KICK & CALCIO: Bit Of History Repeating

With 8 sides left, the real business is about to start. The football’s getting much sexier now, and if the knockout rounds of the world cup were women at a beauty pageant, the quarters have – in my opinion – often been in the running for Miss World. Let’s face it: bar a few exceptions the final is generally overrated stuff, usually tainted by tense and overcautious football, and accompanied by the nostalgic feeling that the whole month of ecstasy is at an end. The semis lie somewhere in between, with one of them sometimes being the real final (e.g. Germany – Spain at the last World Cup), and therefore being hot contenders at the beauty pageant too.

So it must be heady stuff finding your country in the last 8 of the world cup, even if it’s just to be part of a cracking quarter-final fixture. It’s the sort of game that makes a tragic like me wake up at two in the morning, regardless of my real world commitments. And it’s not like I’ve got anyone left to support in the quarters! Malta are best not mentioned, and Australia has never been happier about having lost three games on the trot. Italy and England fluffed their lines early, and better not mention Spain.

I simply can’t imagine what it must be like to watch a quarter final with your own country in it. A rush of blood to the head no doubt, which is why we’ve been hearing some off the wall comments this week that fall between the jingoistic and the downright barmy. First up is Colombia veteran Faustino Asprilla, with his stout claim that "Colombia can beat Brazil easily".

It’s not reading the ‘Colombia beating Brazil’ bit that made me splutter on my cornflakes, but the word ‘easily’, which stuck out like that Scottish supporter in the Uruguayan crowd when England were playing the Celeste. Anyone who claims that beating Brazil at their own patch comes ‘easily’ is surely recovering from a long night out on a proper British bender. Which is strange, because the little Colombian last played for Newcastle United sixteen years ago.

Then there’s drill sergeant and full time poker face Jorge Luis Pinto, Costa Rica’s gaffer. He who pulled off the world cup’s greatest miracle ever by getting whipping boys Costa Rica to top a group filled with three former world cup winners.

“we respect the Netherlands, just as we respect all our rivals, but the story goes on and we’re hungry for more”

Not one to muck around is he? And how about French starlet Paul Pogba’s wild claim that he is not afraid of the Germans: "No, I am not afraid. Why?"

Try explaining to him the difference between cowardice and a healthy dose of caution when facing a team brimming with frightening potential. Yet to do so is probably about as pointless as former German keeper Schumacher’s recent apology to the French people for all but killing Battiston in the ’82 world cup semi (I can’t believe he has the gall to even go there).

And finally, just to top it all off, is Belgian coach Marc Wilmots’ audacious claim that Argentina ‘lack balance’.

Don’t get me wrong, going into a challenge on the front foot is a great thing. But what does needlessly fanning the expectations of supporters really achieve? It’s like the England manager affirming that his side are in the tournament to win it, to then register surprise when 3 Lions fans immediately start beating their chest with wild claims of it being ‘their year’ (they promised they wouldn’t do that this year, but then went ahead and did it all over again).

I’m not trying to be cynical, really. No one loves an underdog more than I do. I’d love it if we had Colombia - France and Costa Rica – Belgium semis, and love it even more if a new country went on to win the world cup. But I’ve heard all this pre-match hype from pretenders all too many times before.

To my mind, the world cup has always been about the big four, and the rest. And by ‘big 4’ I do mean Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina (who else?!!!). Seeing them huffing and puffing in the early stages doesn’t mean a dried fig in my experience, because you never know where they’ll end up once they get through the group stage. And don’t talk to me about ‘golden generations’ and ‘special players’. Germany only had poor sides on offer between ’94 and 2006, and even then they managed to get their hands on silverware at Euro ’96 and progress to a world cup final in ‘02.

The big 4 share a winning tradition, regardless of the quality at their disposal. It’s why it’s so surprising whenever one of them crashes out, like Italy did this time around. Put simply, they are teams who field players that know how to win. This is an attribute of all great athletes, like tennis players who suddenly lift their game mid-way through a stiff encounter with a quality opponent. When the chips are down, these sides also just shift a gear and start driving faster. Much FASTER.

And the longer they last in the tournament, the stronger they get. The quality of their early displays matters not - just look at Germany and Argentina in Italia ’90, Brazil in ’94 and ’02, and Italy in ’94 and ‘06. Who cares if they start slowly, get through the group stage by the skin of their teeth, have a man sent off early in the game, are a goal down with a minute left on the clock, end up on penalties etc. Sometimes real quality needs a heap of acute pressure to shine through. And somehow, more often than not, they’ll wing it.

I’m hoping that some messianic figure like James Rodriguez makes me eat my words, I really do. But it takes something out of the ordinary for a new country to break the hegemony: usually a unique generation bursting with X factor, like Spain at the last world cup. However I’m struggling to see it happening this year, and I fear that in yet another tournament, the old Welsh crooner’s classic is going to ring true once more:

The word is about, there's something evolving,

whatever may come, the world keeps revolving

They say the next big thing is here,

that the revolution's near,

but to me it seems quite clear

that it's all just a little bit of history repeating

The newspapers shout a new style is growing,

but it don't know if it's coming or going,

there is fashion, there is fad

some is good, some is bad

and the joke is rather sad,

that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating