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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

"It's just like they always say - too much too late."

Greetings, loyal readers, from the land that brought you the Church of Diego. TDH now has access to four cable channels showing nonstop football in several different languages, and will be regaling you with stories from leagues and teams you've probably never heard of. Ukraine's beach soccer squad? They're shite.

Yes, TDH was getting too much football, too late at night. For starters, matches in the Torneo del Verano - the summer tournament - start at 10 p.m. The world is being treated to such strange sites as Boca Juniors and Racing Club playing in the mountain air of Salta, some 1,187 meters above sea level. Apart from Diego "El Pulpo" Simeone, who still has the face of a revolutionary who's had plastic surgery in a back alley, the teams looked to be about 12 years old. TDH doesn't know what that makes the mascot - negative three? In any case, it was a mildly entertaining tie that ended 1-1.

Earlier in the evening, it was a live telecast of Juve stomping on Fiorentina 3-0 in the first half while Luca Toni sat on the bench, desperately trying to whip up the spirits of the men in violet. He came on in the second half, and the teams played evenly. Funny, that. Still, for the first time since his injury, Del Piero looks back to his predatory best... which makes Sam's Army shudder.

TDH also had the opportunity to watch every goal Albeiro "El Palomo" Usuriaga scored for Independiente - many while Cesar "Cool Hand Luke" Menotti watched impassively. Now there was a talent. The Colombian was arguably a better wide-angle scorer than Horseface. Tragically he was murdered by a teenager in early 2004 at the age of 37. But the clips live on in South American memories....

2 Comments:

Blogger the Maradona of Malawi said...

simeone's still playing? I used to like that guy a lot. I remember when he scored the goals that denied Inter lo scudetto when playing for Lazio. He looked devastated when he realised what he'd done.

re: alex, the guy has actually been in pretty excellent form for the last year or so, its just that he's not the kind of explosive player he once was. Capello plays a tight, hard-running game, so he requires players like Ibracadabra who produce something from nothing.

11:26 AM  
Blogger Daniel Altman said...

Simeone is Racing's 35-year-old captain, and it appears he's become something of a respected media personality. Maybe it's better to play in Europe if you're not from there - you can go back to your home to play a few more years, and everyone looks upon you with reverence. What do Italian has-beens do if they don't start coaching? Play in Serie C? Doesn't sound like quite as much fun.

8:43 PM  

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