The Sleeping Giants Awaken
Perkins T. Bare
The current remarkable shift of power and strength in the sporting world sharply reminds me of one Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who was once quoted after the attack on the Pearl Habour as saying ‘I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve’.
Whilst the Spanish were being knocked off their perch by the Germans, Arab-Africans were also being deposed by the West Africans and in the backdrop we had the moneybags who are failing to gain their dominance in the world of football resulting in a new era which has seen the resurrection of the giants at both club and international level in this sport supported by about half of the people on planet earth.
We witnessed the dominance of the Red Devils in England,The Rossoneri in Italy,The Arab-Africans notably the Egyptians in Africa and the Spanish at both club and international level and here back home in Southern Africa clubs exchanged the crown one after another while in the background we had the moneybags notably The Blues and The Citizens in England,who hoped that maybe someday their pockets would be vital to overthrow the current kings only to realise that the deposed were bitter with envy and were planning to recapture what they once owned.
When the Spanish clubs were humiliated by the German clubs some thought that it was just a fluke but when the Spanish national team was again humiliated by a young little known Brazilian squad at the Confederation Cup it did not only show us Spanish giants a have become invincible but also that the Samba Boys and the Azzurri had just reawakened from a deep lengthy slumber.
Now it is just left for France, England who are highly fancied together with their fellow south American teams and Germany which is enjoying being at the summit of world football after the success of their system at club level to finally stamp their authority in the world of football to complete this initiation of a new world order or simply as `Reclaiming The Glory`.
The retiring of Sir Alex Ferguson also saw the dominance of Manchester United quickly coming to an end under the tutelage of a Scot who will sadly not only break the hearts of many but also become famous for destroying a wonderful legacy of what was thought to be an immortal Red Devil Machine.
In the background we have the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City who despite their abundant resources failed to depose United and now it is left for the ones with the character to lead a league as big as the Premier League like they did back then.
These might be the once invincible Gunners who parted ways with a few their own willingly and unwillingly yet they surprisingly kept their manager who was under fire and managed to finally bring in some new blood in the form of a Turkish-born German who was used to success for at both club and national level and which has seen them playing well to the extent that they are once again title contenders.
Another club is a certain club which is highly respected from Merseyside The Reds who ironically always yelled `You Will Never Walk Alone` yet they never hesitated to fire managers and waited with great patience for their messiah to resurrect them and reclaim their rightful place of dominance the coming of an American manager has seen the club willing to fill the void left by arguably their best striker in the 21st century.
In the league which the German journalist Christian Eichler described as `being on top form after 50 years` and which has `evolved into a world-class premier brand` the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich is currently on a staggering unbeaten streak in the league having last lost a league match in October 2012 and also set a new record of 10 games unbeaten in Europe and the one from Westphalia Borrussia Dortmund who proved their character by setting up an all German final in the Champions League.
Though both these clubs are greatly credited for transforming German football they had not enjoyed a run of success in Europe and had been forgotten and but are now constantly fighting for dominance not only in Germany or Europe, but to be once again a threat in world football considering the fact that the Bundesliga is now at its peak.
Now also other clubs like Leverkusen which has never won the Bundesliga, Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Borrussia Monchenglabach, Hamburger SV, VsB Stuttgart are now also scrambling to lose the tag of being minors and gain recognition in the world of football once they fully exploit the youthful and effective system which was invented by Bayern Munich and developed Borrusia Dortmund to also be a force to reckon with.
In Italia the fight for the Scudetto has been mainly fought at the Giuseppe Miriazza between the Milan clubs with the Rossoneri coming out on top in the past recent years. This has greatly hurt the old lady who was already bruised and battered from her match fixing scandal and has now come out all guns blazing hungry for success in a spectacular way which saw her end the past season unbeaten and is well on course for their 32nd dose of the Scudetto.
Other clubs which deserve mention are Roma and the one from the South of Italy in Naples which is also hoping that they played their cards correctly in letting their best player go and hope to once again regain dominance they had when the likes of Maradona were still in their camp.
Back home in Africa we are also witnessing the end of the reign of the North African giants particularly the Egyptians who have the most Afcon titles with 7 and with an unprecedented treble from 2006-2010 and being undefeated for 19 consecutive Cup of nations matches and with their counterparts Tunisia Algeria and Morocco shockingly having a title each considering that they have always been thereabouts in recent years.
