RUGBY union recently provided the most keenly contested World Cup final with the South African Springboks narrowly edging the New Zealand All Blacks by 12 points to 11 in a pulsating encounter that will go down as a game for the ages and be vividly remembered by all who watched the nerve wracking spectacle.
That the All Blacks came so agonisingly close to victory playing with a man short for the majority of the match following the sending off of the All Blacks captain Sam Cane by referee Wayne Barnes, is a feat of some magnitude and speaks volumes about a side who with a full complement of players would no doubt have secured another triumph.
It was yet more heartbreak for the All Blacks who had experienced similar pain in the South African held World Cup of 1995 where with star attraction Jonah Lomu spearheading arguably one of the greatest rugby sides ever assembled, they were schooled once more by South Africa in another final they really ought to have been victorious in.
Sadly for them, their plight is not unique and mirrors a common trend in finals in a number of sports especially football where the best teams don’t always win.
In fact I’m coming to the conclusion that the best teams seldom win finals!
The records will however point to the Springboks as World Champions with their overall tally standing at four final wins to the three of the All Blacks.
While it’s a sporting utopia for the South Africans, it’s a crushing ego blow for the All Blacks who must sadly concede that South Africa have a honest to goodness legitimate claim at this juncture to be officially recognized as the greatest rugby union side in the history of the game; even while they themselves acknowledge that World Cup tournament rugby apart,over a thirty year span, the Springboks and everyone else for that matter have played a distant second fiddle to the All Blacks!
In football meanwhile, it’s unanimously accepted that the best international football team throughout history has been Brazil.
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They do have the record for the most World Cups won by a nation with five, but it’s fair comment to say that they could and should have won at least a couple more!
The most blatant example of their prowess bringing home nothing but tears, was their early exit from the 1982 World Cup.
Here they lined up with a collection of star studded carnival talent that was so unfairly better than every team they came up against.
The world watched in shock though as they were knocked out of the World Cup by a Paolo Rossi hat-trick for an Italian side who literally mustered only three attacks all afternoon.
It was enough however to send Brazil packing back early to Rio with a football team(comprising Zico, Socrates, Eder, Falcao and Jorginho,)that is still spoken of in revered tones.
The cynic in me continues to wonder how this actually materialised.
After all, the Italian goal scoring hero who stole all the headlines was none other than the very same Paolo Rossi who had only months before the World Cup, resumed his football career again after a two year match fixing ban!
Staying with the Samba boys, a less gifted but arguably still superior Brazil at the 1990 World Cup tourney would go on to lose in the round of sixteen to Argentina after one single moment of divine Diego Maradona genius.
In further torturous tournament torment in 2006;they were eliminated with arguably the last truly special Brazilian side which included of course the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo(the one and only,)Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Kaka!
Of course it’s not merely Brazil who have failed to do justice with the mouthwatering talent at their disposal.
There are a number of other notable sides who when it mattered have literally just sunk under the tidal pressure.
The Netherlands always spring to mind as a side who buckle even when they are overwhelming favourites as was the case in Germany in 1974.With a side containing their new world record purchase Barcelona superstar Johan Cruyff as well as a core of players from Europe’s most successful club side Ajax,and playing a brand of football years ahead of their time; the Dutch steam rolled all and sundry in the entire tournament until they panicked in the match that truly mattered against the hosts West Germany in the final.
Admittedly the Germans were no pushovers themselves and littered with superstars of the calibre of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Gerd Muller.
Nevertheless the Dutch with their unique brand of football were on a totally different level and ought to have put them to the sword.
In the end, the Germans who had done their homework on their opponents were able to identify the Dutch weaknesses while weeding out their own, and ran out surprisingly stress free 2-1 winners.
The Dutch side that had thrilled the entire world with their free flowing football, ended up going home empty handed.
In fact the Netherlands have never won the World Cup and their glasses remain half empty to this day!
Less spoken of but just as unfortunate is the case of Hungary.
At the 1954 World Cup finals held in Switzerland, the world was able to witness first hand these mesmerizing, marvelous, magical, all conquering Magyars.
Led by the gifted Ferenc Puskas who would later secure a dream move to Real Madrid,the Hungarians were the first football side to markedly revolutionize the beautiful game.
They were simply streets ahead of everyone else in terms of skill, tactics, strategy and awareness.
This was demonstrably highlighted in an early group match at the tournament where they thrashed the West Germans by eight goals to three!
Intriguingly as the football Gods would have it, West Germany and Hungary would meet again in the final but this time the Germans were able to neutralize the Hungarian threat and come out on top by three goals to two!
If you’ve picked up a common thread, well done!
The Germans like the South Africans in rugby union, have this unique ability to rise to the occasion at tournament time, a remarkable knack of not just reaching finals they have no right sometimes to contest, but winning them too against all the odds.
It’s why they say that you should never write off the Germans.
Ironically one could argue that perhaps the only genuine German side that fully deserved to win the World Cup was the 1966 side which lost out to an English side buoyed by a Wembley home crowd as well as the absence of goal line technology which allowed a disputed English goal to stand.
The football world will on a humanitarian level live with that, knowing that England have been deprived and unable much to their chagrin, to replicate that success ever since!
The Netherlands football side on the other hand are much like the South African national cricket side, the Proteas.
They have this tendency to wilt away when they are within sight of the finish line.
These are both teams who flower brightly initially but then mentally give in and resign themselves to losing finals they really ought to win.
Perhaps the Proteas will surprise their proud countrymen next week and bring the cricket World Cup home, but I wouldn’t put a wager on it!
They might consider getting in touch with Rafael Benitez, who masterminded the most unlikeliest of footballing upsets ever when he hijacked the 2005 Champions League final for Liverpool from AC Milan.
A Liverpool side trailing 3-0 at halftime and second in every aspect of the game, turned the game around in the second half as they roared back to level the tie in normal time before winning on penalties.
Purely insane luck or inspirational Benitez?!
Till the next time folks…I have officially gone into hiding with reports that Springbok rugby fans are searching for me armed with their sjamboks!
I’ll live with it; I’ve just received confirmation that my New Zealand residence visa has been approved!
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