the other football

Moçambique's Finest First XI

Moçambique’s finest first XI.

Moçambique’s future leaders take a break from liberating their country and pose for the classic team photo. (This photograph was taken in the late 1960s.)

The back row consists of the founder of Frelimo, Eduardo Mondlane (three from right). Alongside him is Moçambique 1st President, Samora Machel, and Moçambique´s 2nd President Joaquim Chissano.  Also on the back row (three from left) is General Mabute. 

The front row is reserved for the "Hot Shot" of team, Alberto Chipade, Moçambique´s 1st Minister of Defence.  Chipade was credited with firing the first shot in the colonial war!

Andoni Goikoetoxea the Butcher of Bilbao

The man who broke Maradona's ankle.

Meet the Cape Town Spurs

I was privileged to be in the company of some of the greats of Cape Town football on Saturday night.  The five footballers (who are pictured below) were guests at the Opening Night of "Soccer Cinema" in Cape Town. 

A Serbian Jazz Quartet made intimate interviews almost impossible, though I did get Stan Mini to share the moment Apartheid ended football for him (see below).  I won't be upoading the interview I conducted with the legendary Arthur Botha.  You can't hear the man.  I had asked Arthur if had ever played with anyone as flamboyant and masterful as Maradona.  Arthur shook his head.  "No, no.  No one like that in our day", he said.  Then one of the other players interjected, asking Arthur about Basil D'Oliveira.  The crimes and passions of football back in the day suddenly splashed all over Arthur's face.  "Ah, yes, Dolly", said Arthur.  Dolly was Diego material, though he choose to take Cricket to that higher level, and did so in the teeth of apartheid and against apologists of the time.  "I played with him, you know, and against him too", said Arthur.  He went on, "Dolly and I grew up together.  We're great friends."  

We hear from Hassien Ryclief.  He had his methods for dealing with Albert Johansson. Yusuf Davids is proud of today's Bafana Bafana, but misses Benni McCarthy.  Stan Mini agrees, but the twinkle in his eyes suggests he is looking forward to seeing younger players get their chance.  And the stalwart of the Cape Town Spurs back line, Frank Adams, thinks Alberto Parreira has Bafana Bafana primed and ready.

Later I watched the men watch the younger generation dance to more of that Serbia Jazz.  It was the wee small hours, deep into injury time of Cape Town's Indian Summer.  No substitutes were needed.

Alfred "Magistrate" Boyoli...Makarapa Man

The "Makarapa" was invented by Alfred "Magistrate" Boyoli.  Boyoli's mate was hit by a bottle at a Kaiser Chiefs match some years ago.  It was this bit of football hooliganism that inspired Boyoli. 

For the record, I remember Liverpool supporters wearing red and white hard hats emblazoned with sticky Liver Birds to away games back in the day, when bottles, sharpened coins, darts, golf balls with nails hammered in 'em, and piping hot steak and kidney pies were regularly hurled at matches throughout England.

Boyoli's genius has been to elaborate with the addition of cut out players and patterns, with places to fly all your paraphernalia.  The Makarapa promises to be one of the great fun features of the world cup.

I will leave it to Lusanda, a co-conspirator in the cyber world of football, to tell the story.

Is this the end of the Jester Hat?  We can only hope!

Uruguayan Ultras Descend on Cape Town

Albert Lutuli is installed as Honourary President of República Oriental del Uruguay!!!

Mvumbi looks like he's feeling La Celeste!

The Visit

The great Abdullah Ibrahim visits the former headquarters of the Makana Football Association...to the tune of Manneburg.

What Will You Do When I Am Gone?

Hugh Masekela has been sounding off again.  He's currently in New York reviewing footage for Umlando, an ESPN documentary about his life which will air during the World Cup.

