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Wonderful World of football
MERVIN STODDART
Saturday, July 17, 2010
var addthis_pub="jamaicaobserver";
Alacalabiti, Alacalabi
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
Wash or cocoa, mince or pie
Cornwall boys will do or die
Spain’s Andres Iniesta (left) scores a goal past Netherland’s Rafael van der Vaart (2nd left) during the World Cup final match between Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg South Africa, July 11, 2010. (Photo:AP)
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Spain’s Andres Iniesta (left) scores a goal past Netherland’s Rafael van der Vaart (2nd left) during the World Cup final match between Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg South Africa, July 11, 2010. (Photo:AP)
1/1
Give them red dirt, give them clay
Show those boys the way we play!
Hooray!
Red and gold colours would wipe out the opposition as the above cheer, one of a dozen or so memorised by Cornwallians, would be bellowed by beaming boys, alumni and friends of Cornwall College, the school on the hill beside the sea in Montego Bay, in the glory days of schoolboy football in Jamaica. On July 11, the CC colours were flying high worldwide in their red and yellow format of the flag of España (Spain), as that European nation trounced the Netherlands 1-0 to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The entire FIFA affair held in South Africa for one month was wonderful and glorious, setting many records while bringing back ecstatic memories of football seasons at CC for this writer.
The World Cup championship game was marred by some dirty playing of the Dutch team which picked up 10 yellow cards, two resulting in a red card ejection for John Heitinga, but the Spanish win made up for those distractions since Spain played the cleaner and more beautiful football, despite getting five yellow cards. Football is a game of triumphs and tragedies, as the world saw when winning scorer Andrés Iniesta removed his jersey to show a T-shirt tribute to Dani Jarque, his Club Espanyol friend who died of a heart attack at age 26. Nelson Mandela showed much strength in showing up to inspire fans at the World Cup final, despite the death of his great-granddaughter in the opening week. Cornwallians will recall the deaths of some star students in motor vehicle crashes while travelling to football matches. The son of one of Cornwall's favourite teachers died from lightning strike on the football field one year. Very sad. The DaCosta Cup competition was suspended in the 1970s after a visiting driver shot a fan on the CC campus and was later beaten to death near downtown MoBay. Spectator violence and Holland-style dirty playing have no place in the wonderful world of football.
South Africa overcame its apartheid image to become the first African nation to host the World Cup. Its vuvuzela noises were irritating but welcomed for their celebratory and cultural values. Ghana did Africa proud with their fancy, skilful playing and historic advancement to the second round, defeating the United States whose team managed to generate soccer mania among their natives. Football is wonderful because of its competiveness, ability to excite fans, fanciful footwork, unbelievable teamwork, simplicity, and breathtaking experience when a goal is scored, as illustrated by the rapturous shouting of "Goooooool" by Spanish commentators. Every Jamaican high school fan, especially CC students, can recall the euphoria that filled their soul as their favourite team scored or defeated the opposition. Both playing and cheering at football matches can produce frenzied, joyous moments.
Cornwall was known to wipe out teams like Mannings and York Castle high schools with wins anywhere from 6-0 to 11-0 and CC still has the most liens (10) on the D-Cup, with Vere Technical having nine and Munro College and Rusea's Comprehensive both having seven. While ruling the roost in rural schoolboy football, Cornwall also sits high nationally with 10 liens on the Olivier Shield, which was won 19 times by Munro (including its years as Potsdam College), 16 by Jamaica College and 12 by St George's College. These statistics came to mind as Spain won its first World Cup final, joining Brazil (5 wins), Italy (4), Germany (3), Uruguay and France (2 each), France and England (1 each) as world champions since the 1930 WC inauguration. My favourite team, Brazil, did not win this time but should do so in 2014 when they host this delightful event at which, I hope, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will shine. I would have been thrilled to see an African team like Ghana, Nigeria, The Ivory Coast or the Cameroons win the World Cup but I will savour the delights of the Spanish win since their victory parades fly high the red and gold colours of my alma mater. Besides, Spain played some sweet soccer, sometimes making me reminisce on the artistic "pops" that CC football stars would enact as they dribbled into enemy territory to stamp Cornwall's football superiority.
