Robben to Root to Rafa: my sports rankings of the week

IT is typical that at a time packed full of deadlines and exams, the sports gods should provide us with a weekend of unbelievable action: from Wembley to Wentworth, via Headingly, Monte Carlo and Rolland Garros. No doubt suffering ‘lack of need to refresh Premier League table’ withdrawal symptoms, I have opted for a ‘league table’ system by way of summery, taking in the best stars, flops, finds and fans...

Best World Star:

1. Arjen Robben: A thunderous volleyed winner to knock Man Utd out of the Champions League aside, Robben had never done it on the big stage. His right foot may be village team class but his left is a magic wand and that was enough to poke home the winning goal and cement himself into Bayern immortality.

2. Vincenzo Nibali: Cycling’s Giro d’Italia began and ended on a bank holiday weekend and has contained twenty-one grueling stages in between. Yet while lesser men were seen off Nibali was utterly dominant, climbing like Sir Edmund Hilary and descending better than a one-hit wonder. Team Sky must be praying he doesn’t change his mind about skipping the Tour de France...
3. Gael Monfils: France’s record in the men’s singles at the France Open makes Britain’s at Wimbledon look half decent. Luckily Monfils, who has barely played for a year with a career threatening injury, shocked fifth seed Thomas Berdych (and my outside bet for the title) with a stunning display.

Honorable Mention: Nico Rosberg for winning an anti-climatic Monaco Grand Prix, and Rafa Nadal for trademark fighting qualities when on the cusp of going two sets down.

Best of British:

1. Mark Cavendish: The snowy climbs and icy descents did for Bradley Wiggins but Cavendish hung on and then destroyed his rivals in all five of the sprints he contested - to join a select bunch to win points jerseys in all three Grand Tours. It has been said before but we really don’t know how lucky we are to have Cav – the greatest pure sprinter of all time.

2. Carl Froch: I’ve never understood the need for Boxing’s war of words and was consequently disappointed by Froch’s pre-fight wish to ‘kill’ Kessler. That said once inside the wing we saw 12 rounds of pure drama and a testament to sheer guts and determination.

3. Wilfried Zaha: There’s a lot of talk about which names Moyes is going to sign but his hottest new talent could well have been brought already. Rather like Barca with Messi, or Spurs with Bale, Zaha ran the show for Palace and the Premier League is already crying out for more of the same next year.

Best Find:

1. Joe Root: If Jess Ennis is Sheffield’s queen, Root is, well, the pageboy. Aged 22 his appearance might resemble a 12 year old but his presence is that of a grizzled veteran as he transformed England's first innings with a first century of what will surely be many.

2. Neymar: With the possible exception of when you suggest that Argentina look odds on for the next World Cup, there is little that gets a Brazilian more excited than mention of Neymar. How good is he? We will see for ourselves next year at Barcelona.

3. Hagos Gebrihwet: With no birth certificates and a different calendar to the rest of the world, you can never be sure with Ethiopians, but Gebrihwet is apparently 17 and with a dominant 5,000m victory at the New York Diamond League is the biggest threat yet for Mo Farah. Remember the name – because you certainly won’t be able to spell it.

Honorable Mention: Spearheaded by the Gloucester trio of Burns, Twelvetrees and Morgan, England’s youngsters in destroying the Barbarians, and Matteo Mannassero, the PGA Champs winner in Golf.

Best Flop:

1. Dylan Hartley: Quite simply a complete idiot. Surprisingly picked for the tour of a lifetime Hartley ruined it all by becoming the first player to be sent off in the Premiership final and his ban now rules him out of the Lions Tour. Claims his abusive tirade was aimed not at the referee but he has quite a CV in this sort of thing. Now if only Football would deal with foul language this way...

2. Top European Golfers: After Sergio Garcia’s idiotic ‘fried chicken’ remark, Messrs Poulter, McDowell, McIlroy and Donald all managed to miss the cut at Wentworth. Lee Westwood did better but even he suffered a final day meltdown on a bad weekend for Europe’s elite.

3. Chennai Super Kings: The top IPL franchise endured a terrible week, with match fixing allegations followed by a final defeat against the Mumbai Indians. Maybe I’m just bitter due to lack of access to ITV4 but I say good riddance to Twenty20 so we can focus on the proper stuff this summer…

Honorable Mention: If they don’t win tomorrow Andy Flower and Alistair Cook for bizarrely holding off declaration despite an impending Yorkshire deluge. That said, New Zealand’s batting could be on this list as well...

Best Comeback:

1. Carl Froch: A sportsman can go along way with a big heart. And Froch showed exactly that by fighting back from the brink to defeat Kessler and avenge his earlier defeat. A bruising fight which underlined all that is good about boxing.

