I wrote a piece for the Liverpool fanzine, "Through the Wind and Rain", in the late 80s where I vaguely remember predicting South Africa would win the World Cup in 2010.
Contrary to preceding conventional wisdom, the successful Confederations Cup has shown South Africa will be competitive. Much more likely to be winners than Scotland!
I am looking forward to seeing what the "Football is Coming Home" blog has to say about the prospects of the Bafana Bafana now.
(I will soon open up a betting thread. It will be interesting to hear who fancies a flutter on who. I have a horrible feeling about England. They are worth a pony. If Bukina Faso, Honduras or Zambia progress, I'll be in the money.)
This is what it's all about. Only the keeper to beat...
Should Scotland win the World Cup one wonders what the FIFA doping committee will make of their sideline tonic, "Irn Bru". AG Barr first began selling "Iron Brew" in 1901, but renamed the drink "Irn Bru" in 1947 after concerns over food labelling regulations. The recipe for the mystery 32-ingredient drink is believed to be locked up in a safe in Switzerland.
I can't let Gil Scott Heron get his Johannesburg in without letting Jon Langford and the Three Johns come right back at ya with "English White Boy Engineer".
Full Disclosure: There were a few Scottish White Boy Engineers too.
Gil Heron was born in Kingston, Jamaica.He had been plying his trade with Detroit Corinthians when
noticed by Glasgow Celtic on their 1951 US Tour.(The prolific Heron has been top scorer for the Detroit
Wolverines in North American Soccer League in 1946.)He was invited to Scotland to take part in a trial at Celtic
Park on August 4, 1951.He scored
two goals.
Celtic signed him and he made his debut on August 18, 1951 in a League
Cup tie against Morton at Celtic Park. He scored once in a 2-0 victory.
He played one season at Celtic, making five appearances and scoring two
goals before lower division Lanark.
His son Gil Scott Heron when interviewed by the Times’ Gerry Hassan
said, “My dad always looks for the Celtic results,” noting the special place the
Scots have “music and football”.
During his year at Celtic,
he was best known for what one contemporary described as “camera-shutter
speed”. Off the park, he played cricket for Poloc and Ferguslie and stayed in a
hotel in the centre of Glasgow.
Sean Fallon, a team-mate,
remembers him as a man about town who loved his music — spent a lot of time
after training in the music section at Lewis’s department store, listening to
the latest American imports.
Gil Heron passed away at the age of 87 in November
2008 in Detroit, Michigan.
The notion that Scotland could win the World Cup in South Africa may seem far fetched to some of the readership. It shouldn't be. At the beginning of football time Scotland were a footballing nation second to none.
In the pre-Nike modern era (that rebellious period that straddled the Sixties and Seventies) the Scots were the best in the world.
The year was 1967. Glasgow Celtic were European Champions. Scotland were in the business of pimping the then world cup holders, England.
Here's England 2 v 3 Scotland at Wembley, 1967. Bobby Moore, Nobby Stiles, Jack Charlton...nay problem.
In the decade that followed Scotland were considered serious World Cup contenders. They failed to qualify for Mexico 1970, but there was no disgrace in being edged out by West Germany. Group 7, I believe. I think our friends the Austrians were involved. Just what is it about the Austrians?
Four years later, Scotland exited the finals, but never lost a game.
In 1978 Scotland entered the finals again as serious contenders, but failed miserably on and off the pitch, despite beating the ultimate finalists in what many considered to be the performance of the tournament. (England did not qualify for the 1974 or 1978 World Cup. Brazil were schooled by the Dutch in Total Football.)
Scottish football has since suffered a precipitous decline. Another example of a once great but small footballing nation being overran by behemoth associations. But if Scotland do qualify, one should remember they have history and an tartan army on their side.
Great World Cups are often
remembered as much for what happens off the pitch as what happens on the
pitch.The pageantry and passion
of supporters can be as memorable as the skill and performances of players.
Scottish qualification
would go a long way to ensuring a successful South Africa 2010.
Recalcitrant Scottish
tribes pumping through the arteries of Pretoria, their bestial roars still
powerful enough to send shivers down the spines of long dead Roman
Legionnaires.(Note to the BBC,
CNN, AP and Reuters: Europe has tribes too.)The Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein booming to the tune
of Scotland the Brave.
Here’s the Tartan Army
invading Paris in 2007.
The Rainbow Nation can
only be enriched by such a swathe of tartan. Good humoured, grown men in skirts (sorry, kilts) still raising a glass to Maradona’s Hand of God.The authorities need only make sure they don’t mix their
Kweitos with their Castles.
Scotland now have to
contend with the tribes of Macedonia and Norway, before navigating to a FIFA 2nd
place permutation and then finally a home and away fixture against some other
European entity. I will be
reporting and supporting them.
Although many Southern
Africans barely need reminding of the firepower of certain other European
tribes, they will soon be witness to shots and invasions from the sublime to
the ridiculous.Ugandan-born
Germans in the colours of the Fatherland, turning on a shilling and shooting
like Gerd
Müller.An Orange Army consisting of brutal looking Dutch fellas
built like brick outhouses wearing petit ladies orange thongs, their daggling
pink accessories going unreported in the Italian issue of Marie Claire.
Congratulations to Holland
for being the first European team to qualify. I am glad for the chance to be commenting on and cheering the Dutch.Their presence will
make the World Cup experience considerably more fruity.
(Note to MacDougall,
MacTavish and Co.Invading the
Pitch is so 1970s.)
But if Scotland win the World Cup, I won't be objecting if the Scots take on another Cross Bar Challenge and return to the highlands with a bits of the Johannesburg pitch in their suitcases.
I have been invited to join a new South African Group Football Blog, "Football is Coming Home". Dot Net. My initial brief is blog on the European qualifiers for South Africa.
Watch out for me there. I think I may begin by taking a look at the importance of Scotland to South Africa 2010.
The Other Football blog was never intended for a wide audience, rather a place to put some random observations and commentary through their paces. My Melwood.
I am now considering promoting the blog, perhaps under a new name, ramping up the quantity of posts, perhaps incorporating a little new technology.
The Other Football name is reliable but increasingly unoriginal. And I don't own the domain.
I am considering "LeftBacks.com". I am mindful of attracting a political as well as football audience. I may instead begin a podcast (why not...everyone else has) called Left Backs.
For the uninitiated, proper "Left Backs" are a breed apart.
Often quirky characters, they are capable of both the most beautiful football and the most horrendous crimes ever to be witnessed on a football field.
Suggestions on how to improve my game are welcome. A Blender goes to the esteemed reader who can name the Left Back pictured above.
