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Sharuko On Saturday

IN South America, the football-mad continent sandwiched on the base of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, lies a vast Catholic heartland, spread from Venezuela in the north, to Argentina in the south.

Estimates show that about 42 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholic population, about 483 million people, are found throughout this continent.

Such is the prevalence, of those of this religious persuasion, across this continent that, of the 10 countries, across the globe, with the highest number of Catholics, four of those nations, are found in South America.

About 70 percent, of the estimated 10,5 million Bolivians, are Catholic and the number even shoots up, with 77 percent of Ecuadorians, 11,3 million people, out of a population of 15,2 million, being Catholic.

About 30 million Argentines, out of a population of about 42 million people, are Catholic.

Remarkably, in Paraguay, almost 90 percent of the population are Catholic.

In Brazil alone, about 170 million of its 210 million people are Catholic, representing the world’s biggest mass of people of such a religious persuasion, in terms of numbers, belonging to one nationality.

The Copa America, the biggest football tournament held on the continent, is essentially both a festival of the beautiful game, as it is of their collective belief in Catholicism.

In the early hours of tomorrow, a dream Copa America battle, featuring Brazil and Argentina, will explode into life, in Rio de Janeiro.

Others have dubbed it a personal showdown, between the one who became the greatest, Lionel Messi, and the one whose pursuit to be the greatest, Neymar, faded at some point.

The timing of this grand battle could not have been any better, for this tournament, which is celebrating the 105th anniversary, of its founding.

That the tournament managed to be held in Brazil, in itself, was a miracle given the challenges the country has faced,as it deals with a Covid-19 crisis which has killed more than half-a-million people.

Only the United States, with over 600 000 deaths, has witnessed worse casualties, in terms of those who succumbed to this pandemic throughout the world.

Just hours after Messi inspired Argentina into the final, after a nerve-shredding penalty shootout victory over Colombia, the World Health Organisation announced the global death total, since the outbreak of Covid-19, had surpassed the four million mark.

It’s a measure of humanity’s enduring defiance that, against such a grim background, a football tourney was held in Brazil.

And, as this week has also shown us, the grand showdown between Brazil and Argentina could not have come at a better time for the people of South America.

Millions have been praying for Pope Francis, one of the human symbols which unite them, where football divides them, after he underwent successful surgery to treat a colon problem at Agostino Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Sunday.

It is the first time the Pope, who is the head of the Catholic Church, has been admitted to hospital, since his election in 2013.

There is a reason he captures the imagination of the Catholics of South America, in such a profound way.

After all, he is the first Pope from that part of the world, and the Southern Hemisphere, to assume this massively significant role.

Until he was elected Pope, eight years ago, all the heads of the Catholic Church had come from Europe, except Gregory III, a Syrian, who reigned in the eighth century.

POPE IS ARGENTINE, LONG LIVE THE POPE

Pope Francis, who lost a part of his right lung, when he was only 21, is from Argentina.

In a number of areas, an enduring rivalry exists, between the people of Argentina, and those from Brazil.

The common denominator they share, as a people who are predominantly Catholic, and their passion for football, has always featured prominently, as reference points, in their enduring rivalry.

Somehow, fate has, in a way, fuelled this rivalry — where it gave Maradona to Argentina, it also gave Pele to Brazil.

So, when Argentina provided South America with its first Pope, eight years ago, it’s something that was deeply felt by the huge Catholic community of Brazil.

The second Head of State, to pay the new Pope a courtesy call, at the Vatican, was the then Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, in March, 2013.

Asked by reporters about her impression of the new pontiff, Dilma said he was a great Pope but, crucially, qualified her remarks, in the context of her country’s great rivalry with Argentina.

“I consider you (Argentines) to have a lot of luck, you have a great Pope,’’ she said. “Argentina deserves to be congratulated but, back home, we always say that if the Pope is Argentine, God is Brazilian.”

Maybe, her response was, in a way, influenced by the way Maradona twisted his most famous quote, to celebrate the ascendancy of his countryman, to the head of the Catholic Church.

“This is the true hand of God,” Maradona tweeted, amid the euphoria, which exploded in Argentina. “I am very happy with the appointment of Francis.”

Pope Francis loves football.

He is a fan of the Argentine side, San Lorenzo, which probably made sense, given it was established by a Catholic priest, Lorenzo Massa.

When one of the kids, who played football on the streets, was knocked down by a tram, Massa offered the boys a playground, in the church’s backyard, to play the game, on condition, they came to Mass every Sunday.

In such humble surroundings, a giant of Argentine club football, was founded.

But, for all their domestic success, including 15 league championships, San Lorenzo used to be the subject of some sickening jokes, from fans of their main Argentine rivals – River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing Club and Independiente.

Their Achilles Heel, then, was that they had never won the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent, of the UEFA Champions League.

Then, just months after one of their own became Pope, San Lorenzo were crowned champions of Southern America, for the first time, in their 106-year history.

The Pope said there was no relationship, between his rise to become head of the Catholic Church, and his favourite football club, finally winning the Copa Libertadores.

Neither could the team’s success, the Pope said, be considered a miracle, even though it came just a few years, after they faced the threat of bankruptcy.

But, try telling that to the club’s average fan, and players, and they will suggest you probably need to take a CT scan, to establish if your brain is still working well, because this is a classic case of a football miracle.

Their finest hour, they will tell you, was a powerful product of some heavenly blessing, just like the very miracle, in which one of their fans rose, from the streets of Buenos Aires, where he once worked as a bouncer, and a cleaner, to become the first Pope, from South America.

