Sick Day

I woke up this morning with the undeniable urge to throw my stomach lining up.
(If that's not one hell of an opening gambit I don't know what else you guys could want, that is a top tenner).

After trying to rally for a while I made the decision to crawl back into bed until the next wave of nausea hit me. After an hour of the toilet shuttle run (Note to self: Potential game show) I made the phone call to the boss and she made the inevitable sarcastic, unbelieveing, unsympathetic groan of "Oh dear, will you be in tomorrow though?"

After another two hours stewing under the covers, muttering expletives to myself I managed to supress the need to go potty for long enough to slink downstairs in my duvet and check my Sky Plus planner. I felt a warm sensation fill my chest, and this time it wasn't another batch of stomach bile. I had recorded the Italian football from the free weekend on ESPN. Being too poor to plump for the full ESPN package I had contrived to eke every single ounce of free football available to me and recorded pretty much a day's worth of football action ready to watch throughout the week. I hadn't seen any of the scores from the Italian weekend so that added a bit of spice to watching the game. I opted for Inter vs. Genoa because I have a crazy man-crush on Leonardo and Genoa are an old favourite of mine having guided them to the Serie A title and Coppa Italia final on FIFA a year ago.

Apart from being a fairly interesting, nicely paced game to watch I noticed a number of things I'd like to have noted.

1. Javier Zanetti looks and plays like a football player from the sixties.
His immaculately side-parted hair, his high cheekbones and rigid jawline plus his slightly shorter-than-everyone-elses shorts combine to give him the appearance of someone playing back in 1963. Also his slightly formal running gait and his very deliberate first touch and turning on the ball all seem to elicit memories of black and white highlight reels. I can't help but imagine this badass Italian, pulling up in a Triumph TR4, signing some autographs for screeching females, sparking a woodbine and donning a pair of sunglasses before sauntering into the changing rooms. All I can say is that I am a massive fan of this and would like to see a lot more modern players looking like they are playing old fashioned football. The End.

2. Samuel Eto'o is one of the world's best players.

He has proved with his goal record that he can put the ball into the back of the net with ease on a regular basis: 201 goals in 285 club appearances. That's a cracking strike rate, not to mention his better than one in two record at international level. But what strikes me most about the man from Nkon, Cameroon is his continued level of pace, skill and spacial awareness he displays whenever I see him. A good many African players see their careers take a dramtic downturn as they hurtle towards thirty as their main weapon, their pace, begins to wane. Samuel Eto'o however, after undergoing a resurgence under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan, where he was moved out of his default role of 'on the shoulder' striker to become a winger, almost, who did a great job working back for the team and supporting the midfield and often the wing-backs. This was a master stroke from the 'The Unshaven One' no doubt but Eto'o displayed a versatility many before have ignored, or chose to ignore. Watching the game against Genoa, the African forward was in sparkling form, picking the ball up, running at players or picking out a precise pass. He has a superb passing range, much better than he is given credit for and is always aware of the space and the players around him. Of course he got himself on the score sheet too but his work in and aorund the box, bringing Inter's other talented players into play really brought home what a great all-round footballer Samuel Eto'o is.


3.Yuto Nagatomo and the Underrated Japanese Football Nation.
The much talked about full-back made an appearnce as a substitute in Inter's game against Genoa and considering he was only on the pitch for ten minutes or so he made quite the impact. Within his short time on the field he managed a shot that stung the keepers hands and then produced a smart turn and accurate shot which gave him his first goal in Italian football. This goal led to one of the greatest and ball-chokingly awesome celebrations I've seen for time, dawg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FWnuVh6xzI

His energetic display lifted the last ten minutes of the game which unusually for an Italian game didn't fizzle out but saw both teams continue to create chances. That last line annoys me somewhat which is stupid because I wrote it. What a doofus. But seriously, too often are Japanese players, and I'd like to throw South Korean players in here aswell, as energetic players. As though all they bring to the game is the ability to run and run but it's all to make up for technical deficiencies in their game. I love watching South Korea and Japan in Internationals because nearly every single player in their squad has a desire to move the ball forward, they play without fear and technically there are very few natons in the world that have such a consistency in their ability with the ball. Nearly every Japanses and S.K. player I've seen have had a crisp first touch and a great eye for a ball. When you combine this with an unparralleled work-rate and a professional attitude I don't see why these players are so reguarly ignored in European club football. Sure, I'm generalising here and I'm confident there are many below average Japanese and South Korean players or players who are massive cock faces like Ashley Cole or Mario Ballotelli but with Ryo Myachi, Arsenal prodigy, lighting up Eredivisie stadiums at the moment, Nagatomo producing magic at the San Siro and Ji-Sung Park proving to be every neutrals favourite Man. Utd player for me this is a group of players that we'll see a lot more of in the European club landscape over the next few years.

4. Mauro Boselli scored. What.The.Fuck.

Seriously. WHAT.THE.FUCK.

Anyway, what I found most appealing was that Italian football has always held a sense of homeliness to it. I know you're thinking shut the funk up you pretentious earwig, you are from Brandhall in a backwater of Birmingham, England. Hear me out though. I've always got up at stupid hours in the morning ever since I was about eight, don't ask me why eight but it seems that was the age when my body decided sleeping in was for losers. Getting up early on Saturday mornings I used to make myself a bowl of Rice Krispies (I don't know what I was thinking, they're a poor choice of cereal) and watch the last ten minutes of some show about the Old Testament and then eagerly await the opening bars of that infamous theme tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHXfHFNlJ_w

So, I think it was the fact that I wa sill and in need of some comforting, the pussy that I am, and so sitting in front of some Italian football made me feel that little bit better.
Cheers, Italian football. If you were a girl I'd give you a hug and hope to touch a bit of boob as we released from the hug. Great stuff.