ZIDANE - A PORTRAIT

(please watch the video)

     He gazes up at the floodlights and catching his breath. Even He must have been awed for a few moments during each game he played in Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. He touches his nose, and returns to reality, the reality of a crucial game against a stubborn Villareal side.

     He trots off to a more apt position, glancing meanwhile at his accomplice on his side of the pitch. He may utter a word to Roberto Carlos, he might not. He knows that, at this point in their careers, what needs to be said has already been said countless times over. It's simply understood in the present tense.

     He taps his feet as he walks, a nervous habit developed as a child for sure. Maybe it came from his first pair of boots being too big, or perhaps it's simply done subconsciously. But it happens with such a regularity, such a subtle violence that it cannot be ignored. It is part of his demeanor. It is crucial to his walk...

ON NEYMAR, MILES DAVIS, AND DRIBBLERS

     Let's liken the Brazilian National side to a jazz ensemble, more specifically Miles Davis' famous sextet. On his signature album Kind Of Blue, Davis was accompanied by five of the greatest jazz musicians in history, one of them notably being John Coltrane. Such a star-studded group is easily comparable to Brazil's XI, wherein each and every player currently plies their trade at one of the top club sides on earth, when not busy performing for their home nation. With that connection established as a grounding detail, I'll move on. It should now be noted that much of Davis' Kind Of Blue, like many jazz albums, is played at a laid back, hypnotic pace with the band playing as a cohesive unit. On the opening track "So What," for example, over a minute and a half passes in a lazy, harmonized sort of fashion at the beginning of the tune. Such organized, plodding, gradual progression is also seen in the play of Brazil's current Olympic side. When opposing teams systematically foul the Brazilians to stunt their play (see: New Zealand), or have managed through resolute defending to stifle the South Americans (see: Belarus' first half performance), the Seleçao defenders take the initiative to start knocking the ball around to one another at a slower, more measured tempo. A certain cadence is established in order sort out the frenetic pace of the previously oft-interrupted game; Rafael to Thaigo Silva, then to Juan, back to Silva, over to Marcelo, maybe Sandro gets a touch. Then, and often abruptly, the passing picks up speed...