Sportard: Once More Into the Breach Old Man
Sportard
Before I launch into this week’s missive I feel I should offer an apology and some form of explanation to the dozen or so loyal readers of this, the country’s most underappreciated sports column, for last week’s failure to launch.
To that end I hereby sincerely apologize for my editor getting drunk and forgetting to post it to the website.
It’s a deep dark shame really because it was by far my finest work and would almost certainly have resulted in a string of journalistic awards and inevitable syndication which in turn would have made my efforts profitable and pleased my loyal fan.
I’m not one to complain though and I respect those who bravely heed the call of vodka in the morning…
On now to this week’s column which once more pronounces on the inexhaustible topic of Springbok rugby.
I’m told that for various reasons tomorrow is going to be historical. Let’s consider these reasons shall we…
Firstly; some annoying marketing cock with a PhD in being a nauseating boy-scout, dreamed up the idea of setting a world record for the most flags simultaneously held aloft at a sports event.
One online report advises that this is being done in an attempt ‘to continue the massive wave of patriotism that emerged during the Football World Cup’.
It’s an unusually crap idea but nonetheless typical of the sort of mindless, feel-good drivel dreamed up by marketing cocks the world over.
Call me cynical if you wish but I’m almost certain that a bout of coordinated flag-waving halfway through a routing isn’t going to do a damn thing to foster patriotism. What will foster patriotism is the Boks’ putting their bogeyman to bed and beating the Kiwis by a record margin.
And what’s with the obsession with patriotism anyway. Patriotism is stupid. It implies zero-sum bat-eyed nationalism and all of the nasty crap that goes along with that stunted world view. South Africans need to get into the habit of shouting for the good and decrying the bad regardless of the flag it flies.
The second reason we’re told that tomorrow will be historic is that it marks Richie McCaw’s paltry ‘record equaling’ 51st test. Excuse me while I yawn. What the bugger is supposed to be historical about ‘record equaling’ anyway? I’ll tell you, parrot-boy… Nothing!
Moving on…
The third reason that tomorrow is supposedly going to be so mind-blowingly historical is because it will mark Tugboat’s 100th test. Now I know that I’m accused by some of tending ever so slightly towards the negative in my typical take on things, but I’m going to astound my critics here by opining that on this particular point the history boys are onto something.
John Smit is the greatest captain ever to wear the Springbok jersey. He’s brought home every accolade the game has to offer and he’s done so with style and class, good humour and much intelligence.
He’s weathered the political storms that so afflict South African rugby and he’s rallied from behind to reach impossible heights.
Instead of waving South African flags celebrating a flawed and compromised state, the shiny, happy sponsors would have done far better endorsing an effort to wave a multitude of flags bearing our captains face and acknowledging his astonishing achievements.
Because, no matter what happens tomorrow or in the future, you can count on one thing for absolute bloody certain: Come rain or shine, come win or loss, Tugboat’s gonna give it his all and that’s a reality worth celebrating.
By Mike Stephen
Most Iconic Soccer Kits (International)
Diego Maradona
We dug into the archives to reminisce on the good old days of soccer and the most memorable and iconic soccer jerseys and kits.
We look at the time before soccer players became walking billboards, when kits were simple, elegant and iconic.
Some kits are unforgettable simplicity, yet invoked a rush of fear or a swell of pride just by catching a glimpse of them.
In no particular order, here they are…
AC Milan
One of, if not the most successful club in the world, AC Milan has not changed its colors since the club’s inception in 1899.
While the club considers its white away kits to be lucky in the Champions League Final, the intimidating red and black stripes will forever be the face of this storied club.
Barcelona
The jersey has remained the same throughout the eras of Maradona, Cruyff, and the now-legendary Messi.
The color pairing and vertical stripes were ripped off by Crystal Palace in 1973.
Don’t worry though, nobody was confused.
France
Les Bleus were at their finest during the mid-1980s. Michael Platini spearheaded a sublime attacking football club to their first-ever major championship title in Euro 1984, only to fall short in subsequent World Cups.
Their 1984 kit showcased the true blue of the French, sporting the cute little F.F.F. rooster as well.
Argentina
Mario Kempes of Argentina celebrates his goal against The Netherlands.
Argentina captured their first World Cup title in 1978, but let’s be serious, how could you bet against them with those jerseys?
The sky blue and white pinstripes, coupled with the old school AFA logo were a winning combination and such beautiful gear translated into on-field success as Argentina sank fellow iconic jersey-wearers the Netherlands on their home soil.
