English language interviews

Interviewing sportsmen who don't speak English as a first language in English routinely makes for some great entertainment.

Just this weekend, Inzamam-ul-Haq was asked whether he agreed that Ireland played brilliantly, and responded by saying that "The boys have been very good for the last 2-3 years but these things happen."

Cristiano Ronaldo was a deserved man-of-the-match after a brilliant display against Boro in the Cup quarter finals yesterday. He was then subject to this despicable interview by an obviously prejudiced reporter from Sky.

Notice how he misunderstands several of the questions, though I wouldn't blame him if he was doing so deliberately. Particularly amusing is when he is asked about how he feels at being branded a cheat, and he responds saying that "I feel good, the team is playing well...."

At the same time though, he manages to pull out a word like "polemic" early on in the exchange! I suppose the word is similar in French (polemique) and therefore likely in Portugese as well.

It's only a game

I was stunned to hear this morning that Bob Woolmer had died. Even more so when I read about blood and vomit on the walls of his bathroom, and him being found mouth gaping open in a pool of vomit. It's hard to comprehend how Inzamam could be so graceless as to use a press conference just a few hours after this tragedy to announce his impending retirement from the one day arena. Talk about selfishness and a lack of class.

We may never really know what happened to Bob Woolmer. Natural causes, suicide, or the unthinkable - his life taken by a deranged fan. Either which way, the one thing that is apparent is that perhaps the game sometimes means a bit too much to some people. I don't mean to trifle with a passion or a love, but being overly vested in any one thing in life is fraught with consequence.

The cricket today took a back seat as a result. The Netherlands are doing a great job of living up to my pre-tournament expectations of a dead last finish, and it was easy pickings for the Aussies today. England will be satisfied with their 2 points, but that's about all they can take from their game with Canada. Against mediocre opposition, the English never quite asserted themselves, and while Andrew Flintoff will have recovered from his drunken revelry in time to face Kenya, a place in the Super 8 looks far from assured.

The fun really starts tomorrow. With Pakistan eliminated, Zimbabwe suddenly have everything to play for, as do the West Indies who will want to be careful not to drop points to the team that accompanies them into the Super 8 phase. In the real cracker however, India play their 2nd game in 3 days (how did that get onto the schedule?) needing to win by a lofty margin to keep their hopes alive. They should be thankful that they are taking on Bermuda, but we've already seen what happens when you get complacent.