Olympic games 2016

 One big sports event is about to begin in less than 48 hrs. Yes, we all are eagerly waiting for the Olympics 2016 to watch some sports other than Cricket or for that matter, Football. Olympics and Asian games have always  been a part of inspiration for us as kids to take up non-familier games and enjoy the excitement and thrill of those games. Out of such events only, I took up the game of Badminton and  practised hard to play at higher level. 

This time, the host for the games is Rio de Jenerio, Brazil, where all the sportsmen will gather and try their metal. This place has always been, kind of intriguing for me. My first encounter with this country was in connection of a song. Way back, when English was still a difficult to understand, kind of language for us, there was one song, we were very well verse with. It was "Brazil". The song has only one word in it "Brazil", and rest of it was all music. That is how, we came across this amazing country named "Brazil".

Somewhere down the line, we heard about Brazil Carnival, that we tried knowing from all possible sources available.

But, the best connection of this country came in the form of Football World Cups, where starting with  Pele, we went on becoming fan of all the players including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, coming from this soil.

With this event of Olympics, taking place at Rio, we are inching more closer to this country from South America.

But, even before going to the venue, lots of issues cropped up in our teams. Mostly the issues related to Doping. This issue with Narsinh Yadav doping case, has really brought up the dirty political background, which our players have to get through, to make a mark and win laurels for the country. It is a very sad state. Some players apparently are struggling to get financial assistance, even though they have qualified for their respective competitions. Probably, such things are part and parcel of sports events.

Though, the inauguration of the event is still awaited, few pre-qualifying rounds of matches have already started. To be specific, Women's football matches are going on. No event involving India as such are going on as yet. As the event will begin in 2 days, our players will have chance to make their dream come true. If you want to follow Olympics  you can probably check this page:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule 

Just to end, if you have ever given ear to the music during the prize ceremony in Olympics, there is one music piece, which always get to hear. It is one of the most awesome, soothing sound, you might have ever heard. I am talking about the music piece of "Chariots of Fire". This music piece is a part of the movie by the same name, which again is based on the real life events of a couple of sthletes who represented Great Britain in 1924 Olympics held in Paris.

The movie is also fantastic and the music piece by the famous "Vangelis", is still one of the most heard music piece in the world. It makes sense to keep it as a back ground music during the prize ceremony, because of its close association with the games.

If you wish to hear it, follow this link:

https://archive.org/details/ChariotsOfFire

Infact, I request you to hear it at least once. I bet, you won't be able to stop listening it again and again. You can also download the audio file from the link.

Was it really a Brazil -Germany match!

What happened last night was nothing less than a nightmare. Did any one expected that Brazil will go down so badly, the worst ever performance of any team in the semi finals of World Cup.

Unbelievable!

Before the match, when I was talking to someone, I predicted Germany's win. To support my statement, I added that since Nyemar is out and Silva is not playing, their strong point that is attack has become weak and their defence has always been weak. Brazil wins match because of their attack. I did not know, my words will be so true. Brazil's defence was not just weak, it was the weakest. Somewhere, Spain must be relieved that they were not worst looser of this world cup.

I always wanted Germany to win. I have been supporting them. I felt they had some problems from two teams, Spain and Italy. But since these two teams even did not make beyond the first cut, I started feeling assured that this times its Germany.

Yesterday's win has made that expectation even stronger.

I am wondering if Argentina or Netherlands are really thinking about winning the semi final match. Because if they win, they face Germany. Are they ready for it? 

I think, Argentina will make it to finals. Riding on the waves of Messi, they can make it to finals. But Messi alone is not enough to get them the cup considering they will be facing Germany. 

Netherlands is good, but are good enough to be in the finals? I suspect. 

Very soon, every thing will be clear.

Finally, a glimpse of the difference in body language between the two teams that mattered the most yesterday.

Football World Cup 2014 in Brazil

Football is a religion in most of the countries of the world. If there is one game that is most famous, then, you can be sure of it to be Football. Unlike India, where Cricket is a religion, Football, is a game which has followers in every part of the world, be it South America, North America, Australia, Asia, Africa or the Core of Football i.e. Europe.

India also has a big fan base, but if compared to Cricket, number is negligible. Apparently, India stand 157th in the world ranking which tells story about its low fan base. Except for Bengal, Kerala and North-East states, fan base are hardly in small packets, which erupts only during big events like World Cup, spread across the country.

This year, starting tomorrow is the world cup of football. This time's host is Brazil. It should be a proud moment for that country. But seems, it is caught in some kind of turmoil. Every day we hear some news of protests, some times violent,  going across in Brazil. Brazil is also a developing country just like India, which faces lots of problems in carrying out quality work. I remember news during commonwealth games preparation back in 2010 in India. The news coming from Brazil about World Cup arrangements remind me strongly of those. Anyway, over the time, some how it is managed, and organizers manage to save their skin. I am sure, same will be true about Brazil.

Coming back to Football, this time, it is speculated that Brazil is the most probable champion. Somehow, that has become routine to expect Brazil to be champion, but then, it some how manages to loose out either in Quarters or Semi. This time they are depending a lot on players like  Neymar. I personally won't go with Brazil. I have the same image for Brazil as we have for South Africa in Cricket.

Other team that falls in the same category is Germany. I have supported Germany a lot. Thanks to my German friend, I followed their game closely in the recent European cup and was shattered when after consistent performance they lost pathetically in semis to Italy, thanks to Balotelli's two goals.

So, my advice, do not support these two teams till they do not raise world cup in their hands. They are the two best teams who can loose at any point from any team.

Last time champion, Spain, apparently is not a favourite any more. They don't have a very successful track record on South American soil. Also, its too boring to watch their matches. Nothing happens in the match where Spain. I guess they will manage to keep all their matches draw with 0-0 score except for one two where they will just score a goal just enough to win a match and reach the next level. In later phase, however, they somehow manage to score goals at their will.

Italy could probably be a big contender in the race. With players like Balotelli, they have a strong attack. But probably they are a little weak on their defence.

Argentina is another team I will be looking forward to. With Messi at the top, this team can do wonders.

Ronaldo's Portugal is one good team. I followed them during European cup. It is a good team, but it doesn't seem like a threat at any point. They are good qualifiers but I suspect if  they good finishers to touch the World Cup.

Back in 2010, I was praying for France for some good reason. But their internal team problems marred their way and threw them out in the initial round itself. This time, I am not sure what to expect from the team.

England is one team which try to portray itself as a big team and in reality on grounds, it is always a disappointment. 

There are many other teams which may make an impression. Some teams like Belgium, Netherlands, Nigeria, Mexico are called underdogs. But except for giving some unexpected results they won't make much difference. 

I will be looking forward to the performance of Asian teams. Among all, I guess Japan is the strongest team which may show some good moves.

Overall, its going to be awesome month ahead. I am going for Germany and Argentina to begin with. Let's see how it develops over the time.

If you want to know about any team in detail, their history, their team or any other thing, you can check this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_squads