2. Ian Holloway: Journalists across the land must cheer and groan with the same breath with the news that Holloway has returned to the top flight. He may talk more rubbish than sense, but Football’s most famous Bristolian will be sure to keep the Premier League exciting post Fergie.

3. Rafa Benitez: Speaking of managers, who would be the first to claim a new job? Mourinho? Pellegrini? Mark Hughes or Ole Gunar Solsjaer? No its Rafa at Napoli, and while Chelsea fans are no doubt glad to see the back of him, he thoroughly deserves another chance.

Honorable Mention: Bayern and Leicester for winning after losing finals last year, and Rory Best for earning a belated but deserved Lions call-up.

Best Fans:

1. Germans at Wembley: They might not have been happy about the lack of Bratwurst on offer at Wembley, but like their players the fans of Bayern and Borussia taught ours how it’s done with raucous support followed by the ability to drink London dry without resorting to hooliganism and a rendition of ‘Ten German bombers’...

2. Cricketers at Headingley: “It must be hard being a cricket-watching nun” said the commentator: “as every time you turn up people must assume you are in fancy dress.” The Yorkshire test has come a long way from the days when dressing up meant not wearing a cloth cap, but when Trott and Compton were in full flight, the spectators deserve full marks for simply staying awake let alone enthusiastic.

3. Boxing at the O2: I have often struggled to see why home advantage is so important in sport, but it was fairly easy when the decibel levels were considered during Froch v Kessler. The crowd simply propelled their man to victory.

Honorable Mention: Anyone who made it up the mountains in horrific conditions for the Giro d’Italia, and the home crowd at Rolland Garros inspiring Gael Monfils.

Beyond Beckham: The longest lasting players in sport...

DAVID Beckham’s retirement was a sad moment for me because it marks the end of someone, like Scholes, Owen and Carragher, who has been playing for as long as I can remember.

As I am 22, for someone to have been playing for 16ish years is a pretty long time and there are not many of them left anywhere in sport. Even Federer and Xavi, O’Driscoll and Wilkinson, for example, all emerged long after Becks had shot to fame, quite literally, from inside his own half.

In fact once those sports less restrictive on age – like Golf, Darts and Snooker – have been removed, there are not many at all. So here goes my list of the longest lasting sportspeople. Some remain greats, some used to be great, and others are, well, Emile Heskey...

Floyd Mayweather Jr: I think it’s fair to say that Mayweather is not a particularly nice man, but after 17 years as a pro, world titles at five different weights, 44 wins in 44 fights and just one jail sentence (I think) he is a legend of the ring. Before all that he enjoyed a four year amateur career culminating in a medal at the 1996 Olympics. And he’s not done yet, beating Robert Guerrero in 2013 and still aspiring a dream showdown with Manny Pacquiao...

Jacques Kallis: Cricket is certainly a sport where there are a lot of records to break, but Kallis has broken more than his fair share. Unlike his one-time rival Freddie Flintoff he has fought on against a battle-weary body to amass 13,000 Test runs and nearly 300 wickets in an eighteen year international career. He is the standout exception to the rule that all-rounder’s cannot prosper in the modern game, and is continuing to do the goods for the world leading South Africans today.

Gianluigi Buffon: Another who has hit peak form at an age when most players have long departed for the TV Studio, Buffon has just won Serie A with Juve and his penalty saves saw off England in last year’s Euros. OK, any village team keeper could probably do that, but since debuting for Parma in 1996 he has been consistently brilliant with the highlight being a World Cup victory in 2006. Oh, and he’s contracted to play on until 2015 too...

Simon Shaw: This might prove a bad pick as I fear retirement is imminent but Shaw is a rare relic from an amateur age whose career stretches back to 1990. A 40year old 6ft 7 giant his record dwarfs fellow World Cup survivors in Tindall and Wilkinson, and he’s probably won as many line-outs as Wilko has kicked penalties. In a way unlucky to be off the same era as Martin Johnson and Ben Kay but his enduring class has been proved by his recent success for Toulon.

Kobe Bryant: I must admit that I don’t know too much about Basketball but even I know about Bryant. Drafted by the LA Lakers in 1996, he has since won five NBA titles, been in every “all-star" team since 1997 and won two Olympic titles for good measure. Until an untimely injury ended his season last month he remained in his best form ever, and like Scholes and Carragher he is also a ‘one club man’, if American sport has such a concept.

Haile Gebresselassie: Forget Paula Radcliffe, Haile was winning world titles when Paula was still a junior, and he’s also still running well, making a title defence at the BUPA Manchester 10km next week. The ever-smiling Ethiopian was considered a elder statesman 12 years ago and with the sport now dominated by the ‘generation after the generation after’ him, his perseverance is incredible. With four World, two Olympic titles, and 27 world records he remains the only East African runner to become a household name in Britain.

