Reviews

Random Notes on Champions League Final

6/1/2019

Really nice photo of Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (and Egypt), via Reuters.

(updated Sunday morning)

*- It’s a sad thing to have no team in soccer, but I don’t.
*- Modern man. Just cannot commit.

*- Don't get me wrong: I know the pain of rooting, inasmuch as my only professional club is the eccentric New York Mets. And I learned all about angst from my first team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. (I also root for my alma mater, Hofstra, in basketball.)

*- I’m retired from the paper and am allowed to root, but I have no soccer club, a failing that gets in the way of enjoying the Champions League. I have infatuations -- AC Milan with Baresi and Gullit, et al, Chelsea when Drogba carried them on his strong back, Barcelona for the "Dutch" way they moved the ball, West Ham, after spending a few days in 2003, reporting an admirable attempt to include new Muslim neighbors as fans. But I have no lasting loyalty.

*- I do root for the U.S. and Italy in the Men’s World Cup and for the U.S. in the Women’s World Cup. I love World Cups. I almost always pick a team in any match I watch. But Champions League finals leave me melancholy, adrift. I have no team.

*- True, my mother was born in Liverpool, but always insisted “We were really from Southampton.” My wife once sat next to John Henry, the owner of the Red Sox and Liverpool, at a baseball dinner in Boston, and enjoyed chatting with the rather reserved man. And our grandson has rooted for Liverpool since he was a tyke. But I still don't root.

*- My Arsenal pals told me they could see themselves rooting for Liverpool rather than “that bunch” from Tottenham. It’s a North London thing.

*- There is a theory about cup competition that when English clubs meet, they play each other into a stupor because they know each other so well. However, I saw Chelsea drub Arsenal, 4-1, on Wednesday (in the company of my sickened Arsenal pals) and familiarity certainly did not inhibit Chelsea.

*- I was thinking about that theory on Saturday when Tottenham met Liverpool in the Champions League final. In the very first minute, Tottenham was called for a handball, and Liverpool converted, injecting tension into the match, for all fans, including neutrals like me.

*- I had no problem with the call by the Slovenian referee, no doubt backed up by officials with access to a television. The unfortunate Tottenham player, Moussa Sissoko, was caught with his arm extended, the ball skidding from chest to upper arm. His violation was not as blatant as the handball by Germany’s Torsten Frings that robbed the U.S. of a goal in the 2002 quarterfinal, but the ref got this one right.

*- Both teams had forwards familiar to fans around the world – Mo Salah of Liverpool and Harry Kane of Tottenham. I like them both. Some stars (Roberto Baggio of Italy, Mia Hamm of the USA) hated to take penalty kicks. Salah approached his task with something close to a smile on his face, and positive body language – and he drilled a shot into the corner.

*- Thereby, Mo seized the match before it was 2 minutes old. Salah, an Egyptian, whose sunny and mature presence has won over Liverpool fans, continually put pressure on the Tottenham defense, running at them to keep them busy, as Liverpool won, 2-0. In my opinion, he was the Man of the Match (a lovely soccer tradition.)

*- One other observation of the match: English fans defy stereotypes, inasmuch as Liverpool and Tottenham -- at least the ones who could corner tickets and get to Madrid -- seemed quite mixed in origin.

*- I found myself furious with the pre-match “concert” – angry-looking blokes pounding on their instruments and shouting – on the tube, from the stadium, before the match. Does TNT not believe in the tension of a stadium rapidly filling up, with fans chanting and singing, and the field being prepared, as the dozens of commentators are yakking it up? Why a freaking concert? If I wanted to watch that stuff, I would.

*- None of this adds up to much insight about the match. As I typed this Saturday afternoon, I was concerned with whether Jacob DeGrom of the Mets could get back to his high level later in Arizona.

*- DeGrom pitched well for 6 innings as I fell asleep. I woke up Sunday morning and the first thing I did was click on the score and discover the hideous Mets bullpen had blown the game in the 11th inning. I am now in a foul mood, probably much like Tottenham fans, or my Arsenal pals the other day.

*- So, yes, I do know fan anxiety.

It was a handball, however inadvertently.

John McDermott

6/2/2019 12:53:29 am

This match was further proof that big games are not always great, or even good. But keep an eye on Origi. He seems to have the knack of doing it when it matters.

George Vecsey

6/2/2019 09:14:51 am

John: World Cup finals, included. I think PK solution drags down some finals, although the '99 USA-China Scurry/Chastain final remains epic. (Not 94 final with the injured Baresi and Baggio.)
I do not know Origi, but off the bench he clinched it from a steep angle -- and in a field interview after the match he was eloquent and charming. Nice guy.

