At international level, it is a rather good time for Espana. Having recovered from the beating and bullying suffered at the hands of Switzerland’s Bigger Boys in their opening game, and helped by the goal machine that is David Villa (but not by Fernando Torres, for whom the word’s “cow”, “backside” and “banjo” come to mind), and, for me, the best centre-back partnership around in Pique and Puyol, Spain have ground their way to the World Cup Final. They have perhaps displayed only a little of the style and panache with which they graced Euro 2008, winning each of their last four matches by a single goal, but their knockout round opponents – Portugal, Paraguay and, in truth, Germany – have all been more concerned with stopping Spain rather than taking the initiative themselves. Even though the Netherlands have now won 14 consecutive qualifying and finals matches (they had the cushtiest qualifying group – I can say that because Scotland were part of it), and have in Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder two players at the top of their game, Spain should be marginal favourites in Jo’burg on Sunday. It helps when your team has seven players from the same club in it, as Spain’s side boasted against the Germans.
That side, of course, is the mighty Barcelona. Puyol, Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Villa all sport (or in Villa’s case, will sport), the colours of the Catalan club. Five of them, along with Spain’s third choice keeper Valdes, came out of the youth system. Barcelona have a wonderful members system, a brilliant academy which also produced the likes of Leo Messi and Bojan for the current first team, worldwide admiration, more trophies than you can shake a stick at, and are supposed to be in such good shape that they can forego a multimillion pound sponsorship deal in favour of donations to UNICEF. That Barcelona admitted this week that they need a bank loan to pay their players. A few weeks after forking out £30 million on David Villa, and whilst talking up their prospects of bringing Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas back to his homeland.
What the hell’s been going on?
Barcelona were supposed to be morally superior to the other super-clubs of the game. In England, Chelsea are bankrolled by a Russian Oligarch, while Manchester United’s American owners are apparently interested less in improving the squad and more in using the club as a place to put a debt roughly equal to a developing world country’s GDP (you could say the same about Liverpool). In Italy, Milan are the personal fiefdom of Italy’s president, Internazionale are funded by an oil billionaire and Juventus have support from the owners of Fiat – and all these sides appear, in some way or other, to be implicated in refereeing scandals. In Spain itself, Real Madrid spend obscene amounts of cash on players (who never seem to be half as good after they arrive in Madrid), having eliminated their crushing debts with a controversial sale of their training ground to Madrid council, whilst Valencia are on the verge of going bust.
But Barca were supposed to be different. It was supposed to be impossible to dislike them, or at least impossible not to admire them. They were the shining beacon of Michel Platini’s debt-free football future – if Barca can win everything with their (mostly) home-grown players, while playing gorgeous football and keeping their accountants happy, they set a wonderful example.
So, if even they have debts, surely this proves, once and for all, that football is on the road to ruin. It’s happening in every country, at every level of the professional game. Sooner or later, the cash will dry up, or the interest payments will accumulate. Sooner or later, a big team is suddenly, dramatically, going to find the plug has been pulled on their life support machine.
Because if Barcelona are on a financial ventilator, then so, ultimately, is everyone else.
L.
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