FABRICE MUAMBA’S COLLAPSE -
A DISTRESSING INCIDENT
THAT SHOWED THE
BEST SIDE OF FOOTBALL
I WAS as shocked and upset as anyone when I witnessed Fabrice Muamba’s collapse on the pitch at White Hart Lane on Saturday. The Bolton midfielder collapsed suddenly and was taken to hospital after suffering what was diagnosed as a cardiac arrest. As I write this on the Wednesday afterwards, the latest bulletin from the hospital appears to be uplifting – that he is recovering and is speaking again.
That in itself is brilliant news. Fabrice lives up to his name: he is a fab young man, a family man who has great morals and lives a good life. He is not your archetypical hedonistic Premier League footballer who splashes the cash and is always in the papers for the wrong reasons. Far from it, this is one of the good guys.
But his collapse and revival also has another uplifting side – and it concerns the more distastetul side of big-time football. For the aftermath showed another side to our national sport – a side that we do not see often enough. A caring, compassionate side that made me proud to be associated with the game.
First, a salute to the Tottenham fans at the match. They will brilliant, so quiet and clearly worried. Many of them laid scarves outside the hospital and showed that football and its various rivalries was irrelevant – all that mattered was that this young man receiced swift, expert treatment and that he recovered. I did not hear one moan or complaint from the fans that the match was called off.
Second, the medics were swift on the scene and excellent.
Third, the game as a whole – from players to fans – then went into overdrive to show they cared. Players tweeted their good wishes on Twitter, teams clapped before kick offs the next day to show their support and even Real Madrid played their part in Spain, as their big names, including Cristiano Ronaldo sent their support from miles away by wearing shirts wishing Fabrice a speedy recovery.
I found the widespread compassion and backing very moving – the incident itself was both dreadful and dreadfully upsetting, but the attitude of the big stars and their clubs and fans afterwards made me proud to be associated with what we term the Beautiful Game.
Beautiful indeed – and get well soon, Fabrice, from all of us here at The Weekly Sport.
ERIKSSON RATHER
THAN PEARCE FOR
ENGLAND CARETAKER
IN THE EUROS
MOVING into a more critical role, I must admit I am finding it hard to believe – but my spies in Soho Square tell me that the FA are seriously contemplating putting Stuart Pearce in charge of England for the European Championships this summer.
Surely the buffoons in charge can see that he is not up to the job?
They need only look back at how we fared against Holland recently when Pearce was given a run-out in the top role for clues.
Yes, we lost and were outplayed but that might have been expected against the World Cup runners-up.
More worryingly, we lost because Pearce did not pick the right men for the job. I was all for him going for youth – but then he left out THE young player of the moment…Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain!
And he started with Adam Johnson who can’t even get in the Man City first team!
No, if we must go with a caretaker at the Euros, why not ask Sven Goran Eriksson to step in? I know, he became a figure of fun at the end of his reign, but he did the business – getting England to two quarter-finals, much better than Capello ever did.
He knows the players well, he is cool and he is a good ambassador. Let’s face it, we’re not going to win it, not with the likes of Spain, Germany and France in our way. In fact, with Pearce in command, I would not be shocked if we even ended up bottom of our group and exited at the first stage.
We need an experienced hand at the helm. Not a novice, Pearce has no record of success as a manager at this level – or even at major club level - and he could well clash with the senior players like John Terry and Frank Lampard. Pearce is the type who likes to make a statement of intent and to stamp his authority – by dropping some big name or leaving someone out…as he did with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Better the devil you know in Sven than a bloke who is unproven and unpredictable. Trust me.
FRANKIE’S FLUTTERS
LAST WEEK I called it right on the Formula 1 opening round at Melbourne when I said…‘And the F1 in Melbourne – call me a silly dreamer, but I’m going for Hamilton or Button!’ Button duly won and Hamilton came home in third.
I also predicted a big win for Man United at Wolverhampton.
So now you know…Frankie and The Weekly Sport can be relied upon to give you a reliable guide for when you head to the bookies!
This week I’m going for football and F1 again.
On Saturday the biggest match of the weekend takes place at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Spurs in the Premier League. Both teams need the points if they are to grab one of the four all-important Champions League places on offer – and so the stakes couldn’t be higher. Given that, I’m going for a draw, a point apiece and a scoreline of 1-1.
On Sunday the new F1 season continues apace with the Malaysian GP in Sepang. I’m taking Red Bull’s Sebastien Vettel to repeat his win of last year and Jenson Button to also replicate his runner-up spot from 2011. Hamilton finished eighth last time, but he would surely be in the top four on Sunday.
FRANK WORRALL
(For more information on Frank and his bestselling sports books, see www.frankworrall.com)
Weekly Sport readers can buy Frank’s insightful book on Sir Alex Ferguson for the special price of only £2.74 on Kindle (retail price £17.99 for the hardback)…go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Fergie-Wonderland-Biography-ebook/dp/B00603XJB8/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326291046&sr=1-7
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