Football has many little quirks, one of which is the idea of home advantage. The idea that a team should become unbeatable simply because they are playing in their own stadium, in front of their fans is almost as ridiculous as the idea of lucky jockstraps for the players or the dozens of other little superstitions they have before a game.
However it is one that holds true and Africa is no exception. I don't pretend to have a vast knowledge of African football, which is why you will not see previews like I've done for the Premiership in the past on here, but I have watched a fair bit of African football, particularly the Champions League and it is often astonishing how teams will destroy a team one week, only to be totally inept against the same opposition the next week just because they happen to be away *cough*Enyimba*cough*. Want to make money betting on African football- just bet on the home team.
The last two editions of the African Nations Cup have been won by the hosts. Indeed, there have been many instances of the hosts winning the African Nations Cup. Teams like South Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia and Algeria all won their single titles at home, and of the traditional continental powerhouses like Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria only Cameroun can boast of going forth to conquer on each of their 4 titles.
Even minnows like Burkina Faso who when they hosted the Cup in 1998 had just come off from being whipping boys of their World Cup qualifying group (for France 98) got to the semis. It is hard to see a team of relative similar quality like say Austria doing the same in Euro 2008 despite their home advantage.
The thing is this year's hosts Ghana are more than the flat-track bullies Tunisia and Egypt, the hosts and winners in 2004 and 2006, were. They are actually very good, and even if this tournament were held on the moon, they would be one of the favourites. They open up the tournament versus Guinea and it should be a routine win for the hosts. Guinea have performed generally well at these tournaments over the past few editions and could make the next round even if they have lost a lot of experience (Diawara, Thiam, Titi Camara) over the last few years.
I am looking forward to watching this game, the first Nations' cup game I will see since the heady days of 2000.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Has the world gone mad?
Dave Kitson, Reading FC's flame-haired striker has been a particular friend of the press this season. Witty, erudite, down-to-earth, and with a rather interesting background, at least in footballing terms, he is a writer's dream.
Rio Ferdinand is another friend of the press although for altogether different reasons. He is one of those footballers you love to hate. The press love him if only for the amount of copy he generates. Where to begin: the Ayia Napa sex-tape, long before sex-tapes were a part of celebrity bling; the drugs ban for missing a test; his autobiography that read like a guide to late 90s/early noughties London nightlife; his slightly heated contract talks with Manchester United. Erudite is not a word you would use to describe Rio who tends to lapse into the lazy footballerspeak that marks so many of his peers. Even now he is in the press as the chief organiser of United's infamous christmas party.
Kitson is a throwback, a player whose rise to becoming a Premiership footballer is almost Disneyesque. The player who worked in Sainsbury's and who was playing for non-league Arlesey Town around the same time Rio was moving from West Ham to Leeds for 18 million is reknowkned for this fortrightness, his ability to rise above the bullshit that clings to top level football.
This is why it was a bit of a shock to hear his rather disparaging remarks about the FA Cup this past week. Come on Dave, would you really rather finish 17th in the Premiership than try to win the FA Cup? What was even more shocking was that it was Rio Ferdinand, who is depicted as being out of touch with the common fans, who encapsulated what football is about or should be about for the players at least. "You want to win every day in training, let alone a match in front of 30,000 people"
“We are not going to win the FA Cup and I do not give two s**ts about it, to be honest with you.” This attitude is rather disgusting, to be honest with you. Let's look at Reading's season so far. They may not have hit the heights of last season and may be in the lower half of the league, but they are, dare I say, safe from relegation, if only for the mere fact that there are at least three teams more incompetent than they are. In fact, Reading need only 18 points or thereabouts from 17 games (that's 18 out of 51) to reach the 40 point mark and be assured of safety. They didn't play in Europe, so I fail to see how giving it a go in a prestigious cup competition would otherwise jeopardise their chances of survival, its not as if they are tired, or they shouldn't be.
As a footballer, you should always give your best no matter the match- the same is true for life actually. If you get into that mindset of turning your passion off and on as each game comes, then it will become a habit. Take Charlton Athletic for instance. They were one of the pioneers of this disdainful attitude to the cup. However, once survival was achieved, usually around February or March, they usually collapsed. The side which performed so admirably from August would suddenly become a bunch of cloggers as winter gave way to spring, you could set your watch by it. If it had continued for much longer, then perhaps it might have replaced Groundhog day as the marker for spring or whatever that tradition means.