Simple, unique, and easily recognizable.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands in 1974.
The Oranje fell short in two World Cup Finals despite having assembled a great team worthy of showcasing total football.
The teams may have walked away second-best but Holland can hold their heads high knowing that their orange-wash out kits were second to none
Italy
There have been minor variations, of course, but the iconic all-blue shirts of the 1970 World Cup that saw Italy get through to the final will forever represent the pinnacle of Italian football.
Italy comes in high because you always know what to expect out of their jerseys when the World Cup rolls around, the national federation knows where their bread is buttered. As a result the Azzurri always turn out in true, blue form.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid in 1960.
Not a logo, slogan, or anything else for that matter besides the timeless Real Madrid crest graced this kit.
One of the top clubs in the history of the game, the 1960 jersey shows supporters what a kit is supposed to look like, clean, simple, and proud.
The white kit of Los Blancos has withstood the test of time, as the color now strikes fear into the hearts of all opposing clubs and their players.
Marveled by all, ripped off by many, but only pulled off by one.
Brazil
The Brazilian team in 1978.
The bright yellow, green, blue, and white medley that made up this kit was representative of the Brazilian team that donned it so well in the 1970 World Cup. Each player stood out on their own and demanded attention, but they all somehow made it work, and made it work beautifully at that.
Few teams could have looked better than the Brazilians even if they hadn’t raised the trophy that year, but hey, every kit looks good placed next to some World Cup hardware.
It’s a shirt so iconic I don’t feel even remotely qualified to attempt and explain why, or want to for that matter.
That’s when you know you’ve got a winner.
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
HAVE YOUR SAY: Which kit do you think is the most iconic?
Celebrating South Africa
Celebrating South African sport.
The September issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, which hits the shelves on Monday 17 August, celebrates the greatest South African sporting moments.
The success of the FIFA World Cup once again awakened the fierce patriotic streak that runs through our nation and what better way to keep that feel good factor going than to enjoy some of our finest sporting successes.
Our editorial staff compiled a comprehensive list of some the greatest achievements by South African men and women and put together a 17-page spread entitled ‘Celebrate South Africa’.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on the moments we selected, let us know if there are any moments that you would have included, send us your fan pictures of any of great events you attended and generally just show your support and love for our country and our sporting heroes.
For the rest of the month we’ll be showing you video clips of some of the events included in the magazine, posting photos of moments that we simply couldn’t squeeze into our feature and listening to you ‘Celebrating South Africa’ right here on SportsIllustrated.co.za.
Remember to look up our fan page on Facebook where you can upload your Fan Pics and get involved in even more community chat.
WATCH: The World Cup In Lego
Lego football stars go head to head in recreations of the FIFA World Cup.
The FIFA World Cup might be over, but you can still relive some of the best moments (and have a good laugh!) by watching these Lego goal recreations.
After failing his senior school exams, 19-year-old Fabian Moritz had time on his hands – so he set about recreating some of the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s best goals out of Lego figures, and his exploits quickly became a massive Internet sensation.
Each goal takes about three hours to recreate, as he has to take a photo for every frame of the video and move the Lego pieces by hand in-between – meaning that some goals can consist of up to 80 photos.
The attention to detail (including proper commentary) is so realistic that Moritz garnered deals with the Guardian newspaper in England and Bild in Germany to reproduce all the goals from those teams’ matches. So popular was his version of Robert Green’s keeping blunder in the Eng-USA clash that it had been viewed 1.3-million times two weeks into the tournament.
Watch the Lego version opening match of the FIFA World Cup – and Siphiwe Tshabalala’s awesome goal – click here.
32 Teams, 32 Stats At The World Cup
Germany won third place in the World Cup.
Algeria
Algeria’s goalless draw with England was this first clean sheet in World Cup history.
Argentina
In Argentina’s match against Greece on 22 June Martin Palermo became the country’s oldest World Cup goalscorer to date at the age of 36 years and 227 days. On the same night Lionel Messi became the youngest World Cup captain at 22 days and 363 days.
Australia
Australia’s win over Serbia was their second on the World Cup stage after the 3-1 victory against Japan in 2006. Tim Cahill made it onto the scoresheet in both matches.
Brazil
Since 1994, Brazil have always qualified for the knock-out stage with the game to spare.
