BEYOND THE 10 COUNTRIES - CRICKET AND THE WORLD CUP

World Cup and the lesser known teams...how can they be separated? 

The year 2002 was the first time football World Cup was staged in Asia - and the event had finally reached the largest continent seventy years after the inception of this premier tournament. France, the defending champions of 1998, the European champions of 2000 was still the best team to beat and a favourite to retain the title. Senegal defeated France, yes it was a freakish goal by Diop - but that goal was enough to write a script for a team that was unheard of, in the world stage. It was the World Cup and there is something else that brings in the best of the lesser known teams. France then drew with Uruguay, lost by two goals to Denmark and as a result went out of the tournament without scoring a goal. This is just one such story and there are many such tales of World Cup and not just in football.

Football is popular for a reason; and if not for their global outlook and appeal, the game would not have succeeded and tasted fame in the modern era. Cricket cannot be compared to football - but is it wrong in trying to have the global appeal and look to emulate the father of all sports? No one likes to watch a strong team strangle a weak opponent on a daily basis and rarely people turn up to watch two minnows competing against each other. So what is the solution? Having cricket world cup reduced to just a test-playing nations affair is not the way, and irrespective of the number of teams, there will be minnows even in the big league, because ratings are what that counts - the number one, the chasers, race for avoiding the last place and so on.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GAME

What is the role of the International Federation and whom do they report to? Is it the commercial partners, the association members, the fans or a fruitful combination of all? People and fans turn up to watch the innumerable bilateral series, countless ODI's and T20's. But that does not drive the sport globally if it does not travel beyond the boundaries. What does is that a relative, a friend or a group of people getting together in Afghanistan, Scotland, Ireland, Kenya, Canada, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Netherlands, UAE and many more from the Associate and Affiliate countries, because it is the World Cup! - a place where underdogs can dream of achieving glory just like many such stories we have in different sports. Global appeal is what cricket seriously aspires, then World Cup is the stage to showcase it, for there are no other words than World Cup which generates attention and more the countries, merrier it is.

Favourites winning is logical, predictable and worthy - but just as in life, in sports too all we seek are stories that are never being told before, something fresh, unique and tales that evoke interest. Beyond the hopes, against the odds, the victory over the might is what makes the headlines. In not providing such a opportunity, one needs to re-look at the term 'international' and 'world cup' as not having more teams is a recipe for stagnancy.

WILL COMMERCIAL PARTNERS BE UP TO THIS?

What are the roles played by the commercial partners who fund the game? I have never heard a business house complain if their name and product reached out to many places across the world. Ask Pepsi, what's their challenge is? Sixteen teams or even thirty two teams for a 50-day event is possible and will be the way to go. Thirty two teams divided into eight groups and then the knock out begins. What are we afraid of? If big teams do not make it past the first round? or will they lose in the round of sixteen? Should there a minimum number of matches guaranteed to evoke interest levels till the dusk of the tournament? or do you want to watch series of do or die contests? For a greater reach, few one-sided games can be excused and if we all seek only for the master teams, what will happen those apprentices who have ambitions to be a master one day or defeat them on a given day? Have we come so far ahead that, we have forgotten how we got here in the first place?

WHAT IS LIFE DEVOID OF SURPRISES

Familiarity breeds contempt and do I need to say more? The suspense of not knowing your opponent is what brings in the element of drama, the awe-inspiring moments, the breathtaking scenarios, the theatrics, the elite performers irrespective of their background till the time when winners takes all.

Whoever it is who needs to make decisions for the future of the World Cup, take a good look at the outside world, beyond the four walls where the decision would probably be made; understand the value of legacy and embrace the power in you, the ability to take this sport as it has been envisioned.

To be the best, you gotta be in the league of the best! And having a World Cup with less teams will only have limited reach and a very clouded future.  

A NIGHTMARE TO FORGET - 2014 BRAZIL WORLD CUP

Courtesy: News Agencies 

I think it is the continuous pain in those 90 minutes which is unbearable. The focus constantly on those eleven players is intense and painful for the spectators rooting a particular team in circumstances which Brazil were in yesterday. It can be a devastating experience for fans present in the stadium; for all those watching on television or even those who use their smart phones to check the scores. How can one erase what they just saw?

