#noelshaw

On match Day One of the tournament, we pass on the downtown tapas bar and decamp instead to a living room with a rather large screen. There we are afforded the opportunity to catch up on each other's lives while enjoying a repast representative of the futbol superpowers: sopressata, prosciutto, risotto for Italy; queso de manchego for Spain; a Malbec red for Argentina.

During the pre-game, we mull over why we are obsessed by this game. The Brazil World Cup has no shortage of conflicts, characters, issues that are political and frivolous. There have been protests in host nation Brazil over the exhorbitant amounts of money that will be spent on staging this sports spectacular, as well as on the Olympic Games in a mere two years time, funds that many feel could be expended more equitably on Brazilian hospitals and schools. Residents of favelas have been displaced from their homes to give way to the construction of stadiums. International governing body FIFA are under fire for corrupt practice. These developments surrounding the World Cup greatly disturb and ignite anger. Dave Zirin's work at The Nation and his book, Brazil's Dance With The Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics And The Fight For Democracy, appears to be the enriching source of insight on these matters. We are not going to simply ignore the corrosive politics at hand here, but we are going to fully enjoy the sport.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/22/brazils_dance_with_the_devil_dave

Being Filipinos, we inevitably turn our convo toward our own follies that pass for politicking back home. A privilege speech delivered in Philippine Congress accompanied by the presentation of a music video performance rattle and rile. Fortunately, before we are mired too deeply in the direction of this dreary discourse, the match begins. The pressure on the Selecao to win the Cup for the host nation is immense. They look jittery in this opener but eventually score three goals–Marcelo puts one in for the guys, Croatia; Neymar fires one into the corner from distance; and later he delivers a PK from the spot. Neymar does what Neymar is supposed to do, insistently taking every corner kick, every throw-in, being in, on and around the ball as much as possible. The strategy works for the Brazil XI.

All is status quo after match Day One. Now we can finish off the wine, go back to being armchair revolutionaries, and share titillating tsismis about our literary cohorts. Document ends here. 

Tiki taka

Futbol. Soccer. The beautiful game. Fluid ball movement. Creating, and filling in space on the field to achieve the optimal potential for practical, sublime passing. My appreciation for this style of play came to me in 1974 when I watched the World Cup for the first time. Johan Cruyff led the Dutch national team, brandishing a technical and tactical approach of play known as Total Football. Although Holland eventually lost the title game to host West Germany, the Dutch side featured attackers, midfielders, defenders, each with the capable skills to step in for any out of position player. It was the ultimate strategy for the organization of space on a futbol pitch.

  Johan Cruyff would later (1988 to 1996) become manager of Barcelona, where he evolved Total Football into a thrilling form of one-touch passing to be called tiki-taka. Control of the gameflow with short, precise ball movement, economical footwork and graceful toe and heel flicks encompasses tiki taka. Today Barca, and especially Lionel Messi, embody this style. And the national team of Spain have employed creative tiki taka ball possesion to win the 2010 Copa Mundial and the last two European Cups.

  Spain and Holland go head to head today in a rematch of the 2010 Cup final in their first Group Stages game. The legacies of Total Football and tiki taka collide once again. For me, a lifelong Arsenal fan, it is the Gunners of North London who most thrillingly exemplify tiki taka futbol. In a league game this past year against Norwich, Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere gave a stunning display of graceful, pinball flicks, with Wilshere delivering a striking finish past the gobsmacked goalkeeper. No matter which club one roots for in League play, or which nation during the Copa Mundial, this was a goal that brings out our love for the beautiful game.

So here we go, the games have begun.

Join me and some writer-friends and colleagues as we blog the 2014 World Cup.