What a difference four years make

Somebody tell 'Pops' it's not over 30s night!

Four Years is a long time. It's 1,461 days, 2 million 103 thousand 840 minutes (I used a calculator to work that out, I'm not that clever). As this blog post is about to reveal, it's the difference between being a fat dude derided by millions and a goal machine feared by all opponents. Leap years occur every four years because the earth drifts so much out of sync with time within that time frame that we need to correct this by adding another day to our calendars. Many sporting events occur in four year cycles; the Olympic Games, various non-footballing sports World Championships, the football European Championship and quite possible the greatest event of all, the football World Cup. Obviously the next few paragraphs will focus on this (those of you that aren't that interested in football might as well just jump to the last paragraph).

I'm not really sure as to why a four year gap was chosen between World Cups. Why not a number like five or ten? We tend to count in bases of five and ten due to the digits on our hands. Why not two years or even one? They probably didn't choose one or two due to the travel constraints back in 1930, or was the format determined by the fact that the Summer Olympics were separated by 4 year intervals (they definitely wouldn't have been able to travel as well back in 1896 or 1900). Regardless of the reasoning behind the World Cup occurring every four years the timing of the interval is perfect; soon enough that you're not left waiting too long but long enough for the footballing world to have evolved, meaning the outcome of the tournament can seldom be predicted.

For me the four year gap makes the World Cup something to cherish, the way I see it, and this may sound silly or even slightly morbid, I could be dead by the time of the next tournament. Either that or blind (imagine being blind during a World Cup, that would be the ultimate torture). As extreme as my suggestion above sounds an element of it does ring true, in fours years lives change, priorities change. So as far as I'm concerned I need to watch as many games as possible.

And just to justify my logic let's take a look at how much can change in 2,103,840 minutes through what I consider to be the ultimate barometer of quadrennial change, the World Cup itself.

This is Ronaldo

The first exhibit I'd like to refer to is my favourite footballer of all time, back in 2007 I found myself doing a bit of mental arithmetic in an attempt to establish whether he'd still be young enough to be considered for his country's 2010 World Cup squad. Alas he was barely fit for the side in 2006, come 2010 I'm not even sure he'd have fitted into a kit. The person I'm talking about is Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima or more commonly known as Ronaldo. The Ronaldo, you will never catch me referring to Christiano Ronaldo as "Ronaldo", in fact I judge people who do this. Ronaldo's performances over the course of his 12 year World Cup career are the perfect example of how much can change in four years. In 1994 (yeah, he was there) he never kicked a ball, I remember seeing him running off the bench at the final celebrating with the rest of the substitutes. A buck toothed 17 year old boy that I'd heard rumblings about but, what with the lack of YouTube, knew absolutely nothing about. In 1994 it was all about Romario (and to a lesser extend Bebeto), Brazil didn't require the services of Il Fenomeno.

In 1998 they most certainly did. After tearing up both the Dutch and Spanish leagues Ronaldo was now the main man. He wore the number 9 shirt that Romario had claimed four years earlier, god knows what shirt number he had in 1994 (not even I know and I'm normally up with sad facts like that). Romario was nowhere to be seen, he didn't even make the final 22 man squad (it was 22 rather than 23 back then just I case you think that's a typo), Bebeto somehow did though?!? In case you're totally new to this World Cup lark, I'll briefly fill you in. In 1998 a Ronaldo led Brazil got to the final against France, despite their defensive frailties, only for Ronaldo to have a seizure on the morning of the final. The whole experience proved too much for the Brazilians and the were easily swept aside, losing 3-0.

