A day outside the city

The opportunity to spend a day at a village is something unique for any city dweller. The calm and soothing environment coupled with the absence of usual hustle and bustle of a normal urban day is something which we crave for. A recent trip to such a place gave me the chance to observe a lot of things which I never managed to identify before. 

About 20 Km from the outer limit of Pune towards Lavale, few small villages are situated. The fact that they are located right at the foothills of the beautiful western ghats makes them scenic. Taking a diversion off the highway, a well constructed road led us to this village. On the way, there were green fields on both sides with the hills at the background. A bit more careful observation and we managed to see a lot of varieties of flowers. The area is known for its horticulture. A drive of another 30 minutes through the beautiful fields and we reached the village. A pair of cows on one side and 2 more buffaloes around 500 meters away greeted us. Welcome to the heart of India! 

At the centre of this place stood an almost dilapidated building which was the main business center. A bank, local panchayat office, a small doctor's clinic was situated in it. Just outside the building, a small shop under the shade of a tree was selling paan,cigarette(No standard brands). A look around and  I observed few old men wearing the traditional marathi attire seating at one corner, some school children riding their bicycles, a farmer in the middle of the field situated behind the building. The calm surroundings, the leisurely pace with which life was moving around me was captivating. After completing our work, we were taken to a place for our lunch. This place was situated at an higher altitude and the short journey left me in awe of nature. It was a 4 Km journey with a series of mild crest n troughs through the hills. The weather was cloudy and it accompanied slight drizzle at times and the presence of  vast expanse of fields which were close to their scenic best after embracing the onset of the monsoons made the journey memorable. 

As we had our lunch with a clear view of the beautiful valley in front of us, I paused for a moment and tried to admire the powers of the creators of this beautiful world. 

Spain's footballing eloquence is a thing of beauty

We are hours away from the final of Euro 2012 between Spain & Italy and there seems to be a growing concern against the style of football exhibited by the Spanish team. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It would be naive on my part to dismiss those who think Spain are boring. It is prudent though to explain why terming Spain boring is not so correct. 

To begin with, the game is played with a football. Without it you can't really do anything. Imagine being all dressed up and ready to go out to play only to find yourself against a team who simply won’t give you the ball. You can't stop the game, you can't complain to the referee that you are not getting the ball. What do you do? You tell yourself that no matter what happens we need to get the ball and play some football (You came all dressed up in those cool jerseys and fabulous studs for that isn’t it?). If you have ever played football, it’s hard to say that holding the ball as well as Spain is boring. 

Fabregas has been used as false nine during the course of this tournament. It is indeed frustrating at times to see Spain play without a striker up front but please keep in mind that their all time leading goal scorer David Villa is missing and their next best striker Fernando Torres is nowhere close to the 'El Nino' we all knew during his Liverpool days. What do Del Bosque do in such a situation? In Fabregas,Iniesta,Xavi,Silva,Xabi he has midfielders who can all score. Ramos is a genuine threat from set pieces too. Hence, he opts to play Fabregas in that role and change the system when the situation demands by bringing in the ever improving Pedro and Navas. It is also important to realize that Fabregas is no Messi. He himself has gone on record to state the same. What makes Barcelona such a lethal force is the presence of the Argentinian and his own individual skills. Another important factor is to understand that Puyol is missing too. His absence has led to Ramos switching from his usual RB position to a central defender. That has dramatically reduced the adventurism on the right side whenever Spain attack.Alvaro Arbeloa is easily their weakest link. Those who have seen Barcelona can easily understand the sheer difference Dani Alves makes with those darting runs from the right. This is all w.r.t Spain's tactical changes.

Opta Sports came up with this interesting stat - '58 - Number of passes per shot made by Spain at Euro 2012 compared to 44 at the 2010 World Cup and 33 at Euro 2008.' Some interpret it as a further proof of them being 'boring'. There are primarily 3 reasons which can be attributed to this stat most important being the way opponents play against Spain. They have become aware that getting the ball back and holding it is a difficult task and hence it is futile to match Spain in their own game. The way out is to defend, defend and defend. In a recent friendly, England did that to Spain(Please watch that game if you want to see something boring) and managed to win which surely was a catalyst to all those people who believe in such a sterile strategy. The other reason is the fact that holding the ball, passing opponents to death was always their strategy. Each time you take a shot, you are giving your opponents a chance to get the ball back. To reduce that probability, they are holding the ball for even longer before taking a shot. The third reason which is an obvious one is the impact of missing David Villa and an off form Torres. Strikers are meant to score goals and at this moment Spain are missing a quality striker. It is a matter of debate as to which is the most important reason amongst these three.  Spain being boring will be like a silent buzz which will continue to exist till they dominate.  To me, victory for Spain will be ideal as it will be perfect for the beautiful game. It will also make us believe that this game is not about being physically imperious. The likes of Xavi,Iniesta,Silva are players who will continue to inspire a lot of talents around the world who just wants to play the game without bothering about 6ft plus physiques they are not bestowed with.

Tonight's final will be a contest between the midfield of two teams. We are fans of Xavi n Co and Xavi is an admirer of Pirlo. That gives us an idea of what Andrea Pirlo is all about. His pairing with De Rossi is a dangerous one and could easily hurt Spain. I see an exciting final ahead and looking forward to a Spanish victory. 

Vamos Espana!