The bird's music

A Little bird visits my window pane

and sings of love, 

and things of fun.

He draws thoughts from my heart, 

and weaves them into lyrical rhyme - 

Sings on, in his sunny voice. 

Everyday the song is different,

Everyday the aria, excellent,

Everyday I hear in harmony, "I love you so."

I look out from my window pane:

Near my singing bird, is another one.

Whistling a syllable, humming in unison - 

A different tone, lilting the same ode

A blithe trill from one to the other,

A serenade of love together.

A week of interesting play

As a world cup fan, I think it is important to do the following:

Support one team with your head: This team is the dependable one. They play well, have decent odds at winning and offer you, the fan, a great deal of excitement with their wins and a relatively low level of trauma if they loose, or fail at any stage

Support one team that is an underdog: This team truly adds colour to your world cup experience. Regardless of wins or losses, just supporting a team that has about a 1 in 32 chance of winning a game is exciting. Again, a win for this team is rewarding, and a loss is nothing out of the ordinary. 

Support one team with your heart and soul: This team is your football nectar. Watching this team play has your football passion at a crescendo. A win for them is a win for you. You will listen to critique about this team and still stick to your supporting ways. Their losses will hold you emotionally hostage and in many cases ruin your world cup. Their wins at any point will make you feel like the world is just darn beautiful. And, if they take the cup, you are set for life - every consecutive cup will have you recalling this win. This team is your football heart break and your football salvation. 

I feel that the above is an essential survival combination for non neutral game watchers!

But moving on from the fan side of things, the last week has produced some very exciting games. The Iran - Nigeria game was one that stood out, for the wrong reasons. It was incredibly boring. So boring, the first 15 minutes of the second half felt like two hours. A complete contrast to the Iran - Argentina game's second half. In the latter, I think the 4 4 2 strategy did wonders for Iran, and if I didn't like Argentina, I'd have been quite disappointed with the end result, in spite of another Messi inspired magic moment. I'm sure that the Nigeria - Bosnia game would have been boring. Regardless of Nigeria's win, I've no regrets over not watching that game.

Group D has been tantalising. After a pretty magnificent start in the Italy - England game, both teams were rather disappointing in their second games. Italy were only a reflection of their first game. Pirlo was as close to insignificant, versus Costa Rica, as is possible. The passes from midfield to the forwards were amateur, loose and ill timed. On the other side Costa Rica were refreshing. Their consistency from the previous game was a delight and I think the scoreline was an accurate representation of the game. In the other draw we had England take on Uruguay. It should have been a do or die game for both teams, and Luis Suarez's re-entry for team Uruguay sealed England's fate. For most of the game, things were even - pressure from both sides and a fair number of chances. And then, Suarez happened. If statistics are considered, the world should have been prepared for England's loss (they have never won a world cup finals game after conceding a goal, first). However Rooney finally had his world cup maiden goal. After some bad luck hitting the goal post with a pretty flavoursome header, Rooney eventually found the corner of the net, with a rather brilliant pass from the right. But sloppy defence, a dull Sterling ( who really should have been playing centre forward) and another Luis Suarez goal (where it looked like Gerrard forgot he is playing for England and not Liverpool), sealed England's fate. This does mean that Italy - Uruguay is going to be a stunning game - or so we hope.

I've got to talk about the Brazil - Mexico draw. This has got to be the most stunning 0 - 0 game in the world cup. Full of chances for Brazil, Ochoa was the man of the day saving goals left, right and centre. Again (and sadly for me), this leaves Group A quite open. I do think that Brazil game was improved and Thiago Silva had moments of brilliance, in defense, emulating Cafu. There was some Oscar brilliance missing and Jo's misses up front were nightmarish. Overall though, I still think Brazil has what it takes, and hopefully they come into full flow versus Cameron - again a do or die game.

Lastly, there was the game with the big dilemma: Germany - Ghana. I have been a bit peeved off with Ghana for letting the US beat them (completely unnecessary). I also love the German team. The draw was perfect for me. It meant Germany is still very much in position to qualify. It also means that if Portugal beat USA (how I wish) some sort of order can be established in the group of death. That aside, the game was very exciting, both teams playing for the win and never settling for the draw. Ghana dominated much of the game but the introduction of Klose and Schwinesteiger, for me was ruddy brilliant! 

The next week of football promises to be even more exciting and decisive. I can't wait to see who will meet in the first games of the knock out stages. Viva football!

Italy - England : My non-professional take :)

The weekend was made extra "busy" because of the games that had to be watched. None was more important this last weekend, then England - Italy.

