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Faustino

Listed below are comments made by Faustino between Sunday, 27th September 2009 and Monday, 30th November 2009 (6 Hours Ago) .

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Can history be made in South Africa? 6:31pm on 30 Nov 2009 This will be the first "away" World Cup in which European teams will be playing in their own time-zone. I wonder if that will help them?
Why Gateshead are the talk of the Tyne 11:07pm on 08 Nov 2009 #18 - no-one saw Lofthouse head the winner - many people saw him punch the ball into the net, something he admitted post-match. That's why all Geordies supported Blackpool in the Cup Final against Bolton.

I first saw Gateshead at Redheugh Park in 1952 - we lost 7-2! We moved over the river in 1954, my first game at St James' didn't have quite so many goals - 4-4 against Tottenham, with captain and centre-half Jimmy Scoular becoming the shortest ever top-flight goalkeeper (5 ft 4/162 cm) after Simpson was injured.
The day Lee Dixon took the tube to Highbury 08:34am on 22 Oct 2009 A couple of public transport stories from earlier eras: late 60s, I ran into England manager Alf Ramsey at Liverpool St while we were both on our way to White Hart Lane by train (from Ipswich/Colchester) and tube.

Late 70s, West Ham bought Tottenham's goallie, the first million pound keeper. Next day, he got off the tube at West Ham and asked me the way to the ground!
Lessons to learn for Colombia & Ecuador 01:20am on 21 Oct 2009 Tim, I really appreciate your considered replies to so many posts, including my own. Thanks, you are the best kind of sports journalist, I hope the BBC appreciate that. I'll keep an eye out for your SBS/World Game piece.
Lessons to learn for Colombia & Ecuador 11:17pm on 19 Oct 2009 Tim, you say that "The fact that they blew up under pressure makes it easy to forget how good the 1994 side really was." Colombia could have been one of the teams of that World Cup, my hero Asprilla could have been the star, and they started well. The pressure wasn't footballing - shortly before the kick-off against the US, the players received threatening calls from drug lords in Colombia warning that if they didn't win, their wives and children were at risk of kidnap and murder. Asprilla said later that when he and other players should have been getting ready to play, they were on the phone telling their families to pack up and flee into hiding. I saw the game, it was clear that Colombia's minds were elsewhere, they were totally unlike what they had been, and the normally immaculate Escobar scored with a distracted and pointless back-pass which his keeper could never have anticipated. For that mistake, he was shot dead; as the players knew, the threats were real. Blew up? Were shot up, I'd say, you can't blame a very good team for that loss, they'd surely have gone far without the death threats.

Asprilla may have been the best player to have played for my club, Newcastle, his perception and creativity were so far ahead of what was then a very good side that often his skillful play wasn't taken advantage of. In the international context (more SA games shown in Australia where I now live than in the UK), he was often dominant, I recall one 3-0 win in which it was 'Tino and 21 others, he made all three goals, scoring one, the oppositon had no answer.
A few points about my article 8:37pm on 18 Oct 2009 You note that "Both sides have very different forecasts. The Met Office says that warming is set to resume quickly and strongly. It predicts that from 2010 to 2015 at least half the years will be hotter than the current hottest year on record (1998). Sceptics disagree. They insist it is unlikely that temperatures will reach the dizzy heights of 1998 until 2030 at the earliest. It is possible, they say, that because of ocean and solar cycles a period of global cooling is more likely."

So the Met Office model will be tested over the next five years. If it fails - if temperatures do not rise quickly - then we know that there is no basis for anthropgenic global warming alarmism, which is dependent on such models. Why not hold off on anti-warming measures until this evidence is in? At present we are trading-off real economic costs against model-projected possible warming costs. I think that the precautionary principle favours restraint rather than drastic action at this stage.
Drogba inflicts pain on Liverpool 10:46am on 05 Oct 2009 My pre-season prediction of Chelsea champions, Man Utd second is still looking good.
Torres, Drogba or Rooney - who's the best? 04:30am on 03 Oct 2009 You named sixteen strikers, yet failed to mention Anelka. In terms of finishing, he was far and away the best last season. He is controlled yet intuitive, in the right place and producing precisely the right shot for the situation. Try to think of Anelka's "typical" finish. You can't? That's becaiuse he doesn't have one, he does what's necessary in the situation. Not quite Gerd Mueller (my all-time best striker), but he has similar instincts close to goal.
Grafite poses threat to Man Utd 10:27pm on 29 Sep 2009 Re learning on the streets and escaping poverty, this was for decades the source of skilled players from Scotland and Northern England. Playing "doors" in a cobbled back alley with a tennis ball is fantastic training. ("Doors"? Terraced houses backed onto a lane, each had a door set into a high brick wall, each player had to defend a door and attack the others (usually no teams), first to condede five lost.) Even with the relatively low wages pre-WW II and for a long time afterwards, football was far more attractive than long hours in the mines, shipyards or factories. Since the 1960s, opportunities and living standards in the UK have expanded enormously, schoolkids don't spend all non-school hours on playing makeshift games of football, it's not surprising that the flow of skilled players has fallen even as the rewards for the best have become astronomical. How many EPL players come from countries with few opportunities and much lower living standards? The proportion must be very high, the childhood experience and lack of alternative opportunities will be driving factors.
Tough times for Keane 03:40am on 27 Sep 2009 Man management is crucial, and there's no evidence that Keane has any relevant skills. I can't see him having a long-term career as a manager.

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