Is 100 a big deal? It is for me and I am sure Mr.Beckham agrees

David Beckham plays he is in the news, David Beckham does not play- He is still in the news. If an embarrassing exit from the upcoming Euro 2008 was not bad enough for England, it happened at home against Croatia in a disappointing 2-3 loss. Steve Mclaren was out and as usual in England that paved way for speculations on who would be the next Manager. When Jose Mourinho was considered the favorite it was Fabio Capello the Italian who got the nod. At 6M a year he was not going to be cheap, but trophies on his resume proves he is worth it. Ok we have a new coach, who is going to see the players once every 3 months before some useless friendlies. The players are the same, you have a coach who does not speak English, who is notorious for playing a defensive game and we expect miracles to happen in England?

Its not just his defensive style that Capello was famous for, but his discipline and non favorites was of more consequence. Arguably the most famous sports person in the world was about to be on the receiving end. This was exactly not the first time. Months before Capello announced the 25 man initial squad list for the friendlies, it was all about whether Beckham would make it or not. Unfortunately Beckham was playing in the MLS, which has an extended winter break from December through to March. What was the big deal if Beckham was selected or not? Simple, the loss to Croatia was Beckham's 99th cap for England. Beckham trained with the Arsenal squad during winter to have continued training and the reports were being sent to Capello.

I was closely watching how the press went on this one, and as usual it was split 50-50. A portion thought that Beckham is not match fit and will have to wait for his 100th cap. The second half of the press thought, the game was a mere friendly, call Beckham up, give him maybe half the match and say "Beckham, thank you for all the good things you have done for us". I agree with the second half, my opinion is the same, this is not a World Cup final, not even a qualifying fixture for any competition. But Mr. Capello did not agree with us, as Beckham never made it to the squad list. Newspapers a couple of days before the squad list announcement were showing pictures of Beckham in the beaches of Brazil, where he was setting up a football academy for the young. That's an irony for you, an Englishman setting up an academy in the land of flair and talent.

Well England labored to a win over Switzerland on Feb 6th at the Wembley to a 2-1 score and why am i writing about this now?

Early May 2007 I stepped into the world of Blogging, writing about the finalists of the Champions League. I realized that the season in the Spanish la Liga was so nail biting with 6 games left and Barca and Real locked even on points it would not hurt to have a few memoirs in writing. Blogging was just like writing a diary to me and I thought it would be fun reading the match reports from years back. But as it turned out, it was much more for me. The whole perspective of watching games changed, from a mere fan to more of a critic or an analyst. I added packages after packages to my Cable so that I don't miss any European league. I contacted a few of my best buddies whom I knew had a great interest in football and gave them access rights to write in my blog. My cousin in NY, was the only "co-author" who got close to contributing, his couple of drafts have been there since June 07.

10 months later i have a 100 posts on my blog (including the two drafts from Anand, who i hope will complete it now). Not exactly in the same league as playing for England 99 times after making a debut in 1996, but boy am i happy. I just wanted to write a few lines of appreciation to people who supported me in my ramblings.

First off it would be the guys whom i granted author rights on my blog, Sony, Rahul, Antony and Anand, who have still not found time to pen in. Sony i am happy Arsenal is doing well, Rahul i am sorry that being in the army has made you lose out on 28 goals scored by Christiano Ronaldo this season and Antony a huge Barcelona fan has been graceful in defeat last season but thank you for listening to my thoughts and spreading the word around on my blog to other buddies of yours. We do agree on one thing and that is the Brazilian national team. Anand, dear cousin of mine, titled his post "a fine through pass cousin", 8 months later he is still waiting for the right time to score.

There are two guys who are a real inspiration, Deepu who pings me on Monday for my blog update so that he can read about the Spanish League. Still remember how we almost brought the house down when Roberto Carlos scored a stoppage time winner last season. I watched the Barca V Real Madrid match 3 times and it took me 3 hours to write the blog, but your appreciation of it mattered.

My buddy Hari with a lot of Brazilian girl friends is no stranger to football, but told me that he needs to know more about the La liga so that he understands what i am talking about. He still listens!

My colleague Marina, I know Eduardo is a Brazilian born Croatian.... or was it the other way round, just kidding i know, sorry he is out for the season with a broken foot.

My colleague Doug, who always has so much to talk about Soccer. Always looking out for some interesting videos and his trademark "Dude he was offside man"

My friend Pradeep who never ever followed football, a Cricket fan like most people from the sub continent, says i should write maybe semi-professional. I have a connection for you, Mohd.Azharuddin has 99 caps in test matches for India and Ian Botham used to play professional football before he went on to Cricket. He called me a week back and said "Arsenal down to bare bones for their match against Man U"... i have an effect on people!

Mithun-When i started thinking of a website dedicate to Real Madrid, it was my friend from the Czech republic who took time out, to guide me through that. Though the website idea went no where my blog is still on!!!

Shreyas- The guy who religiously read all my older posts and even had my blog link as his Gmail status. Dear cousin at Carnegie Melon calls me a Spanish league 'fanatic'...

Spartan- the one person i know who reads my blog for sure, because its his comments that never made me lose hope. I was writing about him and he posts a comment on my latest post. Thanks Spartan, especially for the read "How football defines the world", it defines my life for sure.

I am writing this as if it is on a "Thanks to" section in a best seller, but the one man who inspired me, he calls himself as my PR, but Abhishek has been the guy who said i do a good job, i guess he still does. When i said i am nearing a 100 posts, he said "so 100 caps for you". He is just waiting for 50% his share that i promised him when i start making the millions. With so much of these discussions at work, they even gave me a "non employee of the month" t-shirt. Am i proud to hear Abhishek and Nishant talk about some players and even about the clubs that they play for.

Beckham may get his 100 th cap but i am going for 200 this year!