A phrase I hear constantly when watching football is
the concept of “wanting it”. A tense 0-0 battle can be won in the final ten
minutes by “who wants it more”, while a slight quiver in the eyes of a penalty
taker can betray the fact that “he doesn’t want it!”. Even the pundits, those
paid to explain the mysteries of the game to us via technical and tactical
reasoning, are susceptible to the allure of “want”. Just look at what Neil
Lennon had to say after Chile’s 2-0 gut-punching of Spain.
"It is already
an amazing story with Chile. The way they press the game I thought they would run
out of steam against Spain, but they didn't. They overwhelmed Spain with desire
and commitment. They have real quality players as well.”
The notion of
superiority through ability is nothing more than a casual afterthought. Sure,
Chile have talented footballers “as well”, but the reason they qualified ahead
of Spain was because they just bloody wanted it more. It’s the only answer.
In order to predict
the outcomes of some future World Cup fixtures, and to more fully understand
the power of wanting it, I’ve compiled a short list of those who have shown the
most desire so far.
“Wanting
It” Top 3 – Group Stages
3. Colombia
They’ve easily been the most dominant team of the group stages, but veteran
World Cup watchers will know that this doesn’t necessarily translate into
success in the knockout phase. The South Americans only get onto number three
in my list because it’s all looking a little too easy; they’re walking the
dangerous line between “wanting it” and “having it”. The latter is what Liam
Gallagher tells the audience to do before launching into ‘Roll With It’, and
although jumping around for him leads to a short feeling of elation and
invincibility, you’re far more likely to catch a stray elbow in the mush for
your hubris.
2. Georgios Samaras
Although the increased levels of “wanting it” in Brazil have resulted a boatload of intense, full-blooded encounters, they’ve also signalled the sad demise of quality goal celebrations. Promising sprints to the corner flag have devolved into ugly orgies of substitutes and coaches, everybody desperate to get involved. I think only Colombia and Ghana have danced so far, a tragically low number. Kudos, therefore, to Samaras, for extending his “want” beyond the scoring of a goal itself and keeping one eye upon the aftermath. Watch the celebration of his nerveless penalty against Greece – the man times his kneeslide to utter perfection. He scores, sprints, slides, and glares at the camera for JUST the right amount of time before the inevitable wave of subs and teammates crash into him. Beautiful.
1. Arjen Robben
Arjen Robben really, really wants to win this World Cup. You can tell because he’s forgotten how to play football like a human. He doesn’t care about mortal pursuits like tactics or fatigue or momentum. When he’s ready to take over the game he does, simply by getting the ball and running with a frightening, robotic directness, as if programmed to do so in Louis Van Gaal’s secret Amsterdam lair. He’s like watching a training montage of the Russian from Rocky IV, only with less mercy for his opponents. Also – and this might just be me – but he seems to have also lost the ability to turn at anything other than right angles. The old Robben would forever be cutting inside, pointlessly jinking this way and that, eventually losing the ball to one of the many defenders rushing to close him down. Robben 2.0 slashes into the box at precisely 90 degrees before squaring for a teammate to tap in, or swivelling mercilessly again towards goal like Agent Smith dodging a hail of bullets. The Dutchman has so far terrified and astounded me in equal measure, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his team lift the trophy come the 13th of July. They just want it more.
