5 posts tagged “soccer”

The opening scene in last week’s La chica de ayer is hilarious, even if your Spanish is as bad as mine.

   It is very loosely based on the fifth episode of the first series, though with numerous twists, namely a plot featuring the kidnapping of young Samuel. As Samuel’s father is more present through the La chica de ayer stories than he was in the original Life on Mars (or, for that matter, the US remake), the tension the two men have begins much earlier. To solve the crime, Samuel must piece together childhood memories about where he was taken.
   Humorous scenes include Cristóbal trying to use a personal computer (even though this is set later than the original Life on Mars, it is still too new) and Sam talking to Quin about Maradona and football. The episodes are shorter, now 70 minutes long.
   The episode this week was the birthday one, a remake of the eighth UK one.

This Ali G interview for Red Nose Day with David and Victoria Beckham is a laugh—and in many cases, very clever. I keep thinking this was the funniest—especially as the Beckhams know what he’s like, unlike many of his other subjects.
   As many of you know, wankster Ali G is played by Sacha Baron Cohen, and was far more famous than his other characters, Borat Sagdiyev and Bruno, on his old TV show.

[Cross-posted from Lucire] Renault has launched a campaign for the Laguna 3 with former Manchester United football player Eric Cantona, using humour and targeting the internet as well as conventional media.
   Called Le rencontre (The Encounter), the commercial is irreverent but manages to show the Laguna in a quality light. (Continued at Lucire.)

I’ve only seen a little about this in the MSM, but Anita McNaught’s report for the Murdoch Press on post-soccer win Iraq is significant. The comment toward the end of the segment from one Iraqi fan, that the soccer team has done more to unite the country than the Iraqi politicians, sounds right to me.

   Like I said, unity is the will of the Iraqi people. Like all people, they want a chance to achieve their dreams. What a pity that certain institutions and terrorists prevent that.

I’m glad the Iraqi football team won the Asian Cup against three-time champions Saudi Arabia—a team filled with Sunnis, Shias and Kurds. It’s made the news positively on al-Jazeera where they’ve painted a picture of celebration. This victory is sweet, because these days Uday Hussein isn’t running the team, so the players played without threat of torture or death.
   It’s a sign of what everyday people—not politicians, not the US Government, not the terrorists, not the media—want in Iraq. And that’s to live their lives and pursue their dreams, and be happy for their own country. Respect to the Iraqi people.