I know this may seem a little hypocritical given my comments in the past about the UEFA Cup, but rest assured that if we were to be in that (God forbid), I would want us to do well in it. I am sure that fans of all 731 teams that entered this year's competition hope that even if their side doesn't win it or have a hope or prayer of winning it, even if the winner has come from the so-called 'big 4' over the last 13 years, their players will at least give a good account of themselves. Saying you don't give a shit about it makes you look bad, Dave.
I hope Arsenal gets Reading next in the 4th round, it would be a nice and easy 90 minutes against a team that apparently don't give 'two s***s' about it.
Rio Ferdinand is another friend of the press although for altogether different reasons. He is one of those footballers you love to hate. The press love him if only for the amount of copy he generates. Where to begin: the Ayia Napa sex-tape, long before sex-tapes were a part of celebrity bling; the drugs ban for missing a test; his autobiography that read like a guide to late 90s/early noughties London nightlife; his slightly heated contract talks with Manchester United. Erudite is not a word you would use to describe Rio who tends to lapse into the lazy footballerspeak that marks so many of his peers. Even now he is in the press as the chief organiser of United's infamous christmas party.
Kitson is a throwback, a player whose rise to becoming a Premiership footballer is almost Disneyesque. The player who worked in Sainsbury's and who was playing for non-league Arlesey Town around the same time Rio was moving from West Ham to Leeds for 18 million is reknowkned for this fortrightness, his ability to rise above the bullshit that clings to top level football.
This is why it was a bit of a shock to hear his rather disparaging remarks about the FA Cup this past week. Come on Dave, would you really rather finish 17th in the Premiership than try to win the FA Cup? What was even more shocking was that it was Rio Ferdinand, who is depicted as being out of touch with the common fans, who encapsulated what football is about or should be about for the players at least. "You want to win every day in training, let alone a match in front of 30,000 people"
“We are not going to win the FA Cup and I do not give two s**ts about it, to be honest with you.” This attitude is rather disgusting, to be honest with you. Let's look at Reading's season so far. They may not have hit the heights of last season and may be in the lower half of the league, but they are, dare I say, safe from relegation, if only for the mere fact that there are at least three teams more incompetent than they are. In fact, Reading need only 18 points or thereabouts from 17 games (that's 18 out of 51) to reach the 40 point mark and be assured of safety. They didn't play in Europe, so I fail to see how giving it a go in a prestigious cup competition would otherwise jeopardise their chances of survival, its not as if they are tired, or they shouldn't be.
As a footballer, you should always give your best no matter the match- the same is true for life actually. If you get into that mindset of turning your passion off and on as each game comes, then it will become a habit. Take Charlton Athletic for instance. They were one of the pioneers of this disdainful attitude to the cup. However, once survival was achieved, usually around February or March, they usually collapsed. The side which performed so admirably from August would suddenly become a bunch of cloggers as winter gave way to spring, you could set your watch by it. If it had continued for much longer, then perhaps it might have replaced Groundhog day as the marker for spring or whatever that tradition means.
I know this may seem a little hypocritical given my comments in the past about the UEFA Cup, but rest assured that if we were to be in that (God forbid), I would want us to do well in it. I am sure that fans of all 731 teams that entered this year's competition hope that even if their side doesn't win it or have a hope or prayer of winning it, even if the winner has come from the so-called 'big 4' over the last 13 years, their players will at least give a good account of themselves. Saying you don't give a shit about it makes you look bad, Dave.
I hope Arsenal gets Reading next in the 4th round, it would be a nice and easy 90 minutes against a team that apparently don't give 'two s***s' about it.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year; welcome to a new era
Welcome to the new Fitbablog, as opposed to the old one, which you can read here. The old Fitbablog was at times a staggering work of breathtaking genius (if I do say so myself) that suffered because I was less prolific than Jamie Carragher- only a handful of columns since I started it in November 2005.
However, things have changed and I should have a bit more time on my hands to write. This is my hope. I also hope to have more of an audience this time around but hey you can't win 'em all.
Happy New Year to all reading this. Lets see what 2008 brings us in the world of football or 'soccah', as Beckham calls it these days.
However, things have changed and I should have a bit more time on my hands to write. This is my hope. I also hope to have more of an audience this time around but hey you can't win 'em all.
Happy New Year to all reading this. Lets see what 2008 brings us in the world of football or 'soccah', as Beckham calls it these days.
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