Poor. 2021 ends between turbulence due to the suspension of several games in the Boxing Day. It could not be otherwise. Football has saved a very hard, sad year as best it could. Nor is it being a bright era in football. Won Messi the Golden Ball without much consensus, little by little Cristiano and Neymar are dwindling, and in the big tournaments teams like Athletic, Chelsea, Italy or France. Difficult to get excited. Hour of the Vinicius, Mbappé, Haaland, Gavi …
Triggers. Without great winners, the year was marked by several disappointments. The Super league, for example. It was announced with great fanfare as a revolution of the big clubs against the UEFA and it lasted a day. It was not the final end, but it was a sudden stop. The year 2021 will also be remembered for the goodbye of Messi to the Barça and his arrival at Paris. After a few months, it is closer to having been a fiasco than a success. With Sergio Ramos something similar happens. PSG, contrary to what he imagined, is not paradise …
Ambazonia. The African Cup It allows to know conflicts and territories that are authentic mysteries for the general public. In 15 days it starts in Cameroon an edition marked by COVID, the controversy of the dates and the war in the southern part of the country. It is known as Ambazonia. The constant instability due to the colonial legacies has generated great social tension, the Anglophone problem. This is not the time or the place for the African stars to go to play, each time at a higher level –by the way–. Hopefully there are no messes.
The other side of the world. To the other side of the world you have to go until Japan. There an Asturian technician with a short distance triumphs in Spain but yes a lot, and successful, out. Ricardo Rodriguez just conquered the Emperor’s Cup with Urawa Reds and culminates a magical year in which he was also named best coach of the J-League. Alone Arsene wenger he had achieved this same combination. At 47 he has gone through Thailand Y Saudi Arabia, in addition to Girona and Malaga. There is no single path to glory.
Today we discover… Charlie Patiño (2003). Of Galician origin although English by birth, it is one of the jewels of the quarry of the Arsenal and this week he debuted with a goal for the Gunners in the Carabao Cup. He had already astonished in all the lower categories of England, left-handed, talented, with arrival to the area and now also with quality minutes in the elite. The new English crack?
#Messi #Charlie #Patiño