacher's name aloud when I saw the photos). All along, I had always said that the coach reminded me of that former Science teacher of mine in the dressing department. The day after the quarter-final match against Portugal, the coach and his reflective mood when facing the media (considering of the cirumstances prior to the match and how he looked back).
As much as (continuing with Euro 2008) I actually got a number of favourites from the Germany-Turkey match like this (it just screams 'adorable' for me), my most favourite comes from this page. Look at the ones where Germany assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick is trying to carry Joachim Loew (the head coach of the German national team). A few weeks ago when my mother brought out some photo albums, I came across a photo (I think I was still in kindergarten or something when it was taken) where I tried to carry one of my younger cousins (it was taken at a shopping centre when our relatives were out together) in a similar manner (I only remembered I thought I was about to fall from trying to carry my cousin!). Now, my favourites for the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Russia...where Loew was sitting on a ledge during the match (back when I was watching the match, the cameras even aimed at him in that position and it reminded me of one nasty experience where I simply fell from rocking the chair too much) and for some reason, the one where he was pictured together with Russia coach Guus Hiddink (one have to scroll down for that).
To end the entry of my alternative look-back at the year that was in football (I have a more serious look-back later, that is if I can get it up). The ones ahead of Germany-England friendly, and a bonus. So the Mannschaft coach can get thoughtful (as in what The Telegraph said in its caption 'Thoughtful approach'), and the many faces of the Mannschaft coach. Being thoughtful, secretive, looking worried, the 'what-are-you-looking-at' look and, I think that is it. The bonus one - When both the Germany and England coaches meet ahead of the match last month in Berlin. At the end of the day, I support both national football teams when it comes to international football...even if they have a history of famous footballing rivalry between them.
