Bang a drum its almost on, the final of finals is just 3 sleeps away.
After all the ups and downs that are part and parcel of the beautiful game it has produced 2 worthy finalists - France and Italy. Both teams are recognised European powerhouses of football yet both were not picked as winners. Les Blues (France) almost did not make it past the first round despite having a fairly comfortable grouping. The Azzurri (Italy) repeatedly rode their luck with a much agonised win over the Socceroos and then a special goal minutes before going into penalties against Germany.
Yet both teams have such class that none are surprised that they are playing for the cup. Between the 2 they have one the World Cup 4 times, France more recently in 98 and Italy 34,38 and 82. To truly show the quality of their lineups, Les Blues and the Azzurri have 7 out of the 10 men shortlisted for the Golden Ball - the mvp of mvp's.
Now the real question is what sets there game apart from what we do down under? And the answer is obvious and clear if you read the previous paragraphs - they have cool names.
Not only are the teams names very cool (they both reference the colour blue) but the player names themselves are hela cool. Sure we have the socceroos but it does not cut the mustard in global standings - even first timers Ghana are called the Black Stars (cooler than ours because they have black in their name - that is the new black).
Then if we start to look at actual player names we also drop the ball. In our entire line up we have no single named players (Ronaldo, Ronahldinho and Stern John to name a few) nor any lastnames ending in 'o' - nicknames like davo don't count. If we really wanted to be taken seriously we need to develop players with alliteration involved - Zinedine Zidane. When you have a last name like Zidane and you name your child Zinedine you are destining them to acheive great things in either the sporting fields or the circus.
In order for us to move forward as a footballing nation we need to embrace the single name, alliteration and the 'o' endings. The only player in our current line up who i think can hold a candle up to the global gale of cool names is the bean pole Joshua Kennedy. While there is no 'o' or alliteration he looks like Jesus (pronounced hes-us) and that has to count for something.
TimeWastin:
After all that get you brazillian name - if you are not happy put your middle name in as well
The capt'n has delivered again Crouch and Rooney
Been out for ages but still cool - Chuck Norris Facts
To balance it out a selection of Mr T. Facts
