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| Columns |
| My Diary |
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by
Steven Nhlane, 31 October 2004
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10:03:03
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Man U’s biggest feat in 19 years
I would have liked to talk about Father Masauko and his recent preaching at “Njamba Cathedral”, but no, I have decided to spend my little energy on something more energy sapping. Besides, a lot of people have already given their views on the sermon.
What is, however, emerging from the debate are two schools of thought: one school totally agrees with what the priest said, that he was only calling a spade by its real name and not a big spoon. The other school of thought is that Masauko erred and so he or the clergy should apologise to Atcheya for what the preacher said.
It would have been nice discussing how in 1994 the whole nation was forced to choose between “killers and thieves”: whether it is true that we were choosing between murderers and robbers and if it is, why the whole nation was given a raw deal?
It would also have been good to try and expose those who used to speak with “scones in their mouths”.
My view is that Masauko was only exercising his democratic right to express his views and that no one should apologise to anyone about it.
The substantive matter I would like to dwell on today is last Sunday's game between Arsenal and Manchester United. I have no choice but to talk about this game because of a number of things that happened on and off the pitch. The real action took place at Old Trafford in UK, but most of us (75 million people around the world) followed it on the screen.
By the way, that I have moved away from my usual staple and decided to write about soccer should not make Gracian, George and Garry feel that I am monotonising their favourite subjects.
When I got to the office the next day, I was ready to be confronted by a multitude of hilarious and jubilating Man U fans, who I knew, would have a field day over their team’s win against Arsenal. And that is exactly what happened.
One can forgive Man U fans for their excitement. Putting a stop at Arsenal’s unbeaten run up to 49 games in the FA premier league was a big feat for Man U. The celebration by the fans was also not unexpected after their team has spent so much buying new players who have not produced expected results: only 4 wins from 10 games this season!
Half way through the first half of the championship title race, Man U has to be contented with an unenviable position on the FA league table: at par with a host of other teams like Bolton and Liverpool although the latter has a game in hand.
Man U fans in the Nation newsroom could also be forgiven for their overzealous partying and jubilation considering that they know they won the game because of poor refereeing. Ruud van Nisterlooy, the man who converted the dubiously awarded spot kick, deserved to have been redcarded for murderously pounding his boot on Ashley Cole’s knee and running it down the leg.
But not surprisingly, this referee feigned ignorance of the calamity despite having been less than six metres away from the scene of the felony. By the way, this referee has a reputation of extravagantly awarding penalties to Man U. In the last 11 games he has officiated involving Man U, he has awarded the team a record 7 penalties.
That game could have been different had the referee not awarded the penalty. Actually, Wayne Rooney deserved to be punished for simulation in the 18-yard box.
As for van Nisterlooy, the punishment FA has given him for the crime—to miss three games—could not have been lighter. This referee should also go into the FA's books as someone not just with a soft spot for Man U, but also as unprofessional.
The argument that Man U would still have carried the day because they scored two, is illogical. It is like infecting someone with HIV, and when this person later develops full blown Aids and dies of kaposis sacoma, you look at the kaposis as the cause of the demise. The fact is that without the HIV, the person would not have developed Aids and kaposis.
I can forgive George Kasakula, whose fanaticism for Man U, you dear readers are aware of. This man is on leave and should have been somewhere selling tobacco, or watching Gule wa Mkulu maybe in Kasungu. But on this particular Monday, he was at the office as early as 7 AM to join the likes of Mabvuto Banda and George Chipala in the newsroom party.
But what surprised me most that morning is that even Liverpool fans, Gracian and Chisomo, whose team has only a miracle chance to win the championship, given its pedigree and performance this year, wanted Arsenal's record unbeaten run halted. All the same, my heartfelt congratulations to Man U for doing what everybody else including Man U itself has failed to do for one year seven months.
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