One such Cornwall football maestro, Billy Griffiths, passed away this month and all Cornwallians wish his surviving family God's comfort. Along with Griffiths, other football artistes from CC who made the game a beauty to watch included names like McNab, Cooke, McLeod, Miles, Thorpe, Manderson, Taylor, Brown, Ford, Thomas, Riddell, and among top goalkeepers would be Bucknor. CC produced so many skilful players that names could run into the hundreds. They made football matches moments to savour and as delicious as well-cooked food. Football, whether among school boys, leagues or nations, is a game which teaches numerous life lessons, including skill, mastery, endurance, tactics, industry, perseverance and cooperation. Various analyses of the 2010 FIFA World Cup highlighted these and other life lessons, confirming to me that many Jamaican champions were helped on their way by the game of football. It is moreso from among Jamaica's schoolboy and league champions that the Reggae Boyz should find their coaches and technical directors rather than from foreign countries. Hats off to Theodore Whitmore and others who have done Jamaica proud in that area.
I encourage all young men in Jamaica to seek thrills and accomplishments in football and flee from drugs, guns and gangs. Congratulations to caring, concerned Jamaicans like Herman Curtis of Amity Hall/Lottery, St James, who help these young people along the way by organising and sponsoring community football. And CC might also be encouraged to make the decade from 2010-2020 a time of football greatness comparable to 1953-1963 when they won the D-Cup 75 per cent of the time, with Munro winning the other 25 per cent. World Cup 2010 makes me want to say Viva España and Go CC!
INMerv@hotmail.com
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...otball_7797009
MERVIN STODDART
Saturday, July 17, 2010
var addthis_pub="jamaicaobserver";
Alacalabiti, Alacalabi
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
Wash or cocoa, mince or pie
Cornwall boys will do or die
Spain’s Andres Iniesta (left) scores a goal past Netherland’s Rafael van der Vaart (2nd left) during the World Cup final match between Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg South Africa, July 11, 2010. (Photo:AP)
var caption4771953 = document.getElementById('photocaption4771953').inn erHTML; var mygallery=new fadeSlideShow({ wrapperid: "fadeshow1", //ID of blank DIV on page to house Slideshow dimensions: [370, 245], //width/height of gallery in pixels. Should reflect dimensions of largest image imagearray: [ ["http://assets.mediaspanonline.com/prod/4771953/Spain-Score_w370.jpg", "", "", caption4771953 ] ], displaymode: {type:'manual', pause:3000, cycles:0, wraparound:false}, persist: false, //remember last viewed slide and recall within same session? fadeduration: 500, //transition duration (milliseconds) descreveal: "always", togglerid: "slideshowtoggler" })
Spain’s Andres Iniesta (left) scores a goal past Netherland’s Rafael van der Vaart (2nd left) during the World Cup final match between Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg South Africa, July 11, 2010. (Photo:AP) 1/1 Give them red dirt, give them clay
Show those boys the way we play!
Hooray!
Red and gold colours would wipe out the opposition as the above cheer, one of a dozen or so memorised by Cornwallians, would be bellowed by beaming boys, alumni and friends of Cornwall College, the school on the hill beside the sea in Montego Bay, in the glory days of schoolboy football in Jamaica. On July 11, the CC colours were flying high worldwide in their red and yellow format of the flag of España (Spain), as that European nation trounced the Netherlands 1-0 to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The entire FIFA affair held in South Africa for one month was wonderful and glorious, setting many records while bringing back ecstatic memories of football seasons at CC for this writer.
