Author's note: Written on 25.06.2010, Shiki, Japan.
Had an early wrap up at work on Friday. And while I did consider the suggestion of my colleagues to spend this last evening in Ikebukuro, I was not very keen on going there without company.
So once back in the hotel, I just plopped on the bed and flicked on the television, an apparatus I rarely disturb in this hotel. But on this particular evening, I did decide that I had time to kill before beginning to pack and so started surfing the limited choice of channels. On one of them was the world cup soccer match between……hang on….it was a Jap channel so I had to wait a while until the English display would show up. Ok, so it was a match between Italy and Slovakia (rerun, I learnt later).
Though I'm not one of those football aficionados who'd totter to the tv sets at 2 am to watch some European premier league match, I have been keeping a decent track of the World Cup event….so far. This year that enthusiasm too has waned.
However, I did continue to watch this particular match, my first in the ongoing world cup. Italy vs Slovakia.
The match seemed to be going strategically nowhere when I suddenly felt Slovakia might spring a surprise. Whenever footballing giants have undermined their weaker opponents, they have been rudely shocked. It happened to Germany in 1994 when little known Bulgaria suddenly exploded exploiting the German callousness and staged a major upset.
It was waiting to happen now. Italy was playing a haphazard game with no intention of getting anywhere when without notice Robert Vittek broke loose and shot the ball past a fumbling Italian goalkeeper. The Slovakian fans tore the monotonous humdrum with an uproar of celebrations. Italian coach Marcello Lippi had distress written all over him and looked like he could breakdown into bucketfuls any moment.
The visibly shaken Azzuris continued hankering around the rest of the first half. The second half seemed no different. While Slovakia was playing a markedly superior game in every aspect, Italy seemed to be wishing for a miracle. And it did happen, but for the opposition, with Vittek firing once more into the Italian nets. The goalkeeper was horrified. The defense was stunned. Their coach was hapless. The Slovakian camp was in a hysterical frenzy.
Around the seventieth minute Italy did manage a break through. After multiple failed attempts, they finally struck one past the Slovakian keeper. 2-1 still to Slovakia. And while this little shot in the arm seemed to rekindle Italian hopes, their goal-keeper committed a fatal error in judging the next wave of Slovakian onslaught. He ran towards an approaching striker leaving his gates completely unguarded. A simple manouver from his opponent and the ball found itself kissing the Italian nets once again. The goalkeeper was aghast. It seemed by the expression on his face that he wouldn't know in a thousand years what hit him. Captain Cannavaro was barely containing his agony. The fans fell into a lull of silence. This one mistake probably cost them more than they could imagine because they did manage to score again with barely five minutes to spare. Too little too very late. While some players in the box still rooted for the Azzuris to surge ahead, nearly everyone saw the writing on the wall.
When the final whistle was blown, the better, more methodical, more focussed team on the field that day had won and rightly so. Tears streamed down Italian faces, players tried to console themselves and others. Another sensational upset. Another world cup great humbled by taking too much for granted.
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