Ryan Patrick live blogs the press conference which announces Brian Lara as West Indian cricket captain for the third time. The general feeling is that this is a bad decision, a terrible backward step. When Lara was appointed captain the second time, the general feeling was that it was a very good decision. Public opinion, as we know, is fickle.

The West Indies are struggling at the moment. So they certainly cannot become worse with Lara now, can they? Brian Lara has the experience. Brian Lara has been inspirational and proven in parts like in helping the Windies win the Champions Trophy in 2004. So why can Brian Lara not be a stop gap arrangement till the World Cup at least and help the Windies to some proud victories?

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Blog FC asks:

Has success in Europe become too important, coming as it seems to at the cost of league respectability?

I don’t think league respectability is lost. It is very prestigious to win the English Premiership as is most domestic league titles. However, a team can face a situation where it secures a champions league spot or nearly secures it. However, the league champions are way ahead like a Barcelona in Spain. In this scenario, a team can find itself concentrating more on Europe. Often players are rested before a big European tie as well when domestic stakes are not that high. A perfectly understandable scenario.

Some thing like Mr. Wenger did a few days ago versus the Spurs does not come under this though. For why should he have not played his best players right from the start in such a crucial tie? And then he had the teremity to say “Every thing went against us.”

The second question Blog FC asks:

And given Liverpool’s dismal defense of its European title, should winning the title be reason enough for a club to be invited back, even if it doesn’t otherwise qualify for the event?

Definitely not. The Champions League spot has to be earned. The only way to earn them should be by performing within the given norms. System should not be changed for a huge variation in performance between league and Europe. If Spurs are ahead of Arsenal in the domestic league, they have earned their spot.

This debate is likely to heat up this year too, like last year ahead of the Champions League finals. My stand is firm on the issue.

Barca overcame the Champions of England. They overcame the tough challenge of Benfica. They have now overcome the soon to be crowned Italian Champions.

The game saw a lot of chances in the first half, specially early. Eto’o got two easy chances and Shevchenko got a fairly easy chance as well. On another day, versus another opposition, Barcelona or Milan could easily have been 2-0 up going into the second half. However, this was not just another game. Even the seasoned professionals showed that after all they are pretty much human.

Barca dominated possession in both halfs, as usual. As the clock ticked, Milan’s frustration to score at least one goal grew. Time ran out on Milan in the end. The neutrals watching may have found the second half a bit boring. Make no mistake though, that we, the Barca fans, were getting delirious with each moment. Could an Inzhaghi like heartbreak occur? Not this time.

We are into the Champions League finals!!! It looks like the best team will, indeed, win the Champions League for once, for a change as we kick some Arse! It does setup an intriguing final. Can the Barcelona attack penetrate the strong Arsenal defense? How will Barcelona restrict Henry and the chances they do give oppositions at times? For Henry is one player who would take the chances which come his way.

A lot will be at stake for Arsenal. Barcelona cannot afford to let the Champions League away this time. It would be the first step towards greatness for Barca. All of England, Spain, the multitudes of Barcelona and Arsenal fans and the rest of the world will have their eyes set in Paris in 20 days. It is going to be one hell of a party.

No team has defeated Barca at the Nou Camp in three years in European competition since Rijkaard took over. No team has come off a 1-0 trail in a Champions League semi final. From the FCB site:

Since the Champions League adopted its present format in the 1992-93 season, only one team - Ajax in 1995-96 - has managed to overturn an adverse result from the first home leg of the semi-finals.

History is in Barca’s side. Very strong stats. But stats matter little when Barcelona play a strong Milan side.

Forget the injury talk. Forget every thing else. When the match starts, it is going to be tough and competitive. Game 1 was not wasy with Milan having a lot of chances. They panicked a bit in the second half. However, they are unlikely to in the second leg today. So, it is going to be a very good battle and Barcelona will definitely have to earn the Champions League spot with a very good performance.

This is either going to be very special or a heartbreaking experience.

Sky Sport’s Phil Thompson believes that every thing suggests towards a Barcelona win. I see it similarly but cannot help but feel very itchy as the game draws closer.

