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The
World Cup Football in Germany deserves KUDOS…… |
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 At the year end
it would be in fitness of things to take stock of the most
valuable and well organized sporting event of the year 2006.
Yes, the World Cup Football held in Germany during mid June/July
- stands out as the most exciting and amazing tournament of the
year. Mr. Sujay Sharma - football analyst and Editor of
indianfootball.com who visited Germany during the World Cup
gives us first-hand information on this exciting game and the
ways and means by which the World Cup Football had been so
perfectly organized that it was picture-perfect all the way. How was the
organization of the World Cup?
The very fact that the World Cup was organized in Germany should
leave no doubt as to its success in this regard. There was
nothing, albeit the paucity of on-sale tickets, to complain of.
All the security fears were negated with ease and no drama
whatsoever. The cities were able to cope with manifold of the
anticipated number of visitors and fans. It was, as the motto
went, A Time to Make Friends, quite easily. |
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What is your
opinion about the infrastructure?
The infrastructure was incomparable to anything I've personally
witnessed before. Be it the high-speed super-efficient trains
connecting all the World Cup destinations enabling convenient
travel for the fans, the state-of-the-art stadia to seat and host
those present, the excellently managed public viewing areas or
FanFests as they were known where thousands gathered, the public
transport of each city being co-ordinated into the World Cup
schedule - it was all perfect as perfect could be. |
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How were your
personal experiences at the various places in Germany?
There were too many fantastic personal experiences for me to even
take in those 35 days of euphoria. Some most memorable ones
included: winning a last minute lucky ticket for the
Sweden-Paraguay game, as Paraguay are my second-favourites;
experiencing the German victories, over Poland amongst a 100,000
at the Berlin Fan-Mile, and over Argentina at the Olympia stadium,
Germany being my favourite - getting autographs and photos of
several Bayern Munich, my favourite club, players at the club
premises in Munich; sitting behind the train-pilot in the
high-speed Inter-City Express Trains, seeing the view in front as
well as the sides, and many many more such heart-stopping moments.
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 Has there been
improvement in the game in the 10 years of the NFL?
I honestly would not be able to comment on the improvement in the
quality of football over the decade, as I have only been watching
the last two seasons. But as far as professionalism goes, having a
structured league has to an extent laid some important
foundations, which can be worked upon to bear long-term fruit.
Also, in one aspect it has been a boon, as the NFL players are
quite better off, and the media coverage and national level
competition is something the entire sport benefits from, be it
popularity or quality. |
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What is your
assignment with the Mahindra United football team like?
My assignment with Mahindra United involves helping the coach in
the analysing of our players' performances. For this there are
various particular statistics that I keep tally of both during the
match, and over the course of the season, that help to identify
certain issue in the players' or team's play. I also assist the
coach in identifying the opponents' playing styles, systems, and
other such needful things. |
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What prompted
you to also take up sports journalism?
I am deeply passionate about football. So when I chanced upon the
online source of information on Indian football, in
Indianfootball.com, I gladly agreed to the request from the
website's Germany based Editor-in-chief Arunava Chaudhuri to
contribute with scores, reports, and news items from the Mumbai
football scene. It gave me the opportunity to experience from
close-hand the happenings on the football scene. My editorship of
the website also gives me an outlet for my viewpoints on the
topics. |
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Looking Ahead & Beyond
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The 15th Asian Games are to be held in Qatar - Doha from the 1st
to 15th of December 2006. Preparations had been on for more than 3
years - there are so many things worth talking about as far as the
games are concerned. The history of Asian Games reveals that the
Games were an initiative of the Asian Athletic Federation (AAF)
formed in 1949 after the 2nd World War. It was an effort to
initiate a peace process between Asians nations, making sports the
binding factor.
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 History of Asian
Games tells us that way back in 1951, when the Games were first
held in the Indian capital New Delhi, there were only 11
participating countries in the event, competing in a mere six
sporting discipline. Now 55 years hence, the event has achieved
the distinction of being world's second largest sports event -
surpassed in grandeur only by the Olympics. It is indeed a
commendable effort that the spirit of the Asian Games never
faded out and the event has been religiously held every four
years since 1951. Looking at the
history of the Asian Games - it is quite a notable fact that
Japan and China have dominated the proceedings in the events of
the games. Both these nations have bagged numerous medals and
have also emerged as standout performers. Bangkok is the only
city to have hosted the quadrennial event four times. The last
Asian Games were held in the South Korean city of Busan. This
time, however, the history of the Asian Games will be rewritten.
The latest version of the games in Doha will be bigger and
better - with 45 participating countries competing in 39
disciplines. |
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The success of
any big time event depends a lot on the splendour of the shows
associated with it. Asian Games 2006 opening and closing
ceremonies are sure to lay the ground of the perfect execution
and conclusion of this quadrennial event. In order to make this
event an astounding success -the Doha Asian Games Organizing
Committee has roped in the services of David Atkins Enterprises,
a renowned name in the field of stage show productions. David
Atkins will serve as the Producer and Director at these games.
He was also in charge of the magnificent shows at the Sydney
Olympics in 2000 and many such grand events. |
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Looking ahead -
the biggest question will be India's performance at the Games.
In the past 14 Asians Games held in various countries including
New Delhi (1951 and 1982), India had fared exceedingly well in
some events. But now India will have to work harder in
practically all disciplines in order to attain a position among
the first three nations. The disciplines in which India can
perform superbly are archery, athletics, badminton, boxing,
golf, hockey, kabaddi, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming,
tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. The recent 10th South Asian
Games held at Colombo provided the right launching pad to
youngsters and those seeking to stage a comeback where India
finished with a tally of 118 gold medals. What will be the haul
of India's gold medals this time at Doha, we’ll have to wait and
see. |
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