| After his win over Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand is now being ranked as one of the best of all time by pundits around the world. Should Anand successfully defend his title in London in 2012, he will be in rarefied company indeed, writes Ian Rogers. |
From the extraordinary start to the match — when Anand was forced to travel for 40 hours overland to reach Sofia on time due to the Iceland volcano cloud preventing air flight in Europe — to the dramatic winner-take-all final game, the advantage see-sawed between the Indian World Champion and the Bulgarian challenger.
"I have almost no match experience in a situation where every result is possible until the last game, and it comes down to nerves," explained Anand shortly after he had retained his title and pocketed the 1.2m Euro winner's cheque. "We both showed a lot of fighting spirit and also made a lot of mistakes."
However, the final error was Topalov's; a fatal pawn grab by the local hero three hours into the final game. "When he took my pawn I couldn't believe my eyes," said Anand. "I knew that either I had missed something or he had just exploded. Fortunately it was the latter."
At the age of 40, Anand seems to have the hunger and the fitness to rule the world for a few more years to come, even if his recent inconsistency in tournament play shows that the march of time cannot be stopped indefinitely.
Yet, after his Sofia victory, it is not too early to ask, after a career already spanning a quarter of a century where does Anand stand in the hierarchy of the best players of all time?
Anand is clearly India's greatest chess player, by a country mile, and also clearly Asia's greatest.
World Champion from 1963 to 1969, Tigran Petrosian, was geographically Asian, hailing from Armenia, but Petrosian successfully defended his title only once and his tournament record lags far behind Anand.
Anand, with his world title wins under multiple formats, can also lay claim to being the best player of the 21st century.
From his FIDE World Knock-Out Championship win in 2000, to his 2007 world title win under a tournament format, to his two world match title victories in 2008 and 2010 — plus of course his world titles at fast time limits and plenty of tournament victories — Anand has done it all in the past decade.
Anand does not try to dominate the opposition, as Garry Kasparov — most people's pick for the greatest player of all time — used to do, but when he is hunting for tournament victory he is hard to stop.
Since Kasparov's retirement in 2005, Anand has battled for the world's top ranking with Topalov (and very recently Norwegian teenager Magnus Carlsen) but Anand's victory in Sofia has made any comparison between himself and the Bulgarian moot.
However, just as results in Tests, not 50/50 or T20 games, are the key factor in assessing cricketers' reputations, for the chess purist, the only title worth discussing is the world match title.
Here Anand had a major setback, losing to Kasparov in New York in 1995. Anand was already a world class player at the time, with a number of victories to his name against the world number one but, aged only 25, Anand was just too young to appreciate the extraordinary demands a month-long world title match would make on him.
After breezing through the first part of the match, and even briefly taking the lead, Anand collapsed against Kasparov's superior preparation, psychology and practical play.
Circumstances conspired against Anand gaining a rematch in 1999 and it turned out to be 13 years before Anand would have another chance to play for the world match title. Anand had learned his 1995 lesson well and he overwhelmed Vladimir Kramnik — the player who had dethroned Kasparov as match champion in 2000.
For the match with Kramnik, Anand had started putting his team of Grandmaster analysts together a year ahead of time and that team — Denmark's Peter Heine Nielsen, India's Surya Ganguly, Uzbek Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Radoslaw Wojtaszek from Poland — stayed together to help Anand defeat Topalov.
"We worked together as a group in Frankfurt in September/October and then again in February/March of this year," Anand explained. "Not everything we tried worked. Actually we expected the Topalov of four years ago — a hit-and-run match player — but he stuck to his guns and forced us to change tactics. It was the toughest match of my life."
"Winning two world title (matches); that's something special," added Anand after his victory over Topalov and he was right — even legendary names such as Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer could not or would not manage this.
Producing a list of the best players of all time has long been a favourite pastime for chess fans, with opinions differing widely. Should one consider the impact a player has had on his own country's chess scene, e.g. Fischer in the US or Anand in India? Should one give Anand extra points for behaviour and sportsmanship or take them away from multiple match-winner Alexander Alekhine for his Nazi writings? How heavily should being overshadowed by Kasparov for a large part of his career count against Anand?
All these questions have no definite answers — comparing the great 19th century talent Paul Morphy with Anand today is comparing different worlds — but what is clear is that after his win over Topalov, Anand is now being ranked as one of the best of all time by pundits around the world.
Should Anand successfully defend his title in London in 2012, he will be in rarefied company indeed.
A wonderful team
One of the keys to Viswanathan Anand's success over many years, but particularly in his title defence in Sofia, has been his wife and manager Aruna Anand. The two make a wonderful team and evidently are devoted to each other.
Married in 1996, Aruna has travelled the world with her husband, negotiating conditions, coordinating media interviews and supporting him at all his tournaments. However, competing in Sofia posed many new challenges.
Aruna travelled well in advance of the match to the Bulgarian capital, to inspect possible venues and hotels as well as negotiating to ensure that conditions for both players would be equal. Security from outside interference during the games was a high priority for both teams and Aruna organised for a special one-way curtain to be installed which blocked the players from seeing the audience. A mobile phone blocker was also supposed to be installed in the playing hall, but was apparently never implemented.
Prior to the match the hosts made many unusual suggestions, including playing the match in a glass box in the centre of town and banning draw offers, most of which Aruna rejected. "She shielded me well from all the organisational worries," said Anand, "only telling me about the proposals which she thought I might (conceivably) wish to accept."
The 40-hour land journey between Frankfurt and Sofia was another time when Aruna's organisational abilities came to the fore and what could have been a nightmare journey turned into a bonding exercise — albeit an exhausting one — for Anand and his team.
Throughout every game in Sofia, long or short, Aruna could be found in the back row of the audience, willing her husband on to victory and, after Topalov, she was the first to congratulate him when the title match was finally decided.
1969 Born in Madras.
1975 Learned chess from his mother.
1979 Family moves to Manila for a year. Anand builds up a chess book collection by winning prizes on Florencio Campomanes' daily television show 'Chess Today.'
1984 First of 7 Chess Olympiad appearances for India.
1986 Youngest ever winner of the National Championship. Beats American Grandmaster Nick DeFirmian in London using less than 10 minutes on his clock.
1987 World Junior Champion. Earns Grandmaster title in the same year.
1991 Wins in Reggio Emilio, Italy, the highest category tournament ever held at that time.
1992 Awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
1995 Loses first world title challenge to Kasparov in New York.
2000 Wins FIDE KO World Championship, crushing Shirov 3.5-0.5 in the final in Tehran, Iran.
2003 Wins FIDE World Rapid Championship in Cap D'Agde, France.
2007 Reaches world number one ranking for the first time in April, a position he holds until October 2008. Wins FIDE World Championship tournament in Mexico City, and is subsequently awarded the Padma Vibhushan and voted India's greatest sportsman of the past 60 years.
2008 Becomes 15th World Match Champion by defeating Kramnik 6.5-4.5 in Bonn, Germany.
2009 Suffers a dip in form, failing to place in the two classical events in which he competed.
2010 Defeats Veselin Topalov 6.5-5.5 in world title defence.
CHESS / INTERVIEW/V. ANAND
'The second half was difficult for me'
| "It was nice to clinch it with a win and that too, with black," says Viswanathan Anand in this interview to Rakesh Rao. |
In the words of Viswanathan Anand, the world title-match and the eventual victory against Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov, is the most intense battle of his career. Anand took off on the wrong foot but landed safely with the world title, which he holds since 2007.