The recent wave of political unrests in the north Africa has seen their demise and they have been their greatest enemies for allowing the politics of their countries to meddle with their sport giving way to the poverty stricken but passionate West African countries like Nigeria who had gone as low as being called ‘Super Flies’ and the star studded Ghana who went as far as becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals at the World Cup was it not for the overzealous coward Suarez who was a great factor in ‘Africa United’ crashing out breaking the hearts of at least a billion Africans across the continent.
Now it is left for the big names in African football Cameroon to get their act together and also Senegal to finally notch up their much anticipated first Afcon title then maybe their self proclamation of being the Indomitable Lions and The Lions of Teranga might have value proving that indeed ‘lions don’t die they simply sleep’ or rather continue to be like their counterparts the Ivory coast who also have only one title which has seen them all being in the same quagmire of being the chokers of African Football then football in Africa will be back were it used to be.
Stephen King once said ‘Talent is as cheap as salt and what separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work’ and this has been the case amongst the clubs in southern Africa whereby the crown has constantly shifted amongst the moneybags and the ‘one hit wonder’ clubs who manage to get a taste of what being victors feels like only to realise that they were not only weak for the throne but while they were basking in glory they also lost focus resulting in their glory being short-lived.
In Southern Africa notably South Africa and locally it has constantly shifted between Caps United, Monomotapa and many others only to realise that they were warming the throne for the kings Dynamos and Highlanders whilst down south it shifted between Sundowns and Ajax Cape Town only to realise that the true kings Amakhosi and the Bucaneers were ready to once again renew their rivalry for the cup with Orlando Pirates going as close as far as being runners up in their efforts of regaining their once highly coveted title of being the best club on the continent.
Forget the Aussies retaining the ashes after 6 years or Tiger Woods retaining his number 1 spot or the dazzling return of Serena Williams, the list is endless but brace yourselves comrades in sport the owners of the beautiful game are back and they are hungry not for brief success but prolonged success in this new era which is upon us and it shall prove that `FORM IS TEMPORARY BUT CLASS IS PERMANENT`.
The current remarkable shift of power and strength in the sporting world sharply reminds me of one Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who was once quoted after the attack on the Pearl Habour as saying ‘I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve’.
Whilst the Spanish were being knocked off their perch by the Germans, Arab-Africans were also being deposed by the West Africans and in the backdrop we had the moneybags who are failing to gain their dominance in the world of football resulting in a new era which has seen the resurrection of the giants at both club and international level in this sport supported by about half of the people on planet earth.
We witnessed the dominance of the Red Devils in England,The Rossoneri in Italy,The Arab-Africans notably the Egyptians in Africa and the Spanish at both club and international level and here back home in Southern Africa clubs exchanged the crown one after another while in the background we had the moneybags notably The Blues and The Citizens in England,who hoped that maybe someday their pockets would be vital to overthrow the current kings only to realise that the deposed were bitter with envy and were planning to recapture what they once owned.
When the Spanish clubs were humiliated by the German clubs some thought that it was just a fluke but when the Spanish national team was again humiliated by a young little known Brazilian squad at the Confederation Cup it did not only show us Spanish giants a have become invincible but also that the Samba Boys and the Azzurri had just reawakened from a deep lengthy slumber.
Now it is just left for France, England who are highly fancied together with their fellow south American teams and Germany which is enjoying being at the summit of world football after the success of their system at club level to finally stamp their authority in the world of football to complete this initiation of a new world order or simply as `Reclaiming The Glory`.
The retiring of Sir Alex Ferguson also saw the dominance of Manchester United quickly coming to an end under the tutelage of a Scot who will sadly not only break the hearts of many but also become famous for destroying a wonderful legacy of what was thought to be an immortal Red Devil Machine.
In the background we have the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City who despite their abundant resources failed to depose United and now it is left for the ones with the character to lead a league as big as the Premier League like they did back then.
These might be the once invincible Gunners who parted ways with a few their own willingly and unwillingly yet they surprisingly kept their manager who was under fire and managed to finally bring in some new blood in the form of a Turkish-born German who was used to success for at both club and national level and which has seen them playing well to the extent that they are once again title contenders.
