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Sharuko On Saturday
THIRTY three isn’t just another number and, some religious leaders even say, it has a holy touch to it.
From Noah being told the world won’t be destroyed by a flood again, on the 33rd time his name is used in the Scripture, to the divine name of God, Elohim, appearing 33 times in Genesis’ story of creation.
“Jacob has 33 children with his wife, and the 33rd time his name is mentioned in scripture, he has the vision of his infamous ladder,’’ reads one of the religious papers I have been reading.
“The Bible tells us that King David ruled the Jews for 40 years, however, you must pay particular attention to the number of years during his reign as they are significant.
“The first phase of his rule was only over the tribe of Judah, this lasted for seven years, King David is then said to have ruled over Israel for 33 years.
“It’s Jesus’ age, when he was crucified in 33 AD, Islamic prayer beads are generally arranged in sets of 33 and the number of deities in the Vedic Religion is 33.’’
And, the more you read, the more you come across it as a special number.
You even find it in science, where they say ‘’a normal human spine has 33 vertebrae, when the bones that form the coccyx, are counted individually.’’
And, you also find that it is tied to some major events, which unfolded in the world, in the past two centuries.
For instance, the first recorded physical attack on a United States President, somehow, had to happen 33 years into the 19th century when Andrew Jackson was attacked by Robert B. Randolph, near Alexandria, on May 6, 1833.
Jackson had earlier dismissed Randolph from the navy for embezzlement of funds.
And, 33 years into the 20th century, another US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was the target of an assassination attempt by Giuseppe Zangara in Miami, Florida, on February 15, 1933.
A month earlier, on January 30, 1933, Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, had been named the Chancellor of Germany and, the history of the world, was about to incorporate its bloodiest chapter as World War II exploded six years later.
Britain was the target of relentless German bombardment, including the Blitz between 1940 and 1941 but, exactly 33 years after Hitler’s rise to power, football provided England, with something to cheer its spirits.
The English Three Lions won their only FIFA World Cup, to date, in 1966.
England had to wait, another 33 years, for football to provide it with another landmark success story, as the country’s biggest football club, Manchester United, found a way to rule at home, rule in Europe and rule the world.
The Red Devils became the first, and only, English football club to win the Treble — FA Cup, league championship and the Champions League — in the same season.
That was in 1999.
A 1-0 win over Brazilian club, Palmeiras, in Tokyo, that same year, helped United win the Intercontinental Cup and the grand title of world club champions.
Maybe, it’s just a coincidence but 33 years had to pass, between the signing of the US/Germany Peace Treaty of 1921, which formally signaled the end of World War I either side of the Atlantic, and the Germans’ first triumph in the World Cup in 1954.
Football, once again, had also helped the Germans find a way to cheer their spirits, after the battering the country had suffered in that first Great War.
Okay, let’s revisit the first recorded attack on a US President, in May 1833, when Andrew Jackson was attacked in Alexandria.
Thirty three years after that attack, Alexander II, the Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, narrowly escaped with his life in St Petersburg, after an assassination attempt, on April 4, 1866.
Fast forward, another 33 years, and FC Barcelona was established on November 29, 1899.
THE NUMBER 33, SOMETHING ALWAYS HAPPENS, IT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS
Emotions have been boiling over in Barcelona, since their great club found itself on the wrong side of an extraordinary 10-goal (2+8) Champions League score line.
According to the Newton Scale, the boiling point of water is about 33 degrees.
“Mes Ques Un Club,’’ which in Catalan means “More Than A Club,’’ is the embodiment of what Barca is all about.
More than just a football club, Barca have always prided themselves as an institution, for Catalan pride, in particular, and for purity, in the way the game should be played, in general. Even in defeat, they have always provided an example of the highest levels of sportsmanship, embracing their losses with dignity, and using such dark days as an inspiration to come back even stronger.
And, even when the full force of the Spanish establishment, during the days of dictators Primo de Rivera and General Franco, when there were some powerful underground institutional instruments to promote the interests of Real Madrid, ahead of those of Barca, the club refused to wilt.
Today, the same Dutchman has just been appointed to take charge of the club, and find a way to lift them from the dumps, after their Champions League humiliation, and quell the unrest that meltdown has torched.
Their greatest number 10, Lionel Messi, is 33.
And, the Argentine superstar, considered by some as the greatest footballer ever, has given notice he wants to leave, triggering shock waves bigger than the Catalonia Earthquake, which struck this region in 1428.
It’s something we never saw coming, simply because Messi has been Barca, and Barca have been Messi, since he emerged as the leader of the club.
It’s been his home since he was 13, which means for the last 20 years, and has helped them win 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns.
Before Messi’s arrival, Barca had won just one Champions League title, when they beat Sampdoria 1-0 at Wembley, in 1992, with the triumph coming 93 years after their founding.
In 713 appearances for the club, he has scored a staggering 634 goals.
