Ukraine: it's still happening

Day -499. WorldCup2018

We're under 500 days. I've only got to do this for another 499 days. Almost there.

I like the silly side of football, the transfer deadline day stories of yesterday being a good example, simply because those nonsensical stories are easy to get caught up in without any serious repercussions. An argument about whether Andros Townsend will be the most bought-and-sold player in England this year is hardly going to get anybody too worked up, other than getting frustrated at not being able to think of a good humorous riposte. Townsend, by the way, is still a Crystal Palace player and the window is now closed until the summer. Newcastle fans are probably a little unsure as to whether to be happy about that or not.

That lightheartedness contrasts very sharply with an ongoing story that many of us have forgotten: Ukraine. Last year I used to write a lot about Russia, hosts of the next World Cup, and it's questionable military and diplomatic tactics in Ukraine and Syria. If Ukraine qualify for Russia 2018 it is going to be very, very interesting if they have to play against Russia, in Russia. Football may bring people together but politics will trump this match and emotional reactions could reach dangerous levels. The Ukraine-Russia crisis may not be in the news daily anymore But it has not gone away. Russia will always deny that it has any military presence but it's "volunteers" and "off-duty soldiers" are still waging a war against the Ukrainian army. Today was the third day of heavy fighting between the two sides in the eastern region of Donbass that has left an unconfirmed amount of civilians dead and at least eight Ukrainian troops. It has also caused a huge amount of suffering for the residents of a couple of towns who are without electricity at a time when temperatures have plunged to -20C.

It is hard to see that there will be a diplomatic solution before the next World Cup. It is more believable to accept that when Vladimir Putin decides the time is right, he will escalate this war. And if he does it under the guise of ensuring peace before the World Cup that will be pretty disgusting.

Andros Townsend: will he or won't he, again?

Day -500. WorldCup2018

Tomorrow, January 31st, is one of the two craziest days in English football. It is transfer deadline day. The other one, August 31st, is a lot more unbelievable, ridiculous and almost revolting in terms of the amount of money that is spent by football teams on players. It is what huge television revenue has done, allowing clubs to inflate the prices of players on the market and they will out spend each other not to become champions of England but to qualify for the Champions League and earn even more money from UEFA television deals. Football clubs are run by owners who are in the business of making money. Winning is but a useful tool.

One thing I enjoy about transfer deadline day is all the ridiculous rumours that fly around. All the English newspapers and TV stations have constant updates on their websites. In an effort to keep ahead of the competition they publish many reports they receive from questionable sources about certain players, or agents, seen talking to a manager or owner of a club for which they do not play. There is a lot of humour amongst the huge transfer fees.

Of course there are numerous stories leading up to the day. This is my favourite one and we will have to wait to see if it is true. Newcastle want to buy Andros Townsend, the sometime or former England winger, from Crystal Palace. Manager Rafa Benitez has allegedly insisted that the Newcastle cheque-signers do indeed authorise one for £15m. That seems like a pretty reasonable amount for a team at the top of the second tier of English football to spend as they attempt to return to the promised land of the Premier League. Why not add some attacking firepower? Well, this is the same player they sold to Crystal Palace last summer for £13m after they were relegated. They didn't need a luxury player like Townsend in the rough and tough battleground of the Championship. And this is the same player they bought from Tottenham last January to help with their battle against relegation to their Championship, for £12m.

So, £12m for a saviour who didn't work out, a £1m profit to offload the same player who would be of little use in the Championship and a £2m loss to bring him back a year later to be the the star player who ensures they get out of the Championship, where they ended up with him in the team. But I could go round in circles for ever, just like Townsend might keep going back and forth between London and Newcastle.

It adds a, well, added twist to the player loyalty argument.

Afcon:The days before the semifinals

Day -501. WorldCup2018

The African Cup of Nations is down to the final four. Just like with a World Cup this is when you, I, really, start thinking that one of these teams is actually going to win the whole thing. Before that it's a whole bunch of matches between teams hoping to stay in a day longer. And with the days off before the semifinals it adds to the suspense. We are waiting for the best four teams in Africa to show us what they can do to prove they are the very best.

On Wednesday Bukina Faso play Egypt and on Thursday it's Ghana against Cameroon. Ghana beat DR Congo 2-1 today and Egypt scored a very late winner to destroy Moroccan hearts. Essam El Hadary, Egypt's 44 year old goalkeeper, still hasn't conceded a goal.

I watched a little bit of Egypt's match today. It made me long for the World Cup, days of watching football between two countries I wouldn't normally watch. It's a wonderful distraction from the gloom that can be going on in the world. Twenty-two men chasing a ball, with thousands cheering them on. That's my happy place.

Sadio....this is Jurgen.

Day -502. WorldCup2018

It's late and in less than 3 hours the epic, mother of all Australian Open tennis finals between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will start. I know it's going to be an epic, but that doesn't mean I'll be up at 3.30. When the World Cup was on in South Korea and Japan in 2002 I was up at all hours. Fourteen years later I can't handle the day after a sleepless night.

My point was that I have to keep this short. I won't be up at 3.30 but still early to catch the end of it. The first two Afcon quarterfinals were played today. Burkina Faso beat Tunisia 2-0 and Cameroon beat Senegal on penalties, after a 0-0 draw.

Sadio Mane missed the last penalty for Senegal. I think his Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, texted him just before the penalty shoot-out started and pleaded with him to miss. "We really need you Sadio. These guys are lost without you. They went and lost against Wolves today in the FA Cup. Wolves! Yes, me too, I had never heard of that team before today. But somebody told me just before the match that their manager had won the European Cup with Borussia Dortmund once upon a time in the past. So I had to pretend that I respected Paul Lambert because he is a legend in Dortmund. Damn him. He did what I couldn't do with Dortmund and today he comes to Anfield with a team I'd never heard of and beats us. Please, Sadio, come back. And sorry this was a really long text. You're probably paying a lot of money just to read it. Save your money. Don't reply. See you soon. Please. Penalty miss, ahem, please."