The 12-game match was a thrilling contest. Anand came back strongly after losing the opening game and then took the lead in the fourth. A late error cost Anand the eighth game and Topalov levelled the match-score.
After some long and tense moments, Anand finally landed the knockout punch in the final game for a 6.5-5.5 triumph.
The following morning, at Sofia, Anand took time off to speak to Sportstar.
Q: How did you deal with the loss in the opening game?
Answer: It was one of those ridiculous moments that you are not supposed to have but it happens. The only thing I told myself was if it had to happen, it is best to happen in the first round. You still have time to recover. I knew it would be a long match. I was not worried at that point. But it was the worst possible start to the match.
Pleasantly, the finish was a dream one — winning the decisive 12th game with black pieces!
It was nice to clinch it with a win and that too, with black. You know, in the last eight decisive games that we played, Topalov won four times with white, and I won three. So after many years in the matches between us, this was the first victory for black. It felt nice.
How will you reflect on your victories in game two and game four?
In game two, Topalov was doing fine out of the opening but made a mistake. I pounced and made some very accurate moves. I mean, technically, it is still difficult but I managed to wrap it up in some six or seven moves from this point. I thought it was efficient. Game two was important because it helped me to equalise. Game four was nice. It was just a beautiful game… some lovely tactics there.
Since the result in a chess match depends a lot on the opening preparations and the strategies of the players, how satisfied were you with the way things turned out?
In one sense, I think, I misjudged him. He made certain changes during the match. One of the things we assumed was, he always likes moving around in matches. This means, he'll play an opening for a couple of games and then move on to the next one. His match strategy in the past was never to stand his ground. Kind of hit-and-run strategy. So, whether consciously or sub-consciously, we had made this assumption the basis of our preparation. But he stood his ground. He did not switch his openings. We started having problem in the second half because we were thin in the areas he had concentrated on. And we ourselves were doing the hitting and running. So there was some coping there.
In terms of the opening preparation, we made some bad calls. The team did some excellent work but in a match, it is not about excellent work but making the right judgement call. If you prepare something and it does not get played, it is not much use. So in that sense, he did surprise me.
So, for you which was the most difficult phase of the match?
The second half was difficult for me, from game 7 to 10. He started taking initiative during this phase. In game eight, he did press me, he had a good idea and all, but having escaped, and then to blunder and lose was bad. And in game 10, when I was losing, I thought after the last three games, if I were to lose and fall behind, it will be very difficult (to bounce back). Once I had saved games 10 and 11 by hanging in there, I was okay.
Did you imagine the final game to go the way it went?
I think Topalov took a big gamble. Now it seems obvious to me that this gamble was wrong. I realised he missed my queen move but still, when my bishop is on the big diagonal like that, and to allow me to open it, he took the decision very late. Later, he did say he missed my queen-move and if he did, then I don't think it was such an unreasonable gamble. Towards the later part, the position became incredibly complex, though.
How do you compare the titles in 2007 and 2008 with the latest one?
The match against (Vladimir) Kramnik went so well (in 2008). Vlady was a bit unlucky that match started so badly. As though he was hit by a perfect storm. Everything that could possibly go wrong did. A three-point advantage and from there on something had to go horribly wrong for you to lose it. Against Topalov, it was like waking up each morning with a sword hanging over your head. For me, that was an unusual experience because against (Garry) Kasparov (in the 1995 World title match) I had the opposite problem. I was hit by a perfect storm for a week and there was a three-point deficit.
In Mexico (in 2007), I took a strong lead in the beginning and basically, I had to maintain it. You knew everything is in your hands. Here (in Sofia), at least I knew, if I had drawn (after 12 games), I had the tiebreaker.
Many experts believed that your best chance of winning was to 'do a Kramnik' on Topalov. How correct was this assessment?
We did copy a bit of Kramnik's openings. He did a good job against Topalov. Topalov's score against the Catalan (opening) isn't that great. We had other openings but because of Topalov's preparations, the world did not get to see this. My preparation was heavily based on Kramnik, but not entirely.
Several commentators spoke of your ploy to exchange the queens early, particularly when playing black, in order to minimise Topalov's tactical option. Was it really part of your ploy?
Well, the point is that you have to think in terms of opening complexities. I always find it quite simplistic that everybody said I was so defensive. I was not playing defensive at all. In the opening complexities, white has several moves and black has several responses. And we had fantastically sharp lines, as well. We thought this blocks white and he probably has to move on. But it was more of an assumption that it would block and he would move on. It did neither. It did not block him completely and we had a problem. And he did not move on. He stayed there and kept pounding. So we did not get to see the lines where I did not exchange queens. My strategy was not so limited, as simplistic that I was going to exchange the queens. We had a bad call. We simply misjudged his approach.
Since Topalov had announced that he would neither offer nor accept draws and communicate only through the chief arbiter, were you prepared for long battles?
I always knew playing every game till the end would show the strain on both players. Indeed, there was a question of hanging in there. I was prepared.
Finally, was it intimidating for you and your team to play in Topalov's backyard?
Since we (the players) stayed in difference hotel, we had this feeling of returning to our den or zone everyday. In that sense, it was fine. The audience was very fair. Obviously the audience wanted Topalov to win but they never made me feel bad.
CHESS / FOCUS
Overcoming all challenges
| The World title, Viswanathan Anand's fourth in a decade, underscored his presence among the greats of the game, writes Rakesh Rao. |
If Anand is known for his universal style, playing all kinds of positions with elan and ease, Topalov has the reputation of being ruthlessly destructive in positions that encourage tactical onslaught. Anand, who has every weapon in his armoury, had to find the right strategy to blunt Topalov's sharp edges. On the other hand, Topalov made no secret of his desires to tire out Anand in this match. "My biggest plus is that I'm minus five," was how Topalov described the advantage of being five years younger to Anand.
As it turned out, Anand was the last man standing.
It is to the credit of Anand that he overcame all the challenges — right from the announcement of the match in Sofia, to arrival at the Bulgarian Capital and the loss in the opening game — to come out stronger.
Unlike the 2008 match between Anand and the Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik, there was no neutral host. Eventually, Sofia came forward to host the match for its hero. The Organising Committee headed by the Bulgarian Prime Minister made a commitment to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and put up a prize-fund of two million euros with 1.2 million being the winner's share. Anand had no choice but to travel to Topalov's backyard to defend the title.
Once Anand started for Sofia, a week before the match, he was stranded at the Frankfurt airport due to the cancellation of flights owing to the volcanic ash that descended on Europe. Eventually, with great difficulty, Anand and his entourage reached Sofia by road after travelling for 40 hours.
The organisers initially rejected Anand's request to delay the start by three days but later agreed to defer the event by a day following FIDE's intervention. As it turned out, Anand suffered a blow in the opening game and suddenly, Topalov was looking to compound the Indian's problems.
Anand, unwisely criticised by many in the western world for lacking the ability to fight back, bounced back by winning the second, with white pieces. A forceful victory in the fourth put Anand ahead. Topalov managed to draw level due to a late error from Anand in the eighth game. Anand missed a possible win in the ninth but saved the 10th and 11th games. Then came the big battle in the 12th game where an ambitious Topalov pressed his luck too hard and Anand punished him mercilessly to defend the title.
