John Doyle | The World is a Ball

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, July 5

A lot of people, not just the Dutch, are hoping for a Netherlands-against-Germany World Cup Final. The Dutch want revenge for the disaster of the World Cup Final in 1974, not to mention the Second World War. In 1974 the Dutch team, widely considered the best in the world for flair and daring tactics, lost 1-2 to West Germany. In the world’s memory (it helped that it was the first TV World Cup shown in colour for many people), the Dutch were sublime, robbed of a glorious victory for entertaining soccer, and the Germans were hatefully dreary. Continue reading

In the pause between the Round of 16 and the Quarter-Finals, the truly official, FIFA-approved official World Cup 2010 song. Shakira.

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, Jun. 28, 2010

Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, is one of the most powerful men in the world. He’s kind of like the Pope. As the Pope is to Roman Catholicism, Blatter is to soccer. He’s the boss. Unlike the Pope, though, Blatter is not believed to be infallible by everyone who follows soccer.

Mind you, there’s another connection between Blatter and the Pope. Blatter is steadfastly against the use of video technology in soccer. No video replay to determine if a player was offside. No little microchip in the ball to determine if it crossed the line. Arguing against Blatter and those who agree with him is rather like arguing about religious faith. Leave logic out of it. This argument is about intangible things. And as Blatter and others see it, the issue is about the soul of soccer. Does a “soul” exist? Not in a real, tangible way. Continue reading

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Sunday, Jun. 27, 2010

To the Plaza Famingo on College St. on Friday afternoon to see Spain play Chile. This story is the World Cup Thing in the middle of the G20 Thing, part two.

The Flamingo is a sprawling place – dining, dancing and live entertainment. Salsa lessons are offered, a sign says. That’s not traditional salsa booming out of giant speakers by the door and everywhere inside. It’s crashing guitars and the throbbing beat of Latin disco. The mood, before you even enter, in broad daylight, is feverish, lightheaded. Continue reading

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Friday, Jun. 25, 2010

This is how it is here. See, the soundtrack in The Football Factory is reggae. Strictly so. If the game isn’t on – and games can be from any number of countries, most of the year – the music is reggae. It’s the way it is. Owner’s choice. Roots reggae. Pop reggae. Obscure, hard-thumping surreal reggae of the serious drugs variety. You notice it, and then you don’t.

It’s late Thursday afternoon, a day of warmth and dappled sunshine in Toronto. A group of young Japanese women are in the Factory, finishing their pints. They’ve had a few. And they are all slight, chic figures, looking just a little absurd waving their big pint glasses with their slim wrists. They clink them together, giggling. They are a little tipsy, and happy as the day is long. Behind them, on the wall, is a giant poster they probably don’t even notice. But I do. It features Bob Marley, toying with a soccer ball, over and over, in frame after frame. And it declares Marley’s famous phrase: “Football is part of I. When I play, the world wakes up around me.” Continue reading

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, June 24, 2010

On the cusp of the Round of 16, time to assess and nominate the great, weird, wacky and wonderful World Cup phenomena to date.

One: South Africa’s Siphiwe Tshabalala’s opening goal against Mexico. It was magic. After a tense, nervous first half, the host country burst into action and that goal, the first of this World Cup, was as sweet s sugar. A surging run, a beautifully weighted pass and the ball hitting the back of the net. I watched the opening ceremonies and opening game with bestselling South African writer Deon Meyer. He was quietly emotional for the longest time, explaining how much the World Cup meant to his country, how it had in an authentic way, brought a divided nation together. He was choked up when the TV showed Bishop Desmond Tutu dancing in the stands. Then he leapt to his feet, shouting, “Yes!” when the goal came. And it felt like the whole world, not just South Africa, was cheering. Continue reading

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The best referee is the one who is nearly invisible during a game. Wolfgang Stark, a banker, is in charge of Wednesday’s key game between England and Slovenia and is one of those senior and experienced referees who is mostly invisible but has a history of controversy. Every now and then he does something spectacularly controversial. The luck of the draw means that he’s handling a game that could send England out of the tournament and, if segments of the English press are to be believed, cause a seismic shift in the way soccer is perceived in England. Continue reading

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, June 21, 2010

Sunday, about 80 minutes into the Brazil/Ivory Coast game and just before the theatrical shenanigans, the TV cameras caught Zinedine Zidane in the stands. He was about to leave and was taking Luis Figo with him.

The two old warhorses of France and Portugal, and multiple great European club teams, left in the time-honoured manner of celebrities at big games – 10 minutes before the end, to dodge the traffic. Call me peculiar but I saw it as more than that. It was the symbolic exit of European power from this World Cup

Call me peculiar again, but I’m liking the Americans. Seriously, I am. Seriously, I am. The U.S. team has displayed the sort of grit, backbone and smarts that can take a team far at a World Cup. Twice coming from behind, twice displaying the sort of incandescent passion that bespeaks a united, well-organized ream. And once denied a victory by referee’s bad call. The U.S. is team to admire here. Continue reading

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, June 21, 2010

“On the day they were expected to produce their ‘finest hour’ to mark the 70th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s famous wartime speech, the Three Lions whimpered rather than roared.”

That’s what English tabloid The Sun declared on Saturday. It’s implausible that the mediocrities playing for England against Algeria the evening before had Winston Churchill or wartime on their minds. But The Sun did, and was not alone among English media outlets. The English supporters also tend to think of a World Cup campaign as a series of battles in a war to prove England’s superiority over cocky, preposterous foreigners.

The thinking is this: The foreigners are cocky, skilled even, but it is preposterous to think England’s bulldog spirit won’t win in the end. Two World Wars and one World Cup have proved that. Continue reading

RTE (Irish TV, equivalent of CBC) has sport making fun of English TV World Cup Coverage…

John Doyle
The Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, June 15, 2010

So far this is a World Cup of goalkeeper dramas and traumas. A little respect for the guys, please.

England’s Robert Green making the most-mocked error in recent English history. Faouzi Chaouchi of Algeria gifting Slovenia a 1-0 win with that terrible fumble of a weak shot. Paraguay’s Justo Villar’s dramatic miss when he tried to fist away the ball and thus allow Italy’s Daniele De Rossi to inelegantly ram the ball into the empty net.

Italy too has a potential problem with Gianluigi Buffon. He has a back injury and had to be replaced at halftime in the game against Paraguay. During that game, Buffon cut a striking figure. All in white, but wearing black stockings in the cold and rain, and with ornate gloves, he looked improbably chic. Even the TV commentator on the feed used by the CBC noticed. He took a moment to say Buffon looked “resplendent.” Continue reading