Hugh was interviewed by the New York Times today, “I don’t look at it as a miracle. All these things revolve around people who can afford to go to the World Cup. There are 47 million people in South Africa, maybe 20 million of them are dirt poor; I don’t think the World Cup is even going to touch them. The realities of South African remain, regardless of big events...Nothing can come to a place that has been beaten up for three, four centuries, come for a month and fix it,” he said. “It would be nice if the World Cup stayed in South Africa for 20 years.”

Hugh is right about the World Cup.  It is not a miracle.  It is expensive.  It is outrageous that millions of South Africans exist in dire poverty.  The tournament will not effect tangible change to most people's lives in South Africa.  And it will soon be gone.

But it is for the intangibles and the impossible that the World Cup has gained its reputation.  Many more millions all the over the world will have their lives influenced in some significant way by the passes and moves, the tackles and kicks, and the shots and saves that will be beamed from South Africa during the World Cup.  I believe most South Africans and their brothers and sisters across Southern Africa will be touched too.  On this, I disagree with Hugh... Iball yam ihahlekile!

I would also like to see like the World Cup stay in South Africa for 20 years, but I would have liked to have seen Brenda Fassie hang around and sing for another 20 years also.

Promenade

Time for a little musical interlude.  Here's Dorothy Masuka and Isaac Hayes.  It's Monday morning in Cape Town, but it might be the middle of the night in your town.

I am Here for Obdulio

It's May, the World Cup is three weeks away.

I arrived in Africa yesterday.

I am here because football has come home.
I am here because I am a supporter..."vamo Uruguay".
I am here because the Struggle continues...la lucha continúa.

I am here because I am against those who are turning football into a neatly packaged product to be bought and sold like any other commodity.

I am here for Obdulio.  I am here for Oscar y Tricia.  I am here for Siddhartha.  I am here for David.  I am here for John.  I'm here for Ceci. I'm here for all y'all.

And I am here because as Eduardo Galeano once said of football, "when you least expect it, the impossible occurs, the dwarf teaches the giant a lesson, and a scraggy, bow-legged black man can make an athlete sculpted in Greece look ridiculous".

I will be passing my thoughts and moving to receive yours in the weeks ahead.

* The great Uruguay Captain Obdulio Varela (pictured above).

La Perle Noir

Big up to the Guardian for finding footage of the great Larbi Benbarek, as shown earlier this year on Moroccan television. 

Larbi Ben Barek was a youth phenomenon for Idéal Club Casablanca between 1930 and 1930 and for US Marocaine between 1934 and 1938, before making his name at Marseille in 1938-39.  He made only thirty appearances for Marseille, scoring ten goals but his genius was immediately recognized in France and soon he became a fixture in the French national team.  He returned to US Marocaine in Casablanca during the war years becoming an inconspicuous presence in the world game, despite being cheered on by all the usual suspects.  He scored 43 goals in 69 games for Stade Français de Paris in the three years after the war, before being transferred to Club Atlético de Madrid in 1948.  Larbi scored 56 goals in 113 appearances for Los Colchoneros under the tutelage of the great Helenio Herrara.  Atlético dominated Spanish football during this period winning the La Liga in 1949-50 and 1950-51. Larbi returned to Marseille in 1953 and played for two more years into his 40s, including an appearance in the 1954 French Cup Final, as well one final appearance for France against Germany.

Pele once famously remarked when he gave his No 10 shirt to Larbi, "If I am the King of Football, then Larbi Benbarek is the God of the game."

The Colossal Challenge

A couple of years ago I described here the goal scored by the late, great Emmanuel Sanon as shared with a Haitian cabbie in New York.  The magic Phillipe Vorbe pass that deforested the Italian midfield and defence.  A spell cast on Fabio Capello by Sanon's speed, shuffle and strike. 

Looking back, I now realize I gave no credit to the colossal header from the Haitian back line that allowed Vorbe to send Sanon on his way.  Belated props to No.4 Fritz Andre or No. 5 Serge Ducoste or perhaps channeling back, the No. 6 Pierre Bayonne or No. 8 Jean-Claude Desir.  The next time I talk football with a Haitian, I won't forget to ask whose header it was that helped Emmanuel Sanon score the greatest goal in Haitian history.