The title, Anand's fourth in a decade, underscored his presence among the greats of the game. He has not only won the title in three formats — 128-player knockout in 2000, eight-player league in 2007, a 12-game match against Kramnik in 2008 — but also defended the title gallantly after losing the opener. The match brought out Anand's grit, hunger and tremendous focus in the face of some very stiff challenge.
Topalov was not disgraced following the loss. In fact, he gained new admirers for exhibiting the rare quality of making things happen on the board, instead of waiting for them to happen. On many occasions, his counter-attack proved the strongest form of defence. It was clear that he was not afraid to lose and played very positively, in keeping with his reputation.
Anand, known to be more solid in his approach than his rival, defended astutely, particularly in the second half. In the final game, Anand avoided a draw by repetition of moves before Topalov collapsed. The game showed Anand's positive intent that he wanted to seal the match in the classical time format, rather than take his rival into the four rapid tiebreak games and then prove superior. Psychologically, Anand had pushed Topalov into a desperate situation on the eve of the final game. Topalov, playing the final game with white pieces, was tempted to take the risks in order to avoid the rapid games. As Topalov later revealed, "I had to take a chance to avoid tie-break games. I did not want it. The games of speed chess are not my speciality." He could not be blamed since he has just one victory in around a dozen decisive battles against Anand in rapid games.
The triumph over Topalov also helped Anand touch the magic rating of 2800 again and become second to Norway's teenager Magnus Carlsen in the world-ranking list. In fact, two years from now, when Anand will defend the World title, Carlsen is being seen as the champion's next challenger.
CRICKET / ICC WORLD TWENTY20 FINAL
England's moment of glory
| It was a heady victory for England. The side had delivered as a unit. There were some brilliant individual performances but England pulled together as a strong and resilient team, writes S. Dinakar. |
Craig Kieswetter's knock sealed the fate of Australia in the final.
Making light of pre-match predictions, England was a runaway winner by seven wickets. As many as 18 deliveries remained in the contest when the side romped home in the third edition of ICC World Twenty20.
Chasing 148 after its bowlers had done a magnificent job, England was rarely stretched as it dismantled the Aussie bowling.
Opener Craig Kieswetter charged the bowlers with lovely footwork and struck the ball with power and conviction. His 49-ball 63 was a hugely influential effort after the early dismissal of his partner Michael Lumb.
Kevin Pietersen walked in at No. 3 and soon imposed himself on the contest. Pietersen's presence seemed to inspire Kieswetter at the other end. England was up and running in a Cup final.
Pietersen, 47 off 31 balls, delighted. His slick footwork was followed by strokes of rare authority. The gifted right-hander makes his runs in a hurry; he is also elegant.
His front-footed six over long-off of paceman Shaun Tait was a jaw-dropping stroke. He met the Aussie fire with aggression. Shaun Tait & Co. were pegged back. From a psychological perspective, this was the decisive phase of the contest.
"He (Pietersen) is a match-winner. He is one of the guys who can take the game away from us," admitted Aussie skipper Michael Clarke.
The faster the hostile trio of Dirk Nannes, Tait and Mitchell Johnson bowled on a lively pitch at the Kensington Oval, the quicker the ball disappeared off the willows of Pietersen and Kieswetter.
The English duo was fearless. The two coped with the short-pitched fliers well and when the Aussie pacemen were forced to bowl a fuller length, they were pounded by Kieswetter and Pietersen.
Kieswetter was adjudged Man of the Final and Pietersen, Player of the Series. Both deserved the honour.
Ryan Sidebottom…England's bowling star.
"Both batted brilliantly. They were in control," said Collingwood. Pietersen and Kieswetter fell close to the finishing line but Collingwood and Eoin Morgan closed out the contest for England.
This was a match where Australia seemed a touch flat. Perhaps, the mentally draining win over Pakistan in the semifinal had taken too much out of the team.
England made all the right moves. Collingwood elected to field; the move reflected the skipper's confidence in his pacemen. Collingwood would also have been conscious of the depth in the Aussie line-up and the side's believe-it-or-not pursuit against Pakistan.
The English pacemen impressed. Ryan Sidebottom prised out the in-form Shane Watson with a lifting short pitched delivery that angled away from the Aussie. Watson, slashed, edged and was soon walking back.
Sidebottom has bowled with verve in the competition. He has moved the ball both ways from over-the-wicket and surprised the batsmen with bounce. He has also varied his pace and length intelligently.
Before long Australia was eight for three. Its powerful top-order had come unstuck against some pressure-creating bowling from England.
Skipper Clarke battled but he was done in by off-spinner Graeme Swann's flight and dip. Swann bowled beautifully, varying his trajectory and harnessing the angles.
David Hussey applied himself in an adverse situation to come up with a 54-ball 59. And Cameron White powered his way to a 19-ball 30. He was severe on left-arm spinner Michael Yardy.
Australia recovered but England still had the match in its grasp. As Clarke admitted, Australia was around 30 runs short.
It was a heady victory for England. The side had delivered as a unit. There were some brilliant individual performances but England pulled together as a strong and resilient team.
Collingwood and his men celebrated the rare triumph before jubilant English supporters. The scenes of joy in the English camp reflected the value of the conquest in the Caribbean.
THE SCORES
Australia innings: Shane Watson c Swann b Sidebottom 2; David Warner (run out) 2; Michael Clarke c Collingwood b Swann 27; Brad Haddin c Kieswetter b Sidebottom 1; David Hussey (run out) 59; Cameron White c Broad b Wright 30; Michael Hussey (not out) 17; Steven Smith (not out) 1; Extras (b1, lb2, w4, nb1) 8; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs) 147.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-7, 3-8, 4-45, 5-95, 6-142.
England bowling: Ryan Sidebottom 4-0-26-2; Tim Bresnan 4-0-35-0; Stuart Broad 4-0-27-0; Graeme Swann 4-0-17-1; Michael Yardy 3-0-34-0; Luke Wright 1-0-5-1.
England innings: Michael Lumb c David Hussey b Tait 2; Craig Kieswetter b Johnson 63; Kevin Pietersen c Warner b Smith 47; Paul Collingwood (not out) 12; Eoin Morgan (not out) 15; Extras: (lb1, w8) 9; Total: (For three wkts. in 17 overs) 148.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-118, 3-121.
Australia bowling: Dirk Nannes 4-0-29-0; Shaun Tait 3-0-28-1; Mitchell Johnson 4-0-27-1; Steven Smith 3-0-21-1; Shane Watson 3-0-42-0.
CRICKET / T20 SEMIS/AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN
Hurricane Hussey
| This match between Australia and Pakistan will go down as a classic. It was a heart-stopping humdinger of several twists. Michael Hussey had the final say. The left-hander's 24-ball unbeaten 60 was as much about explosive strokeplay as placements, as much about aggression as a cool head, writes S. Dinakar. |
Michael Hussey seals it for Australia with a huge six.
The ICC World Twenty20 semifinal between Australia and Pakistan will go down as a classic. This was a heart-stopping humdinger of several twists. Hussey had the final say. The left-hander's 24-ball unbeaten 60 was as much about explosive strokeplay as placements, as much about aggression as a cool head.
Australia, pursuing a stiff 192 and losing wickets at regular intervals, seemed down for the count needing 34 runs from the last two overs with just three wickets remaining.