Both are football power-houses. Both teams have had the worst luck at world cups. Both teams can be extremely lethargic at the biggest stage for football, and both can be surprisingly slow.

Like most people, I expected a draw and thought we were all justified when the scoreline was at 1-1. But we were wrong. Final score 2-1, Italy. This makes Group D even more interesting, especially after Costa Rica's win over a rather dull Uruguay.

Unlike other encounters between Italy & England, the game we had over the weekend was exciting. For the larger part of it, England dominated play, were unlike their usual sloppy selves (at the world cup stage) and it was quite surprising that they lost. It was exciting to see the younger, energetic team, make use of the experience of players like Gerrard and Lampard. Some of Gerrard's long passes from left back, to the right front were not only precise but prompted the best chances to score. Sterling was inspiring: I think he gave the team the inspiration and precision that has been lacking over the past years. Rooney didn't disappoint, and was as disappointing in the world cup as he has been over the last few years, playing for England. That might sound critical, but Rooney magic for this team needs to happen more often and more consistently. Is he a great player? Sure, but he just doesn't make it happen at these games. It is nice to see this team in action, and if they maintain their zing, it will be nice to watch their next few games.

Italy was the less impressive team, apart from some extraordinary play that came in intervals. While they certainly maintained the high energy of the game and had a slight edge over England with possession (So the statistics said, even though in the second half it was harder to actually see), I feel they could have been better. At 35, Pirlo was still the most exciting player to watch. His pass, that led to Italy's first goal was breath- taking, and had the magic taste of football that was played by the legends. (Honestly, it was like wow!!!) And, his free kick deserved to be a goal (damn the goal post!). Balotelli playing as the lone striker did what he had to in the second half, and delivered a great goal. For the rest of the game (before and after) he was blah! Chiellini & Di Rossi were, as always, solid and dependable for Italy. Antonio Candreva, in his no. 6 jersey was really a pleasure to watch in the game. Together with Pirlo, they have the power to give Italy a formidable midfield. One will hope that the team gets better with each game they play. If they do, they will be a force to reckon with.

So, there we have it, the game of the weekend.... and now, I can't wait for Germany - Portugal!

Go team Germany!

Knock-out!

I wish someone would knock-out my heart from its current residence, keep it there till the end of Brazil's game and return it to its home after they win. That I believe is the state of many Selacao fans (not the average fan;The REAL one's) The nerves are here to stay. As much as it is absolutely exciting, today's game is going to be a tough one for Brazil, and even tougher for fans. Sigh! For now thinking about how far this football show has progressed is more pressing...and relaxing!

48 matches and 136 goals scored; two weeks of play, and only one round done! That's an average of 2.83 goals (if we are to be mathematically correct), or 3 goals a game. Suffice to say, "What a world cup!" In fact it is a record breaking world cup, in terms of number of goals scored in the preliminary round. 

The goals have definitely lead to the surging excitement of the football fiesta, and the week that has passed has had a number of fascinating twists & turns; good and bad. 

I'd like to start with the Italy - Uruguay game. I personally feel that it was a football tragedy. Not only because of some dull Italian football, but predominantly because of bad referee calls and one, Luis Suarez. The jokes on the internet have provided fantastic entertainment, but at the back drop of a sad event in football - That a player can blatantly attack and bite another on the pitch and still finish the match is disappointing. For all his talent, Suarez's biting problem really ruined the game, and the magic of football. He not only let himself down, he let his team and country down! Regardless, Italy failed and are headed back home accompanied by an unaccomplished English team. 

Netherlands had a tough game against Chile, which does come to show that while they are playing some good football, they can be stopped! Spain apparently redeemed themselves with a win over a rather rough Australia (a return to their game of yore?) Colombia thrashed their Japanese counter parts and I believe they are a team to watch - for me they are more thrilling than the Chile squad. There is something very new and daring about the Colombian side (Hopefully we see more of this in their next game) 

The Greece - Ivory Coast game fluctuated constantly between being boring and exciting. At the end of it, Ivory Coast were a disappointing team that evening and Greece exploited that. Ghana and their off the pitch domestic drama were tossed out of the world cup (Disappointing that the African teams are always surrounded by such issues!) As a saving grace for Africa, Nigeria & Algeria are through to the knock-out stages! And what final games they both had! Nigeria held their own versus a star studded Argentina team - kudos! The Algeria - Russia game was fast paced, had movement across both sides of the pitch and was fun to watch! In contrast the other game in group H was truly boring. A 1 -0 win for Belgium was the only good thing about it. Otherwise, it was dull enough to have me switch over to the Algeria game. 