This guy ate Ronaldo

Four years later in Korea & Japan (2002 for anyone that can't do simple addition) Ronaldo basically took out his frustrations  from 1998 on the rest of the competition and became the first man to score more than 6 goals in a tournament since Lato in 1974 (he got 8). That's all you get regarding 2002. Ronaldo was a beast, Brazil won it, let's move on to Germany (2006). In 2006 the guy that turned up with the Brazilian team was not Il Fenomeno. He'd scored a couple in qualifying, he even wore the number 9 shirt, but the shirt was at least a size bigger than it had been in 2002 (if not, 2 sizes). For me 2006 was really sad, because it looked as if Brazil and Ronaldo were clinging on to former glories. Pundits and fans have continually mocked Ronaldo ever since and he's become known as "Fat Ronaldo" (even my girlfriend has referred to him as"Fat Ronaldo", sacrilege!!). The man who four years earlier achieved what no player had done in 24 years was now trotting around out of breath, looking like an old Sunday League player. So my dream that Ronaldo would suddenly shed a couple of stone and somehow end up fitter aged 33 in 2010 never did come true (shock). I'm now hoping that this year is four years too late for 35 year old (turning 36 on the eve of the tournament) Miroslav Klose, who is two goals away from breaking Ronaldo's record for the most goals in World Cup tournaments. Ronaldo deserves that record; please god, make Klose look like a pub footballer.

The real 'Golden Generation

In 2002 Italy should have won the world cup. Maybe "won" is a bold statement but they should have definitely got to say the Final. Evidence to back my bold statement up comes from their performance in 2006 when they did win the tournament, but that's not the basis for my statement. The conviction of my proclamation comes from the the side they the had on paper, Buffon, Maldini, Nesta, Canavarro, Gattuso, Totti, Del Piero, Vieri and Inzaghi. Ask any Italian to name the best of the Azzurri over say the last quarter of a century and the only players who may be able to trump the aforementioned names would be say Roberto Baggio, Baresi and maybe Pirlo. What I'm getting at is the 2002 squad contained a true "Golden Generation", and I'm not talking about those ridiculously false "Golden Generations" that England are supposed to have had at every world cup in the last 10 years (despite being above average, at best). These are some of the finest players to have played for the Italians in the last 20 plus years and they should have gone a lot further.

Being the saddo that I am, in the build up to this year's world cup, I've been watching highlights (genuinely highlights, not clips) of games from the world cup from about 1978 onwards. One of the things that has stood out for me that I probably didn't appreciate back in 2002 was that Italy were absolutely robbed against South Korea in the 2nd round. Had the internet and social media existed in the forms that they do nowadays (or had Italy been England), I don't think we'd have every heard the end of the fallout from that game. It was a joke, red cards, penalties, disallowed goals (and there were loads of em), it says a lot about the referee Byron Moreno that he was subsequently banned domestically for another questionable performance and then jailed for two and a half years for heroin smuggling. Anyway, I feel like I'm drifting away from the subject here, the point I'm trying to make is that Italy were robbed in 2002 but were, luckily for them, good enough to still win the tournament 4 years later in 2006 with many of the players that were part of the squad in Korea/Japan.

But then came 2010. In 2010 their luck ran out; those that remained from 2002 & 2006 were definitely past it and those that replaced the departed/retired squad members, just weren't good enough. Italy went from being a fairly expansive attacking (cleverly attacking) team in 2006, despite the lazy stereotypes, to a team clinging on in 2010, reaffirming the lazy defensive tag they're so often given. Struggling to two draws and a defeat in a fairly straightforward group containing Slovakia (it was Slovakia right? I always mix them up with Slovenia), New Zealand and Paraguay. It was like that bit at the end of Every Which Way But Loose where Clint Eastwood's character is battering the legendary fighter Tank Murdoch, who's just living off of his reputation. If you don't know what I'm talking about, and you probably don't, that film is so old my dad ALWAYS tells me the story of how it was the last thing he went to watch in the cinema, I suggest you watch it online somewhere (or wait for it to come on ITV late on a Wednesday night as it always does).

Italy became the 2nd team in the history of the world cup to crash out in the first round (Brazil being the first in 1966, although Uruguay went one better and refused to defend it in 1934*) in 2010. What a difference 4 years makes eh, you've got to make your chance count.