Hansen Alexander

6/2/2019 11:35:02 am

Great ruminations, George. I am entertained by your pace in writing about European football. Sorry you are in a foul mood about the Mets bullpen; it rather looks like de Grom's medical situation is worse. When does the Women's World Cup begin? I am really looking forward to that.

By the way, if you have not yet enjoyed the Women's College World Series in softball, check it out. I watched a lot of the series last year following the Florida Gators and it is really fun. The young women enjoy themselves to a degree that makes the men's hardball version seem dour and almost depressing. The women dance between innings, sing during the game, and have a party no matter win or lose.

George

6/2/2019 12:24:39 pm

Hansen: thAnks for that about women’s softball. Didn’t realize DeGrom is hurt from box score. Not a word on the site of my main source of news. But Post and Daily News updated me. GV

Alan Rubin link

6/2/2019 03:42:36 pm

I did not watch the game, but caught the high (low) lights on video. I do not agree with the Laws on handballs.

If the player’s arm is away from the body and facing the ball, it should be a handball. If the arms are at the side and the ball plays the player, a foul should not be called.

Although it is trickier when the player’s back is to the ball, or if they are on the move and an arm is floating, I do not believe that a foul should be called. This is especially true in the box which necessitates a PK. This is too strong a penalty for an unintended infraction.

I know what the purists would probably not agree, but the referee should have some leeway to use common sense.

There is something special about World Cups, both the men and women’s. However, other than soccer, I rarely watch professional men’s sports.

Women’s soccer is more open and every bit as competitive. They do not seem to have the acting bug so common in the men’s game.

I have been a youth soccer GK coach for the past thirteen years. Although I enjoy working with both sexes, girls are much easier. They tend to more naturally supportive of each other and are not plagued by testosterone.

It is amazing how fast a softball can be thrown. I played fast pitch softball until I was about thirty five and stopped due to the rigors of running a retail business.

Most of the time I played in recreational leagues with several of my high school buddies. However, I played one season in a NYC Central Park fast pitch league. These were money games where each team had a park regular who would bet on them. They would bet anywhere from $100 to $300 per game. Each player would bet a smaller amount against his position’s opposite. The pitchers were paid.

In my first game, I was thrilled to get a blooper single over second base. I swung at the first two pitches just to get some sense of timing and was amazed that I had had made contact on the third pitch. It did not make sense to take a pitch as the paid pro only threw strikes.

It was rare if the score was greater than 1-0 or 2-1. A pitcher was often replaced in a late inning if he gave up a hit or walked a batter.

Even though we won the league, I only played one season. It was not fun.

Ed Martin

6/3/2019 02:09:42 pm

Alan, not only Muhlenberg vs Lehigh but male softball! I played a year for Baldwin HS, when most thought it was a girls’ sport— real men played baseball!

However, during WWII years the Long Island Defense factories had fast pitch softball leagues, and Grumman was a champion! Roy Stephenson struck out most batters. Teams played at Jones Beach, Freeport Stadium and probably in Bethpage near Grumman. Republic had a team, too, and memory dims. There was also a traveling team, “The King and His Court” and only four or five fielders even played!

In college I settled for intramural softball and Berg Soccer.

Alan Rubin link

6/6/2019 08:04:25 pm

Ed, We followed much the same path. I passed up track at Lehigh as I preferred to play intramural softball.

One of my soccer teammates was Lehigh's sprinter. We used jointly win the wind sprints and he was on me for three years to go out for track.

I ran track in high school, but softball was much more enjoyable. Also, I did not want to compete so close to finals.

I was always fighting with my softball managers who wanted me in the outfield due to my speed and strong arm. However, I loved either catching or third base where most of the action was.

bruce

6/2/2019 10:14:33 pm

george,

baggio's PK problem was well earned.

didn't he take one in the states in 1994 that ended up in iceland or thereabouts?

see a pretty impressive specimen won the heavyweight boxing title--one of 'em at least--last night.

bruce

another

Michael

6/3/2019 12:47:32 pm

Sorry George but the result hurt and it took me a few days to start reading game reviews and commentary, as well as to start listening to my Spurs-dedicated and general football podcasts. I'm still a bit in shock that Spurs made it to the final - given how challenged they were this past year with no transfers, no home stadium until the last month and a steady diet of injuries. At the same time, I'm sad about the lost opportunity. The future is bright if Poch sticks around and gets some funds from Levy to beef up the squad. COYS!! Michael

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