Going over the “best team of the tournament” is always difficult since some really good players play for some inferior teams, and thus don’t get to strut their stuff late into the tournament, when most have already forgotten about them. So we’ve solved the problem: one XI with those who’ve received maximum exposure – semifinal teams only – and one best XI of those dumped out in the quarterfinals or earlier. Simple in theory, but agonizing in reality, as ever. We’ve used the 4-2-3-1 since it was the predominant formation in this World Cup and has been much fancied in the domestic game for some time now, so we’re happy enough to follow the crowd. And others are doing it too
Tag: tournament
Playing Ball: First Tournament
When I was 11, in 1981, I traveled to Carlisle, Pa., to play my first junior tennis tournament. My parents drove me; it took an hour and a half from the town where we lived, down a two-lane road that cut through Central PA’s sagging, half-abandoned old coal towns. I didn’t notice much out the window, though. I was too busy spinning the handle of my orange-and-black Borg Donnay in my hand, thinking about my unknown opponent. Where was he right now? What did he look like? Had he played a thousand tournaments before? Would he snicker when he saw me, the blatant rookie? My forehead burned with anxiety. I didn’t feel any better when I walked in the front