By Myles Palmer
The drip, drip, drip of injury news is driving millions of football fans mad all over the world.
They’re waiting for the action to start.
They’re waiting for the start of the greatest sports event of them all and the most exciting TV show on earth.
There’s only three days left before Senegal play France.
We’ve read all the previews and realised that all the previews are out of date.
We don’t know if Figo and Beckham and Rivaldo and Totti are gonna be fit enough.
I don’t anyway.I only believe the evidence of my own eyes, not what I read.
This morning I was on my bike at the gym, in front of three TV screens – BBC,MTV and C4- and I saw a clip of David Beckham juggling the ball on his head,foot and heel.
He did a few tricks before the Cameroon game.
It was good to see Becks at that moment. I wanted to see him kick a ball.
So I was happier. For about five seconds.
Then I realised : I can juggle a ball. But I can’t play football.
Can Becks play football tomorrow?The day after?On Sunday?
This week is a vacuum.
No games,very little hard info for the fans who are waiting for the action to start.
And nobody knows what will happen in the next four weeks.
Although, in broad terms, we do.
A few teams will under-perform, make their excuses and go home, go on holiday.
Two or three others teams will say : OK, we’re playing quite well,we’re scoring a few goals, we’re obviously gonna be here for a while – So LET’S TRY AND WIN THE THING!
We want to see the stars, the styles, the new faces, the moments of beauty within the tension: Paulo Rossi turning Brazil upside down,the zig-zag dances of the little men down through the decades,Maradona, Baggio, Romario, Bebeto, Tostao.
Moments like Zico turning hard man-marker Gentile inside out and playing Socrates in for an elegantly placed shot between Dino Zoff and his near post.
World class moments. Three-second moves that last for 50 years.
We long for moments of beauty framed by the tension of competition,the tension before the goal, the tension of missed chances ten minutes ago, the tension of a goal by the other team, the long,yawning, stretched-out minutes of nerve-wracking doubt, anxiety and prayer, moments that go beyond tactics, beyond rational analysis, beyond,even, atheism :moments where you say: GOD -PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE GIVE US A GOAL!
I want to see the dark horses : Poland, Russia,Paraguay, teams who might be a lot better than we think
Myself, I want, especially, to see the managers.
Marcelo Bielsa, from a family of left-wing lawyers in Rosario,the thoughtful coach of Argentina.
Will some of his superstars think a first-round group with Sweden,Nigeria and England is a bit beneath them?
If so,Argentina might slip up, lose a game, give England a helping hand.
Is Big Phil Scolari a bad guy or a good guy?
We don’t know yet. Bil Phil could be a pantomime villain or a global superhero.
Big Phil insists on organisation, teamwork, discipline.But he has to play Lucio.
With three centrebacks, Lucio can go walkabout, slaloming down the middle of the field like a six foot four downhill ski champion in football boots.
Lucio cant help playing like that because he’s Brazilian. It’s in his blood. Big Phil knows that. He can’t say to Lucio: stay back,you’re a defender!
Right now, Sven looks a bit worried.Who wouldn’t?
He came over from Rome,got a very warm welcome from fans at all the league games he attended,gave us back our game as Swenglish Football With New Age Psychology, thrashed the Germans 5-1 in Munich, and picked up loads of big endorsements.
IMG were doing a fabulous job of marketing him as the Mr Cool of world football.
Then Sven bonked Ulricha, lost a bit of dignity, a bit of mystique, and got a right rollicking from his Mrs.
Then he lost Gerrard and Beckham broke his foot.
So Mr Eriksson looks a bit worried this week.
But on Sunday England will beat Sweden by one goal. Then Sven will be fine.
A week is a long time in football. Especially this week.
27th May 2002.