Merci beaucoup, Kingsley Coman!

Victorious Bayern Munich

“Merci beaucoup, Kingsley Coman!”  These are the words the fans of Bayern Munich as well as the people of Germany should be saying for winning the Champions League. It is French, the language that Kingsley understands. Maybe, many have already said it! 

How ironical!  A German club fighting against a French club and a French man scores against the French club.  Ha ha! This is football! The beautiful game, with twists and turns at every corner.  On winning, Kingsley said he felt a little heartache, but he is “100% Bayern Munich”.  Of course, he is '100% Bayern Munich'; otherwise he would not have played so well and headed in that beautiful goal!

Kingsley Coman

The score was 1 - 0, so it would have gone either way.  Bayern Munich, indeed, played slightly better, but PSG did have its chances. There were goalmouth melees, and with luck, PSG could have scored. Manuel Neuer, the Bayern Munich goalkeeper, was also exceptionally good on that day. Knowing football, often the better teams lose, by a stroke of bad luck or inopportune.  Bayern Munich did not lose, though. This time PSG, and especially, poor Neymar did not have it, the providence to win.

Some fans commented on the media that Neymar, the Brazilian, was just ordinary but with a high price tag, and that is why PSG lost. They said he should have stuck with Messi at Barcelona.  I disagree. Neymar knew  what he can do to a club. That was why he moved to PSG. The new Neymar looks matured and is often mesmerizingly skillful with the ball and his strong and resilient play for the club had enabled it to top the Ligue 1, three times. If ‘Barcelona’ was mentioned, Messi ‘s figure would crop up  into mind. Mention 'Juventus'  and Ronaldo pops up into mind. Mention 'PSG' and who is the first one to appear in mind. Neymar, of course. To my mind, anyway, and !00%. Yes that same Kingsley’s !00%! Chuckle.

Inconsolable Neymar

Neymar really thought PSG could win the European Cup this time. It clearly showed on his reaction at the end of the game, having lost the game. He looked so inconsolable! Poor guy! I am sure he felt bad having let down his fans and his club.

Come on Neymar! Even if you did not win the Champions League you are the current No. 1 to me! Neymar, the ‘Camisa 10’!

Achtung! The Germans are here!

       

Nagelsmann ( German) - RB Leipzig

Rudi Garcia (French) - Lyon

I am not crazy about football, let alone a football fanatic. Just because, the other day, during the PSG versus RB Leipzig match, I told my friends that PSG’s  manager, Tuchel was on crutches because he broke his left foot during a training session, they began to say I know all, and am a football fanatic! Ha ha!

But I do follow the football news and developments, especially, from the portals of 'Mail online Football' and 'BBC Football' and recently '24/7 Football'. From there, I became familiar with the likes of Klopp, Guardiola, Lampard, Zidane, Solskjaer, Tuchel,  Simeone and, of course, Mourinho. I said ‘of course Mourinho’ because I am a keen follower of this guy. No, not stalking him! Just not failing to read about him whenever his name his mentioned.

Okay. Coming to the matter of football managers, I am red faced 😒 to say that last week was the first time when I had the feeling that I was being introduced to the names of Rudi Garcia and Hansi Flick, the two managers of Lyon and Bayern Munich, respectively. For the first time! Oh my God, what had I missed? Their teams, Lyon and Bayern Munich were involved in the semi-finals of the Champions League and I am blank about them, the managers, I mean. Some football fanatic I am! 

The other two semi-finalists were PSG and RB Leipzig. For the record, in the semi-finals, PSG beat RB Leipzig 3 - 0, and Bayern Munich beat Lyon, also 3 - 0. 

I got to know about Tuchel of PSG, when, quite a long while back, there had been mischievous talk about Mourinho replacing him at PSG. As for Nagelsmann of RB Leipzig, he was also new to me. Only got a slight touch of news on him when he was playing against Mourinho in round 16, but I couldn't forget his frantic walkabouts in front of his dugout during the semi-final!

Well, the two finalists of the 2019/2020 Champion League are PSG and Bayern Munich. Hope the media talks a little more about the managers of PSG and Bayern Munich. And others, too.  Not always about the players. And not always about Solskjaer,  Klopp,  Guardiola, Zidane, Mourinho….and the already well known. Maybe, my fault, too, for always reading the online portals of British tabloids only, on football. Or, maybe I missed their stories on the managers. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I  googled and discovered that Lyon’s coach, Rudy Jose Garcia is French and prior to Lyon he had coached  Lille, Roma and Marseille. He had been the manager of Lyon for just about 11 months now and his club had reached the semi-final of the Champions League. Quite an achievement, don’t you agree? He had been the French Manager of the Year for 2011, 2013 and 2014. That speaks a lot of him. No wonder Lyon is so competitive. He is a man to watch, alright. And let us watch him, shall we? Right on!

As for Hans- Dieter Flick, commonly known as Hansi Flick,he had played as a midfielder for Bayern Munich in the 80s. Prior to becoming the Bayern Munich manager, he had been the sporting director of the German football team for 3 years. He had also been the assistant manager of Germany from 2006 to 2014. He took over as manager of Bayern Munich in November 2019. So that makes him the manager of Bayern Munich for just about 10 months and he is in the Champions League Final. Standing ovation to him! 🙆 Yet, mostly, he looks so calm and composed, What a man!

Well, since Tuchel is in the final, a little more info about him. Prior to becoming manager of French club, PSG (Paris Saint Germain) in 2018, he had been the manager of German clubs, Borussia Dortmund, and before that, of Mainz 05. He had been successful in winning local trophies in Dortmund and PSG. 

Tuchel (German) -  PSG

Hansi Flick (German) - Bayern Munich

The Champions League Final between the French team PSG and the German team Bayern Munich will be played in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sunday 23^rd August 2020. Ironically, the managers of both the teams are Germans - Thomas Tuchel and Hans Dieter Flick. As it is now, the German media and tabloids are patting each other's backs, saying German football had never been better, having had 3 teams managed by Germans in the semi-final – RB Leipzig, PSG and Bayern Munich, managed by Germans Nagelsmann, Tuchel and Hans Flick, in that order. If Bayern Munich wins the Champions League, their feelings will be overflowing with pride. If PSG wins, they will breast beat that it won because it is managed by a German coach. Either way, the Germans are going to have a good time!  

Let us, too, be neutral and have a good time!

A tribute to Michael Jackson, on his birthday month

                                              

Michael Joseph Jackson, was his name 

Born on August twenty ninth, of nineteen fifty eight 

Was destined from the very beginning, to fame 

To 'shock and awe' the crowds was his trait. 

Amaze did he, the people of this very divided earth 

With his so bewildering endowment of songs 

And dances of exhilaration and mirth 

That the world forgot its rights and wrongs! 

Now, he is gone, went away on June twenty fifth, of twenty zero nine 

To be with God and to, finally, have the peace 

That he so craved for, in this land of yours and mine 

But never did attain, till the dance of his heart did cease. 

A thriller like him come but once in a life time 

To unite this world split by race, religion and creed 

To name him the icon of unity will be no crime 

Just a simple accolade that will be gladly agreed.

But alas! In the later part of his life, tarnished was his image

For the unsavory deeds he was suspected to have done

And which were, mercilessly, published, page after page

Please God, forgive him of misgivings, as he is also Your son!

He died, but still lived, in the hearts of his fans

In every corner of this wide, wild world

They hummed his songs of thrill, and songs of romance

While on his name their fingers and eyes swirled!