I love Soccer! I have loved soccer since I was 6 years old, and possibly even before. I remember Argentina winning the World Cup in 78 with Mario Kempes, Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge and Futbol made in Germany, The Road to Wembly, Joe Masiga, Tobias Ocholla, and Micky Weche. Seared in my memory are Paulo Rossi in 82, Michelle Platini, Jean Tigana and Joel Bats verses Sócrates, Zico and Falcão, in 86 and who can forget Diego 'Armando' Maradona and the 'Hand of God' against England and Jose Luis Brown playing with a broken arm in the final against Germany in Mexico. And who can forget Roger Miller the man who invented the corner post dance................. Those were the days.
In those days the 'beautiful game' was not as it is today. We did not have the pubs with team merchandise on the wall, the ubiquitous Man -U jersey, or even players names on their jerseys. No Super Sport, cable or satellite TV. To know the game one had to work hard. You needed to read parts of the newspaper that no child dared read or sacrifice you afternoon and watch the black and white Football Made in Germany and play 'Spot the Ball" in the Standard News paper. The risks were even greater if you wanted to stay on top of the local scene - the periodic fight between the arch rivals Gor Mahia and Abaluhya FC (later AFC Leopards) were intense enough and tragically life was occasionally lost. These risks had a high payoff in my books. I was there when AFC won their 3rd EA club championship in a row 82-84. When Gor Mahia won the Africa Cup Winner's Cup with Peter Dawo's headers in 87 or the All African Games final where Kenya lost 1:0 to Egypt and we walked from Kasarani to Nairobi City Center. I was there for these moments and more. These were good times.
So this blog is a nostalgic tribute to football past and present and the good feeling that a good game generates or the lump in the throat when an underdog looses after a remarkable Cinderella story in the World Cup. Now I have my biases in club football - and who does not -these will be evident as we go along, however I am looking forward to fun and healthy 'online hooliganism'. So join me in this adventure in The Beautiful Game.
Additional writers wanted.
