mutuamaundu: Stand-Out Memoirs From Brazil 2014!

mutuamaundu: Stand-Out Memoirs From Brazil 2014!:   After a grueling 120-plus minutes at the historic Maracana Stadium, Germany were deservedly crowned the world champions. A 113 th su...

Stand-Out Memoirs From Brazil 2014!

  After a grueling 120-plus minutes at the historic Maracana Stadium, Germany were deservedly crowned the world champions. A 113^th sublime finish from super-sub, Mario Goetze crashed the hopes of all Argentinians. But perhaps, Argentina, still reeling in tears will live to rue the glorious chances that they missed to seal the final. Gonzalo Higuain (21^st), Lionel Messi (46^th) and Rodrigo Palacios (96^th) all failed to inflict pain on the Germans. 

  This year’s World Cup will be remembered for the breath-taking goals that we witnessed. From van Persie’s lobbed header that took the gas out of Spain, David Luiz’s scrorching 30-yard free kick that eliminated Colombia in the Quarters, Lionel Messi’s curling stunner against Iran that broke the Iranian hearts, James Rodriguez’s thunderous left-footed volley that eliminated Uruguay in the Round of 16, to Mario Goetze’s sublime volley that won the cup for the Germans, Brazil 2014 saw many exceptional goals! But what are the stand-out memories from Brazil 2014?

  When The Dutch clobbered Spain’s La Roja Furia 5-1 in the group stage, Robin van Persie had his moment of glory and a stand-out goal that stood out for the audacity with which he lobbed a diving header over Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal. The striker sprang in the air to meet a raking cross from left-back, Daley Blind. A lob header that will take time to be eclipsed! Audacious famous dink the ball with their feet, however van Persie took it a notch higher and did it with his head!

  In the Round of 16 clash between USA and Belgium, Tim Howard made a record 16 daring saves that kept the Americans in the game, till the extra time loss of 2-1! Remember that after these heroics, Howard was randomly tested for any performance enhancing stimulus in his system!

  In a scintillating Quarter final that swung from end to end, between The Netherlands and surprise package, Costa Rica, Loui van Gaal made that change that earned The Dutch a place in the semis, never mind that the game was a nerve-wrecking affair! After The Netherlands had crashed the post three times, as the game wore into the final minutes of extra time, Newcastle’s Tim Krul came in for Jasper Cillesen, and went on to save two of Costa Rica’s spot-kicks as The Dutch went on to win 4-3. Talk of a gem of a substitution by Louis van Gaal!

  As the home team and the Selecao faithful marched on into the Quarter final against their South American rivals, Colombia, nothing prepared them for what lay ahead. With 2-1 lead after David Luiz’s cracking 30-yard free kick, Brazillian wonder-kid, Neymar Jnr was sent crashing in pain, with a career-threatening vertebral injury by Colombia’s Juan Camilo Zuniga. No card was issued for the foul, and what initially appeared a simple knock, gad suddenly left Neymar in tears, a World Cup over and the Brazillian dream was dealt a blow. This is the injury that Brazillians will forever bemoan and curse, as without their talisman, Selecao were never going to match the frighteningly scary Germans in the semi-finals. Neymar’s injury simply re-defined a Brazillian side that was clearly built around him. The curse of the 2014 World Cup!

  Enter Selecao and the Germans in a feisty semi-final affair at the Estadio Meinerao. But was anyone in the entire world prepared for the roasting that Neymar-less Selecao were bludgeoned into by an inspired German side that put 7 past them?  In an astonishing first 18 minutes, Brazil was shell-shocked and soaked in five goals! The 7-1 score line went down the history books a Brazil’s worst result in the World cup and embarrassingly worse, on home soil! You can rub your eye again and again, but the score line stands!

    On July 13 inside the Historic Maracana, Germany came face to face with Les Albiceleste in a potentially cracking final! Gonzalo Higuain missed a 21^st minute sitter while one-on-one with Manuel Nuer in the Germany goal! In a minute, Germany were almost tossed out of the game, but they lived! Later, the always dependable Lionel Messi failed to score in the 46^th minute and Rodrigo Palacios too missed in the 96^th minute. These are the moments that scared the Germans fans to the spine, but Argentina will forever bemoan them. Germany too had their chances. But when substitute Andre Schuerrle escaped down the left wing in the 113^th minute of extra time, Germany fans were sent into derilium as fellow substitute Mario Goetze deftly controlled the ball on his chest and sent a rasping volley that left Romero with no chance in the Argentina goal! Germany had won the Jules Rimet for the fourth time! Heartbreak for Argentina!