About loyalty and Seinfeld

Day -503. WorldCup2018

A friend's rant today about football players changing clubs for money reminded of comedian Jerry Seinfeld's theory on supporting a team. Players' loyalties are constantly questioned now, and the China factor has added a new dimension. But so too is there a worry that clubs are ready to cash in on their star players when they can. The balance between winning and running a successful, money making business is shifting to the latter. And, it can be argued, if clubs didn't make money there would be no club to support anyway.

The problem of transferring between teams is now also becoming a problem at the International level. I believe the sometimes despised globalisation phenomenon is going to lead to the end of national teams made up of players born in that country. It'll be increasing hard to know where a player is really from. Diego Costa was born Brazilian but became a Spanish citizen and now plays for Spain. He grew up as a Brazilian footballer but Spain now reaps the benefits. Wilfrid Zaha, of Crystal Palace, grew up in England, was given his football opportunities in England, played for England twice in friendlies, but has now decided to play for Ivory Coast, his country of birth. And there are all the Albanian and Swiss players who could play for either team, or even for Kosovo now.

Will players just go to whatever country will take them? Malta found a "Maltese" player in England. Luke Gambin has a Maltese grandfather, but no other connection with Malta. He is now a regular in the team. There are more and more stories like this nowadays.

So Jerry Seinfeld's joke may be truer than it seemed. We may be watching a World Cup in the future made of players who are wearing our country's clothes but are not part of our country. We will be "rooting for the clothes" because we won't know who the players really are.

"Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify. Because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city, you’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it. You know what I mean, you are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt, they *hate* him now. Boo! Different shirt!! Boo." (Jerry Seinfeld)

Giovinco to China?

Day -504. WorldCup2018

I've been trying to write this for a while, but there's nothing. It's one of those days.

The only football I sort of followed today was Hull's hard fought 2-1 win against Manchester United in the League Cup semifinal second leg. Hull haven't had much joy this season. And when they do get a win it means nothing. United win on aggregate and go on to the final at Wembley. Such is the joy of aggregate scores over two legs. That would have sounded like a completely foreign sentence to many North Americans a few years ago. Aggregate? Two legs? But thanks to MLS play-offs adopting the same two match system, that football-speak has hit these shores.

Speaking of MLS and TFC (wasn't I?) fans here are worried about superstar player Seba Giovinco jumping on the enough-money-for-my-granchildrens'-lifetime plane to China. His agent says he is happy here, he loves the TFC family but that the league needs to start thinking about spending some serious money if they want to compete for more Giovinco's and less 38 year old Frank Lampards.
Andrea D'Amico: "At the same time, I have my idea of MLS. Now, MLS is just like the Olympic Games with no professional athletes. They need to go forwards in the direction of increasing the market, increasing the number of big players...."

"I think no one in the world has the facilities, the lifestyle, the organization, the marketing that MLS has. It’s a fantastic place to live. So, if North America doesn’t want to commit more... we need that. In my opinion, we have to accelerate this project. I saw more than 150,000 people at the stadiums in the three games against Montreal and Seattle."

Agents, eh? The man is in the business of making more money for himself. Why not? That's his thing and his measure of success. And if he and others weren't around, would the Giovinco's come here? But if Giovinco does go to China, Mr. D'Amico won't be too unhappy with his payday. I think he's still holding out that he could make his big money in the MLS market. He's not ready for China, yet.

Salah! What a goal!

Day -505 WorldCup2018

The last group matches at Afcon were played today. Egypt beat Ghana 1-0 and Mali and Uganda, yes, drew 1-1. Egypt and Ghana move on. Egypt play Morocco in the quarterfinals and Ghana play DR Congo.

Egypt v Morocco. That has the feeling of a classic, a titanic struggle between two teams trying to steal the thunder from their recently more illustrious fellow North African team, Algeria. Or it could turn out to be really boring.

With Egypt moving on the dream is still alive for their third choice, 44 year old goalkeeper, Essam El Hadary, to win his fifth Afcon, the first coming in 1998.

Today's the kind of day that I needed to hear an excited commentator, getting excited about a pretty exciting goal. It was quite the special one from Mohamed Salah, formerly of Chelsea, now at Roma. The goal celebration was fun to watch too, in that it had three elements of a celebration of which a player normally chooses one. Salah went for all three.

First he did the "I've just scored an amazing goal but I'm too cool to acknowledge it." When that was done he quickly jogged off to find some empty grass for a David Luiz-inspired group prayer and thank you to God for bestowing the skill on him to score that goal. He finished off with the long run to the bench for the......wait for it....here it comes....he's still running and smiling....he'll be there soon for the big, tight embrace with his coach, to thank him for having faith in him and allowing him to demonstrate the skills that God gave him to score that goal....there might even be a little kiss...maybe a few words as he grabs the back of his coach's neck and holds him close....here it comes....Oh hold on, who's this guy? He looks like one of the substitutes coming off the bench to meet Salah. He's going to give him the kiss and embrace and the loving words. No. It's more like a "what should I do now moment" for the reserve player. Oh, I'll sort of pick him up/hug him and send him on his way. And off trotted Salah, not sure whether it was even worth part 3 of the celebration.

The quarterfinals are on Saturday and Sunday. They might be coming to a TV near you. Not near me. But I'm sure if you really wanted to, you can find somewhere to watch them. The most competitive continental championship, I say again.