Brazilian striker Neymar has become a global joke, a somersaulting clown, a diver and a prima donna.
In a sport where being in the vertical should be a distinct advantage, Neymar, sometimes Neymar Junior (full name, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior), has accumulated a reported 14 minutes in the World Cup competition thus far, writhing about on the deck in horrible pain, before getting lightly to his feet, sprinting off and scoring yet another goal.
Certainly, if Neymar, was an AFL player, he’d be dragged, forced to sit on the pine and think about what he did. In rugby, he’d be stomped mercilessly at the breakdown. In NRL, he’d almost certainly be killed. In soccer, or football at the insistence of my editor, he’s a gun and may one day become the greatest of all time.
SBS commentator, Craig Foster, declared him “a genius”, albeit a flawed one. Mozart was a genius. Michelangelo, too. No doubt. Unless Neymar is scribbling down a piano concerto in A Major or resolving the intrinsic paradox of transcendental bijection in the spacetime continuum before banging the ball into the back of the net, I suspect he comes up short in the genius stakes.
Full column here.
World Cup Soccer roundup, Mr Insider and Russia gone after a valiant effort. We are now down to the Semi-Finals with England to play Croatia and France to play Belgium.
https://tinyurl.com/y8jq4s7n
The France v Belgium game should be a cracker. France have played all their games at different tempos, adapting to the perceived strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. That is an impressive feat. The head says France to win but I’d really love to see Belgium win the semi and then the final.
We’d never shut Kormann up.
Henry, my esteemed Henry, let us dedicate this song to the object of our mutual admiration, The President of The United States. AKA “Breakfast for Putin.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S_mGdkqQsU
Fab song eh what!
Mr Baptiste, I am blown away! What a superb classic song and beautifully filmed too, am sure Donald would approve 100%! Don’t forget November good buddy when we get to see Donald in the flesh, as it were. Feel free to join your humble correspondent to greet the POTUS on his Aussie Motorcade. Flags supplied by me. Keep up the good work. Cheers P.S. My Princess’s outfit is spectacular, all USA colours and yes a touch of Agnetha Fältskog, the POTUS will stop for us for sure!
Cheers Henry. Enjoy. Perhaps we’ll wean you off that Alabama hoe-down red neck music?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXUoqVbgPV0
Well thank heavens for the iPhone hotspot, no NBN and no Foxtel since 11pm last night.
Woo bloody hoo for England, lucky I couldn’t watch it hey👿 that and the eternal mystery of “no outages in your area”
They were very good again. It was a wise move to lose to Belgium as it gave them a relatively easier run. I’d be most surprised if they don’t make the final.
I enjoyed a ride through the French countryside with the TDF boys.
Missed the soccer – and yet another dismal effort from Kyrgios.
Well done England! Through to the semi’s. A part of me would like to be back in London to enjoy the collective euphoria but a more sensitive part of me would prefer to be in Russia, consoling and uplifting the spirits of those sad, yet beguiling, Swedish ladies.
Anywho going for Croatia against Russia and would be VERY surprised if they
didn’t win.
Belgium v France will be a toughy for Belgium (my last tip). France are big, strong, collected and they have Pogba and greasy G in the bank. Would love to see Belgium in the final and I wouldn’t mind seeing England in a losing final!
Carlton need to be relegated for their own good.
Fortunately I missed the game yesterday. It must have been a shocker.
I’ve tried to find a positive in every Blues game this year. The only positives I could find in their capitulation is, they scored first, and they’ve almost certainly cemented first draft pick. I had hopes they’d get half a dozen wins for the season, but I can’t see another win anywhere in the run to September. The Cats overcame the Swans, but it wasn’t convincing – got out of jail at the death – just.
I’ve run out of north. I made Bamaga today, and it’s a short drive and an 800m walk to the tip of the Cape to end the first leg of the journey.
How about Yates coming off the square to take out Dermie in the ’89 GF Derie went down to the pocket with a broken rib and kicked 2 for the quarter I think. Hocking had a tooth knocked out and Dipper played the second half with a punctured lung after the square. G. Abblett Snr. Almost won the game of his own if only he had kicked straight. Another couple of minutes and Geelong would have got over the line Hawks were gassed. this is when footy was at its best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M71aKoKB2hY
Best ignored but sometmes I cant resist. You must have been about four back then, but to say of Abblett “if only he had kicked straight”. FFS, he kicked 9 goals 1point for the match. I was there, four rows back at the Punt Road end in the last quarter when God put on a show never to be forgotten.
Your lack of sense of humor clearly made you miss the “point” of the G. Ablett comment. The other point highlighting the physicality of the game back then which no doubt was always too much for you. Stick to your lawn bowls and keep complaining about the green and the rinks. Oh by the way I was playing in the SANFL in 1989 but yes I was still a young mullet wearing kid compared to the men I was playing against.
Sense and humour! Give me a break sunshine.
As for demographics, your well defined, mullet only prized as bait.
this bloke could take a hit and dish it out. One of my favorite players. DRJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgarzEENT2M
this bloke was a showman when Carlton had there mosquito fleet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScfRPdX5Jg
As Martin Tyler pointed out, the referee in the France/Uruguay game was a former actor. You could tell. The facial expressions, the hand gestures (didn’t his pointing have some power!) the timing and wonderful voice control. He was the real deal – totally professional. Combine that with his knowledge of stagecraft and he must have been horribly embarrassed to be on the field with the group of rank amateurs that are professional soccer players. Credit to him for not sending them all off and keeping the stage for himself.
As for Neymar, he’s not even an amateur actor. His performances look like a combination of pre-schoolers drama games and epilepsy.
On a completely different subject, have I ever mentioned how much I like the Swedes? Wonderful people. Friendly, intelligent and always well educated in the English language. You would be hard pressed to find people more likeable. Not many are famous, but those that are, Abba, Bjorn Borg, Ingrid Bergman for example, are absolute ornaments to their field of endeavour. Sweden also brought us the Volvo, the famously safe car that was favoured by the elderly when I was a young driver. Great invention. I could be driving along and if I saw a Volvo I would know that the driver probably had diminished reaction time and eyesight and may well have been sound asleep. I, like others, knew to give them a wide berth.
Incidentally, Sweden are playing a quarter final in the World Cup tonight. There country is behind them and, as they’re such good people, Australia should be too.
Actor?:
https://twitter.com/TheMichaelMoran/status/1013369907529027584
He’s good. He ought to do the State of Origin as well.
aka rutabaga or neep.
…and in AFL news in HCMC, former Melbourne gun Brad Green has been signed up as the special guest for this years Grand Final brunch. Over 250 games and 350 goals for the Dees, Brad is also a former captain of the Australian U/15 cricket team and spent a couple of months with MU at Old Trafford as a sixteen year old. I doubt I will be taking on the lad from Tassie on the pool table.
Top work.
Safari browser worked first time, but I got a bot error the next time i tried with Safari. Your site now knows me again!!
This is Mozilla try 1 from my phone. I wonder if it will take a second Mozilla go? More exciting than the soccer.
Goodness Neymar must have been distraught one assumes?
Got it.
And for those who missed it, a few words on Neymar from the great Eric Cantona. Hilarious!
https://youtu.be/SKwbldHLSls
Good one!