They will tell you their team’s success was the result of some powerful prayers and, in their camp, no one has a bigger, and more influential voice, when it comes to this, than Pope Francis, himself.

That’s why they probably took the trophy to the Vatican, as if to show the Pope the product of his prayers, for his beloved football club.

And, that’s why they also named their new stadium, after Pope Francis, as if to thank him, for the Miracle of 2014 when, after more than a century, they could finally call themselves champions of South America.

They will also tell you it’s not just a coincidence that, in the same year, Argentina reached the World Cup final, for the first time, in 24 years.

Of course, Messi and his crew didn’t take the trophy home, losing 0-1 to Germany, in the final.

But, for a team which had been humiliated in South Africa, where they crashed to a 0-4 quarter-final humiliation, at the hands of the same Germans, an appearance in the final, four years later, represented a miracle.

It’s a measure of Messi’s greatness that, after leading his country to a World Cup final, and four Copa America finals, football still demands he wins one of these tournaments, as the only way for him, to seal his immortality.

It’s a measure of the high standards, which the world judges him on, that it vociferously demands a national title from him, suggesting it is the only way for him to take his place among, if not at the top table, of its football gods.

That he never lost any of those finals, in regulation time, with the World Cup final loss coming in extra-time, and the two Copa America final losses, coming in a penalty shootout, somehow, hasn’t provided some form of mitigation, for him.

And, that at times, he has battled virtually on his own, dragging some average Argentina teams to the cusp of glory, hasn’t provided him with an alibi, from a hostile world, which demands that he produce football miracles.

In the early hours of tomorrow, he will get another chance, in the Copa America final.

One gets a feeling this one means more, not only because it’s against Brazil, but because it’s at the Maracana, the spiritual home of Brazilian football where, seven years ago, Messi and his men came short, in that World Cup final.

THIRTY THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

Eight months ago, they lost Diego, their Maradona, and how fitting it will be, for the one who inherited the great man’s number 10 jersey, to be the one who sends Argentina into a party. Maradona was 60, when he died, in November last year.

And, for some of his fans, there was a deeper meaning to all that, because only immortals like him are afforded the privilege of living a life, which resembles a clock, with every year, representing a minute.

When Messi lines up at the Maracana, in tomorrows’ final, he will see Christ the Redeemer, the giant statue of Jesus Christ, standing on Mount Corcovado, which towers over this iconic stadium, and the city of Rio.

As usual, Messi will pray, and the people of Argentina will pray with him, and for him, to finally cross the final hurdle, and exorcise the ghost, which has haunted him.

The San Lorenzo fans will also be praying with him, and for him, and hoping that the most prominent member of their team, Pope Francis, will also be doing the same.

For the sake of Messi because, if football has ever owed a huge debt to someone, who has given this game so much, to so many, from Catholics to Catalans, from neutrals to partisans, then it has to be to this little genius.

We all owe Messi a debt, for what he has given us, during his career and that l am saying all this, as a Cristiano Ronaldo fan, thanks to our Manchester United connection, means a lot.

Surely, even if the football gods are crazy, is it asking for too much from them to give this diminutive genius just one national title, something which they even gave to a player like Elder, of Portugal, at Euro 2016?

The one who would not have played, had Ronaldo not been injured, but rose from the bench, to score the only goal, before disappearing from the big stage, after that final?

It’s difficult not to see the touch of religion, in the two big football finals, in Rio and London, this weekend.

Somehow, Italy, the country with the biggest Catholic population, in Europe, are also in the final of a major tournament, with the Azzurri set to take on England, in a 2020 Euro showdown, at Wembley, tomorrow night.

The English have never played in a Euro final, and they are in their first major final, in 55 years.

The Italians were in a mess, just three years ago, when they turned to Roberto Mancini to coach them, after having failed to qualify for a World Cup, for the first time, in 60 years.

But, here they are today, on the verge of becoming European champions, in a stunning transformation, which many in Rome, feel represents a football miracle.

Mancini and his men come into the 2020 Euro final, riding on an impressive 33-match unbeaten run and, in Italy’s Eternal City, where the Vatican is located, as a city state, there will be many looking at these numbers, with a religious link.

They will say it’s not just a coincidence that the miracle, which has swept their team, from the humiliation of failure to qualify for the World Cup, to just 90 minutes away from being European champions, has featured a 33-game unbeaten run, over three years.

After all, some of them will say, the Bible tells us our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, was 33, when he was crucified, in an act which has given this number, significant status, since then.

According to the gospel of Luke, our Lord Jesus “was about thirty years old when He began His Ministry,’’ and His “Ministry covered three Passovers.’’

The Italians will face an English team, nicknamed the Three Lions, in the final, whose coach, Gareth Southgate, initially named a 33-man squad, for this tournament.

Southgate was 33, when he played his final game for England, on March 31, 2004, in a 0-1 defeat in an international friendly, against Sweden.

The people of Argentina, and millions of neutrals praying for Messi, to finally win a trophy for his country, will probably point out that, when the Copa America got underway, on June 13, the diminutive genius was still 33.

The next day, at the Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos, in Rio de Janeiro, Messi led Argentina, in the first match, of their Copa America campaign, which ended in a 1-1 draw against Chile.

The Argentina captain scored, for his team, during that match. Remarkably, his goal came in the 33rd minute.

To God Be The Glory!

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooooooooo!

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