                              

                       Reach the writer on jeanmutua@yahoo.com, mutuamaundu14@gmail.com

mutuamaundu: Frenetic and Absorbing Action as Brazil 2014 enter...

mutuamaundu: Frenetic and Absorbing Action as Brazil 2014 enter...:   Frenetic and absorbing action best describes the penultimate stages of Brazil 2014, since the football extravaganza entered the Roun...

Frenetic and Absorbing Action as Brazil 2014 enters its Penultimate Stages!

  Frenetic and absorbing action best describes the penultimate stages of Brazil 2014, since the football extravaganza entered the Round of 16. Forget the big boys like Spain, Italy and England who all fell victims to the tenacity of small of unfancied teams like, Costa Rica and Chile, this world cup has simply lived to its billing as the globe’s greatest football show!

  Since the first Round of 16 match between hosts Brazil and Chile, that was decided on spot-kicks, after the teams slug it and tied after a pulsating 120 minutes, the other knock-out matches only got better. Out of the eight Round of 16 matches, only two were decided in normal time, four were decided in a nail-biting extra time while two ended in the dreaded penalty shoot-out, the nightmare to every player and fan! Brazil-Chile( spot-kicks), Germany-Algeria (extra time), Nigeria-France (normal time), Netherlands-Mexico (extra time), Argentina-Switzerland (extra time), Belgium-USA (extra time), Costa Rica-Greece (spot-kicks) ad Uruguay-Colombia (normal time)!

  In the enthralling Quarters, only The Netherlands-Mexico match ended up in post-match penalties, even after the former had hit the post three times and dominated a Costa Rica side, who too had their share of unlucky moments in the Netherlands goal! The Brazil-Colombia match will forever be remembered for David Luiz’s audacious game-winning free kick that swerved into the Colombia net from almost 30 yards out! Germany-France saw the former hang onto a 12^th minute Mat Hummel’s header, even as France, led by Karim Benzema threatened to nip the game in the dying minutes, as only Manuel Nuer stood firmly in goal for the Germans. The Argentina-Belgium affair was action packed too, and that is the game where Napoli man, Gonzalo Higuain scored a scorcher in the eighth minute and shook the crossbar late in the second half, after leaving the Belgium defense reeling in his wake, from a devastating run! The game where Higuain announced his arrival in Brazil!

  The average per match goal statistics are the best so far as compared to past tournaments, at a staggering 2.83! Now, this tells you that this goal-laden football carnival and goals are in plenty! The total number of goals scored before the Quarter final stage was 156, as compared to the 145 that were scored in the entire tournament at South Africa 2010! 

  As Brazil-Germany and Argentina-Netherlands prepare to face off in the last four, the action promises to be as action-packed as the knock-outs have proved or even better! The fans must be getting real value for their tickets and even as the winner lifts the trophy in the historic Estadio Maracana, all football fans will undoubtedly enjoyed it in Brazil!

  sportskenya.blogspot.comRemember Faryd Mondragon, the Colombian shot-stopper who tasted his first world cup at USA 1994? He became the oldest player to grace the world cup when he came on for David Ospina in the 85^th minute in the 4-1 drubbing of Japan. At 43 years and 3 days, Mondragon broke the 20-year old record held by Cameroun’s Roger Milla.

                                     Reach the writer at jeanmutua@yahoo.com, mutuamaundu14@gmail.com

Without Neymar, Selecao might get more potent against all Odds!

  So now Selecao’s mercurial No. 10, Neymar is out of the remaining part of the football carnival in his homeland. The darling of the home crowd broke into tears yester-night as he was carried off the field, with a broken bone after a nasty airborne challenge from Colombia’s Juan Zuniga in their 2-1 win Quarter final match at Estadio Governador Placido. The injury took some gloss off the host nation’s win and a semi-final clash against Germany on Tuesday at Estadio Meinerao, Belo Horizonte.

