World Cup posts (encore)

I thought this would be the last post on football (that is, soccer), the World Cup is over after all.  Indulge me just once more.

Turning the clock back

The Israeli army has vowed to turn the clock back 20 years for Lebanon.  I turn back the clock over two decades myself, and here record how my own thought over this conflict has evolved in this time.

World Cup posts (4)

The World Cup is over, and I plan this to be my final piece on football (that is, soccer) for a while.  The first post discussed whether football is Islamic and various predictions.  The second post argued that football might not go well with the American way of life because the better team may not always win.  From this, you might expect that football would have more upsets.  But the third post noted that, contrary to expectations, football is dominated by a few big teams, whether at club or international level.  So, what gives?

Thousand such wishes

Hazaaron khwaishein aisi ki har khwaish pe dum nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle.

Here I write about the movie Hazaaron khwaishein aisi.

World Cup posts (3)

So football is unpredictable, and with so many countries playing, it is likely that many more teams will be successful at the World Cup football than in other sports.  And at first glance, this looks to be true.  A team can nearly win the semi-final in one tournament and then fail to qualify in the next, another can be the champion today and wait for eight years to score a goal (Netherlands and France respectively, both in 1998).  Does this happen in say cricket?  Probably not. There are less than dozen countries (at most, being charitable to some weaker teams) that make the pool of potential winners.