The World Cup championship game was marred by some dirty playing of the Dutch team which picked up 10 yellow cards, two resulting in a red card ejection for John Heitinga, but the Spanish win made up for those distractions since Spain played the cleaner and more beautiful football, despite getting five yellow cards. Football is a game of triumphs and tragedies, as the world saw when winning scorer Andrés Iniesta removed his jersey to show a T-shirt tribute to Dani Jarque, his Club Espanyol friend who died of a heart attack at age 26. Nelson Mandela showed much strength in showing up to inspire fans at the World Cup final, despite the death of his great-granddaughter in the opening week. Cornwallians will recall the deaths of some star students in motor vehicle crashes while travelling to football matches. The son of one of Cornwall's favourite teachers died from lightning strike on the football field one year. Very sad. The DaCosta Cup competition was suspended in the 1970s after a visiting driver shot a fan on the CC campus and was later beaten to death near downtown MoBay. Spectator violence and Holland-style dirty playing have no place in the wonderful world of football.
South Africa overcame its apartheid image to become the first African nation to host the World Cup. Its vuvuzela noises were irritating but welcomed for their celebratory and cultural values. Ghana did Africa proud with their fancy, skilful playing and historic advancement to the second round, defeating the United States whose team managed to generate soccer mania among their natives. Football is wonderful because of its competiveness, ability to excite fans, fanciful footwork, unbelievable teamwork, simplicity, and breathtaking experience when a goal is scored, as illustrated by the rapturous shouting of "Goooooool" by Spanish commentators. Every Jamaican high school fan, especially CC students, can recall the euphoria that filled their soul as their favourite team scored or defeated the opposition. Both playing and cheering at football matches can produce frenzied, joyous moments.
Cornwall was known to wipe out teams like Mannings and York Castle high schools with wins anywhere from 6-0 to 11-0 and CC still has the most liens (10) on the D-Cup, with Vere Technical having nine and Munro College and Rusea's Comprehensive both having seven. While ruling the roost in rural schoolboy football, Cornwall also sits high nationally with 10 liens on the Olivier Shield, which was won 19 times by Munro (including its years as Potsdam College), 16 by Jamaica College and 12 by St George's College. These statistics came to mind as Spain won its first World Cup final, joining Brazil (5 wins), Italy (4), Germany (3), Uruguay and France (2 each), France and England (1 each) as world champions since the 1930 WC inauguration. My favourite team, Brazil, did not win this time but should do so in 2014 when they host this delightful event at which, I hope, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will shine. I would have been thrilled to see an African team like Ghana, Nigeria, The Ivory Coast or the Cameroons win the World Cup but I will savour the delights of the Spanish win since their victory parades fly high the red and gold colours of my alma mater. Besides, Spain played some sweet soccer, sometimes making me reminisce on the artistic "pops" that CC football stars would enact as they dribbled into enemy territory to stamp Cornwall's football superiority.
One such Cornwall football maestro, Billy Griffiths, passed away this month and all Cornwallians wish his surviving family God's comfort. Along with Griffiths, other football artistes from CC who made the game a beauty to watch included names like McNab, Cooke, McLeod, Miles, Thorpe, Manderson, Taylor, Brown, Ford, Thomas, Riddell, and among top goalkeepers would be Bucknor. CC produced so many skilful players that names could run into the hundreds. They made football matches moments to savour and as delicious as well-cooked food. Football, whether among school boys, leagues or nations, is a game which teaches numerous life lessons, including skill, mastery, endurance, tactics, industry, perseverance and cooperation. Various analyses of the 2010 FIFA World Cup highlighted these and other life lessons, confirming to me that many Jamaican champions were helped on their way by the game of football. It is moreso from among Jamaica's schoolboy and league champions that the Reggae Boyz should find their coaches and technical directors rather than from foreign countries. Hats off to Theodore Whitmore and others who have done Jamaica proud in that area.
I encourage all young men in Jamaica to seek thrills and accomplishments in football and flee from drugs, guns and gangs. Congratulations to caring, concerned Jamaicans like Herman Curtis of Amity Hall/Lottery, St James, who help these young people along the way by organising and sponsoring community football. And CC might also be encouraged to make the decade from 2010-2020 a time of football greatness comparable to 1953-1963 when they won the D-Cup 75 per cent of the time, with Munro winning the other 25 per cent. World Cup 2010 makes me want to say Viva España and Go CC!
INMerv@hotmail.com
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...otball_7797009
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