He has won six Ballon dÓr awards, the most by any footballer, either living or dead, his 444 La Liga goals is a record and he remains the only player, in the history of the game, to score 91 goals, in a calendar year, in a major football.
His 300 assists are a world record, in the game, and his six European Golden Shoes, are an historic achievement.
But, Messi is also human and, for all the blessings which the football gods showered him with, to be this superstar footballer, he can’t escape the power of the number 33.
Everything changes, when it gets to this powerful number, and Messi has simply been caught in its magical powers just the way his big rival, Cristiano, did when he turned 33.
That’s the age when the Portuguese superstar decided he had completed his dance with Real Madrid and left to join Juventus two years ago.
And, just like Messi now, it took Ronaldo to get to the age of 33, to finally see the club president Florentino Perez didn’t believe he was no longer indispensable.
“I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start,” Ronaldo told France Football.
And, two years later, Messi is 33 and, just like his big rival, he has seen that the Barca president, Josep Maria Bartomeu doesn’t believe he is no longer indispensable,
We have all seen the protests, from the Barca fans, demanding that Bartomeu should quit but, it’s bigger than that — it’s the way life is, it’s the power of the number 33, it always happens.
They should ask us, it’s a painful divorce, you go into denial until, reality finally sinks in that, well, this is it.
Fourteen years ago, it happened to us, after the 2006 AFCON finals, when we had to finally say goodbye to our Golden Boy, Peter Ndlovu, who had helped us finally dance with the aristocrats of African football.
It wasn’t easy, but it had to happen, because that’s the way it is.
Of course, our Flying Elephant, was 33 that year.
WHICHEVER WAY IT TURNS OUT, THIS HAS BEEN THE MAGICAL EXPERIENCE OF OUR LIFETIME
Never, in the history of football, has so much been owed, by some many, to so few. Like we have seen, in the last dozen years, during the golden age of Messi and Ronaldo.
Never, in the history of the Ballon d’Or, has this prestigious individual honour been dominated, by so few, among so many. Like we have seen, in the past 12 years, during the golden age of the boy from Rosario and the boy from Madeira.
Messi and Ronaldo!
Somehow, fate had to ensure that their hometowns would have the same initials, which starts the name of the other football superstar.
Messi’s hometown, Rosario, provides the “R’’, which starts Ronaldo’s name, while Cristiano’s hometown, Madeira, provides the “M’’ which starts the name Lionel carries on his number 10 jersey.
Never, in the history of Barcelona, has so much been owed, by so many, to just one man.
Lionel Messi!
Never, in the history of Planet Tiki-Taka, and how it revolutionised football around the world, has so much been owed, by so many, to just one man.
King Leo!
Never, in the history of Catalonia, itself a fiery hotbed of nationalistic passion, has so much raw affection been evoked, among so many, by just one man. The boy from Argentina!
Never, in the history of sport, has so much been aroused, among so many, by a man with a name that rhymes with the Messiah.
Messi!
So simple a name, so magical a footballer, a genius who makes fantasy, and reality, combine to provide the world’s most popular game with its beating heart, its unassuming superstar, its goal-scoring machine, its creative genius. Of course, Pele remains football’s all-time vintage Warrior.
No one wins the World Cup as a raw 17-year-old, unless you are the best of the best, and no teenager, thrown into the World Cup final, scores twice, to decide the match, unless you are the real deal.
But, from the ‘50s, right to the turn of the millennium, there was always that other player, or players, who others felt was also the megastar, the distinguished one, the icon, the idol.
Like Puskas, like Alfredo di Stefano, like Garrincha, one of the game’s finest dribblers, the one who, whenever he played in the same team, which also featured Pele, ensured Brazil never lost that match.
History hasn’t been fair to Sandro Mazzola, his name rarely features in football debates, Eusebio, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Mario Coluna, Luis Suarez, Lev Yashin, Kenny Dalglish, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Mario Kempes, Gerd Muller, Kevin Keegan, Michel Platini.
Diego Maradona,Marco van Basten, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Ruud Gullit, Ronaldo, Romario, Zidane, you name them, have always provided an alternative superstar.
A part of me has always told me that, had Thierry Henry been white, especially when he was virtually unplayable at the very peak of his athletic powers at Arsenal, he would have been embraced as possibly one of the true greatest footballers of all-time.
However, never in the history of football, over a dozen years, has so much been owed, by some many, to so few, like we have seen during the golden age of Messi and Ronaldo.
So, rather than waste my time wondering who of the two is the better player, I made a decision, a long time ago, to simply appreciate their special talents and celebrate the fact that I was alive, when both Messi and Ronaldo, illuminated our beautiful game.
That’s why, when it comes to the duo, I just say AMEN.
Ironically, the numerical equivalent of AMEN is 33 (1+13+5+14).
To God Be The Glory!
Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton and all the Chakariboys in the struggle.
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bruno, Bruno, Bruno, Bruno, Bruno, Bruno!
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