Hussey turned the contest on its head. He picked 16 runs off left-arm paceman Mohammed Aamer's penultimate over with deft flicks, pushes and jabs into the open spaces and hard running.
Hussey has this knack of gathering runs without the opposition realising it. A nick here, a cut there and soon the adversary is bleeding.
Australia, still, needed 18 from the final over. Then, Mitchell Johnson took a single off the first ball of the final over delivered by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. Hussey, then, cut loose. He struck cleanly, picking the offie from his off-stump, getting under the ball, and hitting long and hard on the on-side.
Three sixes and a four from Hussey's booming blade powered Australia to an astonishing win. The Aussies swarmed the ground in celebration. Hussey had done the impossible.
Shahid Afridi's decision to give the ball to Ajmal ahead of experienced paceman Abdul Razzaq had back-fired. Hussey's incredible display overshadowed a tremendous display by Pakistan; the side played with the fire and passion of old.
Pakistan was in control for most part of the game, but Australia clinched it. It was a tense contest. Australian captain Michael Clarke could not bear to watch the proceedings once Johnson took a single off the first delivery of the last over. He was in the dressing room when he heard a roar and realised it was a six. "Then I heard another roar and told myself 'what's going on?'" he revealed.
Said Hussey, "There were times when I felt it was not going to be our day. The ball kept lobbing over the fielders when we fielded and then we lost wickets."
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis was shell-shocked. "What can I say? It was unbelievable. We did everything right. It was an extraordinary innings," he said. Hussey, indeed, is Australia's great escape artist in the lower middle-order. When things go wrong, he assumes control.
Cameron White was another hero for Australia. The big-hitter has grown in confidence and it shows. White's attacking 43 and his crucial partnership with Hussey kept Australia in the frame.
Aamer, full of promise, struck telling blows at the start and Pakistan, momentum in its favour, seemed to be running away with it. Though the Australians lost wickets, they, crucially, did not fall behind too far in the run-rate.
Earlier, the Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, attacked the Australian quicks in a manner that was breathtaking. Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes faltered by going for pace and lift than bowling with greater control on a slow pitch.
Kamran and the left-handed Salman Butt put Pakistan on course with a breezy and sizable opening partnership. They drove, cut and pulled; the Pakistani supporters in the stands roared. It was inspired batsmanship.
The Aussie pace attack was taken to the cleaners and leg-spinner Steven Smith was not allowed to settle down. Kamran is an intrepid batsman with terrific hand-eye coordination. He picks the length early and strikes through the line. He was destructive with lofted shots that cleared the fence.
Australia came back in the middle overs by taking the pace off the ball, but Umar Akmal provided the thrust to the innings in the end overs.
The talented Umar creates room with deft footwork and wallops the ball with tremendous bat-speed. The young man does not fear reputations and dumps the ball to the far corners of the ground. The Aussies suffered.
"I thought we had conceded 15 runs too many," conceded Clarke.
Then, Hussey pulled off a miracle.
THE SCORES
Pakistan 191 for six in 20 overs (Kamran Akmal 50, Salman Butt 32, Umar Akmal 56 not out) lost to Australia 197 for seven in 19.5 overs (Brad Haddin 25, Cameron White 43, Michael Hussey 60 not out, Mohammad Aamer three for 35).
CRICKET / T20 SEMIS/ENGLAND V SRI LANKA
A well-knit England
| England's semifinal victory over Sri Lanka in St. Lucia was set up by a set of bowlers with contrasting styles who adapted well to the conditions. By S. Dinakar. |
Kevin Pietersen held centre-stage with a stroke-filled unbeaten 26-ball 42.
This England team means business. It has firepower in batting, has a varied attack and is sharp on the field. Importantly, the side does not carry baggage; everybody contributes.
England's semifinal victory over Sri Lanka in St. Lucia was set up by a set of bowlers with contrasting styles who adapted well to the conditions. The side is growing in belief.
The Sri Lankan batsmen succumbed to the pressure built up by the English bowlers and the fielders. A total of 128 was never going to be enough.
Fittingly, Stuart Broad was adjudged Man of the Match. The right-arm paceman nailed the in-form Mahela Jayawardene early on with a wicked, lifting delivery around the off-stump. Jayawardene nicked and the English celebrations reflected the importance of the strike.
Indeed, England was on the ball as it breezed past Sri Lanka by seven wickets with four overs to spare. It was an emphatic win.
Openers Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter, an attacking duo, powered the side to a rollicking start. Then Kevin Pietersen held centre-stage with a stroke-filled unbeaten 26-ball 42. An effortless flicked six off paceman Lasith Malinga underlined his brilliance.
Kieswetter waded into the Sri Lankan attack. He was light on his feet — he charged the Sri Lankan spinners — and struck the ball with precision and power. At no stage was Sri Lanka able to build any kind of stress. This was a very different England.
The Sri Lankan spinners Ajantha Mendis and Suraj Randiv were dismissed ruthlessly. The English ploy to disrupt their line with aggression worked. England had a clear game plan.
Slinger Lasith Malinga ended Kieswetter's blitzkrieg with a trademark yorker and Lumb perished attempting to clip paceman Thissara Perera but there was no stopping England.
Pietersen made batting appear easy. A natural, galloping on his skills, he waltzed down the track for telling strikes. With each blow, the match got further away from Sri Lanka. Rather, England moved closer to victory.
Earlier, a combative 45-ball 58 from all-rounder Angelo Matthews took the Sri Lankans past the 125-run mark. A heavy hitter, Matthews can also apply himself. And he often revels in pressure situations.
He put on 46 crucial runs for the fifth wicket partnership with Chamara Kapugedera. Matthews thwacked off-spinner Graeme Swann over mid-wicket for a six and slice-drove paceman Stuart Broad past the point fence. Yet, Sri Lanka needed more after the top and middle order had capitulated.
There was a cloud cover for the English pacemen to exploit after Sri Lanka elected to bat. England never looked back.
Left-arm paceman Ryan Sidebottom landed the ball in the right areas. He can move the ball both ways from over-the-wicket putting the seeds of doubts in the minds of the batsmen.
It had drizzled in the morning. Consequently, the pitch provided spongy bounce to the pacemen. The lanky Broad was not complaining,
Soon, Sri Lanka was 26 for three in the fifth over. England, by now, was eyeing a place in the final. Spinners, offie Graeme Swann and left-armer Michael Yardy, bowled in tandem to choke the flow of runs.
Swann's flight, dip and deception accounted for Sangakkara. Sangakkara fell for the bait when lured out by off-spinner. Sri Lanka was reeling at 49 for four and England was full of beans.
Yardy, a handy bowler in this variety, gave little away. His quicker flatter deliveries do not allow the batsmen to get under the ball for the big hits.
On a pitch that should have ideally suited Sril Lanka, England was a runaway winner.
THE SCORES
Sri Lanka 128 for six in 20 overs (A. D. Mathews 58) lost to England 132 for three in 16 overs (C. Kieswetter 39, M. J. Lumb 33, K. P. Pietersen 42 not out).
