World Cup déjà vu

So both England and Portugal exit the FIFA World Cup, and so too do their respective stars, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, having made little more than a smear on this year’s championships.
Following the omission of Ronaldinho from the Brazilian team, we now have the comical situation of watching the Nike ‘Write the Future’ soccer ads in the breaks, despite the fact that it features the world’s top football stars… who are no longer in the Cup. Probably a bit of Karma there in that Adidas is the official sponsor, but then again, who am I to comment on Karma?
In addition to the failure of the world’s richest players failing to deliver, there have also been numerous reports of divisions and personality clashes within various teams. France went on strike and gave up, although at least this time, the Germans didn’t occupy Paris. The English players couldn’t decide whether having an Italian coach, or sleeping with each others’ girlfriends, was worse for team morale, so they decided to do both. Apparently there was even unrest in the Australian team, although nobody noticed.
These stories are not all that surprising. We only need to look at the chess Olympiads over the decades to see that a team of stars often goes down to a cohesive line-up of national ‘mates’ (pun not quite intended). Russia has really failed to shine over the past couple of championships, despite out-rating the opposition by a hefty margin. The English team has a history of divisions, with a famous rift between two of its stars getting so severe that they refused to play on adjacent boards.
Instead, we have seen the unified and ebullient national teams of China, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Netherlands and Norway – generally teams of friends off the board as well – achieve great triumphs. The guys in each line-up work together, eat together, study together and relax together – and nothing means more to them than national victory, certainly not individualism.
The most recent reports have been of disharmony in the Soccer have come from the Argentinean team, but I find these hard to believe. One of the key reasons for Argentina’s success, in my opinion, is the instalment of Maradona as coach. This is a man who has been in love with football his entire life. He runs up and down the sideline like an excited puppy on the edge of water, performing tricks whenever the ball whistles his way. He’s even admitted that he gets the urge to chuck on the shorts and run out on the field, every game. Maradona lives every pass, every kick, every mistake and every goal with his players, and they know it. Having this legend-turned-coach on their side has surely got to be an inspirational factor behind their success.
Reminds me a bit of our own Gary Kasparov. Chess is his first and only love, and you only have to read the reports of his collaborations with Carlsen to see the comparison. He’s gone out of his way to help his successor achieve greatness, and I have no doubt that it’s not only his knowledge and wisdom, but also his passion for the game, that has been passed on. Kasparov even went out of his way to call up Anand and offer him advice during the Indian’s match with Topalov – and given Anand and Kasparov’s own rivalry of the past, you can really see how the love of the game has conquered all ills for the great Russian.
We’ve even got a bit of the same story at home, with our retired legend Ian Rogers showing great philanthropy in helping out the rising chess generation in Australia. Players like Zong-Yuan and myself know full well the impact that having an icon of the game in your corner can have on your results.
Having said all that, and having once again made tenuous links between current sporting news and chess, I am tipping Argentina for the crown. Firstly, a victory by the Albicelestes would justify my argument that the influence and benevolence of a legend of the game can inspire a harmonised team to great success. Secondly, Maradona himself has promised to run naked down the streets of Buenos Aires if Argentina wins the Cup – and surely we can all agree that’s something we need to see.