The Chilean miners and the violent Serbs, two faces of football (Yahoo)

As well as the two faces of the Greek theatre, that of the tragedy and that of the comedy, football showed to the World, this week, its two faces, two extremes, two sensational opposites that show the richness of the sport that generates an extraordinary quantity of elements for the analysis from different points of view.

On one side, one of the most impacting deeds of the last times in the World, as it was the marvellous rescue of the thirty three miners of Atacama, in Chile, that generated within the football environment a solidarity very seldom seen and that shows that same still rules in the interior, in spite of all the businesses it enclosures, a certain purity among the protagonists, the noblest that this game continues having.

On the other side, one of the most serious acts (for the consequences it may bring) occurred in Genoa during the intention to dispute a match of classification for the Eurocup of Ukraine and Poland, between Italy and Serb, that had to be suspended only 6 minutes of the first half, due to serious incidents in the gallery that was occupied by some ten thousand Balkan fans.

The resolution of this problem is crucial for the UEFA (European Union of Football) and for its president, Michel Platini because it seems evident that the reason of these incidents has not much to involve football but has the intentions to generate pressure for the Serbs not to enter as the European Union (UE) member. Namely, the reason of these deeds of violence, has not much to do with football and in change, are related to strictly political reasons, and now it is investigated the connexion, with the ultras leader, Iván Bogdanov, with the Serbs political directives.

Bogdanov, enclosed now in the women prison of Pontedecimo –that of men of Marassi was full-, repeats through his attorney Gianfranco Pagano that he has not Nazi affiliation nor he is a tiger of Arkán –name taken form the paramilitary force that led the was criminal Zeljko Ranjatovic during the conflict of the ex Yugoslavia in the years nineties - but few believe him.

In fact, before leaving for Genoa for the match, Bogdanov had already a large criminal record of violence and even of drug traffic, he wears balaclava, a tattoo of a grenade on his breast, near that of the Red Star of Belgrade, the number 1389 on his right arm and the year of the battle of Merli, in which the Serbs have been defeated by the Turks and that symbolize the Serbs nationalist feeling.

Bogdanov is known as “The man in Black” and uses to greet extending three fingers, the thumb, the forefinger and the medium, what means the orthodox triad (God rules in the heaven, the king on the earth and the father in the family).

But the thing does not end there. Arkán- murdered in Belgrade in 2000 – was the same that in the 1998 menaced to kill the Swede Lennart Johansson, who is not other but the predecessor of Platini in the UEFA presidency.

The big problem is that already Bulgaria cancelled the friendly match that was foreseen for this years vs Serb and the UEFA must take urgent measures to resolve what has to be done with Serb presence from now on, something that at the same time UE is discussing the entrance of the country into the European Union (UE).

In change, that other face has been seen in Atacama. Not only due to the incredible resolution of the drama of the miners enclosed during sixty nine days at more than 600 meters in deepness, but because it was discovered that one of them, Frank Lobos, was professional player between the eighties and nineties and even reached to be the Chilean champion with Cobresal and participated in the team of his country that was granted the pass to the Olympic Games of Los Angeles 1984, though, he did not form part of the mega event.

Lobos was the driver of the enclosed miners, in charge to bring persons to the mine and resulted to be the twenty seventh miner to be rescued, forming part of the triad and last group to get out, that considered the strongest

But if there is anybody who can be considered a hero, besides the thirty three men that survived enclosed in the mine, it is without any doubt the engineer André Sougaret, who designed the rescue system.

Already in 1960, during the major earthquake that is remembered in Chile (9,5 in the scale of Richter), the engineer Raúl Sáez had designed a strategy to generate an alternative course of the lake Riñihue, that had risen to the level sweeping the villages of over hundred thousand inhabitants (this is narrated in the book “La hazaña del Riñihue” (the heroic deed of Riñihue) of the Spanish Leopoldo Castedo) the euphoria was such due to the situation that there was an increase of engineer students among whom is Manuel Pellegrini, ex coach of the Real Madrid and of Villarreal.

The quantity of the received vests by the miners ( it is said that there were disputes for the two given by David Villa), the matches in the benefit in all the World and invitation by the FIFA for Lobos to give lectures about group overcoming, show the noblest face of the football, that continues resisting in front of such siege for its dehumanizing.