Another club is a certain club which is highly respected from Merseyside The Reds who ironically always yelled `You Will Never Walk Alone` yet they never hesitated to fire managers and waited with great patience for their messiah to resurrect them and reclaim their rightful place of dominance the coming of an American manager has seen the club willing to fill the void left by arguably their best striker in the 21st century.
In the league which the German journalist Christian Eichler described as `being on top form after 50 years` and which has `evolved into a world-class premier brand` the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich is currently on a staggering unbeaten streak in the league having last lost a league match in October 2012 and also set a new record of 10 games unbeaten in Europe and the one from Westphalia Borrussia Dortmund who proved their character by setting up an all German final in the Champions League.
Though both these clubs are greatly credited for transforming German football they had not enjoyed a run of success in Europe and had been forgotten and but are now constantly fighting for dominance not only in Germany or Europe, but to be once again a threat in world football considering the fact that the Bundesliga is now at its peak.
Now also other clubs like Leverkusen which has never won the Bundesliga, Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Borrussia Monchenglabach, Hamburger SV, VsB Stuttgart are now also scrambling to lose the tag of being minors and gain recognition in the world of football once they fully exploit the youthful and effective system which was invented by Bayern Munich and developed Borrusia Dortmund to also be a force to reckon with.
In Italia the fight for the Scudetto has been mainly fought at the Giuseppe Miriazza between the Milan clubs with the Rossoneri coming out on top in the past recent years. This has greatly hurt the old lady who was already bruised and battered from her match fixing scandal and has now come out all guns blazing hungry for success in a spectacular way which saw her end the past season unbeaten and is well on course for their 32nd dose of the Scudetto.
Other clubs which deserve mention are Roma and the one from the South of Italy in Naples which is also hoping that they played their cards correctly in letting their best player go and hope to once again regain dominance they had when the likes of Maradona were still in their camp.
Back home in Africa we are also witnessing the end of the reign of the North African giants particularly the Egyptians who have the most Afcon titles with 7 and with an unprecedented treble from 2006-2010 and being undefeated for 19 consecutive Cup of nations matches and with their counterparts Tunisia Algeria and Morocco shockingly having a title each considering that they have always been thereabouts in recent years.
The recent wave of political unrests in the north Africa has seen their demise and they have been their greatest enemies for allowing the politics of their countries to meddle with their sport giving way to the poverty stricken but passionate West African countries like Nigeria who had gone as low as being called ‘Super Flies’ and the star studded Ghana who went as far as becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals at the World Cup was it not for the overzealous coward Suarez who was a great factor in ‘Africa United’ crashing out breaking the hearts of at least a billion Africans across the continent.
Now it is left for the big names in African football Cameroon to get their act together and also Senegal to finally notch up their much anticipated first Afcon title then maybe their self proclamation of being the Indomitable Lions and The Lions of Teranga might have value proving that indeed ‘lions don’t die they simply sleep’ or rather continue to be like their counterparts the Ivory coast who also have only one title which has seen them all being in the same quagmire of being the chokers of African Football then football in Africa will be back were it used to be.
Stephen King once said ‘Talent is as cheap as salt and what separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work’ and this has been the case amongst the clubs in southern Africa whereby the crown has constantly shifted amongst the moneybags and the ‘one hit wonder’ clubs who manage to get a taste of what being victors feels like only to realise that they were not only weak for the throne but while they were basking in glory they also lost focus resulting in their glory being short-lived.
In Southern Africa notably South Africa and locally it has constantly shifted between Caps United, Monomotapa and many others only to realise that they were warming the throne for the kings Dynamos and Highlanders whilst down south it shifted between Sundowns and Ajax Cape Town only to realise that the true kings Amakhosi and the Bucaneers were ready to once again renew their rivalry for the cup with Orlando Pirates going as close as far as being runners up in their efforts of regaining their once highly coveted title of being the best club on the continent.
Forget the Aussies retaining the ashes after 6 years or Tiger Woods retaining his number 1 spot or the dazzling return of Serena Williams, the list is endless but brace yourselves comrades in sport the owners of the beautiful game are back and they are hungry not for brief success but prolonged success in this new era which is upon us and it shall prove that `FORM IS TEMPORARY BUT CLASS IS PERMANENT`.
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