  Yes the Brazillian shave sadly lost their match-winner to injury, as the tournament nears its most crucial stage. But hey, Willian has been waiting in the ranks and his substitute appearance shave showed some of his glimpses that have made him one of Chelsea’s midfield mainstays, in his first season at the English Premier League club. Again he combines flair with physicality and hard-running that makes him a handful for opposing defenses. He missed his spot-kick against Chile in the Round of 16 thriller, but if he gets his full chance against the Germans on Tuesday, then Brazil is still in safe hands. Chelsea’s Oscar has been relegated to the fringes in the tournament so far due to Neymar’s exploits, so the absence of the latter might be a blessing for Oscar to lift Brazil over the Germans.

  With Neymar’s dazzling skills and potent goal-scoring touch, Luis Felipe Scolari mainly centered on the Barcelona. However, with his absence in such a crucial stage, the entire team will now share the responsibility and might pose an even devastating threat to Joachim Loew’s German side, in their last-four clash. The mercurial No 10 will be sadly watching from the sidelines, but Brazil should summon their energies and give the Jules Rimet Trophy to the football-mad country, just as Neymar has been fighting to before the injury cut short his dreams. the combined statistics of Jo, Hulk and Fred as the other striking options for Selecao might not be that inspiring or even come close to those of Neymar, both the assists and goals, but they should ably stand in for the injured talisman and lead Selecao to a record sixth crown in front of the adoring home fans.

  The Samba Boys are at home, they have a world cup winning bench of Luis Felipe Scolari (Japan/ South Korea, 2002) and Carlos Alberto Perreira (USA, 994) and a vocal home crowd that should give them the necessary lift, as they face a tough German side that barely scrapped past the French, in the second Quarter final match. A Mat Hummels header from a Tony Kroos free kick guided them to a 1-0 win, as they survived a devastating second half onslaught from France. In the first last eight match, the hosts dominated Colombia and settled for a 2-1 win that was sealed by an audacious David Luiz free kick, after James Rodriguez penalty had cancelled out captain Thiago Silva’s opener. Both teams struggled past their opponents and their semi-final clash should be a tantalizing one.

  The only other concern for Brazil is Captain Thiago Silva’s booking that rules him out of the semi-final.  But his absence alongside that of Neymar, should not lock them out against the Germans, despite being serious blows.Dante, Henrique, Willian and Ramires should all rise up to the occasion and step into the big shoes of Neymar and Thiago Silva, on Tuesday against a gritty German side.

Reach the writer at jeanmutua@yahoo.com, mutuamaundu14@gmail.com

Saba Saba Will be Purely a Political mania!

Over 15,000 police officers deployed around the Central Business District; to patrol the roads within the city and a third batch of the 15,000 cops to keep vigil in the slums. At least eight regions have been put on the spotlight as possible hotspots for violence. These are Kisumu, Naivasha, Nairobi, Mombasa, Limuru, Baringo and Tana River. These are the various parts of the nation that are already bearing the brunt of heightened political action and the tension that it has generated.

Too much brouhaha about the Saba Saba Day that the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) faction has capitalized on. Top in the agenda list for CORD are the high cost of living, insecurity, corruption, tribalism in public appointments and the Disbanding of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), among others. Calls for a dialogue with the JUBILEE government have not been granted, and now this has been turned into political contests. One wonders whether these real issues that are hurting Kenyans can be addressed through a political rally at Uhuru Park. I beg to differ with CORD’s approach, since these can all be addressed through provisions in the constitution. The approach by Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetangula and others within the CORD brigade is the wrong one.

 The Saba Saba Day has more than ever created tension, upped political temperatures to an all time high, put the nation in an election mood and as it is now, it is doing more harm than good. The issues that CORD raised are genuine but they have hidden behind them to push for political milestones. We are not opposed to CORD’s mind, neither are we defending the government, No. this nation belongs to all of us, and the ordinary Kenyan bears the brunt of any misfortune, political inclination not withstanding.

As a Kenyan who has tasted the politics of this nation and seen how self-seeking our politicians are, it is sad that Kenyans are being forced to fight a political battle that is not theirs. They will be driven in their masses through political cheap-talk, to converge at Uhuru Park, spend an entire day, listening to politicians who will never make their lives better, or put ugali on their tables. Long-suffering Kenyans will attend the political rhetoric, whereas the children and families of these politicians lavish in luxurious lives, in the country’s leafy suburbs or outside the country. Politicians are witty; they exploit the despondency on the Kenyan faces, for their own good.

