D-Day for Ronaldo and Messi

They are the two brightest stars in the football galaxy and yet for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, heartbreak awaits one of them.
For you see tonight, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two irremovable mountains of Spainish football, it is D-Day.
After what seems like endless weeks of pummelling the rest of the league into submission, it’s the penultimate round of games which could finally seal the destiny of the championship.
To recap reigning champions Barca, Messi’s home since the age of 13, lead their arch rivals by a point and tonight travel to fourth placed and Champion League hopefuls Seville.
Meanwhile Madrid, who smashed the world record when they shelled out a whopping 94 million Euros for Ronaldo, entertain Athletic Bilbao who are eighth and bidding for a Europa League place.
If Barca win, and Madrid slip up, then Pep Guardiola’s side will retain their titile, as they won both this season’s Classicos and head-to head separates sides if they are level on points.
As both are expected to win their final games of the season, tonight’s events at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville, and the Bernabeu in Madrid, will seal the leagues fate.
This season La Liga has resembled something akin to a Rocky slug-fest.
Two heavyweights searching for the knockout blow while leaving the rest trailing in their wake.
Third placed Valencia are a massive 24 points behind Madrid, surely not healthy for any competitive league.
But should anyone be surprised?
A look at the World’s 20 Richest Clubs helps explain why the gap between the top two and the rest of Spain has gone from being a disparity to a yawning chasm.
Real Madrid and Barca are ranked 1st and 2nd with income reaching a jaw dropping 401 and 365 million Euros respectively.
No other Spanish club makes the list.
The reason for such disparity is largely due to the sale of TV rights.
In England and Germany, the EPL and Bundesliga sell their rights collectively and the money is then distributed among all the clubs.
However in Spain, Barca and Madrid negotiate their massive contracts individually which leaves the rest of the league fighting for the rest of the TV pie like two bold men over a comb.
So the duopoly is set to continue and while events tonight will be no doubt enthralling as the two best players in the world try and drag their respective clubs over the winning line, the claim that La Liga is the best in the world is a hollow one until the rest of Spain catches up.

My team of the year

As the European season draws to its thrilling finale with league titles still undecided in England, Italy and Spain, I take a look at those players who have shined for their clubs this season and should be making all the headlines in South Africa.
Goalkeeper -Hugo Lloris (Lyon and France)
Probably the hardest choice simply because no shot stopper has performed at the top of their game, but I am plucking for Lyon and Les Bleus keeper Loris who has bags of potential and is the only Frenchman with any sort of form going into the World Cup.

Left back - Ashley Cole (Chelsea and England)
Cheryl Cole might not want him anymore but he would walk into my team. On form the best left back in the world before he suffered a broken ankle in February. His performances have been even more impressive when you consider how much the tabloids have earmarked him as public enemy number 1.

Centre back -Gerard Pique (Barcelona and Spain)
The 23-year-old Catalan oozes class and is the closest thing we have in the modern game to Beckenbauer. His goal against Inter Milan in the Champions League Semi Final was worthy of a top striker. Future Spain captain.

Centre back - Lucio (Inter Milan and Brazil)
His containment of Didier Drogba against Chelsea in the Champions League was a master class in defending, like Pique excellent on the ball.
Right back – Maicon (Inter Milan and Brazil)
Brazil can count on not one but two truly stellar right backs in Dani Alves and Maicon. Both fantastic going forward but like Dunga I am selecting the Inter Milan man as he is the better defender.

Midfield – Xavi ( Barcelona and Spain)
Simply the best passer of a ball in the world, instrumental in setting the tempo for both his club and country. For Barcelona he loads the bullets which allow Messi to fire.

Midfield –Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan and Holland)
Real Madrid cast off who has fitted seamlessly into Jose Mourino’s side and is the team’s heartbeat. Can show Madrid President Florentino Perez just how foolish he was in offloading him when he takes the field in the European Cup final.

Left midfield – Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich and Holland)
Another Real Madrid reject after he was deemed surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu.
Seems to have finally escaped his injury nightmare which has plagued him throughout his career. His 20 plus goals have taken the German giants to the brink of a treble and like Sneijder can embarrass his former employers in the Madrid showpiece. Still only 26.

Right Midfield –Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal)
The world’s most expensive player has been somewhat overshadowed because of a certain genius from Argentina (see later) but the Portuguese winger has excelled in his first season in Madrid scoring 32 Goals and pushing Barcelona all the way in La Liga. Will hope to steal the headlines this summer.