CRICKET / FOCUS/INDIA AT BARBADOS
Falling short!
| The technical chinks in the methods of the Indian batsmen while coping with fliers on the juicy Kensington Oval pitch in Barbados were all too obvious. The batsmen were getting squared up and, worse, were not keeping their eye on the ball, writes S. Dinakar. |
If a team loses all its six Super Eight matches in successive editions of a world event then factors such as luck do not come into the picture. Simply put, India was not good enough. It boils down to ability. Once again, the Indian batsmen were undone by well-directed short-pitched bowling. Team after team has successfully targetted the Indian batsmen with lifting deliveries. Unless some of the young Indian batsmen learn to cope with short-pitched bowling from the quicks, the side will continue to disappoint.
There was juice in the Kensington Oval pitch and the Indian batting came apart. There was no fight, no character. To make matters worse, this Indian team lacked fire and passion in the arena. The fielding was slack and the bowling was rarely able to build pressure. Runs were given away too easily, often in crunch situations. Not everyone receives an opportunity to represent the country and those who get the honour of doing so must comprehend the responsibilities that come with it.
After the triumph in the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa (2007), India has fallen away in the ICC global competitions. The side has failed to make the semifinals of the next three ICC events — the World Twenty20 in England, the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the recently concluded event in the Caribbean.
There were statements attributed to coach Gary Kirsten questioning the commitment and fitness levels of a few Indian cricketers. However, these words, emanating from undisclosed sources, could not be verified. If, indeed, Kirsten had lost his cool following the Indian debacle, then his response had come too late in the day, He was the popular coach who had given the younger cricketers too much freedom and leeway.
He could have cracked the whip in England last year when the Indian batsmen were found out by searing short-pitched deliveries from the West Indian and the English quicks, Instead, he did not insist on a single mandatory practice session; even ahead of the perform or perish Super Eight duel against England.
Had he been strong and assertive then, India could have got its act together in the next edition of the event; in the Caribbean. But then, he has this reputation of being the players' coach.
Greg Chappell, blunt and honest, spoke about the shortcomings of certain players on the critical issues of technique, fitness, and attitude. The well-meaning man was shunted out. Kirsten, taking the other route, has not produced results, at least in the abbreviated forms of the game.
Once again, the Indian Premier League is at the heart of debates on India's failure. While some of the cricketers could have been jaded mentally coming into the competition in the Caribbean, IPL fatigue is largely a fringe issue.
Had the cricketers, indeed, been so tired they would not have defeated South Africa in the early league phase and then run a strong Sri Lankan side close in India's last Super Eight fixture. Interestingly, both these matches were played on the sluggish surface in St. Lucia.
A balanced and clear-headed analysis would reveal that this Indian team is dependent on pitches to produce results. To be fair, the side performed reasonably well in St. Lucia but seemed clueless on the pacey tracks of Barbados. Now, a side cannot appear spent in one venue and look a stronger force in another in a matter of days; it belies logic. If anything, India's victory over South Africa in St. Lucia was closer to the IPL.
Truth to tell, the nature of the pitch at the Kensington Oval was the hitch. Unless India addresses the core issue vis a vis short-pitched bowling, it will not progress as a cricketing force. As West Indian captain Chris Gayle said, "Every side wants to bowl the short-pitched deliveries at the Indian batsmen. We know they have a problem. It's for them to find a way out."
Sadly, we are sucked into peripheral issues ignoring the principal cause. Suresh Raina is a perfect case study in this regard. He was dominant in St. Lucia notching up a hundred against South Africa and a half-century at the expense of the Sri Lankan attack. Yet, the left-hander seemed consumed by self-doubts against the rising ball in Barbados. Raina was not fresh at one venue and tired at another. It boiled down to ability and technique.
The technical chinks in the methods of the Indian batsmen while coping with fliers were all too obvious. The batsmen were getting squared up and, worse, were not keeping their eye on the ball. Playing the hook and the pull shot is a lot about precise back-footed play and balance. The Indian batsmen, desperately, launched pulls when they were in no position to play the stroke.
And their vulnerability against the short ball affected other aspects of their batting. Their footwork in a mess, the Indian batsmen also succumbed to the fuller length balls.
"I think that most of us ... we have that problem ... you can't really neglect it," admitted skipper Dhoni. "We come from a place where you don't have bowlers who are bowling at 145-150 plus (kmph) and you don't have wickets that bounce a lot. We are good players of spin bowling and that's our strength," he said.
Dhoni was brutally honest on a key issue. He was also spot on when he said players should take care of their body and not go partying after a night game.
Dhoni's stubborn tactics hurt the side too. The skipper's decision not to include a third paceman at the pacey Kensington Oval affected India's chances; he retained left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who was down on confidence. Despite playing only two pacemen, he elected to chase against Australia and the West Indies in Barbados. When given a chance against Sri Lanka in St. Lucia, R. Vinay Kumar, ignored in the earlier games, bowled with heart and craft.
Given a lifeline after Australia crushed Sri Lanka, India got the pacing of its innings wrong at St. Lucia. Needing to beat Sri Lanka by at least 20 runs to keep its hopes alive, India galloped to 90 for one in 10 overs yet made just 73 in the next 10. Sri Lanka, eventually, nailed a thriller off the last ball.
Little went right for India. Time is ripe for some hard decisions.
CRICKET / TOUR DIARY
Sobers radiates grace & charm
| Hundreds of Indian fans, most of them from the U.S., who had descended on St. Lucia to root for India are disappointed. By S. Dinakar. |
Gary Sobers...the pride of Barbados.
He looks at yours truly and then adds, "I have to get there quickly. The television people will be waiting for me." The legend still radiates grace and charm. I extend my hand. His handshake is firm. "It is a privilege and an honour to meet you Mr. Sobers," I say. Sir Garfield Sobers looks into my eye and then nods.
The finest all-rounder the game has seen — some say he is the greatest cricketer ever — has a wonderfully spontaneous smile. The lift takes time to arrive. I have a few precious moments to put across a question. "Your pick for the final, Mr. Sobers," I ask. "I think Australia has the edge," he replies. Then, he remembers visiting Chennai and adds, "that was a long time ago."
Soon the lift arrives. Former pace ace Ian Bishop joins us at the first floor. Moments later, he and Sir Gary are discussing golf.
Sir Gary rarely gives interviews these days — perhaps he is a touch tired of recalling glorious days from the past — yet the precious few moments spent with him had made my day; even before the first ball had been delivered in the final.
Sir Gary's destination is the fourth floor and I travel all the way up to extend my tryst with greatness and then come down to the second where the press box is located.
The final, contrary to expectations is one-sided. An inspired England dominates Australia. The English supporters with the Union Jack sing and dance. The vocal Aussie fans are silent for a change.
I was in Barbados after a stressful four-hour journey by air that took me, from St. Lucia to Antigua, then Dominica before finally arriving in the Bajan country. I had reached but my baggage was missing.
With most flights heading to Barbados for the ICC World Twenty20 final, the light propeller aircrafts that connect the different countries in the Caribbean are short of adequate space for both the passengers and the luggage.
I have company. Former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja's baggage had not reached as well. Giving Rameez company is former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar.
Says Manjrekar, "My baggage has reached but some of my things are with Rameez and some of his stuff are with me." Hurray for the India-Pakistan unity! I get my suitcase the next morning, so does Rameez.
In St. Lucia earlier, former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri was fuming when his baggage — this time we were travelling from Barbados to St. Lucia — could not be spotted by him.
