Brace for the change post-break

So transfer window has not been a waste after all, a window of opportunity to do some brisk business even if it is so close to deadline. Better late than never. We will know the new shapes of the teams later, only when the league starts on 10th July.

A Bulgarian midfielder for New Radiant will consolidate their erratic midfield. You never know only if he passes in the trial. How many players had been shipped out after being found out their real quality which had not been good enough to ply their trade even at 3rd division!!

Santay's promising return after a horrendous injury cannot have been more well-timed. It was a shame an immensely potential footballer had to start a new season with his new team on the treatment table.  He was a victim of the fickle pre-season bug. Victory faithfuls are impatiently waiting to see him come out of it and put their team in the pole position.

Eagles exudes freshness after a training camp in the tranquil atmosphere of Addu. Coach exhorts teamwork has improved and they are ready to replicate it in Galholhu stadium. With the inclusion of experienced Sobah they may be unstoppable.

Valencia is the first team to announce their desire to strengthen the squad during transfer period. Yet they are not beyond Google, mean to say still searching for a suitable candidate. May be they will wait till they hit the jackpot unlike Samsung’s S3 which was unsure of its market and hence had to categorically include this – ‘designed for humans’.

VB Addu FC seems to be with the idea if you can’t find one from Europe or Africa, why not give a try from your region. The focus of their radar now stops at Bangladesh. Soon thousands of Bangladeshi people living in capital will have reasons to throng stadium.

Maziya haven’t shown the inclination to tinker with squad, perhaps happy with what they have. Ditto with AYL and Vyansa. Come July 10 and we will know whether it is the right decision or all this chopping and adding have done anything to their prospectus in the league. A mere change for sake of change, a cosmetic one at that will not do.

Will it be a painful night for Spain?

On the big stage: He will show his strength tonight

It was like a flesh in the pan. 22 day of Euro 2012 football went like a blur. While it would not have exploded into life as some of the classic tournaments the icing on the cake may well be tomorrow when Spain entertain Italy in the final.

 Though this is the second time they meet after the group stage it promises to be something of an exciting spectacle given the late burst into form of few individuals and one in particular.

He is unpredictable, yes, but when Mario Balotelli is in fine fettle you never know. Exactly what the German wished they should had known and dealt with. His brace against them speaks volumes of his versatility upfront and his panache to treat us to the occasion with spectacular goals.

                                                                                            

Spain would be wary of him too. They are in a spot of bother of their own, not having a centre-forward, one of their biggest worry. While Torres is struggling with his wretch form their main marksman is recovering from a broken foot. To top that their brand of 'tiki-taka' style of possession football is becoming a bore to the eye – unexciting, unappealing – not exactly racing your pulse.

                                                                                                    

They may be the best team in term of their clockwork precision in passing and ball control, but that is not to say they have elevated the beautiful game to different celestial. It hasn’t captured our imagination, there are no spectacular goals that you are trained to see in Spanish league. The team may compose of Barcelona and real Madrid players, but they are lacking a Messi-Ronaldo kind of player who could produce that magic. Even then, who knows, Spain’s tryst with destiny to write a brand-new record may culminate in the electrifying final we all have been looking for.  

Coming to this tournament on the back of match-fixing scandal which has hit them like an unrelenting stench, Italy needs to dispel few doubts about their staunch support for clean football and their place in Europe football. Mario is in the mood to do exactly that and Italy is behind him to thrash once-for-all his bad boy image.

For many Maldivians who have thoroughly enjoyed this tournament we are grateful to TVM for taking initiative to telecast this live event with a dazzling smorgasbord of local football expert opinions and views. Perhaps we may not be able to bear any kind of football lower in standard for quite some time but then in ten days’ time, on 10^th July, Dhivehi league resumes, which was on hold for transfer window.

It never stops, football is always played somewhere. So do we have time for this local league?

Are some promises made to be broken?

It was back to back morale-sapping defeats by teams who are clearly underdogs to Valencia that galvanized coach Iqbal  to launch into a fans’ anger-quelling mission by saying during transfer window they would strengthen their squad. 

In about 12 days’ time we say bye-bye to the transfer deadline and resume Dhivehi league. Whatever Iqbal has said is yet to take wings. Of course a long way to go before the final day of transfer, but one cannot help but wonder why on earth they must make a bold statement and keep a low profile. They really gave the impression they were diving into transfer-pool the next day. 

Perhaps it was a gimmick, a ploy by coach to pacify angry supporters who had to bear with the distressing scene of their team threshed by all and sundry. 

No surprise if they don't open their purse for shopping given how most of our clubs survive on shoestring budget for the whole season.But the fear is what if..what if they don't get a forward, a lethal one at that, to find them goals and plenty of it. Because they need it, badly. Their position in the table is precarious.

If they start to falter in the coming matches it may not be long before the stark reality of relegation stare right into the face and dump you into a division that is not worthy of your illustrious name.

One stadium, one city syndrome

People used to say had Alexcander Graham Bell did not come along in time we would be still living in Stone Age. Or if Benjamin Franklin did not discover electricity we would be still living in darkness. Looking at the nature of our current quagmire in football you may wonder: Seriously? Since no one came along of such calibre our football is living the current lifeless existence? Hence there is no end in sight for the pitless puzzle of one city one stadium syndrome?

Let’s get this straight. We have been playing football for the last many years in one stadium in one city. Everything revolves around it – if Galholhu stadium is closed it means currently there is no national football tournament going on. If your club is based in another island you have to come to capital city when a tournament starts.

