ON ROSS BARKLEY, AND THE FEARLESSNESS OF YOUTH

Courage is a term thrown about recklessly with regards to sport. One may attribute this to the role sport fills in our lives; an argument can be made that in the absense of armed conflict, games played on a court, pitch or field fulfill a primitive urge to compete, and to be victorious. The tribalism that accompanies sport is a by-product of this, and helps to explain the mania of supporters who feel intrinsically tied to a club by geography, heritage or social standing. This is why such words as 'courage', and 'heroic' are tied so often with athletic feats, as sport brings out an energy and passion that is perhaps only rivaled, albeit to a far greater degree, by war. We may say that 'battles' are fought on the pitch between rival clubs, but as fans we know this to be hyperbole, an overdramatization of something that has greater importance to us than perhaps it should.

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...