28 August 2010

The most amusing read in any of today’s English sports pages is Fabio Capello weighing up the pros and cons of recruiting Everton’s Spanish midfielder, Mikel Arteta, for his England team, as imagined by Chrus McGrath of The Independent, whose capturing of Fabio is spot on, and hilariously paced.

It begins:

When I start in this country, I am in a good moment. I think: ‘These players, they think they are very good. But they are good.’ This they need to understand.

So first I learn English football words. ‘Utility player’, for example. This means someone very slow.

‘Wag’. This is someone who makes jokes. Like pretending to be a player’s wife for reasons not about money.

“Icon” – this Beckham teaches me. A verb, mainly for agents. I con, you con, he cons.

The piece in full is linked here. Many a true word spoken in jest.

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