When Beauty quelled the Beast

Pratik Dogra Life is not about the breaths you take….but about the moments that take your breath away, says Will Smith in one of his Hollywood blockbusters. And breathtaking….Barcelona certainly were! One of the rare occasions, when beauty quelled the beast. Victory of Barcelona over Manchester United in the finals of the Champions League at Rome, that capped a season of unprecedented success for them, was a sporting success story interlaced with a dose of symbolism as well. For once, romanticism had got better of realism. Barcelona’s win, much like Spain’s Euro Cup conquest last year, proved that ‘fast, progressive, eye-catching football’ wins not just plaudits, but trophies as well. Pursuit for mechanical efficiency has been the most salient feature of the 21st century. Being result oriented is the latest mantra. The world of sports too is not oblivious to this emerging world order. A look at recent sporting history offers a case in point. For all the flair and prose that the teams from sub-continent possess, it were the Australians, with their brute force and clinical efficiency, that ruled the world of cricket. European teams’ power-play tactics have reduced the artistic hockey playing teams of India and Pakistan to extinction. The classy Roger Federer has been reduced to playing the bridesmaid to beefy Rafael Nadal, not only on clay surfaces, but now on grass as well. What’s disillusioning is that such examples are many. So, Barcelona have come across as a refreshing whiff of air. They have always been a unique team. Renowned for their eye-catching approach to football, they coalesce continental flair with ruthless efficiency. As a result, the Catalonian giant has always been an attractive destination for world’s top players, seeking an alternative to EPL’s rugby grounds. Ranging from the legendry Maradona to Lionel Messi, Brit Gary Lineker to Dutch wizard Johan Cruyff, Brazilians Ronaldo to Rivaldo, Ronaldinho to Deco, Luis Figo to Deco and even today, the club boasts of abundance in riches with likes of Thierry Henry, Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o gracing the club colours with élan. What a team like Barcelona infuse, is that life is not about reaching the ends, but also about enjoying the means. This is the success model that makes Brazil the most loved soccer team in the world. It was the ‘fun’ element in Andre Agassi that propelled him to iconic status despite being Pistol Pete’s compatriot. Probably, it was this inherent aspect of the Spanish giants that made them the neutral’s favorite and won them the grudging admiration of even opponents.