Let me say upfront that I tuned into the spectacular spectacle in snatches for its 'entertainment' value. For the tamaasha. Not for Canavarro's terrier like defence or Christiano Ronaldo's dodgy run bursts or Ghana's frustrating inability to convert a single of their attempts into a goal. I watched it more for the action on the sidelines and after the matches. I watched it mainly for the tears.
Tears blazed a trail in FIFA 2006. So if the archetype metro-sexual David Beckham looked like a spoilt little boy, sitting out crying midway through England's quarter-final match against Portugal, the new England captain John Terry's anguish at the end of the match that put them out of the tournament, threw up some of the nicest tears of the tournament. My pick for the Best Tears award, if there was some such thing. Don't take my word for it. Take a look.
The tears though I would have loved to see are Zinedine Zidane's. Our need for heroes - the need to anoint a first among equals - to find an icon to whom FIFA World Cup 2006 could forever be linked, saw the World Cup final between France and Italy get top billings more as Zidane's curtain call. Tears for the farewell party that was not to be.
Tears of joy. Interestingly even as it was clear that it was ok for the tough soccer pros to sob their hearts out in front of the whole world and that members of the 32 different national teams were clearly in touch with their feminine side, women were stepping on the testosterone levels. So a friend said with a degree of embarrassment and perhaps a greater degree of pride that her loud passionate fights during one of the match watching nights got a concerned visit from the building watchman and the query, 'Sab theek to hai na madam?'
Tears of joy for ESPN too. Out of the reckoning with hot 'India cricket in India' going to rivals Zee, Sahara and the public broadcaster, the channel clawed back into public consciousness. The affable Harsha Bhogle last seen in a big series in September 2005 during India's Tour of Zimbabwe, was boring but back.first published:July 11, 2006, 10:58 ISTlast updated:July 11, 2006, 10:58 IST
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Tears. All those who got hooked to ESPN's diet of not one but two top class football matches every night for over a month, I am sure are shedding fat copious tears. Bemoaning the end of their daily tryst with the beautiful game. And the loss of what had become a nocturnal ritual with other proud members of the 'I am so into soccer' club.
Let me say upfront that I tuned into the spectacular spectacle in snatches for its 'entertainment' value. For the tamaasha. Not for Canavarro's terrier like defence or Christiano Ronaldo's dodgy run bursts or Ghana's frustrating inability to convert a single of their attempts into a goal. I watched it more for the action on the sidelines and after the matches. I watched it mainly for the tears.
Tears blazed a trail in FIFA 2006. So if the archetype metro-sexual David Beckham looked like a spoilt little boy, sitting out crying midway through England's quarter-final match against Portugal, the new England captain John Terry's anguish at the end of the match that put them out of the tournament, threw up some of the nicest tears of the tournament. My pick for the Best Tears award, if there was some such thing. Don't take my word for it. Take a look.
The tears though I would have loved to see are Zinedine Zidane's. Our need for heroes - the need to anoint a first among equals - to find an icon to whom FIFA World Cup 2006 could forever be linked, saw the World Cup final between France and Italy get top billings more as Zidane's curtain call. Tears for the farewell party that was not to be.
Tears of joy. Interestingly even as it was clear that it was ok for the tough soccer pros to sob their hearts out in front of the whole world and that members of the 32 different national teams were clearly in touch with their feminine side, women were stepping on the testosterone levels. So a friend said with a degree of embarrassment and perhaps a greater degree of pride that her loud passionate fights during one of the match watching nights got a concerned visit from the building watchman and the query, 'Sab theek to hai na madam?'
Tears of joy for ESPN too. Out of the reckoning with hot 'India cricket in India' going to rivals Zee, Sahara and the public broadcaster, the channel clawed back into public consciousness. The affable Harsha Bhogle last seen in a big series in September 2005 during India's Tour of Zimbabwe, was boring but back.
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