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When The Beautiful Game Met America’s National Pastime
By Eric Beard
“He’s been waiting for this moment his entire life. He’s just minutes away from hoisting up the trophy of his dreams. Holland has stayed up all night to watch their beloved Dutch maestro make history. They said it was impossible. Hell, I said it was impossible. Well, we’ve all been proved wrong by Mr. Cruyff. He has been absolutely phenomenal all series and is showing no sign of slowing down. My goodness! I’ve never heard the chants of “Johan” sung quite like this. It’s deafening! And there’s his last warm up pitch. He’s ready to go. Just look at that smile. Folks, it’s the World Series. It’s Game 7. It’s 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th here at Yankee Stadium and you better believe the world is watching….”
When you mention the Ajax team of the late 1960s and early 70s, there’s no denying that geniuses ran rampant throughout Holland and Europe for the better part of a decade. But what if I told you that Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens weren’t born to play the beautiful game? What if I told you that some of Holland’s finest athletes may have wanted the opportunity to pursue a career in another sport they adored?
Messi: “We’ve already made history, but we want to make more”
Guardiola: “These two games can qualify us”
The Barça coach is treating the forthcoming encounters with FC Viktoria with maximum priority, for they could see the team through to the last sixteen. Guardiola has no intention of underestimating the Czech outfit.
Pep Guardiola attended to the press in the Ricard Maxenchs pressroom just a few minutes after listening to what Leo Messi had to say. On Wednesday’s Champions League fixture, he said he understands that people know very little about FC Viktoria, the Czech side appearing in the competition for the first time, but that if anybody is underestimating them it’s simply because they don’t know them. The FCB coach knows how difficult these matches can be “and so we always have to take them very seriously … we should not lose our respect.” This is his fourth season on the bench, and he knows that “we have always found it more difficult against small teams than against more famous ones”.
Two in a row against FC Viktoria
The Camp Nou is seeing Champions League football for the first time since the visit of AC Milan. Barça will be meeting the same Czech team in their fourth match, but away from home. The Catalans currently share the lead on four points with the Italians and Guardiola has stated that “the main objective is to win our next two matches. That would ensure qualification … the first game at the Camp Nou will be useful for getting to know them well, meaning we won’t be faced by any shocks in the return match”.
Messi’s evolution
Pep Guardiola also spoke about Leo Messi, saying that it is the player himself who is responsible for his amazing progress. “Everybody has their own way of learning. He has found his and is passing the test … what we have to do is make sure that the best players get to see the most of the ball. Whatever else he does is exclusively his own work”.
Quality at the new Masia
On Thursday at 8.00 in the evening, the new Masia is going to be inaugurated at the Ciutat Esportiva. Guardiola, who grew up at the old building, has said that “the new facility makes up for what it is lacking in history with an improvement in quality. The club has created a fantastic Masia”.
