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樓主 |
發表於 2010-12-22 20:20:05
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...The booing reached a crescendo until the tannoy announcer arrived at Andres Iniesta.
The Espanyol fans then stood up and applauded, in recognition of Iniesta's startlingly humane gesture as he wheeled away after scoring the most important goal of his life in South Africa in summer, whipping off his shirt to reveal his homage to the Espanyol player Dani Jarque, who died of heart complications in the summer of 2009.
The incident was one of sport's great moments, I suspect. A football player, in the very moment of his apotheosis, with the eyes of the world's intensive focus on his greatest ever few seconds, suddenly shifted their attention from him to a man that few of the 700 million had even heard of - an act of selflessness surely unequalled in the history of sport and a wonderful example to the 'me' generation of how to behave.
The incident set off a frenzy of speculation, and literally two minutes after the goal I received a phone-call from an English media channel (who shall remain nameless) with the researcher in a blind panic, as the game continued live. 'Who was this guy? Why did Iniesta do that? What was their relationship?' he blurted out, asking me for a lightning-fast summary so that he could relay it back to the commentary team. I must admit that it caught me on the back-foot too, as I wasn't sure of how well Iniesta had known Jarque, but I gave the researcher enough for him to keep his job. Funny how these things can impact on you, suddenly in the comfort of your living-room.
With his team 5-1 ahead on Saturday night, Pep Guardiola substituted Iniesta after 85 minutes in a calculated but justifiable gesture, so that the stadium could once again show its appreciation. Amusingly, as Iniesta disappeared into the dug-out and Seydou Keita trotted on, the applause changed immediately to whistles and boos, just in case anyone thought that matters were getting a little too friendly. The enemy is still the enemy, when all is said and done. |
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