SportScene

“The ultimate American sport” was how the NFL was sold to me by a friend when I first arrived in Atlanta for University just over 8 years ago. When I asked “Why?” I realised from the glee on his face that he had some form of witty retort ready: “Because it involves the taking of other people’s land by force.”

Over the past 8 years, I think I have probably used that same line on every occasion that I’ve been sitting with Americans and the NFL has come up in discussion. Most laugh, some look stern. On occasion I’ve received a lecture about my lack of appreciation of what the US has done for the world. It’s during that lecture that I drift off into my subconscious and replay Niall Quinn’s audacious chip over the Stockport County goalkeeper from the late 90’s in my own head.

I’ve never been a big fan of American Football. Similar to Ice Hockey, there was never a big market for it in North-East England. However, Sunday’s success story at Wembley shows that I am in the minority. For those that missed what happened, The New England Patriots destroyed The Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 3rd regular season game in as many years to be played in London. The turn-out for the game was very high indeed, with only a few of 86,000 seats not taken.

There’s even talk of playing more regular season games on foreign shores over the coming years, with locations as far flung as China being discussed. This is a far cry from the time the NFL tried to branch out into Britain when I was a kid. As far as I can remember, this was limited to petrol stations giving away commemorative glasses with purchases, so parents would be bludgeoned into filling up there to appease the shrieks of their offspring. I distinctly remember being gutted when my San Francisco ‘49ers glass got smashed. Not that I could name a single player from the squad from the mid 1980’s.

Perhaps the success of the past three seasons will lead to more games being played overseas. Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady had a wonderful game on Sunday and he said he would be interested in playing abroad again, as long as they get a bye the week after. However, European NFL fans shouldn’t get too excited just yet - the Pat’s head coach Bill Belichick was skeptical over whether teams would want to commute as far as Europe to play. Although a nice idea for fans abroad, the prospect of regular games being played in Europe is being viewed among playing and coaching staff the same way as the proposed “39th game” in the English Premier League: Great news for the money men, hard work for the players.

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It’s around this time of year when I treat myself and buy a new football management game. This means I’m sure to spend the majority of my free time over the coming months hunched over my Mac on an Irn Bru-fueled mission to take Sunderland into the Champions League. As I try to avoid the disapproving gaze of my flatmate (he’s American, therefore he just doesn’t understand), I end up justifying my hours of playing with the deluded belief that success on the game will put me on par with Hiddink, Mourinho, and Wenger. Like those managers, I’m also fairly rubbish when it comes to playing football. Maybe that’s the key.

Now right from the start I would like to state that I do know that my efforts trundling up and down the wing in the Moscow expat league can’t be compared to the playing careers of any of those managers. However, what is interesting is how many top players fall flat when they try and take up management.

This is of course not to suggest that no top players have gone on to be top managers; Johan Cryuff is one of the greatest players ever to take the field, and he had success with Ajax and Barcelona. Bob Paisley is the only manager to have won three European cups; he was also the defensive midfielder at the heart of Liverpool’s 1946/47 league winning side. On the other side of the coin Claude Anelka, DJ, agent and brother of sulky striker Nicholas, was one of the biggest jokes in Scottish football (which is saying something) during his disastrous tenure at Raith Rovers

One of the problems that great players like Diego Maradona seems to have is disengaging the ego that made them untouchable on the football field. Maradona’s time as Argentina boss has been painful to watch at times. Argentina may still qualify for the World Cup, but whether “El Diego” will still be the boss in eight months time is anybody’s guess. What I find more bizarre than the predicament Argentina currently find themselves in with the players they have, is the decision by the country’s footballing authorities to appoint Maradona in the first place. An international football manager has to have many qualities. Among them: a clear head, top-quality decision making and rational thinking. Even the most ardent Maradona worshiper would find it hard to argue that the former superstar has any of those. His erratic coaching style is not helped by his ego. For decades he was told time and time again that he was a god, and his outrage that the Pope didn’t single him out for any special treatment when they met suggests he may have taken the praise to heart.

If you compare Maradona to Russia’s boss Guus Hiddink, the two couldn’t be further apart. A Dutch second division winners medal with De Graafschrap is the highlight of Hiddink’s playing career. However, as a manager he has won 13 trophies, including the European cup, taken Holland and South Korea to fourth place in World Cup finals, and coached Russia to third at the European Championships. His tactics and style of management have been able to extract unbelievable results from sometimes quite limited sides. Russia will have to book a spot in South Africa through the playoffs, but, under his leadership, this doesn’t seem to worry too many commentators on Russian football – myself included.

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It’s here, the big one. Russia against Germany in Moscow gets underway on Saturday with the World Cup hopes and dreams of the two nations hanging in the balance. Mathematics has never been a strong point of mine, but even I can do the sums on this one. Germany come to the Luzhniki stadium with a one-point lead, knowing that a win would secure their spot in South Africa. Russia’s fate is in their own hands: beat Germany and all that stands in the way of a World Cup berth is a match in Baku against Azerbaijan which, without wanting to tempt fate, should be a formality.

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