Monday is a working day; the government has not declared it an holiday. War unto you if you risk your hard-paying job for political rhetoric that will last a day. At the end of the day, the same hopelessness, helplessness and gloom is what we will go to live with in our houses, if we follow the politician’s words. We should go to Industrial Area and do our casual jobs there, go to our offices and spend a normal working day with our bosses; we should continue being the allure to both local and foreign investors. This political game in the name of Saba Saba is not about the Kenyans, it is about the interests of the politicians. The Seventh day of July is a day that since its inception in the clamor for multi-party democracy in the 90’s served a good cause. However, next week it will not be serving the same honest concern, No.

All said and done, when the deliberate decibels of political talk go down and the political hang-overs disappear, then as a nation we will see clearly and seek ways of ending these troubles that are holding our nation back. Tribalism, mega-corruption, insecurity, unemployment and high costs of living among others are all threatening our survival as a nation. That is a fact we can never run away from. Both the JUBILEE government under the stewardship of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, and then CORD under the tutelage of Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetangula must lead the nation to the solutions. The entire country should too join the efforts.

Let us not be used at the behest of politicians and ululate any time they give us political talk. After all, Kenya is one, it is our only home ad if we do not protect it, then we lose our beloved home. Saba Saba or not, we must keep peace. Those who disturb it must face the full force of our law.

Reach the writer at jeanmutua@yahoo.com., mutuamaundu14@gmail.com

Algeria, The Stars of a Dim African Outing at Brazil 2014

So now all our flag bearers to Brazil have bowed out, some embarrassingly dejected and one with heads held high! Cameroun’s Indomitable Lions, Ivory Coast’s Les Elephants and Ghana’s Black Stars all left the home of football a crestfallen lot, heads held low and a heartbroken fan base back home and across the entire continent. So much went wrong, from wrangles over match bonuses, disciplinary cases and all. But as a continent once again sets on a painful four-year wait until Russia 2018, one team must surely go home heads high and get the reception that champions deserve. It is not Nigeria’s Super Eagles, despite going out in the Round of 16, to Les Bleus, No. The team is Algeria’s Desert Foxes, under the tutelage of Vahid Halilhodzic. They landed in Brazil as a team that not many in their wildest imagination ever gave a chance of hitting big. Of all the five African flag bearers to the football carnival, nobody gave them any serious consideration. But once Brazuka got rolling, a close 2-1 loss to Belgium, followed by a comprehensive 4-2 thrashing of South Korea, suddenly got heads talking. A hard-earned 1-1 draw with a determined Russia side, all but sealed their place in the last 16! By this time, Africa;s big boys; Cameroun Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire had all been eliminated. Suddenly, African hopes were in the hands of a team that was initially un-fancied. In their winner takes it all, Round of 16 clash against a well-oiled German machine, Desert Foxes held it tough, gallantly fought and withstood the German power. After a an absorbing 90-minute affair in Porto Alegre, the game was tied at 0-0. Extra time was needed to separate the two. Less than two minutes into the 30-minute extra time, Andre Schrulle tapped an inviting Thomas Muller cross past the Algerian keeper. Sadly, a Mesut Ozil goal deep into the second half all but sealed Algeria’s fate. However, they scored a consolation as the clash wound to an end. Desert Foxes had bowed out, albeit honorably so. As Africa goes into a sojourn of fo otball soul-searching, we must all laud Algeria, the unfancied team to Brazil that came to touching distance of a last-8 spot, at the expense of a tough European team! They did us proud, excelled in their group and came second, scored a record four goals in single match, the first ever by an African team in the history of the world cup, and gallantly matched a tough Germany side in their Round of 16 thriller. To cap off a memorable tourney for the Algerians was a first-ever appearance in the Round of 16! Africa is once again disappointed and downcast a s her boys miserably failed once again, but to Algerians, the boys stood up and matched some of the world’s best, never mind that few if any, gave them a chance! Halilhodzic and his charges put some smiles on the African faces. As Les Elephants, Indomitable Lions and Black Stars, disappointed the great hopes that Africa had in them, Super Eagles put some smiles on the faces. The Desert Foxes lit up our faces even more, they reached for the stars and gave it a gallant fight. As Africa once again writes a sad chapter in her football history, Algeria shines on the brighter side. From the underdogs to the near giant-killers at Brazil 2014! A proud moment in Algerian soccer! Reach the writer at jeanmutua@yahoo.com, mutuamaundu14@gmail.com