That is of course a little something that has besieged our football as long as it is played. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but to come with a blueprint for a way out of this problem of ‘one city one stadium’ is out of our imagination. There is no way we can have 10 or 20 teams representing as many atolls. We are simply incapable of surmounting such a huge obstacle. 

The problem is because we are an island nation. An archipelago of some 1190 islands scattered over a vast stretches of Indian ocean, islands far-flung from their nearest neighbour, living a secluded life. We cannot model our football like other countries on home-and-away basis, it is unthinkable.  On economic front alone the enormous task involved with the  transport of teams and supporters from one island to another on match-day, let alone unfriendly weather which is mostly unpredictable throughout the year, is simply beyond our means.

So we trudges on.  Stuck in the primitive format where capital Male’ plays hosts to all football competitions and clubs based in Male’ take part in it.  There is precious little clubs from island can do if they don't make it to zone competiton, which is only for 2 clubs from 19 or so Atolls. Those who scrape through barely survive for too long for lack of quality players and funds.  In the late 90s Huriyya from island Hura did survive against all odds for some time before it gave it to the pressure of cumulative effects of lack of telents and insufficient funds .

If there ever was a problem for which our entrainment planners don’t have a viable solution ‘one city one stadium’ continues to throw new precedents for thinkers from local and abroad alike. 

When the transfer period is longer than football season…

Not exactly. But it seems. When Valencia entertained AYL on 12^th June it was the last match of the second round before transfer season kicked in. Already 10 days gone and 20 more to go before New Radiant take on Eagles on 10^th July. That is how long it takes for the supposedly quiet transfer period to end.

A big, fat 30 days is too long whichever way you look at it. In footballing terms that is a lot of days. The short-term memory of our football fans will be hard-pressed to remember what had gone before the break and who are leading the table.

Perhaps inevitable circumstances are what led to FAM to come with an unreasonably too long a ‘holiday’ period. For one, Maldives U-22 football team is in Malaysia to take part in AFC U-22 Championship qualifiers. They kick off tomorrow against Qatar U-22. On top of that a huge football tournament such as Euro 2012 is something we drink and live through. So  when the sun is shining who wants light from moon anyway?

Past experiences had shown the precarious scenario we would have met had we continued with Dhivehi league during the Euro fiesta. It is a disease that catches us unaware every four years when Euro or FIFA world cup is in full-swing. 

Though nobody knows exactly the name of the disease the symptoms are clear: we wake up late, go office late, go school late, in a way we are late for everything. If a competition is going on in Galholhu football stadium obviously the place wears a deserted look. While Euro is on we don't like to do any other thing, other than sleeping and watching football. 

It is wise move by FAM, though it comes in the garb of transfer period and taking a little longer than many would have wanted!

 

A goal that speaks for itself

A goal of sheer power and precision. A thunderbolt of improbable accuracy and class. That is how many of the Maldivian supporters in the stadium would describe this goal of SAFF championship 2011.

When Maldives skipper got the ball from the middle of the half he had a lot to do and a lot of ground to cover. But one vital touch and a giant stride later his overpowering burst of pace took Nepal players out of sight. Out of touch. Or pheraps they were too languid to close in.

Those players who were left in his wake had nothing but to fill their lungs with all the oxygen that was available and jump on to their motor before their eyes on the receding dot that is Ashfag fades into oblivion. Before he causes heartache. But in vain.

He sped into danger zone in a flesh. Just five or so yards away from penalty area he unleashed a ferocious, venomous drive that sped through the chilling evening of Nehru Stadium of New Delhi like a bolt from the blue.

Maldivian supporters, they almost knew it. They were there on their feet and soon they were celebrating. The ball whooshed into the right-top corner of Nepal goal. Ashfaq had scored what looks like to be one of the best goals of his career. 

Though disappointment came in the form of a Nepal goal which drew the match, Dhagnday’s brilliance was unmistakable and the deserving plaudits that subsequently followed.  

Boom and bang: Ashfaq on the 2:35^th minute on this video

Will it ever get easier for Maldives coach Urbanyi

Time to worry: do we have any chance in this tournament

It looks like we have mustered the art of doing it always too little too late. Under national team coach Istvan Urbanyi that seems to be the case so far.

We lost by a whisker in the qualification of AFC Challenge Cup in 2009. A difference of single goal was all it took for compatriot Bangladesh to shut the door for us. In SAFF 2011 the team was doing fine till we meet mighty India in the semi-finals. Within minutes 15 minutes Maldives top marksman Ashfaq was hobbling and the reminder of the match was the depressing sight of 10-men Maldives trying to find the Indian goal with every conceivable shot on target, which was not to be. Was it a case of bad luck?

The latest hurtful endeavor was AFC Challenge Cup 2012 which was already forgone conclusion because two of our three opponents were better than us in every aspect. As was predicted we lost against Turkmenistan and Palestine though a win against hosts Nepal was too little too late.

Maldives coach and his U-22 national team embark on another journey of bitter sweet fight in the qualification games of AFC U-22 Championship 2013. Maldives is drawn in a tough Group C, with Iran, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Kuwait and Qatar to overcome. Coach has already pierced, the air of expectation we have, by the arrow of reality. “Based on the preparations we had so far, it’s a bit early to talk about the chances”. So the message is clear.

The realistic chance of Maldives making any inroad into the qualification is almost non-existent. This is not more than a routine participation in a competition we have no realistic chance and if the guys learned anything well and good.

So this it, we will be eternal pushovers in the continental competitions and always playing second fiddle to those around us. Is it?