10 mistakes football managers would correct if they had a time machine
In the utterly magnificent Interstellar, Christopher and Jonathan Nolan chart an incredibly bold path – testing the grasping powers (and the researching capacities) of movie-goers -with their treatment of time as a physical dimension - a dimension that can be seen, felt and in essence, travelled through. The reason we are here though, talking about time travel, is for nothing as mundane as saving a species.'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that’ – so said Bill Shankly. And who are we to argue with the great man.So, here we take a look back at ten cases where the men-in-charge at the time would want to revisit to set right the wrongs they had committed, and change the course of football history.
#1 The mysterious disappearance of O Fenmeno Ronaldo
Who?Mario Zagallo -Manager, Brazil
When?12 July1998 World Cup Final
Where?Stade de France, Saint Denis
What Happened?
Taking over once again as first team coach after the rather disappointing 94 World Cup campaign (yes, yes, they won the damn thing but could they have been more boring?), Mario Zagallo twice winner ofthe Cup, as a player and coach had reintroduced flair and flamboyance into the Seleo. This team, who sometimes played in real life the way they did in some of their brilliant Nike advertisements, romped their way through to the final the watching world gradually turning into one large, screaming ocean of fanboys.
No one epitomized this joga bonito, this new found spirit of adventure and goals, better than Ronaldo. O Fenmeno had been virtually unplayable the entire tournament, scoring goals at will, his mere presence sending shivers down the spines of opposing teams and waves of belief through his teammates.As the final rolled up, it felt like nothing could go wrong for him or for the men in yellow.
How wrong they (and we) were!
As if caught in a whirlpool rising from the depths of Hades Underworld,everything went spinning viciously out of control for the Brazilians. Reports emerged that Ronaldo had suffered some form of fits in the night leading up to the match. The media was awash with rumours he had suffered an anxiety attack, he had been dosed with painkillers and wouldnt play, his love life had blown up (!) If there was a theory about it, it found air time (and print space).
Ronaldo ended up playing in the end, looking more like a small boy who had wandered on to a racetrack and did not quite know what was happening (or why everything was moving so fast) rather than the best player in the world.A Zinedine Zidane inspired France would swat away the Ronaldo-less, rudder-less Brazilians, on the way to a historic triumph.
If Ronaldo hadnt played, France may well have won they were that good that night. But it can be said without a shadow of a doubt that the Brazilians would have played a whole lot better too.