Emmanuel Sanon died of pancreatic cancer in Florida on February 21st, 2008.  The hospital administrators processing his bill were then not of a mind to close their facilities to Haitians in need. 

Sanon's legend lives on among the children of Haiti as they head and tackle and pass and move and score goals around the tents of the Stade Sylvio Cator.  The children do not know it yet, but they are merely warming up to face the colossal challenge of liberation against a heavily subsidized, globalized opponent equally as fierce as that which their fathers and mothers defeated in 1804. 

Sylvio Cator

Born in Cavaillon, Cator played for Trivoli Athletic Club and Racing Club Haitien.  Cator's skills were not limited to football.

 

He participated in the 1924 Paris Olympics in both the high jump and long jump and went on to claim the Silver mdeal in the Long Jump in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.  A month later, Sylvio claimed the World Record with a 7.93M jump in Paris.  His silver medal remains Haiti's best Olympic performance and his 1928 jump is still a Haitian record.

Cator was elected Mayor of Port-au-Prince in 1946. The Stade Sylvio Cator was named in his honour and completed in 1952, the year of his passing in Port-au-Prince.

At the End of the Storm

Another great bewk to get through you night, "At the End of the Storm" by Gary Shaw and Mark Platt.

 

I recently attended Liverpool's Boxing Day fixture with Liverpool legend, Flying Pig.  The match was more of the usual mind numbing modern stuff, save for a cracking Stubbins-like header from the Liverpool Captain.  It was also the first match my mother attended since my grandfather took her on the Paddock back in that title winning season of 1946-7. 

Thankfully, there was a serious session upstairs at the Salisbury before and after the sad excuse for football that has come to symbolize Liverpool these days.

Get that Man a Drink

Before I wish y'all Happy New Year I first want raise to toast to the great Ghiggia.  Folks over at Maracana choose the festive period to recall one of the darkest days in Brazilian football history, honouring Alcidies Ghiggia with a place in the stadium's Hall of Fame.

Here's the goal that won the cup.

Juan Alberto Schiaffino

 
It was Juan Schiaffino's 66th minute equalizer that set Uruguay up for victory in the final match of the 1950 World Cup. Artwork above by Jerzovskaja.  A nice one minute mash of Murga and Mersey to accompany the Khaled3Ken's artwork.

Donal Leahy

Donal Leahy scored 162 goals for Evergreen United in the League of Ireland.  This remains the 4th highest League of Ireland goals tally.  Leahy was the League of Ireland top scorer in three consecutive seasons in the late 1950s. 

Evergreen hailed from the Evergreen Road area of Cork city and played in the League of Ireland between 1951 and 1959. In 1959 the club changed their name to Cork Celtic.

If anyone has a picture of Donal Leahy in his prime, please let me know.

Arthur Wharton

Arthur Wharton: The World's First Black First Professional Footballer.

(The following excerpt is taken from the Football Unites Racism Divides website.  For more knowledge on Arthur and information on the important work of Football Unites Racism Divides, please visit furd.org)

1. Arthur Wharton was the world's first Black professional footballer. Despite his sporting prowess, he was never fully accepted and died a forgotten man.

Arthur Wharton was born in Jamestown, Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1865. Coming to England to study in about 1882, Wharton soon made a name for himself in athletics. Winning the Amateur Athletics Association 100 yards sprint in a world record time of 10 seconds (the first world record), he retained his title in 1887. A supreme all-round athlete, his other sports were cricket, cycling and football.

While playing for Darlington as a goalkeeper Wharton was spotted by Preston North End in 1885 - 86. He joined them the following season during which they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

By 1889, he had turned professional, playing for Rotherham Town, Sheffield United, Stalybridge Celtic and Ashton North End. He finished his footballing career in 1902 playing for Stockport County in Football League Division Two.

