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June, 2006 @newagebd.com Main Page « Front Page « Metro « Business « International « Sports « National « Editorial « Op-Ed « Home « Timeout « Letters «

Glitzkrieg You’ve seen the TV show, and you’ve read about the glamorous lifestyle and showbiz parties in the tabloids. You have seen them cheering on their men at crucial games, acting like a good luck charm. Let’s face it; some of them have as big a following as their famous football partners. For example, Christian Karembeu, one of the most decorated footballers of our times (although the only role he played in winning each of the medals was warming up the subs bench) has a smaller fan base than his gorgeous partner, model Adrianne Karembeu... Diego! Diego! Diego! Mubin S Khan charts how millions of Bangladeshis have experienced a roller-coaster ride of euphoria and anguish in the rise and fall of football’s greatest icon... Germany 2006 So who’s it going to be? Brazil, scream the lovers of romance. Argentina, reply the hardcore Maradona fans. In between, and in much fainter voices, you hear the names of England, Italy, Germany, even the Czech Republic. Whoever wins at the end of the day, the once-in-four-years celebration of our passion for football is finally here. And we’re at it again…each of us claiming that we know better, every one of us turning into football pundits overnight... ARGENTINA ‘Group of Death – part two’ but the spirit of Maradona lives on Owing to the relative strength of the other contenders, some may be tempted to omit Argentina from the list of favourites for this World Cup, but for all the Argentina fans around the world, that would constitute a crime. Whatever the preparations, whatever the strength and depth of the squad, Argentina will always be favourites for generations to come. After all, this is the nation that gave us the gift of the great Diego Maradona... BRAZIL The five magicians of Brazil - but are there a few too many? When it comes to the World Cup, the Samba beat is always in earshot. And it is usually the football that keeps the beat going, rather than the other way round. This World Cup is no different. The Brazilians are here as firm favourites, just as they have been almost without fail since 1950. It is undeniable that the Brazilian way is the epitome of football, and their current team just confirms that fact. Yes, certainly they don’t have 23 world-class players together, because that just cannot be. But they do have some members who are incomparable. Anything less than winning the world cup would be considered an utter failure... ENGLAND Brilliant in attack, suspect in defence. But, then, so are Brazil E ngland are the team many Bangladeshi football fans love to hate. Most of them would not hesitate to shout ‘no’ if asked whether England can win the World Cup this time around. England was beaten by mediocre Northern Ireland in the qualifying round and eventually barely managed to top their group in which the second best team was Poland, another football minnow. Their best player Wayne Rooney is bogged down by injuries and leading scorer Michael Owen is still not a hundred per cent fit. Their world ranking is now 10 and according to William Hill, the odds are 7/1 against... FRANCE Les brilliant individually, but les disappointing as a team One might be tempted to write-off France based on their performance in the last World Cup and European Championship where they were eliminated from the first round and second round respectively. But think again. A side which won the World Cup only eight years back and the Euro in 2000 still has the likes of one the greatest players in history, Zinadine Zidane, in their ranks, alongside some of the finest players of this generation - Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, David Trezeguet, Lilian Thuram, William Gallas and Willy Sagnol. If you write them off, do so at your own peril... GERMANY Banking on home advantage … and that phenomenon, Ballack It is hard to believe why Germany would not win this time around. Such a perfect occasion! Germany has played the most World Cup final matches - seven. So, statistically they may well again progress that far. And we need not mention they are the hosts. They are starting as one of the favourites. They have got some fine players who are not necessarily ‘stars’... ITALY Plunged into crisis, can the beautiful men rescue the beautiful game? Italy have so often been touted as one of the favourites to win the World Cup, and almost just as often they have disappointed. This time around there isn't much talk about Italy becoming the champions. That could possibly be a good thing for them... In with a change All the six teams marked out as favourites for this World Cup are former champions. There is a reason. Not only are these six in top form but the World Cup is a place of such challenging nerves that, in recent tournaments, we most often have a former champion lifting the World Cup... Unheralded triumphs In the run up to the much-awaited World Cup 2006, a football show recently did short tours of participating countries to assess their prospects. One edition took viewers to the Central American country of Costa Rica, where a group of aspiring local footballers were asked having whether they thought Costa Rica could cause an upset this time. The footballers seemed incensed by the question and posed an interesting question to the interviewer instead: I wonder why the media always describes wins by lesser known footballing nations as upsets?... What a girl thinks… Sanam Amin and Hussain Amir Ali went around wondering what the female kind has to say about the craziness that is World Cup fever...