His plans of a stint at the inviting beach on an off-day seemed to be dashed. Shastri, however, did not give up. He soon rushed to a shopping mall to buy a new set of clothes including swimming trunks.
The Indian team, meanwhile, crashes out of the event. Hundreds of Indian fans, most of them from the US, who had descended on St. Lucia to root for India are disappointed.
"What saddens me is that the team did not display any fight," says Ravi, a software engineer from Miami.
The fans flock the busy yet serene Rodney Bay. Here music fills the air in the evenings and ambience is one of joy and celebration.
The Indian restaurant here is a huge draw for those from the sub-continent. I come across Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Aamer. Earlier in the day, Pakistan had gone down in a titanic duel against Australia. Kamran accepts the result in a philosophical way. "We fought hard as a team. That is important," he says. Sadly, the Indians did not display the same intensity and spirit.
ON THE BALL / W.V. RAMAN COLUMN
Team India thoroughly exposed
| The inability to play the short stuff was once again the undoing of the Indian batsmen and more than the lack of skills, it was a case of lack of temperament that showed the Indian batsmen in poor light. |
While the decision with regard to Modi's position has not yet been made, Dhoni's position as the Indian skipper is under scrutiny after the debacle in the Caribbean islands. The washout in the super eight stage was unexpected given that almost everyone in the Indian cricketing fraternity was thought of as a T-20 specialist post IPL III.
However, the huge difference in terms of pressure and the quality between the IPL and international cricket was highlighted by the results of the recently concluded T-20 WC.
Dhoni was left to fume initially and then was forced to defend his team as Team India's lacklustre performance was heavily criticised from all quarters.
Dhoni's composure seems to have deserted him in the wake of extreme criticism and in a way he cannot be singled out as sometimes a captain is only as good as his team.
The batting failures cannot be attributed to poor tactics from Dhoni and it is indeed baffling as to how the same mistakes are being made. An even more inexplicable fact is the tolerance shown by the selection committee to some players who have not shown any signs of improving either their fitness levels or their technical skills.
The inability to play the short stuff was once again the undoing of the Indian batsmen and more than the lack of skills, it was a case of lack of temperament that showed the Indian batsmen in poor light.
The Indians were found wanting in their quest to attack the Aussie quicks but it was obvious that they lost their way mentally in tackling the situations. One can understand the likes of Yusuf Pathan and Jadeja moaning about the fact that they are not natural players of the pull shot but there is no way the top-order batsmen can resort to such feeble excuses.
The game against Australia could have been won had the top order shown some patience. It is rather strange to see the Indian batsmen looking to play aggressive shots off the backfoot when they are very well aware that it is not their forte.
Besides, the running between the wickets seemed lethargic and there is no way any current cricketer can get away for his lack of effort. If the fitness level of some players was suspect, I am sure the coach of the Indian team has seen enough in his cricketing career to resort to prevention rather than crying over spilt milk. It is alright for the followers of the game to react based on the results but as the coach of the Indian team, one needs to be proactive.
The fetish to rely on the past reputation of some players is still dogging Indian cricket and unfortunately the players who are sitting out in the reserves will be the ones to be omitted when the team does badly.
The Indian team did not look hungry enough and even worse are the reasons that are coming from the team management. There is no way the backlash of some late nights a few weeks earlier will affect the performances of players and if it were to be the case, it should have affected the performances of some in the other teams as well.
The IPL has probably made some players appear more than what they actually are and now it is obvious that some of the players have a long way to go before they can belong in the international arena.
The recent events have exposed the negative side of IPL and it is time that the extraordinary frills are clipped and the players are made to realise that strutting around based on some success during the IPL is not the be all and end all of cricket.
They need to understand that it is about doing well for the country and not being satisfied with superficial fame. In order for them to value international cricket and their places in the Indian team, the selectors need to make the youngsters really sweat to get a berth in the National side.
Talking of that, the side announced to tour Zimbabwe features Suresh Raina as captain. Imagine a guy leading India when he hardly has any experience of leading a team!
Of course, the argument can be that he is an established member in the side but how does one explain the elevation of Virat Kohli as vice-captain? These are the kind of decisions that make the youngsters think lightly of an Indian cap and hence the selection committee should not give away things easily.
COLUMN / LONDON CALLING
The joy of watching KP bat
| Twenty20 is the Marmite of the sporting world. You either love or hate it. Besides it marks down your place in society. By Ted Corbett. |
I loved his innings. I have not watched much of the World T20 but my partner Jo King has seen every ball while from time to time I have appeared at the door to ask: "Is KP batting yet?"
Once I got a yes I was happy to join her on the settee, knowing that now he has found his touch once again, there will be excitement, sensation even, so long as he is at the crease. You cannot say that about every T20 event.
Twenty20 is the Marmite of the sporting world. You either love or hate it. Besides it marks down your place in society.
"Sorry, your Majesty, I can't be at the Palace tonight because it clashes with the IPL semi-finals," is not a short cut to a knighthood. You might just land in the Tower.
If instead you rant for half an hour at a posh dinner in Knightsbridge about the beauty of Graeme Swann's latest maiden over in the third Test on a flat pitch against Bangladesh you ought to have no trouble in getting MCC membership although there will be a 20-year wait.
I know that several million Indian spectators — plus a billion viewers or so — cannot be wrong but after watching one of the IPL games recently I was so bored I almost went into the kitchen in the hope of finding some pots and pans to put in the dishwasher.
It's much the same with the T-20 World Cup.
Begging the pardon of all those in Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai who find the lure of T20 irresistible, it is mind-numbingly boring. And so predictable. A rush for runs in the first six overs, steady-as-she-goes in overs seven to 12 and a ferocious assault over after over until the end.
Result: 185 for seven. Who would be a bowler in T20?
England's new off-spinner Graeme Swann, already the greatest recent exponent of the purest form of the art as practised by Jim Laker, Fred Titmus and John Emburey in what I am tempted to call the good old days, clearly loves T20 and succeeds with it.
So South Africa's Charl Langeveldt, the slowest new ball bowler of the century, who proves repeatedly the dictum laid down by the late Alec Bedser that "you don't have to run 30 yards like a lunatic and fling the ball down the pitch at 100 miles an hour to take wickets" is another ready to pit his wits against any batsman.
As for the rest, I get the feeling they bowl more in hope than expectation. They rely too often on the brilliance of the fielders to snare their victims and I have to concede that in an era when catching went into a new dimension in one-day cricket, it has exceeded all previous levels now.
That makes it a shame that MCC has taken a step backward by ruling out those astonishing moments on the boundary edge; when fielders knock the ball back into the playing area to complete the catch.
The committee men of that august body cannot all by befuddled by overdoses of gin and tonic. I know some of them and they are quite shrewd characters. So why spoil the rare sight of an acrobatic catch? They have taken something spectacular from a game that, in its present dire circumstances, needs all the standing ovations it can get.
India have been a disappointment. Perhaps they are like England's footballers who put so much into their Premiership performances that they have little left for international matches. Thus IPL has not been a benefit. Unless, let me insist, you have Kevin Pietersen in your ranks. That is why I wish all the best to him and his wife and the new baby.
You will see Stuart Broad's sister Gemma occasionally on television shots because she is the England team analyst, sitting at a computer keyboard working out which player does what.
She will hope that she never has to tell the coach Andy Flower: "Look these stats show that Broad never bowls well to left-handed batsmen between overs four and 16 from round the wicket on a Wednesday when there is an ' r' in the month."
