Italy

Luke’s World Cup: no wizards of Oz

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luke

The games have varied between tedious and intriguing, without so far being exactly enthralling. But that statement may depend on which games you’ve seen. I saw hardly any of Germany v Australia whereas Luke Harvey watched it all, and it inspired in him this eulogy to Teutonic efficiency …

The Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban is quite an impressive structure. Boasting a capacity of 70,000 during its use as a World Cup venue, every seat offers a perfect view to the ongoing match down below.

However, there will have been few better placed spectators during Germany’s 4-0 rout of Australia than the winning team’s goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer.

The German World Cup machine roared to life in indomitable fashion, and 24-year-old Neuer was very much an onlooker for the majority of the match.

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Can the World Cup help Kick Out Racism?

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kickoutracism

Thanks to people of the calibre of Niall Quinn and Darren Bent, and many more than we could hope to mention, Sunderland AFC have played a commendable role, through such campaigns as Show Racism the Red Card, in combating racial prejudice and discrimination in football. The opening of the World Cup in South Africa – sadly, after all, in Nelson Mandela’s absence following the death of his 13-year-old great granddaughter in an accident after last night’s concert – sends out a powerful message of its own today. But with thanks to Jeremy Robson, whose exchanges with me here a week ago inspired these thoughts in today’s edition of The National, Abu Dhabi, only so much progress has been made …


Image: from Frerieke‘s Flickr pages. The posting is repeated at my main Salut! site

After the French football team defeated the much-fancied Brazilians in the 1998 World Cup final, two snappy phrases became part of the legacy of a swashbuckling victory: un-deux-trois-zéro to describe the impressive scoreline and blanc-black-beur acclaiming the multiracial composition of the team.

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2006: Zidane a right nutter. World Cup Memories (12)

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zidane

That’s it, the end of a series Salut! Sunderland has been proud to present, Pete Sixsmith‘s magnificent memories of 11 World Cups. With more warning that Pete had such a great idea up his sleeve, it would been worth turning into a slim volume. He began with the 1966 tournament in which (West) Germany were beaten by England, and ends in (reunited) Germany where the final will forever be remembered for the final gesture of Zinedine Zidane’s career* (captured rather neatly in Mads Boedker’s photo). …

And so we reach the last of our reviews of past World Cups What I Can Remember, with a look at Germany four years ago. Another European tournament, another terrific set of stadiums and another one that pulled a nation together for four weeks through the magic of football.

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World Cup memories (10): around the world in 18 days

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reggae girlz


Not really a break for Pete Sixsmith, whose series of World Cup reminiscences resumes tomorrow. But I also have reason to remember France 98. It was the year I feared I’d be keeping my head down in street battles, but ended up travelling the world …

Imagine you’ve been told at work that you’re going on a month of night shifts, and suddenly you’re given a paid holiday instead. Or that instead of representing your company at a winter conference in Skegness, the location has been switched to the Seychelles.

That was a bit like my France 98. I spent the first four months of the year or more expecting The Daily Telegraph to send me to report on hooliganism, especially any outbreaks involving England fans, or more accurately violent English criminals drawn to the location of football games. It would be an understatement to say I was not looking forward to it.

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The World Cup: priceless memories as kickoff nears

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crab


The French ask earnest questions about the cost of their underperforming team’s luxury World Cup accommodation. Emile Heskey completes the double whammy: selected to compete at the highest level of a game he seldom plays, then crocks a key colleague in training. Paraguay carry Sunderland’s colours in Group F. And all the time Pete Sixsmith’s series of World Cup memories yields gems from the modern history of international football …


Photo courtesy of Elliott Brown


On a weekend free of competitive football, Salut! Sunderland had a quiet time, attracting a relatively short procession of readers.

Dash off a knockabout piece about Alan Hutton and Spurs and Tottenham supporters arrive in droves. Question an Arsenal player’s attachment to the Corinthian spirit and the hit count hits the roof.

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1990, Milla’s Tale and Gazza’s tears: World Cup memories (7)

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milla

Great World Cup, shame about the football. Those slightly contradictory statements sum up Pete Sixsmith‘s verdict on Italia 90. Other thoughts from 20 years ago – England Swings, or whoever wrote it should; a booked, weeping Paul Gascoigne and skybound England penalties. Pete’s priceless series marches on and we still have the United States, France, Japan/South Korea and Germany to visit …

This was the one!! Quite simply, Italia 90 was the best World Cup I can remember, even though some of the football was dismal. It had everything: fantastic stadiums, great drama, wonderful characters, and that sense of occasion that only Italians can bring to Calcio.

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1982 and a clogger called Gentile: World Cup memories (5)

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claudio

Pete Sixsmith gets to within three decades of the 2010 starting post, with thoughts on takeaway chickens, Bryan Robson getting England off to a great start they couldn’t quite sustain, a Kevin Keegan missed sitter, armies of bluebottles – and the dirtiest player he’s ever seeen …

Held in Sunny Spain with 24 participants which included England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the latter for the first time since 1958. And we almost had a Sunderland player to cheer on as Jimmy Nichol was in the Northern Ireland squad and he had just left Roker Park after a loan spell. Come on ‘yer man!!

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World Cup: Paraguay daft

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paraguay4


Paraguay grabbed morale-boosting 2-0 win against Greece in Switzerland last night, giving them heart for World Cup rigours awaiting them in South Africa. The result will have pleased quite a number of Sunderland fans, too …

To some, it’s just a spot of World Cup fun. Others are taking it a bit more seriously. And a few see it as an outrageous act of treason. But Salut! Sunderland makes no apology for declaring itself the unofficial site for Paraguay in the forthcoming World Cup.

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