Thu 22 Jun 06
Christopher Hitchens’ Least Favourite Footie Analyst
Henry Kissinger dissects the realpolitik of World Cup playing styles:
Note the three primary playing styles — but also the way globalization is homogenizing them. Dr. Kissinger separates the approaches to the game into three broad types: English, European continental and Latin. The traditional English style focuses on winning through athleticism — kicking the ball deep and long and then outrunning the opponent, with defenders and attackers well-defined. With the European style, six players typically move forward and pass skillfully and four players remain back. That said, they often shift positions so that defenders can become attackers.
His favorite is the Latin approach, which is about style as much as substance. “When a Brazilian team is in good form, it looks like a ballet coming down the field. There are two troubles with the Brazilians: One is they get so infatuated with their dancing and acrobatics that they sometimes forget to shoot goals. The other is they often don’t have a good goalkeeper. My explanation is that he doesn’t like staying back and not joining the fun.”
Somehow the good doctor overlooked Italy’s new fusion of catenaccio with Cosa Nostra, where all eleven players eventually sit in the docket. Not at all beautiful and fun only for those of us who savour every last spicy morsel of schadenfreude.
H/T The Rebel Sell
Paul Canniff