Forward –Wayne Rooney (Manchester United and England)
Has truly come of age this season as his 34 goals have carried a rather uninspired Manchester United. Will need every inch of his broad shoulders to carry the hopes of a nation in South Africa.

Forward – Lionel Messi ( Barcelona and Argentina)
What else is there to say? 42 goals for his club, greatest player of his generation....now he has to go and do it for his country!

Why Messi and Maradona need each other more than ever

Lionel Messi –the greatest football player in the world is at a crossroads.
However absurd that sentence sounds....it’s true.

This summer a successful World Cup will mean he can rightfully dine at football’s exclusive top table so far only reserved for Pele and Maradona.
If he can replicate his stunning club form for Argentina, which has so far proved elusive, and lead his country to glory his place in football’s pantheon will be complete.
But the one man who could potentially stop him more than any opposition defender is the person who currently dines at that table......Messi’s national team manager –the seriously unhinged Diego Armando Maradona.

Ever since the Argentine FA took the bold /stupid decision to appoint the former drug addict as the national coach many feared the worst.
To his credit Maradona did at least stumble through qualifying to ensure the team reached South Africa, which at the time of his appointment was far from guaranteed.
But in that campaign he has used more than 100 players –not exactly the actions of a sure footed manager.
And it’s his failure to get the best out of Messi which is proving to be Maradona’s greatest conundrum.
This failure, and Messi himself is not blameless, to match his performances for Barcelona is frustrating fans of the national team.

The Barcelona wizard has, at the tender age of 22, won just about everything there is to win with the Catalan giants.
So far in his short, but already glorious career he has, sitting proudly on his mantel piece a rack of major honours including 3 La Liga titles, 2 European Cups and 1 World Club Championship.
This season, the current European and World player of the year, has scored an incredible 42 goals in all competitions.
Yet despite all that success his performances for his country have never come close to matching his stellar club form.
Critics cruelly label him ‘Superman’ in Barcelona’s colours but ‘Clark Kent’ for Argentina.
There are even some whispers among Argentine journalists that Maradona is loathed to get the best of Messi because that would mean usurping his own crown of the greatest ever player.
But I for one don’t believe this dark conspiracy because both can seal their place in football folklore with victory in South Africa.

For Maradona, already a World Cup winner in 1986, the chance to lead his team to glory will smash the old adage that great players cannot become great managers.
And for Messi a strong campaign leading to World Cup glory means he will finally win over his doubting compatriots.

Killing the golden goose -The slow death of T20 ?

It's hard to remember a world when T20 did not dominate the cricketing landscape.

The 'wham-bam thank you ma am' format has revolutionised the game and despite the ongoing financial scandal of the IPL, the many advantages of T20 drown out the voices of those doom-mongers who predict the death of the sport they once cherished.

I for one love the pace and energy of the shorter format.
It's ability to attract a captive new and young audience is vital for the games long term health.

But as we sit and watch (or is that endure) a third T20 World Cup in less than three years are we in serious danger of overkill ?

Only an organisation as greedy and brazen as the ICC could stage this event barely 11months after Pakistan were declared champions at Lords in June of last year.

The bean keepers at the ICC must realise that staging this potentially great tournament so frequently could lead to its downfall.

Even for the most obsessive cricket nut, after the marathon IPL, surely eight weeks of almost daily T20 is too much for the brain.

All the great sporting events, be it the football World Cup or the Olympics realise the power of less is more.

FIFA and the IOC stage their respective jamborees every four years and these events are all the more stronger for it.

Like any football obsessive my childhood and adolescent years were shaped by the long summers of World Cup year.

The rarity of these events only heightened the tension and anticipation not only to players but also, and perhaps most crucially, to the fans.

Mexico 86...Italia 90....the halcyon images of these tournaments still burn in the consciousness of millions of people because these events were given time and space to breathe in the sporting calendar.

One only has to look at the heady excitement building for this summers tournament in South Africa to realise the strength of this policy.

Despite security concerns, tickets for Africa's first World Cup have sold well and there will hardly be an empty seat at any one of the 64 matches.

Compare that to the paltry crowds on view so far in the Carribean and it seems the great West Indian cricket public have voted with their feet.

And who can blame them ? It's only been three years since the fiasco of the 2007 50 Over World Cup were held on their islands - an event so badly organised and woefully attended because of exorbitant ticket prices, it should still come with a government health warning.

The event only lives long in the memory because it's a recurring nightmare.

But do you think the ICC care ?

Billion dollar TV contracts means their coffers are well stocked but only the future will determine whether this policy of short term greed leads to long term pain ?