Just under a week, the
biggest sporting spectacle in the world will open in Rio, Brazil. Not only will
the World Cup offer us incredible excitement- the display of subliminal and
often unbelievable skills that beat the imagination of fans, stunning goals and
controversies-it is also an opportune time for players to advertise themselves
(not only the football) to the almost a billion people who will be watching the
2014 Mundial in Rio, Brazil.
Below, I have listed four (4)
things that may catch your fancy at this year’s World Cup.
1.
Hairstyles: The World Cup hasn’t fallen short of wild and
sometimes bizarre hairstyles. This is becoming a ritual. These hairstyles have
become symbols of identification for players rather than the names and numbers
on back of their jerseys.
Whiles some hairstyles have
faded after the tourneys, others have kept their luster and provoked nostalgic
memories over the years, both on and off the pitch. Mention can be made of the
iconic blown, golden curly hair of Columbian playmaker, Carlos Valderama,
which, thanks to the likes of Carlos Puyol (Spain) and David Luiz (Brazil)
still seems cool to wear. Other hairstyles worth remembering include the baldy
style (Fabian Barthez, Ronaldo di Lima), the dreadlocks of Cameroonian Cyrille
Makanaky or the outrageous Ronaldo haircut of 2002 World Cup.
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| Columbian talisman Carlos Valderrama |
Who can also forget the
interestingly ridiculous blonde hair worn by the Romanian national team
following their quarter final berth in France 98? Or David Beckham’s horse hair
cut which became a fashion statement in 2002? Modern version of this is the
Mohawks.
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| The Romanian team of 1998 |
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| Ronaldo |
2.
Celebrations: From Klose’s half somersault to Rashid
Yekini’s emotional ‘net hug’ to Maniche’s run after scoring for Portugal in
their ‘dirty game’ with the Netherlands in 2006, the World Cup has been graced
by incredible celebrations.
The corner flag waist
wriggling dance by Cameroonian legend, Roger Mila in 1990 and the baby rocking
celebration made famous by Bebeto in 1994 readily come to mind as among the
famous goal celebrations of the World Cup. And with the likes of Balotelli around,
there will be exciting celebrations (you haven’t forgotten his muscle-flex
right).
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| The Roger Mila dance |
3.
Shocking Moments: Each World Cup brings in her wake moments
of shock. These come in the form of theatrics by players to con the referee to
either send a player off or win a penalty (diving has been identified as one of
the overly abused theatric), players resorting to unconventional ways to win
games or save their teams (a la Maradona’s hand of God) or referees committing
very elementary blunders (Graham Poll) or an unforgivable, shocking and jaw
dropping miss like that of Yakubu Ayigbeni in South Africa in 2010.
Yakubu Ayigbeni's miss
Fans easily recall the
shameful dramatization by Brazil’s Rivaldo in 2002 when he clutched his face as
if he has been hit by a canon ball, when indeed; the ball kicked by the Turkish
player had hit his thigh. Ghanaians and for that matter the world can’t forget
that Suarez ball handling incident in 2010. Zidane Zidan laid bare a shocking
spectacle in 2006 when he head butted Italian Marco Materrazzi in the finals
which many pundits believed contributed in diminishing France’s chances of
winning the trophy.
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| the infamous Zidan head butt |
4.
The WAGS: Some teams have permitted wives and girlfriends (WAGS)
access to their husbands and boyfriends during the football season. Some of
these WAGS may be present in the stands to cheer their men on. And trust the
cameras to give us shots of them on TV (yes Posh Beckham).
Remember also this is Brazil
where the samba never stops. Each world cup has brought out the samba girls
clad in their magnificent carnival attire and this tourney won’t be short of
that.
As the footballing world
awaits the commencement of the World Cup in Rio, Ghanaians please remember not
to get shocked by ECG
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| FOKN Bois Reminding us of ECG's intentions |
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