One of the most remarkable moments in the Club World Cup came during the trophy…
Read the PostBarça 3, River Plate 0, aka “Like it was the first time”
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Club World Cup
This was the face. Messi has, of late, undergone a degree of scrutiny that might make many believe he just stands around, waiting for the ball before he springs into action. But if you want to see how much this club wanted this title, just look at this image.
Better yet, watch this glorious, glorious match by the best club in football and one of the best in the history of the game, a beautiful thing that never fails to bring pleasure, even when it fails to fully execute its mission.
Notions of beauty fascinate me. Men and women, cars, objets d’art can all be justly labeled “beautiful,” by many a person who, subjectively, deems them thus. Disputes? To be sure. Recall when MOMA featured a blockbuster exhibition that featured motorcycles. “That ain’t art,” some crowed, “and it ain’t beauty.” But subjective definitions quake in the face of logic, since subjectivity is, by its very definition, unassailable. “I say it’s beautiful, so it is. The end.”
They won’t be putting our glorious club in any museum for people to gaze upon, though they should. There should be videos, and things so that people remember what this is like, rather than some elderly Catalan dude in the stands, waving around a cigar in open defiance of the Camp Nou’s non-smoking edict, talking about the Best Club He Ever Saw.
Read MoreSantos 0, Barca 4, aka “Purity in the service of beauty,” aka “Why buy Neymar? We already own him!”
Great galloping Jesus, what a match. Pedro! sums up how I think we all feel here, in the wake of a gritty victory that found us not even approaching our dazzling, sparkling best, a victory that defines this club in a way that few others have, and that left me weeping right along with Pep Guardiola.
6 trophies, 6 competitions, less than 12 months. Pause for a second, to let that one sink in, then we’ll continue.
Read MoreBarca 2, Estudiantes 1, a.k.a. “Hexacampions,” a.k.a. “Greatest of all TIIIEEEME!”
CWC Final Preview: Barça – Estudiantes, Saturday 11amEST, Fox Soccer en Español
Travel southeast from Buenos Aires, along the coast, past Quilmes–feel free to stop and have a couple, of course–and Berazategui and you’ll soon reach the city of La Plata, perhaps before you’re capable of deciphering the pronunciation of Berazategui. Beyond that, you’re on your own if you’re visiting Argentina using Isaiah’s Magnificent Travel Guide because, unfortunately, the feature writer of that illustrious publication has yet to make it to the Southern Cone. He is not happy about this by any means and would like you to stop reminding him of this great personal failure.
Argentine history does not escape me–Facundo, anyone?–but Sarmiento himself died in 1888, only six years after the city of La Plata was founded (and did so in Asunción, Paraguay), so stretching back to the Spaniards is a major exaggeration, despite my inclination to do so. Sure, I’ve also read The Condor Years and Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number (among a myriad of others, though my major focused more on Central America), but there were decidedly few references to Estudiantes de La Plata in those texts. I’m sure there are several historical connections to Spain that we could explore, but we’ll skip that this time around and focus instead on the team’s history and it’s current place in international football. Why, you ask, after such non-sequitor intros as comparing Puyol to The Tarzan Predator and our matchup against Inter Milan with the Visigothic rampages through Roman Empire era Italy, are you failing to give us some absurdist historical preview of an area you actually know quite a bit about? The answer, of course, is blowing in the wind. Read MoreOf Gold and Silver: Barça – Estudiantes