RSSMadrid: Not a Real Football Team
It could be considered a little pathetic for ostensible superclub Real Madrid to be humiliated 3-0 by no-hopers Tokyo Verdy (losers even in the not exactly world-class Japanese league), but that would be missing the point. As Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo so helpfully explained after the match, “Real Madrid want to win things but we also have to think of business.”
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine that the erstwhile favorites of General Franco have been thinking of much else the past couple of years. The team is not picked by the coach, but by the chairman, who with an eye on the marketing concerns insists that none of his “galacticos” (superstar signings) can be dropped if they’re not delivering on the pitch — why do you think Ronaldo got fat? And anyone trying to fathom why on Earth they would spend so much money on David Beckham now has an answer. Beckham, of course, is a rather useful player on the right side of any midfield, a great crosser of the ball and a handy ability to score from free kicks. Useful, handy, committed. But not especially gifted, and not quite a world-class player in the tradition of other Real acquisitions such as Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo or Roberto Carlos. The special quality Real saw in Beckham, as many of us noted at the time, was his iconic status; his ability to sell replica shirts to Asian teenagers, to put it bluntly. (His first outing for Real was a promotional tour of China.) Acquiring Beckham was not about adding a dimension to Real’s game; it was about adding a dimension to its marketing strategy.
New evidence of the obvious comes in the form of what Real’s estimable chairman Florentino Perez recently described as the club’s “groundbreaking project”: Real, the Movie, recently previewed at Cannes.
The movie appears to make clear that Beckham’s role is not to ping over crosses for Ronaldo and Raul, but to grace the walls, in poster form, of starstruck Japanese teens. (In the movie, apparently, his fantasy role in one teenager’s life has her boyfriend threatening to break off their relationship. Well in, Becks!)
And I can’t hide my glee by the fact that a real football club, Barcelona FC, ensured that Real’s collection of aging “galacticos” (as they dub superstars like Beckham) once again finished the season empty-handed. Barcelona were inspired, of course, by the favela-fabulous bucktoothed Brazilian midfield wonder Ronaldinho. And the irony is that Real are widely reported to have passed up the opportunity to sign the player generally acknowledged right now as the best in the world because he was “too ugly” for their marketing purposes. Indeed, as Coach Luxemburgo put it, “Real Madrid want to win things but we also have to think of business.”
The Latest
Glancing Headers
Waxing Brazilian on Euro 2008
The lesson for South Africa is clear. Our talent pool is so piss-poor that Brazilian coaches won't help -- we need to learn from the Europeans and import Brazilian players!Could Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.The Whole World's Africa
Stop South Africa's Pogroms!
Violence against immigrants in South Africa may be a product of poverty, but my friend Ray Hartley argues, the only answer is to make them full and equal citizens99c Blogging
Hamas as 'Willie Horton'
By insisting that he never advocated talking to Hamas, Obama digs himself a hole -- anyone who seeks peace in the Middle East will have to talk to HamasHear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceFeatured Analysis
About That 'New' Middle East...
Could there be a more perfect image of the catastrophic self-inflicted rout suffered by U.S. Middle East policy under President George W. Bush? This week, the President will party with Israel's leaders celebrating their country's 60th anniversary -- and champion a phony peace process whose explici...A Skeptical Read
Beheading Barack
First, he couldn't be President because he's Muslim. Now, we're told, he can't be President because he's not Muslim enough!Shameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban's new book Engage!A Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansGuest Columns
Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...Cuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...Annals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...New York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton PrimaryRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
Leave a Reply