She looks such a cool cat that I bet she would not hesitate if she thought it was necessary.
FOOTBALL / EUROPEAN LEAGUES
Barca sees off Real
| Real Madrid accumulated a record 96 points this La Liga season, but still fell short of Lionel Messi and Barcelona's goal rout. |
Seldom have two sides dominated a league in such a brazen manner. In the traditionally two-horse Scottish Premier League, where Rangers and Celtic ride roughshod over everyone else almost as a rule (only once in the last decade has an Old Firm club finished outside the top two) the season ended with an 18-point gap between Celtic in second and Dundee United in third. The La Liga season ended with Real and third-placed Valencia separated by a whopping 25 points.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola praised Real Madrid's efforts, and said that the two teams had pushed each other to new heights.
"Without a Madrid so good we would not have gotten 99 points and without a strong Barca, Real Madrid would not have had so many points," he said. "They have plenty of money and are able to make great squads but will again be our biggest rivals next year."
Coming so close to the title with an unprecedented points tally isn't likely to satisfy Florentino Perez, Real's president, a man with a pathological desire for world domination.
The top two's results also had a bearing on the relegation battle. The point gained from the draw against Real took Malaga to 37 points, to finish a point and one place above the drop zone, containing Tenerife, Valladolid (both finished on 36 points) and Xerez (33).
Inter claims fifth successive Serie A crown
Inter Milan became the first team since Juventus (in 1934-35) to win five successive Serie A titles, ensuring it stayed two points clear of Roma with a 1-0 win over Siena. The win also secured a league and Coppa Italia double for Inter, which will vie for a treble (without precedent in either league) on May 22 with Bundesliga and German Cup champion Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.
Club top-scorer Diego Milito secured the win in the 57th minute with his 22nd league goal of the season, slotting calmly into the far corner after fellow Argentine Javier Zanetti, who wove a mazy path through the Siena defence, cutting in from the left flank, slipped him through on goal. Coach Jose Mourinho, who has won two Portuguese Leagues with Porto, two English Premier Leagues with Chelsea and, with this win, two Scudettos, said this was the toughest league win in his career.
Roma, which pushed Inter all the way to the final day, ended its season with a 2-0 win at Chievo, Mirko Vucinic and Daniele de Rossi the scorers. Coach Claudio Ranieri praised his players for recovering from an early-season slump that saw Roma in 14th place after 11 games.
"I have to compliment my players," he said. "I remembered the pressure and the fears in my first few days at Roma. But my players have brought this Serie A to life and people have watched us with sympathy. We have lost points along the way but we have won many games coming from behind. My players have been exceptional."
KICKING AROUND / BRIAN GLANVILLE COLUMN
Defensive worries
| Looking back over the World Cup years, there have been some unusual and unexpected twists in the story of England's centre backs; or centre-halves. The story looks fairly similar this time too. |
In Carragher's casé, absence from the international team was voluntary. The consequence of his ham fisted treatment by the disastrous England manager, Steve McClaren. True, McClaren this season has emphatically arisen from the tomb. No longer the so called 'Wally With The Brolly', the cruel nickname bestowed on him when he watched England's dismal defeat at Wembley by Croatia from under an umbrella, he has just won the Dutch championship with Twente Enschede, and, is in high European demand.
Carragher was sick and tired of being constantly dropped and recalled to the team; and when he was picked, being absurdly obliged to play out of position, a natural right footer, at left back, in Israel. A fringe player under Sven Goran Eriksson in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where, by his own admission, he accumulated quantities of official, discarded gear for the benefit of his own family members who were present.
Carragher hasn't had an entirely good season with his club. But in recent weeks, his form had markedly improved. He is mobile, intelligent, highly committed. At 32 he is arguably past his peak, not so fast, inevitably, as he was. But he is surely a far better bet than Matthew Upson, now with West Ham, who has never truly looked international class to me, when picked for his country, and he has hardly been a rock with Hammers this season.
Ledley King? Another veteran. No doubt about his power and dominant ability. But though, at the end of this season, he managed, against all the odds, to play three full games in a week, the intense demands of a World Cup could surely prove too much for him and those knees. And why, at this late stage, should Fabio Capello feel the need to call up these two? First, no doubt, because an obvious first choice in Manchester United's elegant and mobile Rio Ferdinand has been in and out of football all season with his injuries.
Then there's the case of John Terry. Seriously disgraced after his affair with the ex-girlfriend of his former Chelsea colleague, Wayne Bridge. Foiled in a deplorable bid to gag the Press. Rocky in form as an evident consequence. Capable of giving away two bad goals, when Chelsea lost at Everton. So lucky not to be sent off for a shocking foul on Aston Villa's James Milner, in the FA Cup semi-finals, at Wembley. Plainly slower, as the consequences of his own injuries. Even as long as four years ago, he made a shocking error in the World Cup finals against Paraguay, Ashley Cole coming gallantly to the rescue.
He can still be a dominating player; but will he, would he, be, in South Africa? The England captaincy meanwhile has been taken away from him.
Looking back over the World Cup years, there have been some unusual and unexpected twists in the story of England's centre backs; or centre-halves. It was long ago, in 1925, that the stopper centre half, alias the third back, was invented by Arsenal. Specifically by that famous inside right and future leading journalist, Charlie Buchan who'd just returned to the club, newly managed by the renowned Herbert Chapman. Returned, because he had left them before World War I, when still an amateur, over the trivial matter of 11 shillings' expenses owed to him. Destined to become a major star in the North East, with Sunderland.
Prior to 1925 and the sudden radical change in the offside law, the centre half had been so much more than a mere stopper. He was indeed the pivot, the fulcrum, of his team, an attacker as well as a defender. The Gunners had just been thrashed 7-0 at Newcastle, where the late Charlie Spencer, their centre half, once assured me that he himself had played as the first all defensive centre backs or stoppers. So Chapman withdrew a reluctant centre half for the accomplished Jack Butler to play as the third back, marking the opposing centre forward, and the new strategy was born, soon to be taken up by every major English club.
Not, however, on the Continent and South America, where the centre half remained a mobile and versatile figure. All three World Cups before World War II and the 1950 World Cup, into the bargain, were won by teams playing with an old school centre half.
By contrast with today's formations, where a double centre back defence is almost mandatory, even after the Brazilians had revolutionised defensive football in the 1958 World Cup with four men in line at the back, there was a differentiation between the two in the four man middle. One, such as Brazil's Bellini, was an orthodox stopper. Beside him usually to his left played what was essentially a defensive left half in Orlando. As indeed, was Bobby Moore, World Cup player of the year in 1966, when England won the trophy. Moore, at West Ham, had tried and failed as an orthodox centre half, never being strong enough in the air and when Alf Ramsey used him in that role against West Germany at Wembley in a 1972 Nations Cup quarter-finals, he floundered.
It was in 1954 that Billy Wright, only 5 foot 8, took over at centre half in the Swiss World Cup to solve England's problems for years to come. Today, their problem is one of age and injury. Could Carragher and King be the Kate, surprising answer?
