LENS ON EUROPE, ASIA

He lost the dressing room...

Haradona’s quick peek at soccer around the world while also wishing a very happy birthday to Nicky Butt!

ONE MAN’S ECCENTRICITY; NEXT MAN’S GARLAND: Inter Milan are 5-0-0 in all competitions ever since Rafa Benitez was sacked. Yes, the same team which was lying seventh in Serie A, a month ago, are now fourth with a game in hand! Leonardo is getting all the praises, without doing anything significantly different from what Inter did last season. He just has to send a “thank you” note to Benitez and the Spaniard’s eccentric methods!

WHO CARES FOR RECORDS: Surprise, surprise! Barcelona lost a game in midweek and that snapped their attempt to better the highest unbeaten run by any club (Real Sociedad’s record run of 32 games). However looking at the Copa Del Rey team sheet, it seems, they were more keen to rest players from their starting eleven.

They have a real shot at another record though – Real Madrid’s all-time scoring of 107 goals in La Liga looks set to be smashed. Barca have 61 goals off 19 games and by that ratio, they are on course for 122! They better achieve that after Wayne Rooney’s latest admission that “the current Barcelona team will go down as one of the greatest ever teams.”

MUSICAL CHAIRS AT BERNABEAU: The game of one-upmanship at Real Madrid continues. Mourinho is adamant he needs a striker, adamant that Benzema warms the bench, adamant that Ronaldo plays as the lone striker. The Madrid board (read:Jorge Valdano) is adamant, that they don’t let him rule the club, don’t succumb to each of his whims, fancies and demands. Ronaldo is benefitting from the situation the most, being the upfront striker in most games, he continues adding goals to his impressive tally in all competitions.

THE REAL DEAL: I have been following the AFC Asian cup 2010 in Qatar (Asia’s equivalent of Euro Nations Cup or Copa America). The playing standards have been good and Japan look the real deal.

SIMPLY FABULOUS: But what has been most impressive about the event has been the astounding television coverage of the event. It’s the best coverage I have seen so far – whenever a player’s name is displayed (on scoring a goal or a yellow card), up comes the distance covered, average speed of the player and more importantly the heat map showing which areas of the pitch he is covering. Safe to say Qatar can only do better by the time the World Cup comes and television viewers can enjoy an awesome viewing experience.

Keep your comments coming and thanks in advance! You can read all my past articles in my blog www.haradona.blogspot.com