It’s the kind of scenario that gets western sports marketing people, entrepreneurs and football opportunists all worked up: a country of a billion people that has shown that it loves sports and speaks English – but has not yet taken to the beautiful game.
That country is India of course and the game that its people have supported fanatically is cricket – and only cricket.
Premier League Soccer (PLS) is an attempt at creating a second love for all of those $port$ fan$.
The possibilities are endless. The question is can Indian cricket culture morph into a broader sports culture to include the world’s most popular game?
Well, the PLS is going to try.
They have created a 5 team, 7-week tournament-style league – not unlike the cricket set-up Indians are accustomed to.
Here are the big names that the five new clubs bid for and won in the auction that PLS recently held to kick-off the fledgling league:
Barasat bought Hernan Crespo for his base price of $840,000 (Rs 4.18 crore)
Siliguri bought Italy’s World Cup-winning skipper Fabio Cannavaro for $830,000 (Rs 4.13 crore)
Howrah bought Robert Pires for $800,000 (Rs 3.98 crore)
Durgapur bought Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha for $550,000
Kolkata bought ex-Liverpool god Robbie Fowler for $530,000
Some pretty big names there from the past. They should be able to handle a 7-week season.
I see that there is no Lionel Messi in that list. Not yet anyway. If the world economy continues to shift east and soccer takes off, you just might see Leo finishing his career “over there”.
This is what Mexican Women’s coach Leonardo Cuellar had to say about Christine Sinclair after Canada beat Mexico 3-1 on Friday:
“I think Canada is a very good side overall, except for Sinclair — she is another world. She was the difference. For me, what she means to her team and the things that she does — her composure, her guidance, the way she smells the play, her savvy . . . no question that’s one of the best players in the world.”
Despite the Canadian Women falling 4-0 to the United States in Vancouver this weekend, the world will see more of Sinclair at this summer’s Olympics.
Christine Sinclair again came up with a great game when it was most needed.
Canada’s world-class striker scored twice and set up another goal as the Canadian women beat Mexico to qualify for this summer’s Olympics.
23,000 fans watched the game at Vancouver’s BC Place stadium…seems that the women’s game is finally arriving as a spectator sport. The brilliant play during last summer’s Women’s World Cup must have helped.
We spend a lot of time talking about Lionel Messi here – he was after all recently awarded the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or by the coaches, captains and journalists of the world – but there are a lot of other great players out there doing a lot of great things.
Yesterday’s Copa del Rey match between Barcelona and Real Madrid demonstrated just how much other talent there is out there.
Now Messi did get the talent show going himself yesterday when he went on one of his trademark field-length runs and slipped the ball between two desperate Madrid defenders for a Pedro finish. The run and the inch-perfect ball were things of genius.
But as good as that Messi play was, the Argentine was upstaged within minutes when Barca full-back Dani Alves was in the right place at the right time on a corner-kick and lined-up a one-time laser with the laces of his right boot that found that small target where the top of the far post meets the crossbar. A dream goal by perhaps the best right-back in football.
Real Madrid looked to be out of the Cup after those two goals but I guess their players didn’t think so, playing a high-pressure game that saw Cristiano Ronaldo blow past what looked like a pensioner in Carles Puyol, glide past a shocked Barca keeper in Pinto and slide the ball into the open net. It was as if Ronaldo and co had suddenly found a new super-human level.
Puyol was made to look old and slow one more time when fresh substitute Karim Benzema dinked the ball over his head and hammered home the tying goal. A real striker’s goal.
Four different players in on four fantastic goals in a Barcelona-Madrid Clasico that was indeed a classic.
I saw it live. It was a clear stamp. The league is sure to give Super Mario retroactive punishment for this one.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp gave Sky Sports 1 his thoughts on the penalty Balotelli scored after the stamp:
‘It looked like a penalty, I’ve not seen a replay – but the boy who scored the penalty shouldn’t have been on the pitch. He kicked Scott Parker in the head. He does it a lot, he backheeled him in the face and cut his head. No-one can make excuses that he didn’t do it, anyone can see he did do it.”
Anyone can see it – just as I did.
What to make of Mario? Don’t know. But after scoring a goal and earning three points with Manchester City it sure looked like the Italian was living the “good life” today as “Footmoves” video suggests.
Watch the end of the video where Mario has his tongue-in-cheek when he claims to not be a “bad boy”.
So much has been said about him already that you’d think that everything’s been said but Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola had to be expecting a question about his hat-trick hero after the Malaga win. And Pep did not disappoint, coming up with a relatively new observation about Leo Messi: that one of his greatest traits is his consistency. Yep. Sounds boring but that’s what Pep really likes about the Best Player in the World.