WORLD CUP SPECIAL-1 / HOW THE TEAMS QUALIFIED
Surprises and shocks galore
| A record 204 nations out of the 208 member-countries of FIFA went through the rigorous qualification process. While it was quite easy for some, many others had to huff and puff their way to South Africa. S. R. Suryanarayan reviews the qualifying rounds. |
A record 204 nations out of the 208 member-countries of FIFA — the previous best was 199 in 2002 — went through the qualification process. Except for South Africa, which qualified automatically for the Finals as the host, the rest of the nations fought for the 31 slots (13 in Europe, five in Africa, 4 or 5 in South America, 4 or 5 in Asia, 3 or 4 in North Central America and Caribbean and 0 or 1 for Oceania).
Following the preliminary competitions spread over two years that threw up surprises and shocks galore, Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria (Africa Zone), Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic (Asia), Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland (Europe), Honduras, Mexico, USA (North Central America/Caribbean), New Zealand (Oceania), Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (South America) booked their tickets to South Africa. However, success did not come easily for the teams.
Take Africa for instance. An ever mysterious continent in terms of abounding football talent — something that has delighted the experts around the world — the African players figure virtually in every major club around the world. So surprises aren't new in this land. In fact the qualifiers produced a lot of drama, passion and excitement. After two rigorous rounds involving 53 teams, 20 sides comprising 12 group winners and eight best runners-up moved into the final round from where five qualifiers from Africa were spotted.
Of the five qualifiers, Algeria's passage to the Finals in South Africa was the talking point for long — it went through following a dramatic twist in the play-off against Egypt.
From the start both Algeria and Egypt had looked well balanced. But in the final group league match between the two in Cairo, Egypt won 2-0. This necessitated a play-off between Algeria and Egypt, who were equal on all counts including goal-difference, to determine the last berth from the African zone. It was substitute Emad Meteab's fifth minute stoppage goal that put Egypt on level with Algeria on goal-difference.
In the play-off — it was held at a neutral venue in Khartoum (Sudan) following violent incidents involving fans of both teams in Cairo — Antar Yahia's brilliant volley from a close angle, a little before half-time, enabled Algeria post a 1-0 victory and qualify for the Finals in South Africa.
Cote d'Ivoire had an impressive run. With talented players such as Didier Drogba in its ranks, the team had little worries. Drogba, indeed, proved to be Cote d'Ivoire's saviour. With the team requiring a draw against Malawi to qualify for the World Cup and trailing by a goal, Drogba ensured his team's place in South Africa by scoring the equaliser.
Cameroon's story was different. Listless in the beginning, the team replaced its coach Otto Pfister with Frenchman Paul LeGuen. The new coach not only made changes to the team but also appointed Samuel Eto'o as the captain. The transformation in Cameroon's fortunes was instant. And four wins in a row later, Cameroon qualified for the Finals for the sixth time, a record in the African zone. Ghana was the first side to qualify from Africa without much hiccup, but Nigeria, playing against Mozambique in a crucial encounter, was only a minute away from elimination before substitute Obinna Nsofor came from nowhere to rescue his side. The Super Eagles never looked back thereafter.
In the Asian Zone, Bahrain could have been the fifth team to qualify, but its hopes were doused by the Oceania winner New Zealand in the play-off (as per the format). Surprises were few in the zone as Australia, Japan and Korea Republic made it to the Finals, but Saudi Arabia and Iran disappointed and Korea DPR seized the opportunity.
Australia (the only team from the Asian Zone to go into the second round in Germany 2006) was unbeaten in the qualifiers and had much to thank its goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who conceded just two goals in 13 appearances. In Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill the country had a duo that provided the spark in the attack.
For Japan, the Nakamuras — midfielder Kengo and playmaker Shensuke — stole the show. But to Okazaki goes the credit for scoring the winner against Uzbekistan. Park Ji-Sung was Korea Republic's spearhead as it booked its berth to South Africa. Two exciting talents Park Chu-Young and Lee Keun-Ho are the team's assets. A sense of purpose outlined Korea DPR's approach where captain Hong Yong-Jo and Jong Tae-Se were outstanding.
The South American qualifiers provided plenty of excitement. At one stage even Argentina's chances of qualifying for the World Cup were in doubt. But as champion teams do, Argentina pulled off a remarkable recovery to make it to the Finals.
The Confederation Cup champion, Brazil, sailed through thanks to Luis Fabiano and Kaka in the main. Ironically, Argentinean Marcelo Bielsa was the inspiration for the new Chile squad which, along with Paraguay, had won most matches in the zone.
Argentina, which began under coach Alfio Basile before Maradona took charge, had a nervy run. A 6-1 loss to Bolivia followed by a 3-1 defeat at home to Brazil did Maradona's cause no good. However, the team squeaked through, its escape acts in the succeeding matches reflecting what the team had lacked earlier — class. In the process, Uruguay was forced into a play-off with Costa Rica but survived with a win.
Europe produced some sensational moments. While the giants strode on, several other capable teams such as Turkey, Croatia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Poland (these teams in some edition or the other had been among the top four finishers), Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Romania bit the dust. Russia's exit was a big surprise and for Guus Hiddink, the coach with the Midas touch, a missed opportunity at managing four different teams in different World Cups. Finishing next to Germany in the Group, Russia went into the play-off as one of the best runner-up only to succumb to Slovenia, which had an impressive record of not conceding a single goal in the qualifying matches at home.
Ukraine's ouster too was unexpected — it was edged out by Greece in the play-off following Dimitrius Salpingidis' first-half goal. In the process one big name in the sport, Andriy Shevchenko, was denied his last World Cup hurrah.
Switzerland sprang a big surprise by topping its group and earning qualification. However, the front-runners like Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy grew stronger as the qualifiers progressed. So did England. Capello's boys with nine wins and one defeat were a revelation.
Portugal was another team which went through via the play-off after Denmark pipped it to the top spot in their group. Portugal's only loss in the group was against Denmark but without Cristiano Ronaldo's service, the team got past the brave Bosnia-Herzegovina in the double leg play-off.
The manner in which France booked its ticket to South Africa was shocking. Denied a direct slot by Serbia which topped its group, France, unbeaten in 11 competitive matches since then, faced Ireland in the play-off. Ireland too was on a dream run, remaining unbeaten in 12 matches. But as it happened, France scraped through with a draw at home for a 2-1 aggregate win. However, the blot on the equaliser by William Gallas that nullified Robbie Keane's goal remained long after the match was over. Thierry Henry who provided the pass for Gallas to score the goal had handled the ball while doing so. Henry admitted later that he had handled the ball, but FIFA ensured that the issue did not escalate by citing rules that put the onus on the referee. And the referee had not seen the French striker handle the ball in the first place.
Costa Rica was a strong contender from the CONCACAF region, particularly after its good initial showing. However, it failed to qualify by a whisker in the double leg play-off against Uruguay. The overall aggregate of 2-1 did not convey the passion with which 'Ticos' played in the make-or-break encounter. Experts believed they gave their all but Uruguay had the last laugh.
There was no stopping the U.S. and Mexico, thanks to the form and class shown by their players. Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley and the young Jozy Altidore stood out for the U.S. while Mexico owed a lot to its veteran C. Blanco. From Oceania, New Zealand made it only the way it could — through a play-off with the fifth team from the Asian Zone, Bahrain. Rory Fallow made New Zealand's dream come true in front of its cheering home crowd, scoring at the stroke of half-time to give his side the winning margin.
WORLD CUP SPECIAL-1 / FEATURE
Down memory lane
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