His last match was against Newton Heath (now known as Manchester United) in February 1902. An unorthodox and entertaining performer, he had a phenomenal punch as a keeper and, with his sprinting background, sometimes played on the wing. 

For 67 years he lay buried in an unmarked grave in Edlington Cemetery. Football Unites-Racism Divides raised the money to fund the writing of Wharton's biography. Enough money was raised to place a gravestone on Arthur's plot - he is now visible once more.

Wharton's story can now be read in detail in his biography, 'The First Black Footballer: Arthur Wharton 1865-1930' by Phil Vasili, published by Frank Cass. The ISBN for the paperback edition is 978-0714644592  and for the hardback edition is 978-0714649030. It can also be borrowed from the FURD library.

A Burning Black Star

Os Cincos Violinos

A brief break from qualifying. 

The earlier reference to Jose Couceiro provides me the opportunity to give props to his grand uncle, the great Fernando Peyroteo.  Peyroteo was a member of the legendary Sporting Clube team whose attacking quintet was known as Os Cinco Violinos or the Five Violins.  The other members were Jesus Correia, Manuel Vasques, Albano and Travassos.

Fernando Baptista de Seixas Peyroteo de Vasconcelos was born in 1918 in Humpata in the Huíla province in Southern Angola.  Peyroteo began his career with Sporting Club of Luanda before moving to Sporting Lisbon in 1937.

Peyroteo scored 330 goals in 197 leagues games, becoming and remaining the all-time top scorer in Portuguese top flight football.  Even Eusébio couldn't match that.  (For the record Eusébio scored 319 goals in Portugal.)  Peyroteo also holds the best goal per game ratio (1.67) of any top flight professional league.  It says on the internet that only 15 top flight professionals who have played a season or more have ever scored more than a goal a game!

While the most of the rest of Europe was at war or recovering from war, Peyroteo's relationship with the net was prolific.  He scored 9 goals in a match against Leça in the 1941-2 season and 8 goals against Boavista in the 1948-49 season.  On three occasions, he bagged 6 goals in a game.  He scored 5 goals in 12 different matches.  And he scored 4 goals on 17 different occasions.

Peyroteo only received 20 caps for Portugal.  The Luftwaffe made trips to Wembley problematic.  But Peyroteo still found the goal, scoring in his debut against Germany in 1938 and again on his final international appearance against Spain in 1949.

I met Bobby Robson once

I met Bobby Robson once.  It was a Tuesday night in the late 80s.  I noticed him in the carpark at Anfield.  He was fiddling with stuff in his boot.  He was England's manager at the time.  England were awful as usual.  I was of the mind that England needed a centre half, one with pace, one who could string a few passes together.  Mr. Robson, I said, "You've really got to get a grip of your backline...it's crap."  He looked up.  Startled, almost.  I continued, "You've really got to give this lad Des Walker of Notts Forest a go." He was stuck for words.  You could tell he really hadn't given Des Walker a moment's thought before.  I closed by saying, "We know what we're talkin' about round here, mate."  He replied, "I know."  And then off he went to the Directors entrance for a cup of tea and another 90 minute Liverpool clinic.  I forget which poor bastards we destroyed that night.  At the time, there had been no clamour in the press for Des Walker.  It was a closed shop of fat cockneys playing the position then.  Primordial John Terry types.  But soon enough, Des Walker was called up.  Now that's a true story.

Mongrel Nation

Nobby Stiles, England, 1966.

Strange Fruit

For Joe Colombo

The Black Arrow

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.

Garrincha

Opinions differ as to what constitutes beauty.  Some folk just love the baby Jesus, blush cheeks and swaddling-clothes.  Me: I can think of nothing more beautiful than a boy called Manuel dos Santos, crooked legs and an eye for goal.

Warming Up