Futbol!!

So the World Cup started this weekend, putting me in the mood for futbol. Over the past month or two I've been playing a little ball, and practicing in the park a bit with another guy, trying to improve a little. This stuff is a lot harder than it looks, but I'm getting a bit better. I think it is only when you start playing ball you realize why it is so popular and so demanding, but for those who have never tried kicking the ball around I can pass on two things I've heard or read in the past that sort of give a sense of the dynamics of football. The first is that it is incredibly tough to play a game requiring skill when the most dextrous part of your body, your hands, are off-limits. Your natural inclination is to use your hands to influence or manipulate an object, but you cannot, so you are required to find new and creative ways to participate and move the ball.

The second observation relates to the first, and that is the game is so fast-paced and difficult that even the best players in the world are constantly struggling to exert any modicum of control over the game. I love that notion, that even world-class players are constantly trying to guide the game, rather than having the game guide them. Everyone is essentially riding a wild horse, and it is in those slivers within a game, brief moments really, where a player overcomes the chaos long enough to put on a show of magic. I like that idea of unpredictability.

Only the rarest players, the once in a generation type players like Ronaldinho, Pele, or Maradona can almost single-handedly win a game or tournament.

Over the last year of living out in England, I've learned a good amount about football, and found out that there is still a bit of debate about who was the better player, Diego Maradona or Pele. I have no idea who was better, but I did find a video that shows Maradona warming up, and it made me realize just how good some people can be on the ball. Watch Maradona here, and be amazed.

And for a contemporary player some are saying is just about to hit the Maradona/Pele level, if not already being there, click here to see 26 year-old Ronaldinho.