The US - Germany game was special. Mostly because the Germans won it with another moment of accurate and precise Muller action! What a goal that was! To be fair, the US team played a good game and you can see that Klinsmann has had a very positive influence on the team. Beasley has the ability to feed Dempsey with stunning passes and it must be said that Dempsey is still one of the most dangerous forwards, to date. He still maintains his uncanny way of running through the opposition's defence line leaving supporters screaming their lungs out, and non-supporters holding their breath. Germany played a reasonably good game but there were many worrying moments at midfield where they lost the ball carelessly. Something that they definitely cannot afford to do in their next games.

The stage is set now for the round of 16! Who will make it through? How many fans will be celebrating, and how many will be braving the world after heart wrenching disappointment? How many goals will we see? What magic moments will Brasil 2014 offer this week?

Brazil's First game

I couldn't resist writing about this. I am sure there is bias towards Brazil in this write-up, but the point is not to be unbiased, but to bring in a different perspective!

My prediction for the Brazil - Croatia game was a tough win for Brazil and a score line of 2-1. I did not expect the Croatian goal to come from a Brazilian touch!

I did expect that the Croatian midfield would put up a battle, and that there would be times when the Brazil defence line would be exposed. There were no surprises there.

There was also no surprise that everyone, everywhere (or most everyone, everywhere) has a lot of complaints and "critique" about the game, and more so about how Brazil played. I have constantly heard that the game was messy, Brazil played poorly, the referee made bad decisions, Croatia was great and so on. This obviously from "neutral" observers.

First of all, when Brazil play, there are a very few people who are neutral. Second, because expectations are so high with Brazil, the criticism is worse. Fair enough.

But here is what I saw as well. As much as Croatia did put up a great show, and did have many opportunities (yes and verily, exposed the Brazil defence (ermm why people were surprised or complaining about this, I don't know!) They did not score that first goal! Yes, they scored a second disallowed goal...and the referee has definitely been punched about this; C'est La Vie. It does happen in football. To be fair, while the foul was not intentional, the player did practically fall on the goalie! Remember the disallowed goal for England, that was a goal? That was probably worth more debate and drama than this incident.

Moving on, I also saw that Brazil had more shots on goal, more interesting play up front, some of the footwork and passes were tantalizing! Case in point, the entire play that prompted Neymar's goal! That was phenomenal. So was the last goal of the game - Oscar was fantastic! The set piece that led to the penalty was also well done. How about the time Neymar played in the ball from the line adjacent to the goal, back into play? Trust me, if this was another team - big or small - everyone would have been going gaga over these moves. Well, I am going gaga over it now.

Sure, Brazil need to get better over the course of the tournament. But kudos for battling out a tough match, and showing grit after a mess-up! Facing the crazy pressure from the world, and coming out tops! It is one match won, and one important job done. Come win or loss, this was the start that was needed. It's exciting to see Oscar do what he did and here is wishing him luck for the rest of the tournament! And Neymar - go for it!!!

So, bring on more games! bring on the samba beats, come rain or shine!

And it is here!

A few months ago, I wrote about the growing excitement of the world cup! (Football Fever)

That excitement has reached its climax and we are at the brink of another round of the greatest sporting event on planet earth.

And the excitement has hit home. General conversations around me have gradually, but persistently, changed from everything to simply Brazil 2014. Who will win? Who won't? Who do you support? When is the first game?

Even if the conversation is between people you do not know, there is an unyielding curiosity to find out who else is supporting your team, who isn’t, who can be incredible enough to not care…why, where, how?

One way or the other, world cup excitement gets under your skin. I always tell myself that the next world cup, I will remain calm and watch with a neutral mind set – may the best man (or men) win. Every four years, I realise how futile that is. 

Futile because I love the thrill, the anxiety, the endless rush of excitement when the lucky referee blows that unchangeable first whistle. This is it! How humdrum and dull if I couldn’t pick a side, and run with them, cry out in joyous passion when they score a goal, or weep in misery if they lose! Dreary!(but probably much better for my health!)

I am sure being a fan of any powerhouse team is daunting – there will be catcalls, doubting friends, teasing maniacs, bets lost, drinking sprees ending in tears or jeers! It is a tough call for fans. Being a Brazil fan is even more daunting. As five time champions the pressure on the team and fans alike is sizzling! But a Brazil fan I am! And looking forward to another round of our football passion!!!!

So, let's all try and keep calm and watch the world cup 2014! And go Brazzzzzziiiilllllllll!!!!!!