Cameroon
Rigobert Song became the first African to play in four different World Cups and at 16 years and 9 days is the player with the fourth longest World Cup career span and after Antonio Carbajal (Mexico 16 years and 25 days), Hugo Sanchez (Mexico 16 years and 17 days) and Lothar Matthaus (16 years and 14 days).
Chile
Chile’s win against Honduras on 16 June was their first World Cup victory in 48 years since they beat Yugoslavia 1-0 in the third-place play-off on 16 June 1962.
Cote d’Ivoire
Didier Drogba scored the first goal by an African player against Brazil in what was the sixth World Cup encounter between A Selecao and a CAF team.
Denmark
For the first time, Denmark won a World Cup match after coming back from behind when beating Cameroon on 19 June.
England
England are the team with most goalless draws in World Cup history, having recorded 10 stalemates from 59 matches.
France
Thierry Henry is the first French player to appear in four FIFA World Cups.
Germany
In the match against Argentina on 3 July Thomas Muller scored Germany’s 200th World Cup goal. Now at 206 the Germans are the second team to reach the milestone after Brazil, whose own total stands at 210.
Ghana
In the quarter-final match against Uruguay on 2 July Ghana became the first African team to go a penalty shoot-out at the World Cup.
Greece
Greece’s 2-1 win over Nigeria on 17 June was their first in the World Cup at the fifth attempt. Dimitrios Salpingidis’s goal also ended their run of 404 minutes without scoring on the World Cup stage.
Honduras
Honduras have never won a World Cup match but their loss to Spain on 21 June was the first time they conceded more than one goal in a match.
Italy
Having drawn 21 out of 80 matches, Italy are now the team with the most ties in World Cup history.
Japan
For the first time Japan scored three goals in their World Cup in their 3-1 win over Denmark on 24 June.
Korea DPR
Korea DPR conceded their 12th goal of the group stage when they lost 3-0 to Cote d Ivoire on 25 June. This was only four short of Korea Republic’s unwanted record of 16 goals in two first-round matches in 1954.
Korea Republic
The South Koreans five goal haul from their three group matches constituted a record for an Asian World Cup participant.
Mexico
Rafael Marquez established a record for Mexico with his 12th World Cup appearance in the round of 16 matches against Argentina on 27 June- one more than goalkeeping legend Antonio Carbajal and his current teammate Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
Netherlands
For the first time ever the Netherlands were victorious in all three of their group stage matches.
New Zealand
New Zealand are one in only four teams in the World Cup to have been eliminated without losing any of their three group matches. Scotland (1974), Cameroon (1982) and Belgium (1998) complete the list of unlucky non-losers.
Nigeria
Twelve years and three days after his World Cup debut in France in 1998, Nigeria’s Nwankwo Kanu played in his third finals.
Paraguay
Paraguay topped their group for their first time in eight participations and went on to make their first appearance in the last eight of the World Cup.
Portugal
Portugal’s 7-0 win over Korea DPR on 21 June was one of the top ten biggest wins in World Cup history.
The top ten remain Hungary 10-1 El Salvador (1982), Hungary 9-0 Korea Republic (1954) and Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire (1974).
Serbia
Vladimir Stojkovic became the first goalkeeper from Serbia to save a penalty in World Cup history – not even as part of the former Yugoslavia had any previous Serbian custodian managed it.
Slovakia
In the last seven tournaments dating back to 1986, at least one debutant has advanced to the second stage. Slovakia, the only newcomers in 2010, upheld this tradition.
Slovenia
Slovenia recorded their first World Cup victory when they beat Algeria 1-0 on 13 June thanks to a late goal by Robert Koren.
South Africa
South Africa became the first host country not to qualify for the second stage despite recording a first victory over a former World Cup winner when beating France.
Spain
David Villa is the only Spanish player to have scored in four consecutive matches.
Frenchman Just Fontaine (1958) and Brazilian Jairzinho (1970) scored in six games running. Half a dozen players have made it onto the scoresheet in five consecutive outings.
Switzerland
Switzerland now hold the record for the longest period of time without conceding a goal in the World Cup – 559 minutes, 9 more than the previous record held by Italy. The Swiss sequence was ended in the match against Chile by a header from Mark Gonzalez.
Uruguay
Oscar Taberez set a new record for the most World Cup games (11) for a coach of Uruguay. The 63 year old has two more than Juan Lopez, who steered Los Charruas to the World title in 1950 and fourth place in 1954.
USA
American Michael Bradley, who struck the equalizer against Slovenia on 18 June, became the first World Cup goalscorer coached by his father.
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