Well, it looks like & it seems that Lionel Messi's international football career is winding down as he announces he'll retire from the international game until after this years Football World Cup in Qatar (There has been bad stuff around the workplace, absolutely dreadful that the workers who were working on the World Cup stadiums that has got air conditioning which could trigger a climate change during the tournament have passed away from it but they aren't allowed to go on strike according to the Qatari law when Leon (Who is heading to that country on a stop over to the UK to meet with his partner Michelle who already left on the 27th of September last month) told me on the 6th of October before we went to Caroline's for dinner where I had a Mediterranean lamb salad that I enjoyed but there's a French law that Leon told us about requiring foods that have gone past the use by date must be thrown out as well as shops have to be closed if there's foods that has gone past the use by date but tournament organizers found out that it might be a bad idea for Qatar of hosting the Football World Cup, especially French football legend Eric Cantona is not going due to the laws that the Qatari government has imposed) which I'm looking forward to according to Indian sports channel Star Sports in his last ditch bid of Football World Cup glory (And he'll be involved in 5 Football World Cups that he's played along with both Mexicans of Antonio Carbajal & Rafael Marquez as well as only one German of Lothar Matthaus & possibly his great rival from Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo (Who is a Euro 2016 winning player for Portugal (He was also the captain who got subbed off in the final with an injury against hosts at the time, France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis as well as he is Iker Casillas's successor & Giorgio Chellini's predecessor as the European Football Championship winning skipper) compared to Messi who is both an Olympic gold medalist in Beijing in 2008 for the Argentina under 23's & a Copa America winning player for Argentina last year & Neymar being an Olympic gold medalist leading his country's under 23 football side for a successful Olympic Games glory in Rio de Janeiro in 2016) for Argentina who haven't triumphed since 1986 in Mexico against West Germany in the final with the late Diego Armando Maradona who was captain at the time, hoisted the trophy aloft, but there's something interesting as tournament favourites Brazil (Who have never won since 2002), top the FIFA world rankings going into this years Football World Cup in Qatar ahead of Belgium (Who are expected to play Brazil in the final should they reach it, but their last meeting between the 2 sides at a Football World Cup was in 2018 where Belgium tore Brazil to shreds in the quarters, ending the Brazilians hopes of Football World Cup glory).
And it has been an emotional but sombre year since the passing of Sean Wainui (The rugby player who played for Taranaki & Bay of Plenty in the NPC, Chiefs in Super Rugby & the Maori All Blacks but he went to 3 different high schools/colleges throughout New Zealand including Takapuna Grammar School then St Peter's College & Mount Albert Grammar School) who took his own life at McLaren Falls in Omanawa rather than a car accident that killed him.
And I label 10 minutes as the yellow card/sin bin period (For which I sometimes label as the 10 minute suspension compared to handball where players have been suspended for 2 minutes for a infringement/violation of the rules regarding to foul play) compared to me labelling the free kick as the short arm penalty, the mark being known as the fair catch & & the TMO (Television Match Official) which is affectually known as the TV referee (Compared to the 3rd umpire which is literally known as the TV umpire) as part of my rugby union jargon terms (Including the Garry Owen which is sometimes known as the up & under as well as the pilfer being the Aussie term for turnover & of course the meat pie which is the Kiwi term for try).
And in the rallying news department that young 22 year old Finnish rally driver of Kalle Rovanpera (I'm now a fan of him since our Kiwi rally fans were in favour of the Estonian rally driver of Ott Tanak) has won in New Zealand therefore clinching his 1st ever World Rally Championship (Well I have not followed the WRC at all except playing the WRC games in the PS4 & since Spark Sport acquired the broadcasting rights but only Three has acquired the free to air rights to show the Rally of New Zealand) title by becoming the 1st Finnish rally driver since Marcus Gronholm 20 years ago way back in 2002 to win the championship & he breaks the record set by Colin McRae in 1995 by becoming the youngest ever World Rally Champion (And the WRC 2 event went to our very own Kiwi Hayden Paddon in the Hyundai who won while another Kiwi of Shane van Gisbergen (Who drives a Holden in the Supercars Championship going into this year's Bathurst 1000 sponsored by Repco as the points leader (And who I got to win the Bathurst 1000? Because I'm a Ford fanatic now since Pops owns a Ford because he used to own a Holden way back then (And my heart is on van Gisbergen to win the great race because not only he's a New Zealander) appeared on the podium in the WRC 2 class in the Skoda).
And on the 8th of October is the day that the Black Ferns of Aotearoa take to the field to play the Wallaroos of Ahitereiria to begin our campaign of the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup playing in 2022 here at Eden Park in Auckland where there will be a bigger crowd turning up to watch & of course the half time show by Rita Ora (Who is now secretly married to our own New Zealand movie director Taika Waititi, & she loved him because she was so impressed about his movies that he was involved with) to be performed during the women's rugby test (And remember, it's chilly bins vs eskies, togs vs cozzies, but it's not over til it's pavlova (I don't know who invented that dish first, whether it's the Aussies or the Kiwis who may have claimed bragging rights to it) but what a fantastic game from the Black Ferns so far as they hammer Australia after being behind for so much of the game (And New Zealand's 100% record against the Wallaroos is going to stay intact) during the women's Rugby World Cup match in front of a sold out Eden Park in Auckland (And I told Pops on the 9th of October this month that it was one of the best women's rugby match I have ever seen for a long time throughout the international side of it but the player of the game honours went to Ruby Tui (The star of the show who quit her sevens career to focus on the fifteens) for her all-round perfomance scoring both tries (I thought it went to Portia Woodman for her hat-trick but it wasn't to be) but there is an update in the women's Rugby World Cup as the Black Ferns hammered Wales in Waitakere with Portia Woodman's try scored in which she bumped of a Welsh defender was in fact shades of the late Jonah Lomu (Who was Woodman's idol growing up) who ran over the top of English player Mike Catt during the semi in 1995, in one of Rugby World Cup's most iconic moments but there is also been an update as the Black Ferns claim top seed for the quarterfinal as they completely outclassed Scotland in a demolition at Northland Events Centre in Whangarei where Kathryn & Ken went to that game according to Pops that he told me about it.
And in NPC news such as Auckland got the better of North Harbour with a match winning penalty by one of the Auckland players of Harry Plummer at North Harbour Stadium in Albany then Wellington has held off Hawke's Bay to book a place in the NPC semifinals against Auckland at Sky Stadium in Wellington before Canterbury had to survive a late scare against Northland at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch then Bay of Plenty caused the upset of the quarterfinal when they downed Waikato in a revenge best dished served cold a week after Waikato complete the comeback of the year against BOP in the last round of the regular season to host a home quarterfinal at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
And finally here is the confirmed list for semifinal matches being played (And trust me I will be watching one of these games on TV):
Wellington Vs Auckland
& Canterbury Vs Bay of Plenty
So that is my 468th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 16th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.
P.S. And it's been 20 years since the 2nd movie of The Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy (It was filmed in New Zealand directed by Kiwi Oscar winner, Sir Peter Jackson & it featured actors like Elijah Wood (Who plays the main hero Frodo Baggins in the movie) & Viggo Mortensen (Who portrays the other hero Aragorn in the film), The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers came out in movie theaters worldwide in December 2002 where I watched from the start of The Battle of Helm's Deep, right through till the end to commemorate or should I say, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the film's release.
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