Pick one, go on Myles, pick one.
It is a stretch to say Italy have won four when two of those were in the ’30s. And Argentina will make the semis. Why don’t you pick us a winner now, Myles? You can always refine your call when we are down to sixteen.
I say it will be De Oranje.
Freddy Nagarvala
Bombay, India
Freddy,
I can’t believe you’re saying : Make a reckless prediction on a final that will not be played until Sunday, July 11.
Today is only June 11, the first day of this World Cup.
Also, you’re actually suggesting that my choice might not make the last 16 !!!
How insulting is that?
How can I pick the winner now? I haven’t seen half the 32 teams play. It’s a 64-match tournament that starts today. I haven’t seen Holland much, I haven’t seen Serbia, Chile or Ghana at all. Nobody knows how a World Cup will evolve or how teams will improve, disappoint or self-destruct.The things we can’t see on TV, and don’t read about in the papers, can be the things that make a difference, either way.
Holland can be very dynamic and if Arjen Robben could play 90 minutes in seven games, or even seventy minutes in seven games, Holland might be strong enough to beat Argentina or even Spain. But it’s a team game and the Dutch argue far too much. Eleven Dutchmen in a football team is too many. It worked in 1988 but it hasn’t worked since. Same as eleven Scots has not worked since Lisbon in 1967.
(sorry about above mistake, will try to fix it later)
Is Holland’s defence tight enough?
The team with the best defence will win this World Cup. That team that is captained by the magnificent six foot four inch centreback who has just won, with Inter Milan, the first treble every won by an Italian club : Serie A title, Italian Cup and Champions League. If football is about confidence, and it is, Lucio, Maicon and Julio Cesar are more confident than anybody.
I’m taking this World Cup one day at a time. For me, Saturday is England, Sunday is Serbia, Monday is Holland and today is South Africa.
Last night I watched the concert from the Orlando Stadium. Hugh Masekela, Alicia Keys, Angelique Kidjo, John Legend, a bit of belly-dancing from Shakira. Who was it that said dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal intention?
Alicia Keys has good voice and great feel and she now gets out from behind her keyboard because it’s hard to be a star sitting down. Her singing is better than her songs, I think. Her manager is a friend of my best friend, so I hope her manager doesn’t read ANR.
It was nice to see Angelique Kidjo again, I didn’t know she was going to be on. Interviewed her at St. Peters Square, the west London HQ of Island Records. She is so lovely, so genuine, so big-hearted, a dynamo and an inspiration. Her husband was a French bass player and he may still be her husband. Cedella Marley, Bob’s daughter, is similar. Gorgeous. She runs the Bob Marley estate from New York. Girls like Angelique and Cedella are so nice, so bright, so spirited, so versatile. The brightest I ever met was probably Sarah McLachlan, the Canadian whose Fumbling Towards Ecstasy album was one I loved. I went to the BBC to see Sarah record Jools Holland’s Later and interviewed her in a hotel near Lord’s the next day. A few years later Jeff Dexter and I went to a press reception at the Albert Hall before the Lilith Tour and Sarah walked past us and said “Hi” to me and I thought : This girl meets about 600 people every day, how the hell can she remember me?
I had lots of fun with musicians and occasionally wonder why I stopped doing interviews. But, hey, I did my share and then lost interest and became an old beatnik.
South Africa v Mexico?
Three weeks ago I saw how bad Mexico’s defence was, so I backed South Africa to win this first game. Has Mexico’s defence improved in the last three weeks? I fancy Steven Pienaar to open them up.
But my predictions are no more valid than anybody else’s. Anything can happen in football. I’m hoping that when the good teams play each other, we’ll see some great matches and some exciting moves and some spectacular goals. I hope it’s a festival of sport and a commercial success for the sake of Africa and for all the South Africans who have worked for so long to turn a bid into today’s reality.
Nelson Mandela’s story, prisoner to president, is the most incredible human story of the twentieth century. He is almost 92 and may not be with us for much longer. The president of South Africa may never be a great man again. But Mandela’s legend will live on for the next 500 years.