For part 7 of the series, I caught up with Trinidad and Tobago’s Liam Camps. Camps, 18, is a huge sports fan. Liam got hooked to football when Dwight Yorke signed with Manchester United. From then on, he began to take great interest in football. He followed the team with passion during the ill-fated campaign for the last World Cup. Yorke was one of many who delighted in the inspirational triumph this time around, Camps says.

I thank Camps for agreeing to the interview.

Tell us a bit about the T and T football history and the football culture which exists

Football and cricket are the two major sports in Trinidad and Tobago. The support for the Warriors is typically overwhelming, and hopefully that will be seen in Germany with a sea of red. Twice in our footballing history has the country been in a position to qualify for the World Cup.

The first time was in 1989, but the USA won 1-0 on that occasion. T&T got another life in this campaign, and under the astute leadership of Leo Beenhakker, and as they say, the rest is history.

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You haven’t won the Champions League. Hell, I want you to fail miserably against Barcelona of course. A lot of work needs to be done still.

Today though, you can rejoice. It has been a miserable season so far and you deserve all the happiness. Jenns Lehmann - what a hero!

Update: Can Arsenal be kings of Europe? Sky asks and fans answer.

The pay issue in tennis has all the ingredients which captivate the mind - authority versus player, man versus woman. The issue has reached boiling point with the announcement of the All England club. Reports CNN:

The All England club announced on Tuesday that its singles winners would receive a four percent increase, but with the men’s champion receiving 30,000 pounds ($51,000) more than his female counterpart.

This leaves Wimbledon as the only Grand Slam which gives away less prize money to its champions. French Open announced equal pay for it’s champions earlier this year. However, they still give more money to the men compared to the women. The US Open gives it’s prize money down the middle though as seen by the 2005 prize money distribution.

The women are fuming. Former player’s Chris Evert and Billie Jean King’s views from the same CNN article:

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16 year old Fardin Qayyumi was funny, enthusiastic, passionate, lovable, confident and a wonderfully nice guy. I just came to know about his passing. A 16 year old cricketer from North California, Fardin played in the North California Cricket Association (NCCA) league.

Ganesh Sanap, who played with Fardin, recalls:

He had his own way of dressing up for the game and it was fun seeing a 15 year old among us. He was our future Captain designate. He had an amazing will to succeed. Some of us can only dream about possessing as much talent as him.

About halfway through last season Fardin started opening the batting for Valley Cricketers and showed tremendous defensive techniques. During this year’s team meeting Fardin asked what’s his batting position going to be this season and I asked him what position would he like to bat. He mentioned that he would like to open and then I told him that he didn’t even need to ask about his position. Such was the kids manners and attitude, he didn’t take things for granted. One of the most important aspects for anyone to succeed, not just on the field, but off it too.

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For part 6 of the series, I caught up with Marvin Zumbado. At 23, Marvin is studying computer engeneering and will complete his graduation next year, His favourite soccer team is Saprissa, Currently, he works for an American horse racing company. Marvin is deeply passionate about football, music and extreme sports.

I thank Marvin for agreeing to the interview.

Tell us a bit about Costa Rica’s football history and the football culture which exists.

Costa Rica is a definitely a soccer country, our life is surrounded by soccer, we have a very competitive local league and we get lots of international games in TV everyday. You can find a soccer game everywhere you go, every town has it’s own soccer field and team, you can also find kids playing soccer in every neighborhood, a soccer game can paralyze my country and it has done it a few times in the past.

Costa Rica has qualified for 2 World Cups, the first was in Italy 1990, where we amazingly won our opening game vs Scotland 1-0, then we lost to brazil 1-0, and in the 3rd game of the group stage we defeated Sweden 2-1 and made it to the second round, where we played Czechoslovaqia and got spanked 4-1. Our second WC appereance was 4 years ago in Korea/Japan 2002, we finished with a 1-1-1 record, after a 2-0 win over China , a 1-1 draw with turkey and a 5-2 loss with Brazil.

Turkey advanced over us due to goal difference, eventually Brazil won the cup and Turkey finished 3rd. We have also played in most of the Concacaf Gold cups and also in a few Conmebol America’c cup, also our U23 teams has played a couple of times in the Olympic Games.

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