He hardly looks a fresh faced angel but compare this to the pic below

Another piece of evidence of the effects of a 4 year gap on the fortunes of both nations and individual player is the roller-coaster ride of a story that belongs to Diego Maradona and Argentina between 1978 and 1994. In 1978 Maradona was a slim (yeah slim, I should stop at that with this story he hasn't been slim since the early 1980's) promising teenage sensation in 1978 and was controversially left out of the world cup squad. Not that they needed him, they won it anyway, Mario Kempes, dodgy results against Peru, protesting about plaster casts and all that. In 1982 he was now in his early twenties. Everyone knew who he was but he wasn't quite the finished article yet, Italy famously shackling him in the 2nd round, so much so that he was eventually sent off for retaliating to the "special attention" he was receiving and Argentina crashed out.

You couldn't get a more chalk and cheese comparison from 1982 to 1986, despite the retention of the awful 80's graphics with all television broadcasts, including the little flashing "R" when you were watching a replay; just in case you mistook a replay of an incident as a case of you having a strong sense of deja vu. Maradona was amazing, he probably put in the greatest individual performance by a player at the world cup and Argentina romped home (yes he scored against us with his hand but he also scored at least two goals that tournament where ran past or even through half the opposition on his way to goal). In 1990 it was failure again for Argentina, they would have been out in the group stages had it not been for the 24 team format which enabled the best 3rd placed teams to sneak through to the 2nd round. They got through to the final courtesy of two penalty shoot outs and a magnificent assist from Maradona against Brazil but it wasn't the same, and Maradona was starting to look a lot less svelte. By 1994 Argentina were most certainly living off of their former glories, they were considered decent despite only qualifying via a play off (and a close play off if my memory serves me correctly) with Australia, who were not as strong as they are nowadays. Maradona provided another great assist for Caniggia against Nigeria (I'll leave you to Google that one) and scored a good goal against the Greeks but he would later fail a drugs test and the Argentines would crash out in the 2nd round against Romania.

The last football related contrast I want to talk about is that of Brazil between 1970 and 1974. I know they got to the 2nd round and I think could have mathematically made the final at one point but this is Brazil. Like Germany, getting far in a world cup means next to nothing to them and this side was following up from the performances of the side that many often romanticise about being the best ever. Just as with the Italians of 2002 I can reel off the names in the 1970 Brazillian team, despite the tournament occurring 10 and a half years before I was even born, Pele, Jairzinho, Tostao, Clodolado, Gerson, Carlos Alberto and Rivelinho. Rivelinho sticks out the most for me when I think of the difference between the side in 1970 and 1974, the main reason being that he's the only name from the 1970 side, that I know of, that played in 1974. For me what doesn't help Rivelinho is the way he looks. In 1970 he and rest of the gang were exciting and the football was free flowing. Come 1974 it was all a bit uglier and Rivelinho himself had kinda the look of that old guy in a nightclub, the one with his first 4 shirt buttons undone, showing off his medallion, a good few years older than all of the other club goers (or in this case, his Brazilian team-mates) and just that little bit out of fashion. That's what 1974 did to my image of Rivelinho. As I said before, what a difference 4 year make.

And then there's me. Every world cup my life is significantly different than it was at the last one. In 1990 I was a 9 year old boy, in awe of the whole thing. USA 94 saw a young teenager dazzled by the colour of it all, fighting to stay up and watch the midnight kick-offs. Come 1998 in France I'd found pubs and Alcohol, one of my lasting memories being watching the Brazil v Denmark quarter final in one of the few pubs in Enfield that you could regularly go to as a 17 year old without getting ID'd. By 2002 I'd just finished uni, I was basically a lay about, struggling to wake up to watch games that kicked off at 7am. 2006 was the first world cup I experienced while in full time employment, I didn't enjoy that. Missing afternoon games is not my thing! In 2010 I had my own place and was married, if I'm being honest I wasn't massively happy with my life. It is of no surprise that of all the world cups I've watched 2010 is the one I struggle to recall the most despite being the most recent. And now there's 2014. My life has completely changed direction for the better and I love it! I'm in a great place in 2014 and I feel like this year I'm going to have a great world cup (listen to me talking like I'm playing in it or something). In my head 2014 is going to be the tournament that 2010 could never be and no matter what happens in the 30 or so days after June the 12th I know that it'll be totally different to what I've ever experienced and nothing like anything that happens in the future.

What a difference four years make!

*Did they think it was going to be hosted in Uruguay/South America every year or something??