Sarah Storey: Moving from the Olympics to the Paralympics, Storey has dominated in not one, but two sports and thus has versatility to match her longevity. After debuting in Barcelona aged 14 she won 16 Swimming medals at four games before swapping the pool for the velodrome and winning two golds at Beijing and four in London. Despite being due to give birth next month, she still plans to compete at this year’s World Champs...

Shrivarane Chanderpaul: Quite simply the greatest sportsman to ever come from Guyana, I have always had a soft spot for Chanderpaul since he took and introduced me to the entire West Indies team when I traveled on the same plane as them aged nine. He was already a legend then, and now, after 140 Tests in a 19 year career, he rivals Kallis for achievement. A player most renowned for his resilience, it is often forgotten he once hit a 69 ball hundred against the Aussies.

The Williams Sisters: In a sport particularly unforgiving on aging limbs, these two really are amazing and never get as many plaudits as they deserve. Since emerging in the mid ‘90s they have collectively won 22 singles slams, as well as 13 together in the doubles. Venus is still (just about) hanging in there, but Serena is dominating like never before, winning her last 24 matches and becoming the hot favourite for the French Open. Surely the greatest ever sporting siblings and two players who have revolutionized the Women's game.

Emile Heskey: Who is our generation’s best player: Messi? Ronaldo? Heskey? Some would say the best in the world; others would turn him down for their pub team. Heskey made his first team debut for Leicester in 1995 and after 500 English league appearances and (far too many) international tournament’s, he is now plying his trade for Melbourne Jets in the Aussie ‘A’ League – and as you can see on the ‘Heskey-cam’ is showing no sign of stopping.

And finally...

Sachin Tendulkar: While these names all began in the 1990s, Tendulkar played his first Test in 1989 and saw off the Willis, Lillee, Marshall generation, then the McGrath, Walsh, Ambrose one and now the Steyn, Anderson, Morkel one. 100 international hundreds speaks for itself and as such the 'little master' stands head and shoulders (metaphorically if not literally) above everyone else.

From Sir Fergie to Sir Wiggo: What role does luck play in sport?

In a world utterly transformed by the ethos of professionalism, it has become deeply unfashionable to talk about sport in terms other than that of training and dedication.

Gym walls are plastered with motivational messages of the "Shallow men believe in luck, strong men believe in cause and effect” variety, while in Matthew Syed’s Bounce we read of “the myth of talent and the power of practice.”

Despite his perceived misfortune at the hands of referees Sir Alex Ferguson had no time for luck. His career was defined by formidable work ethic and attention to detail, a refusal to rest on his laurels, and a 26-year insistence on accepting only the best. David Moyes is cut from the same cloth, and by succeeding at Everton without a billion pound budget, he is testimony to the benefits of effort and endeavour.

To look elsewhere, take Frank Lampard: a self-confessed former ‘chubby teen’, Ricky Burns: an unassuming shoe-shop worker and world champion boxer, Jonny Brownlee and Joe Root: two of Yorkshire’s latest protégé’s. Four figures who have risen up the ladder to stardom this week through graft and toil – their talent complemented by drive, dedication and sheer hard work. Despite their greater glamour the same can be said of international stars from Serena to Tiger, Nadal to Alonso.

Yet despite all of this sport remains littered with references to ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’, to unpredictability and to moments which do not quite comprehend reality. 

The FA Cup final was a perfect example. Wigan’s whole side was assembled for less than that paid for Sergio Aguero, and while their victory was completely deserved, it was down less to talent and training than that it was their day and their moment. Like Chelsea in last year’s Champions League they just seemed destined to triumph.

Luck can be found in other places in sport. Some are more susceptible to injuries than others, some are in the right place at the right time, and some have a freak break into their sport, the aforementioned Matthew Syed for example, who as a child happened to have an international table-tennis coach as a school PE teacher.

Whole careers can be affected by good fortune. Bradley Wiggins’s emergence in the late ‘90s coincided with the Lottery Funding revolution in British sport, his transferral to road racing coincided with the formation of Team Sky, and his zenith in 2012 coincided with an unusually favourable Tour de France course. His success has not been due to luck but chance has played its part, and in key ways.

Wiggins’s Giro d’Italia campaign so far however has been a cycle of mechanical's, mishaps and meteorologically induced mayhem. He has suffered more crashes than a Windows 95 computer and while this could be blamed on poor technique and race nous, it is tempting to put it down more to simple bad luck.

Sir Alex himself was not immune to luck on occasions, of both varieties. Penalty misses by Bergkamp and Terry and City’s injury time heroics in 2012 spring to mind.

To attribute all of this to chance is to miss the point. Great men do win due to “cause and effect,” and there is no greater power than hours and hours of practice. Yet in sport as in life, fate and luck continues to play some role and it is one which makes sport today as exciting and unpredictable as ever.