Football is a beautiful game, it definitely is. I saw a different side to this beautiful game when a team that prides itself to be at the forefront of football went through such a horrible defeat.

Like me, many others have experienced such a defeat growing up and can share their most heartbroken sports stories to this day. Few analysis on the match, scrutinising few of the players who performed poorly, to place our own strategies and debating about it - we move on or at least we make an effort.

Whether the angry fans resort to personal abuse or protests - an athlete on the field will have scars which he has to live with for the rest of his life. C'est la vie!

And there are players who missed taking part in the game - through injuries (Neymar Jr), penalty (Thiago Silva) who watched their team blown away in those six minutes conceding four goals. Such were the levels of shock that Miroslav Klose, who netted his 16^th goal (World Record) of the World Cup was mentioned briefly in the game.

The game shall be remembered for the grand Brazilian defeat than Germany's outstanding win.

For the younger fans, the passionate fans - the defeat could be a blow and even come as a shock. Many tears were shed and it will only take few years to realise, I shed those tears for what? One will probably look back in a different way and till that time, you too as a fan has to live with it.

A certain youngster in 1950 was passionate about football and saw his countrymen mourning to the loss against Uruguay at the finals held in Brazil. And that youngster went on to play a pivotal role in guiding the national team to three of the five titles they have won - a feat no team has matched so far. And the same athlete used those golden words while describing the sport in his autobiography - 'A Beautiful Game'. It turned the Brazilian football and to an extent the global football completely. Football without Brazil is like Formula One without Ferrari. Unimaginable!

Such is the beauty of sports that - it moves on, it provides opportunities to improve and the only thing that asks an athlete in return is his willingness to participate. I am not sure how many of the athletes will turn up in Brazilian colours come 2018 in Russia. They need not seek revenge or look for redemption - because none of it actually exists except in our perceptive thoughts. The defeat however crucifying it maybe is part of the game just like the win.

It is hard, awkward, baffling, embarrassing, rough, rocky, arduous, delicate and add any other adjectives you like - the history shall not be erased if even Brazil were to win the next three World Cups in a row.

Some will move on with time, some prefer to stay with the result for rest of their lives, some will always be finding ways to cope with the defeat and some - they just don't care.

That to me is 'Sports Imitating Life'.  

A case for 'strategy breaks' in football?

I managed to witness what I had never seen previously on a football field - a game of football being stopped midway for a 'cooling break'. Surely, it was not the first time breaks have been used at the football fields and surely it won't be the last time. It happens in T20 domestic cricket in the name of 'strategy' time out for 150 seconds. 

Moving forward, what do we make of this cooling break? Will this be seen as an excellent marketing strategy and open up a window for advertisement - specifically suited around cooling breaks? or what I saw yesterday was a one-off instance where heat did disrupt the players and most importantly 'the match officials'?

Let me look at it the other way. Louis van Gaal utilised these 'breaks' to communicate his strategy to the Dutch players instead of shouting behind the line in a hope that 'his messages carry the distance'. Instead of having just a half-time break, he had 3 time outs (so to speak) to re-work on his strategies. Since the time Mexico took the lead, the team in orange were chasing the game. Did these breaks help bring back the focus to the team? or did it upset the rhythm for the Mexicans?

What would be the future of these 'cooling breaks'? Will this case be pursued further by the marketing team at FIFA to repackage it as 'strategy breaks' and through this create a new dimension to the sport, thereby modernising the traditional flow game? or will it be just too much of a change for FIFA to create this 'break' twice in a match played for 90 minutes (which has already extra minutes added at the end of each half). Plus, will it provide a breathing space for spectators to not miss the action while they must go attend to nature's call or buy a drink or a snack!

This game is after all involves the administration and guardian of the game FIFA, the players and match officials, the sponsors and most importantly the spectators who consume the content, the drama which unfolds on the field.

Will there be a strategy breaks in football, moving forward? Only time will tell!